Friday, December 5th, 2025 Today, a federal grand jury in the EDVA has refused to re-indict NYAG Letitia James; members of Congress viewed the entire video of the September 2nd boat strike and many are calling for Hegseth’s resignation; admiral Halsey didn’t resign - Hegseth pushed him out after he took issue with the operations in the Caribbean; the inspector general report on Signalgate has been released and it’s as bad as we thought; a suspect has been arrested in the January 6th pipe bomb case; the Supreme Court is allowing Texas to keep its new gerrymandered map for the 2026 midterms; there was a hearing today to disqualify Sarcone as the US Attorney in the Northern District of New York; still no re-indictment against Letitia James and i’m wondering if the grand jury returned a no bill; and Allison and Dana deliver and your Good News.
Friday, December 5th, 2025
Today, a federal grand jury in the EDVA has refused to re-indict NYAG Letitia James; members of Congress viewed the entire video of the September 2nd boat strike and many are calling for Hegseth’s resignation; admiral Halsey didn’t resign - Hegseth pushed him out after he took issue with the operations in the Caribbean; the inspector general report on Signalgate has been released and it’s as bad as we thought; a suspect has been arrested in the January 6th pipe bomb case; the Supreme Court is allowing Texas to keep its new gerrymandered map for the 2026 midterms; there was a hearing today to disqualify Sarcone as the US Attorney in the Northern District of New York; still no re-indictment against Letitia James and i’m wondering if the grand jury returned a no bill; and Allison and Dana deliver and your Good News.
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MSW Media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Friday, December 5, 2025. Today, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia has refused to re indict New York Attorney General Letitia James. Members of Congress have viewed the entire video of the September 2nd boat strike, and many are calling for Hegseth's resignation. Admiral Halsey did not resign. Apparently, Hegseth pushed him out after he took issue with the operations in the Caribbean. The inspector general report on Signal Gate has been released, and it's as bad as we thought. A, suspect has been arrested in the January 6th pipe bomb case. This. The Supreme Court is allowing Texas to keep its new gerrymandered Republican maps for the 2026 midterms. And there was a hearing today to disqualify John Sarcone as the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of New York. I'm Alison Gill.
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
Holy news day, Dana.
I know. Wow. we're coming up to the end of the week, and it never stops. I feel like this always happens.
It does. And all the news breaks, like, right before we get in the studio. So I'm like, updated script, updated script, updated script. Sending them out over and over and over again. But it is Friday, so everyone can rejoice because it's Fugelsang Fridays here on the Daily Bean. So I'll be talking to John Fugelsang later in the show. I also just recorded a, substack live, which you can now see@mellershirote.com with Adam Klasfeld from All Rise News to talk about some of the stuff that happened in the courts today. And also, Dana, the inspector general report is out from the Pentagon, and it says exactly what sources said it said yesterday when we talked about it. Basically, Hegseth sent classified information over a signal chat that was not secure, and at that put U.S. troops in harm's way. Now, he refused to hand over his phone in the investigation, and he wouldn't agree to be interviewed either, because he's totally innocent. But in his written answers, he said he declassified that information, and he does have declassification authority, but he's trying to retroactively declassify it. And I say retroactively because there was no notes or evidence of his declassification of that information at the time he sent it out. So I think he's retroactively declassifying it here, which there's really no way to disprove. It was the whole, you know, I declassified it with my mind, sort of defense.
I took a Sharpie. Yeah.
Yeah. So.
All right, well, we've got other stuff. A federal judge suggested Thursday that she may disqualify a Trump loyalist as the top federal prosecutor in the Albany region. This is a move that would extend a string of losses to the Trump administration's gambit to circumvent the Senate confirmation process to install U.S. attorneys. During oral arguments, U.S. district Judge Lorna Schofield, appointed by Barack Obama, appeared very poised not only to toss the prosecutor, and that's John Sarcone iii, but from the top job, but also from other posts that might allow him to serve in the same capacity. And what's most annoying and, unsettling is that he is the third in this family of John Sarcone.
Yeah. There are two others.
Jesus, I wonder what they're like.
Yeah. And if this happens, I think this will be the fifth U.S. attorney disqualified. Let's see. Aseli, in Los Angeles, Segal. In Nevada, Alina Habba, Lindsey, Halligan, and Sarcone. It would be 5. Remembering those off the top of my head. And breaking news, breaking news.
Dana.
Super embarrassing. I said it a couple days ago. I said, please, I dare you, Department of Justice, I dare you to try to go back to a grand jury and get an indictment against Letitia James with the bullshit case that you have. I dare you. You are going to get no billed, and I am going to laugh. And today they got no build. And I am laughing as we should be.
Good. What I'm not laughing about is the Supreme Court is apparently allowing Texas to keep its gerrymandered maps for the 2026 midterms. And to that, I say fucking bring it. Let's go, California. Now, just as Alito wrote for the majority that a stay blocking the new maps is warranted because the gerrymander wasn't racial, which is bullshit. It was political. Even though Abbott and the Texas speaker said it was a racial gerrymander. And because we're too close to the primaries to go back to the old maps, which is also fucking ridiculous. Jackson, Kagan, Sotomayor, obviously, all dissented, arguing that the gerrymander was definitely based on race, as the circuit court found that it was. And two of the officials who made the fucking maps admitted that it was just the Supreme Court. These conservative justices so bought and paid for. I'm sure Harlan Crow put a little thumb on the scale and said, hey, I've got a lot of business here down in Texas. I can't prove that, but my Beans would be on it.
Yeah. And you know, I haven't been able to. I'm usually pretty good at finding silver linings. I haven't been able to find a lot, but I find a big fat one here. I am really optimistic about this because I think it's going to backfire against Republicans, first of all, because I kind of think Republicans were secretly hoping that their maps would be shot down so that they would also shoot down California and prevent Virginia from redistricting.
Yep.
Right. Because if they allowed the maps, then it's game on. We're at, we're at a, like a, arms race to, to add seats. And the Virginia speaker of the House said yesterday in an interview, I covered it on the beans talk while you were away, he said that their legislature in Virginia is actually considering taking their map, which is now six Dems, five Republicans, and changing it to 10 Dems and one Republican. Wow. They're actually considering that in the state of Virginia. And so that would give us five in Californ and it would give us, what, four more there, which is a total of nine. And it doesn't seem like the Supreme Court would disallow that from happening. And a lot of these new districts that they just gerrymandered in Texas are Republican by 8, 9, 10 points. And Afton, Ben, just crushed getting 13 points back in a very deep red district. I think this is gonna backfire.
That's what I was gonna say spectacularly. I think so too. I think they've watered down their red district so badly in that in some of these districts where they had to pull from, to gerrymander into these blue areas, they only have like 3, 4 point lead right now. And they're like, we're good, we're good. I don't think you're fucking good. I really don't.
So they might, you know, maybe end up getting one or two, maybe three seats down. Who knows? but yeah, but when you're Talking about a 14 point general ballot lead by the Democrats, which we haven't seen since 2018, since the year before the midterms in 2018 in which we took, we flipped 40 seats in the House, like, yeah, five here, four there, three there. Sure. I think it's going to still be a landslide anyway. That's kind of, Wow. We just, we haven't even gotten to the hot notes yet.
I know. We gotta go, we gotta go, let's go.
That's what this day is like. So let's do that. Let's hit the Hot notes, hot notes. All right, first up from cbs. Military officials showed lawmakers video of the second strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat behind closed doors on Capitol Hill on Thursday and testified that there was no order from Pete Hegseth to kill everyone on board. Now, that sounds to me like Hegseth made some sort of a deal with his admiral to say that, maybe that's tinfoil hat time. But what's he getting? A, ah, pardon. Is he going to get a pardon? Is he going to get a pass?
No kidding.
On this extrajudicial or this? I guess. Yeah, extrajudicial murder. Now, Dan Kane, he's a general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Navy Admiral Bradley, head of special operations, briefed the leaders of the armed services and intelligence committees for both the House and the Senate. The classified briefing centered on the Trump administration's campaign against alleged drug boats off the coast of South America, including the September 2 follow on strike that has become a flashpoint in Congress. The Pentagon, as we know, has been under fire since the Washington Post reported that second missile strike that killed two survivors. Now, Hegseth has said the decision to strike the boat again was made by Bradley, who was leading the mission. The survivors were attempting to climb back onto the boat before it was hit a second time, according to a source familiar with the matter. That's their justification for killing them. They were trying to not die. The lawmakers also said they were shown a video of the second attack, which had not. Still hasn't been made public. And Jim Himes, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters after viewing it, what I saw in that room was one of the most troubling things I've seen in my time in public service. You have two individuals in clear distress without any means of locomotion with a destroyed vessel who are then killed by the United States. Any American who sees the video that I saw will see the United States military attacking shipwrecked sailors. They're bad guys. Bad guys, but attacking shipwrecked sailors? That's what Heim said. Now, there's a whole set of contextual items that the admiral explained. Yes, they were carrying drugs. They were not in the position to continue their mission in any way. People will someday see this video and they will see that the video shows that if you don't have broader context, an attack on shipwrecked sailors. Now, President Trump said Wednesday he would support releasing the footage. So I think we might actually get this.
Yeah, right.
Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, refuted him's characterization, saying, I didn't See anything disturbing about it?
You know, shit.
Wow. He said, I saw two survivors trying to flip a boat loaded with drugs bound for the United States back over so they could stay in the fight. And potentially, given all the context, we've heard of other narco terrorist boats in the area coming to their aid to recover the cargo and recover those two narco terrorists. Cotton said, so then you arrest them.
I'm also going to say this with my full chest. How the fuck can you say you saw that when Kegseth is saying that there was a fog of war and you couldn't see anything through it? They didn't know they were there. Get your story straight. This is such bullsh.
Well, Kegseth lied about that. And, I mean, the fog of war, actually, also, it doesn't mean literal fog.
Oh, no, no. That's my point is that Kegseth is saying this bullshit. We know that they were there. We know that they could see them. This whole thing was illegal.
Yeah. Oh, 100%.
I'm very angry, people. There's a lot of cursing already in the first half hour of the show. Continue, Alison Gill.
It's totally fine. I am also very angry. Senator Jack Reid is also angry. He's the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He said in a statement he was deeply disturbed by what he saw that morning and called for the Pentagon to release the footage. This briefing confirmed my worst fears, he said, about the nature of the Trump administration's military activities and demonstrates exactly why the Senate Armed Services Committee has repeatedly requested and been denied fundamental information, documents and facts about this operation. This must and will be only the beginning of our investigation into the incident.
Yeah, I also, I'm sort of loving all of these, conflicting stories because eventually there's going to be a trial on this or there's going to be a congressional investigation. You've got Cotton saying, I could see them. They were trying to flip the boat. You've got Kegsets saying, we couldn't see anything. There was a fog of war, which is not really a thing. Then you've got them everything that they have right now on tape and things that people are writing down and tweeting out. Save it. Save it all. Save it all.
Yeah. Oh, and by the way, Dana, I just received word that today, on Thursday, they just released another video of them striking another boat.
Oh, for God's sake.
The vessel was carrying narcotics, and four male people aboard, were killed.
I'm having a really hard time believing at this point, with six strikes that have already happened, that they are still putting people in these waters trying to. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's really hard for me to believe that they haven't tried to find another way if that's indeed what they're doing. Meaning they, I don't think they have the proof of who these people really are and what they're actually moving.
Yeah, we'll see.
Okay. All right. This one's from the Wall Street Journal. Defense secretary Pete Kegseth. He has shocked official Washington in mid October when he announced that the four star head of the US Military operations in the Caribbean was retiring less than a year into his tenure. But according to two Pentagon officials, KSEF asked admiral Alvin Hulsey to step down. A de facto ouster. That was the culmination of months of discord between Kegseth and the officer. What began days after Trump's inauguration in January. And apparently it intensified months later when Hussey had initial concerns about the legality of a lethal strike on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. That's according to the former officials aware of the discussions. Well, not long after that, Kegseth announced that Hulsey was going to be retiring. Peg says move, which hasn't been previously reported, sheds new light on a brewing controversy over the legality of this story. We're talking about the military's campaign in the Caribbean. It also raises questions over whether service members with concerns about the attacks are, even being listened to. I guarantee they're not.
No. They're being told to retire.
Yeah. A few weeks after he took over southern command, Hulsey met with the newly confirmed Kagseth on a secure video conference. He received his marching orders. And this is a quote. You're either on the team or you're not. That's what kegseth told Hulsey, according to notes from a participant, went on to say, when you get an order, you move out fast. You don't ask questions. Who the fuck are you? After Trump said in March's speech to congress that he wanted to reclaim the Panama Canal, Hegseth ordered Halsey to develop military options to ensure unfettered American access to the strategic waterway. That's according to two former officials. Well, then Kexeth felt Hulsey didn't move quickly enough to develop those plans. After media reports about those options, Kexeth was suspicious that Hulsey may have been the source of the leaks. One of the people told them, had reported that. Now, late in the summer, as the story continues, as the military began striking Alleged drug boats alleged. It's carrying a lot of weight. Olsey was initially concerned about murky legal authority for the boat strike campaign. Now, according to former officials, with other military units under separate chains of command also involved. I hope you can hear the police coming after Kegseth in the back of my recording.
Nice.
It's perfect for the story said with other military units under separate chains of command also involved, including elite special operations units. Halsey objected that parts of the operation fell outside his direct control. But even before the boat strikes began, Kegseth had lost confidence in this guy and was looking to replace him. That's all. According to U.S. officials, since the strikes began in September, the Pentagon has ordered a major military buildup in the region. It's carried out at least 21 strikes on boats allegedly carrying drugs, and they've killed more than 80 people now.
Yep. And just add that one that was just sent to me. We're up to 84 and 22 strikes that we know of.
God.
All right, next up from NBC, federal prosecutors are expected to seek to re indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday in Norfolk, Virginia, on charges related to alleged mortgage fraud, according to a source familiar with the plan. So when this story came out. We hadn't got the breaking news, but just so you know, Roger Keller, a federal assistant U.S. attorney normally based in Missouri, was the one who presented the information before a grand jury regarding the allegations against Tish James. The effort comes after a federal judge, as we know, dismissed the indictments against James and Jim Comey on the grounds that Lindsey Halligan was not lawfully appointed. Dana, they didn't even get into whether or not there was jury misconduct or vindictive and selective prosecution or Bronston literal or truth defense or that, you know, everything wasn't. They just didn't have the, like. She actually did use that home as a second home and signed a second home rider. So there's not even really any evidence. And we also don't know if they got a warrant or a subpoena to get those mortgage records because Bill Pulte was under investigation by a federal grand jury to how the hell he got these documents in the first place. And Eric Swalwell is suing about it. So I love it. There's 9,000 things wrong with these cases. And as I said at the top of the show, they returned a no Bill today. I was waiting at the end of the day, I was like, huh? It's five o' clock in New York. Still no indictment. I wonder if they, I wonder if they're returned to no bill. They did. And so now it's we'll just have to wait and see whether they want to embarrass themselves again and try to go to a new grand jury and try to do this again or if they are completely shameless. And we'll just keep taking this to a grand jury until maybe some somebody files an indictment. And then after that, if they do, you're gonna have to deal with all those pretrial motions to dismiss for vindictive selective prosecution, possible grand jury screw ups and all of that good stuff that we didn't get to the first time around because they just decided Lindsey Halligan wasn't lawfully appointed. And even if that gets through, we're gonna have to see this go to trial. And all of these cases that you know have come back as misdemeanors because they couldn't get a true bill from a grand jury have been acquitted in the courts, especially in the ICE assault cases. So we'll see how much embarrassment the Department of Justice wants to take when we meet up again on Monday on the beans. We'll see if they try to take it to another grand jury.
Yeah, we will find out. Now this story is wild. This is from NBC. Now, for years, the suspect who planted those pipe bombs at the Republican and Democratic National Party headquarters the night before riders took over the Capitol, it remained a mystery. A lot of us thought it was Marjorie Taylor Greene. Now, on Thursday, federal investigators announced a major breakthrough in the January 5th case. Brian Cole Jr. He's 30. Now, I'm not saying I necessarily buy any of this, by the way. Brian Cole Jr. His 30, was arrested and charged with transporting an explosive device and attempted malicious destruction by means of explosive materials. That's according to charging documents filed Thursday afternoon. Attorney General Pam Bondi credited investigators and prosecutors for sifting through evidence that had been sitting at the FBI. Now there are no new tips that led to the arrest. Bondi told reporters at a news conference on previously stalled case said this investigation is ongoing. Again, this is Pammy, Pammy Bondi. As we speak, search warrants are being executed and there could be more charges to come. While Trump pardoned hundreds of January 6th rioters on his first day back in office, including one charged with setting off an explosive device during a brutal battle between the pro Trump mob and law enforcement officers at the Capitol's Lower West Tunnel, the language of the pardon did not appear to extend to the individual who planted the pipe bombs. One former January 6th prosecutor said that they expected a defense lawyer to argue the pardon did not apply to the conduct that the pipe bombs were found on the day of the January 6 riot. Officials have not yet identified a motive and why they were planted. FBI CO Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who led the investigation, criticized the Biden administration for when I quote, focusing on other things and said he created a multi agency team to reexamine the evidence that led to a suspect. Yeah, he was focused on other things, like the thousands of rioters that actually storm the Capitol the next day. now, Bongino, in 2024, an episode of his eponymous podcast, What the hell? He claimed the pipe bomb wasn't, I quote, an inside job to stop Trump. Trump was the fucking president. This was a setup. I have zero doubt, okay? That's what he's saying. It's of note that the only evidence they arrested this guy on is his height, the fact that he purchased components of the pipe bombs, his phone ping towers in the area the night of January 5th, and he had a meal in the vicinity. Okay? Nothing about the shoes, nothing about what this Guy did between December 19th and January 6th with all the other January 6th affidavits that they have. Now, Marcy Wheeler says these aren't necessarily flimsy charges, but the FBI goes way out of its way to not say a lot about him, which isn't surprising. I'm telling you. All these people that are supposedly committing crimes against Trump and everything, we hear about them, and then they're gone. Uh-huh. She writes, certainly he's a candidate and should have been id'd as such in 2021. But the affidavit lacks the kind of thing we saw all the time in real January 6th affidavits. It lacks personal communications, signs of planning in the period after Trump announced the rally, while there was a bunch of components purchased in November of 2020 after the election. There's not a single data point in the affidavit between when Trump announced the rally on December 19 and when Cole was on the Capitol at Capitol Hill on January 5th. DOJ has assigned Jocelyn Valentin to the case. Now, you may recall that she made false claims in support of efforts to throw out the Mic 4 Flynn case in 2020. This whole thing reeks right now. I just. I just don't buy any of it.
Yeah, it's pretty sketch. it's very different from any of the other January 6th affidavits we saw. So, you know, we'll keep an eye on this case, but no motive. They're not saying anything about him so that they can leave a vacuum for conspiracy theorists to jump in and say he's an antifa, trans Somali, Marxist, whatever. Yep. So, there, there were a lot of accounts putting out this picture of a guy named Brian Cole, who is a black gentleman, but that person actually died in 2014. So they're already out there putting out their conspiracy theorists about who this is and that the Biden administration dropped the ball on this investigation. But it's pretty, it's like, like Marcy Wheeler said, it's not flimsy, but it's pretty scant compared to everything else that the Biden Justice Department did. So we'll keep an eye on that for you. All right, everybody, we got to talk to John Fugelsang next and then we'll hit you with the good news. Stick around. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody. This episode is brought to you by IQ Bar, our exclusive snack and hydration sponsor. IQ bar is the better for you. Plant protein based snack made with brain boosting nutrients to refuel, nourish and satisfy hunger without the sugar crash. And right now, IQ Bar is offering you an exclusive deal. 20% off all IQ Bar products plus get free shipping. Just text Daily Beans to 64,000. IQ Bar has become my go to favorite daily staples because it makes fueling my body and brain simple. Their ultimate sampler pack is incredible. It covers all the bases. Nine IQ Bar protein bars, eight IQ Mix sticks and four IQ Joe sticks all in one box. What makes these products stand out is the quality of the ingredients. Everything is gluten free, dairy free, no soy, no GMOs, no artificial anything. Instead they're packed with clean nutrients like magnesium, which really helps with my sleep lion's mane and adaptogens. It actually helps you feel your best. The IQ Bar protein bars are a smarter snack choice. They have more fiber and less sugar and carbs than other alternatives. IQ Mix is their zero sugar hydration mix with electrolytes that supports mood and clarity. And IQ Joe gives you a jitter free energy boost of 200 milligrams of natural caffeine in four delicious instant coffee flavors that are so much better than brewed coffee. They're flavor options keep things fun. from mint chocolate chip bars, blueberry pomegranate mixes, toasted hazelnut coffee. It's just a great variety. There's even limited edition seasonal flavors to switch things up. With over 20,000 5 star reviews, more people than ever are relying on IQ bar to fuel busy days. For me, it becomes second nature to grab an IQ Bar and IQ Mix to recharge or start the morning with IQJo. And right now, IQ Bar is offering, our special podcast listeners 20% off all IQ Bar products, including the sampler pack, plus free shipping. So to get your 20% off, text daily beans to 64,000. Again, text daily beans all one word to 64,000. That's daily beans to 64,000. Message and data rates may apply. See terms for details. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. It's Friday on the Daily Beans, and that means it's the day of the week that we talk to bestselling authors for the New York Times. It's Fugal saying Fridays. He's got a book out called Separation of Church and Hate. It is a New York Times bestseller. You are a New York Times bestselling author. You also host Tell me everything on SiriusXM in progress, channel 127, which airs weeknights at 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific. You also have the John Fugal San show podcast, the Substack. And I think you have an Ice Capade special.
This is so nice. I do have an Ice Capade special coming up. It's really great. Ty and Randy are reunited. And then don't forget, my Saturday morning, cartoon, which is people saying babies. It's all of today's politicians, but they're babies. It's a really original idea for kids animation. So, yeah. And then I sing Scat in the Subways. And, I'll come play your kid's birthday party.
Nice. Like the Muppet Babies for Fascists. And. Just like Kim Cattrall in her spare time, likes to scat, jazz on her, YouTube channel.
Thank you for that introduction. I can't get Stephanie Miller to mention New York Times bestseller. She won't acknowledge it's real. So I feel so at home here. Thank you.
Yeah, you're welcome. Welcome. John Fugelsang.
Good to see you.
Always good to see you, my friend. And your amazing hair. I'm always so jealous.
Oh, my God. This is like this gorgeous, successful woman who's donating so much money right now and being acclaimed, rightly, all over the interwebs. so, you know, I'm like Ringo Alison. I'm just glad to be here. Thank you.
You're too kind. You're my Pete Best, right?
Oh, I hope I'm not your Pete Best. I'm hoping Pete Heg. I mean, the question is, who's going to be the First, Pete, Best of this administration, because I would have bet cash, but I think there's stuff in my fridge that will last longer than Pete Hegseth running the Department of War Crimes. I mean, like, I've got a container of hummus in there that predates Hegseth's credibility. And, I think right now, there's nothing in my fridge that won't last longer than Pete Hegseth's job.
Yeah. So there was a classified briefing on the Hill today. Several people at first wouldn't comment when they left the briefing, but then came out later with statements, including Himes and Reid and, Wicker also, who is a Republican, that what they saw is just absolutely a war crime. I mean, you know, we're talking about specifically the second strike on, a drug boat that happened on September 2nd. The first strike blew it apart. Then when the smoke cleared, they saw two people clinging for life to burning wreckage, and then they sent in another missile. And so that admiral that, gave that order, Admiral Bradley.
That's right.
testified today, and they showed the entire video. And now Republicans and Democrats are calling for the entire video to be released. And they have said, some Republicans on the Hill have said, now, we don't think any of these boat strikes are legal, but this second boat strike particularly is so especially egregious that it's our way to get our foot in the door to investigate all of the boat strikes. And so that's where we are with this. And as it turns out, Wall Street Journal did some exclusive reporting late last night that the other admiral who stepped down, his name is Admiral Halsey.
Correct.
After 40 years, he actually didn't step down. He was pushed out by Hegson because.
He wouldn't go along with the war crimes.
He wouldn't carry out an unlawful order, which is all those six Democratic lawmakers were trying to say when they put out their video, or all they.
Were trying to frame, because they knew exactly what was coming. I'm convinced that Mark Kelly and the posse completely trolled these guys into this scenario. And I'll tell you, I think it's remarkable. I. I can't believe how hard Donald Trump and Pete Hexseth are working to make Mark Kelly the next president. I think they hate. They hate J.D. vance, and they're just trying to humiliate him by making Mark Kelly our. I. Tell me what makes more sense from this, because this whole thing, I mean.
Yeah, we talked about this last week. Because last week I posited to you that These six Democratic lawmakers knew about the double tap. That's what prompted them to make that video, to lure the Republicans. They set the trap. Line and sinker. And so we talked about all that last week, and now, since then, we have this reaction from the video. We have a classified briefing. We have both the House and the Senate calling for rigorous investigations across the aisle into this. It's like I asked Dana, as a comedian, as a standup comedian, you often tell jokes that push the envelope, and you find the line. You find that line where the audience goes from laughing to going, ooh. And you're like, oh, that's it. That's where we draw the line for you. This apparently is one of the lines for Republicans. The Epstein files, affordability. And now this double tap boat strike.
Which is.
Just outrageous.
It's crazy. And again, this is not the only Pete Hegseth scandal we're dealing with in the last 48 hours. So, yeah, I mean, this whole thing is like, it's a reality show. It's NCIS, stupid homicide unit. after World War II, as you know, Dr. Gill, actual Nazis, three German U boat officers were sentenced to death by Allied tribunals precisely for killing survivors on life rafts. So we have to stress that Pete Hegseth, Fox News weekend prompter monkey and abuser of women is now being compared unfavorably to Nazis. And the comparison is completely justified because murder is still illegal. Now, if we're not at war, and we have not legally been at war since 1941, I think was the last time we legally declared war. If we're not at war, what happened on all of those boats? Not just September 2nd, but all the 80 souls snuffed out. It's all been murdered, paid for by our tax dollars. If we are at war, what happened is still murder, just with a different form attached. But, like, there's still perfectly good American laws against murder. You don't have to go to the Hague. We don't need an international tribunal. We need a prosecutor who knows what homicide means. And right now, I mean, this is headset. Like, he's hired for his incompetency. He's hired to be a stooge that Donald Trump can control completely. And I don't think Trump is ever gonna fire any of these Cash Patels or Kristi Gnomes or Pete Hegseth's until they make him look bad. That is going to be the stress test for all of them. He doesn't care about their dishonesty, doesn't care about their corruption. When they start to make him look bad, then it'll be a problem. But this guy, I mean, this is in the midst of signal gate. And we know now that when the inspector general asked him to turn over his phone, he just said no, like a toddler not eating broccoli. He wouldn't do an interview, wouldn't hand over the phone, wouldn't answer questions. And this punk ass is in charge of our US Military. Has someone told Secretary Jagerweiser that the immunity ruling doesn't apply to henchmen? I think that you're right in that there are so many old school Republicans who aren't going to tolerate this, just as I believe there's lots of career military who are disgusted the way there's career FBI who are disgusted with the toad running their department.
Yeah. And, since we last spoke, Pete Hegseth said at a cabinet meeting where Donald Trump couldn't keep his eyes open, that, you know, the. He. They blew up the boat, and then there was all sorts of smoke, and that's called the fog of war.
So the fog of war. He's in an office in Fort Bragg. He's in an office in Fort Bragg talking about fog of war.
Okay. But that's also not what fog of war is. It's not actual fog. It's.
He's 3,000 miles away pushing buttons for drones, and he's talking fog of war.
Yeah. And he's also saying it's not like you journalists up here in your cushy offices. He says, while getting his makeup done in a Pentagon makeup room that he built for himself. Like, what are you even talking about? But then, you know, the Associated Press had reported that the Pentagon actually knew about the. The double tap, and so that blew that. no, I shouldn't say blew it out of the water. it tanked that.
I.
No, I shouldn't say that. You know what I mean? It completely disproved that conspiracy theory.
Yeah.
And. And now we're seeing this. They're running around. I want to hear from Admiral Halsey. I want to hear from the guy who stepped down or was forced out by Hegsack, too, for flagging these boat strikes as, unlawful orders.
I don't think that'll happen unless it's a hearing under oath, and that won't happen until January of 2027. But I'm with you.
We could have a shadow hearing.
We could. I don't know if he would participate. I don't know if he would participate without a subpoena.
Yeah, I probably wouldn't either. But he did do the right thing. He refused to obey that illegal order, which is exactly all those lawmakers were trying to save from Congress. And speaking of Congress, this week, we found out, well, we got more confirmation that, Mike Johnson can't control his caucus, and we're just gonna.
It's very sad when a man can't control his own caucus anymore. It happens to a lot of guys.
It is. If your caucus goes against you for more than six hours, you need to speak to a physician.
Yeah, he's lost a touch, man.
And probably not RFK Jr. Maybe you could get Cassidy in there, to give you some advice. But, you know, we've got Elise, Stefanik, who wanted to put a provision in a bill about making it the rule that the FBI, if they're investigating an elected member of Congress, they have to tell you.
Yes.
And so the whole crux of the article was that Republican women are uncomfortable and angry about the way that they're being treated.
Yeah, I hate that. I hate that. It's trying to spin that these women are outraged at injustice and that they want justice. These women are doing everything, so far as I can see, out of pure craven self interest like the rest of the party, and they're trying to wrap it in this cloak of feminism. But these are a bunch of women who think rape victims should be forced to carry their rapist fetus. So, I mean, Nancy Mace, Marjorie Taylor Greene, these folks don't care about other people, and they don't suddenly. They haven't suddenly become good people because they're in opposition to Mike Johnson. We have to remember, for all of this Civil War business, all of them thought January 6th was just fine. They're still on the same side. They're just realizing that Mike Johnson is going to be the scapegoat for Donald Trump's second term. And I don't know if Mike Johnson has figured that out yet.
Right. And they're all going to, resign under the guise of feminism. I know that, they buried the lead in that New York Times article, you know, because it was like Republican Party frets about future. But the lead, a couple paragraphs down is that Nancy Mace is going to huddle with Marjorie Taylor Greene because she's considering following her lead and resigning early. We could actually get the gavel back before the midterms.
Before the midterms. And I mean, Punchbowl was saying this. Punchbowl says this earlier in the week, and so many Republicans verified it that like that gavel may fly into Hakeem Jeffrey's hands like Thor's damn hammer before we even vote in 11 months. And it's entirely feasible. This is a kind of governmental collapse that is happening in slow motion. And honestly, Alison, I think for all of our friends who have checked out the news because it's too corrosively depressing, it's time to laugh again. Can we laugh yet? People are being hurt, people are dying. But this kind of incompetence, I, I keep telling my listeners on SiriusXM, we have to stop and smell the train wreck and, and make this funny again. I mean, Mike Johnson is going to be blamed for all of this. They're going to blame Mike Johnson for tariffs not working by the time this is done.
Yeah. And you, know, we, we talk about possibly getting the gavel early. I saw, an interview, with Christine Welker and, and Mom Donnie, and when she, she asked him if. If he would support Hakeem Jeffries as Speaker of the House, he immediately just said yes. Next question.
Yeah. Yeah.
Which I was a little surprised by.
But I'm sure, by the way, I'm sure that Hakeem Jeffries and Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer had a lot of conversations with Mamdani about this is the political reality of lobbyist culture. We're not, we're going to support you, but not officially. We can't endorse you. Barack Obama never endorsed him. He gave him this call of support, never got an endorsement. This is showing a lot of people why they're really frustrated with business as usual in the Democratic Party. But I think they have an agreement, much like AOC and Pelosi had an agreement to kind of work together while being in opposition. And I was not surprised to see my mayor, being so professional about, about Hakeem Jeffries.
Yeah. And, you know, talking about Mamdani and the Republicans in disarray in Congress. They are a little bit connected because that whole meeting between Trump and Mom Donnie completely undermined maga's primary message. Said that they were going to Mamdanify the Democrats going into this.
This is m. My favorite story of the week.
And now he's undermining maga. Trump is just continuing to undermine MAGA in so many ways, particularly this week with the pardon of, a Democratic representative in Congress.
Yeah. This is the story that I think everyone needs to lean into more. It's not as sexy as Hegseth, but it's so bizarre. And I think it's going to show the growing schism, dare I say disarray of the Republican Party because more and more Republicans are realizing that, man, baby's not altogether there. I mean, you know it if you are objective. But they're not objective. They watch Fox News. I mean, Marco Rubio in that meeting, praising a cadaver sitting next to him. It was like watching a funeral. He couldn't stop complimenting the dead body next to him, like Trump was asleep. And the harder he slept, the louder they praised him. And I guess it's because they're hoping he'll recognize them when he wakes up. But, Republicans are losing their minds over this. He pardoned Democrat Henry Cuellar because Trump rewards corruption regardless of party affiliation. But the GOP, they're going through some Kubler Ross moments, Dr. Gill, because Henry Cuellar is their opponent. They were trying to flip his seat. They thought, this guy's crooked. Biden went after him, we're going to take him out. The NRCC spent so much money and time, they made attack ads. And then this week, Trump said, cute plan, Republicans. I'm going to save him. And like the official justification for the pardon was that the Biden administration weaponized the justice system against Cuellar because he bravely spoke out against the Biden border, catastrophe. None of that is true. Henry Cuellar was not indicted for speaking out or criticizing the border or being a Democrat or he wasn't indicted for hating abortion either. Democrats keep Henry Cuellar there because they an anti abortion Democrat to keep one more seat in Texas. He was indicted for bribery, money laundering, conspiracy, 600 grand in payments from Azerbaijan. And Trump pardoned him because Trump respects two things. People who commit corruption and people who get caught committing corruption. And now because of Trump, this guy's probably going to be reelected and deny the Republicans another seat in the House after they gerrymander their entire state to try to get more seats in the House. And Mike Johnson was not told. The NRCC chair Richard Hudson was not told. Everything they've been working on Trump just lit on fire. And Hudson came out and said, this makes it tougher for Republicans to flip the seat. And he's right, because the whole campaign was like, henry Cuellar is corrupt. And then Trump just pops out of the Bushes like a game show host going, not anymore he's not. He's free, he's beautiful, I love him. Like web daddy. you're smarter than me, Alison. Ten days ago, ten days ago, the NRCC posted, ah, House Democrats, including leader Hakeem Jeffries are still bankrolling, criminally charged Henry Cuellar. That aged well. And then Cuellar thanked Trump and then announced, he's still a Democrat. Democrats were certain that he would flip parties. That was what they were worried about, that Trump had a scheme and a plan in place and Henry Cuellar, anti abortion Democrat, would become a Republican and they'd pick up a House seat. That was what they'd been worried about in the chat rooms. But Trump didn't flip him, didn't recruit him, he didn't weaken the Democratic majority. Cuellar's just like, nope, thanks, I'm still gonna be a Democrat. Have a blessed day. Like they thought he would dangle a pardon. And this guy don't know how to dangle. He just gives it away like it's coupons in a strip mall. He got nothing for this. And this is right after Zoran Mamdani and Trump writing this Valentine's Day card to him. And again, same thing. The GOP was like, sir, we're trying to turn that person into an evil jihadist villain, a radical. And Trump's like, have you seen his eyes? They're stunning. He keeps flirting with Democrats, corrupt Democrats, Democratic socialist Democrats, Democrats in tight races, they're trying to flip. Donald Trump is like that guy who comes to your intervention and he's drunk. That's what he is to Republicans. He's pardoned 12 members of Congress, 10 Republicans, two Democrats, Rod Blagojevich, the other one. I mean, he pardoned George Santos and now he's pardoned a Democrat for selling influence to foreign governments. This is a disaster for Republicans. I mean, he validated Cuellar, he praised him and he whitewashed him. Joe Biden indicted him and Trump gift wrapped his reelection this week. And he said it doesn't matter if it helps him. In 2026, the attack ads against him are now useless. All the money the NRCC has spent is wasted. Democrats are confused. And Trump is still in love with Zoran. I love it. It's my favorite story of the week.
It is. It is mine as well. And, you know, I have to just remind everybody that even though we've got a couple of more Republican esque Democrats in Congress, I think one of the important things to remember about having the majority isn't necessarily whether we have a vote for codifying Roe from that person, but that when we're in the majority, we have subpoena power and we control the committees. And so sometimes you gotta have a Fetterman and a mansion and a cinema.
In there that's what I like about Democrats. I've never belonged to the party, but I've always liked especially, don't get.
Me wrong, I don't like those people.
But when you have majority 20 years, you have so much diversity of ideology in the Democratic Party. You have anti abortion rights guys in Texas, and you have freaking Rastafarians. Right? Like, you have Democratic Socialists and you have Fetterman. I don't like those guys either. Fetterman. Ooh, Carmen's gonna beat him up. But, like, you don't even need a Republican Party when you have this much diversity in one. And I know it drives the liberal purists crazy, but here we are. This is the best it does. We have to make coalitions with people we're not in love with to beat fascists. I know it sucks, but Cuellar, he just got reelected, and Trump did it for him.
But, like, if it's a Cuellar that gives you the majority, then that Cuellar gives a voice to somebody like AOC who might chair a committee.
Exactly.
So you have to also consider the majority as a whole. Just the numbers and not the necessary. Not necessarily whose butts are in the seats. But, man.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Yeah. The fact that he just. That Trump is just wrecking everything and blowing money for the Republicans is.
It's like, we'll never know. Well, like, why. Why pardon this guy? Like, m. Has Michael Wolf written a book yet the last 12 hours to explain what the bribe system was that.
Like, oh, he'll rate it in 2029?
I mean, we'll find out someday what all these bribes were about here. I think Zoran just knew how to charm him. And at first I thought that Trump was pardoning Cuellar because he wanted to draw attention to the fact that there are corrupt Democrats, because that's their whole game, you know? Oh, they're all corrupt. What's the difference? Like, they need to do this to get people who are morally dubious to vote Trump anyway or vote Republican. But, like, it doesn't make any sense. Like, they. They would have. They would have picked up that seat politically.
Some of Mandani's voters voted for Trump as well.
Of course, I know some of those people, too. But again, this is Americans. We're drawn to shiny things. Right? Like people. For so much of us, it's a popularity contest, and it's not about ideology. Look at all these idiots. And I do say that I don't mean to offend idiots, but, like, when I. When I met Carrie Lake, the First thing she said to me was, I asked about Trump. And she said to me, this is before she went crazy, but she said, I'm not a racist. I voted for Obama. And it's like, what? How do you vote for Obama and then vote for Trump? You just decided abortion rights were bad and billionaires had it rough and climate change was a fraud in one day. These people don't believe anything. They just vote based on who's popular in the high school yearbook this week.
Yeah, for sure, my friend. It's always wonderful to speak with you and I hope everybody, if you're still out there Christmas shopping, go to your local independent bookstore, order a bunch of copies of Separation of Church and Hate, give them to your, friends and family for the holidays, put a copy in the middle of the Christmas dinner table, start a conversation.
Are we going to war in Venezuela? Dr. Gill? Are we going to war in Venezuela?
Yeah, I think so. There's a war powers resolution put out by Democrats to stop it from happening. But he really wants to know, is.
The new WMDs fentanyl? That's not there. Is the new WMDs. That's not there. And these idiots, wow, they'll believe whatever they're told. Like they lied them into war for oil saying it was about WMDs, and then they said, oh, no, ah, you guys are always anti war like Mr. Trump. And we've had these Republicans for 10 years saying we're the anti war movement and now we're going to see the machine go again. And by next week they're all going to be pro war again. for a country that hasn't attacked us for fentanyl, that's not there. There is no group more easy to manipulate than the right wing white male. But do you think the Republicans in the Senate will get behind this? This is really stupid. I mean, I know they're terrified about the midterms, but a war to steal 17% of the world's oil? I think public memory is a bit longer than they think.
We'll see. They've had a lot of chances to take off ramps over the last eight years and they haven't taken them. So we'll see.
Okay, thank you. You were trying to let me go, but I've been dying to ask you about this all week because I can't believe they're that stupid and yet they appear to be.
Yeah, yeah, I'm never, sometimes shocked, but never surprised. Anyway, my friend, everybody check out Tell me everything on SiriusXM progress channel. 127 weeknights, 9pm Eastern, 6 Pacific. Like I said, buy copy of Separation Church and Hate now, so you can get it in time for the holidays. And put in your free little libraries around town. Also, make sure to check out the John Fugal Sang show podcast and the substack and the Ice Capades, show that's coming up. Do you have anything, anything you want to shamelessly promote before I let.
You go beyond all that? No. We'll be here through Christmas. Thank you so much for having me, as always. And thanks to your, deeply sexually attractive audience.
No problem, my friend. Thank you so much, everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Hey, everybody. Whether you're planting right now or just sketching ideas for your yard later, Fast Growing Trees makes the yard in your head feel doable. They ship high quality plants straight to your door. And they're America's largest online nursery with more than 1600 varieties. They've been delivering since 2005. So the whole process is really smooth. And you can browse fruit trees, privacy trees, flowering trees, shrubs, houseplants, a lot more without having to leave your couch. Ordering is simple. Check out online and your plants show up in just a few days right at your door, which makes them an easy gift as well. Their alive and thrive guarantee makes everything arrive healthy. And it's all ready to grow. Every tree and plant is grown here in the United States and cared for by experts before it ships, so it's prepped to settle in the moment you plant it into your yard. Personally, I'm thrilled with my amazing guacamole garden, the Meyer lemon tree, my limes, my avocado trees. I nearly hired a landscaper to do it all, but I saw the estimate and decided to try to do it myself and it saved me 90% of the cost. I also got to skip the weekend scramble to multiple nurseries, which are packed right now, and get dirt in the back of my car instead. I was able to open the sturdy, well packaged plants right at my door in just a couple of days with clear instructions and a great support team at Fast Growing Trees because they have plant experts who help me plan spacing and soil prep. So this season they have the best deals for you and your yard, including up to half off tons of plants and other deals and listeners to this Show. You get 15% off your next purchase when you use the code DAILYBEANS at checkout. That's 15% off your next purchase at fastgrowingtrees.com using the code dailybeans at checkout. Now is the perfect time to plant. Use Daily Beans to save today. Offer valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. Check out the link in the show notes to support the daily beans. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news. Who likes good news?
Everyone. Then Good news, everyone.
We sure could use your good news or your good trouble suggestions. Send it all to us. Your good news can be big. It can be small. It can be from yesterday. It can be from 20 years ago. We had a really great one from 20 years ago yesterday that I loved. maybe just a story that you like to share when you're talking with friends. just something that makes you smile. We, we need it. We need to microdose your hopes. So send to us. You can also send a shout out to a loved one or yourself or a small business in your area, a great nonprofit. Maybe some community activism and organizing that's going on in your area. you can also give a shout out to a government program. Send us your thesis and dissertation titles. We love to read those. We can't pronounce most of what's in them because y' all are just way too smart. But we love to see what you all are writing about for your thesis and dissertation. And then all you got to do to get your stuff read on the air is pay your bob pet tariff, which at this point means just attachment. Any photo that you want. We like to see your, pets. We can guess your shelter pups, breeds if you like. If you don't have that, you can send an adoptable pet in your area. We can see if we can find them a home. If you don't have that, any animal photo off the Internet will do. I gave you a list of our favorites yesterday. And if you don't have that, you can send photos of your holiday lights and your decorations or what you dressed up for is Halloween. Or weird family photos or baby pictures, bird watching photos, which can be an actual bird or you flipping the bird to a Trump building. really anything works. Just anything you think will make us smile. Send it to us@dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. First up is Some Good trouble. And your good trouble today comes from Melissa Pronoun. She and her hi besties. I have Some Good Trouble. For folks who live in Washington state, our governor will be releasing an all cuts budget proposal for the upcoming legislative session. We're facing a deficit and he has vowed to veto any progressive tax code that is taxing the ultra wealthy. Amazon, Microsoft and Boeing all operate here. Our state budget should not depend on the spending habits of poor and working families who are barely getting by. But that's what we do here in Washington. The result is a boom and bust budget cycle where our pay and the services we provide are never adequately funded. My union siblings with AFSCME M Council 28 WFSE have launched a petition as the first step in a series of planned escalating actions to pressure our legislators and Bob Ferguson to not cut public services and to tax the rich instead. Please share the link below and ask anyone you know lives in Washington state to sign the petition. This petition can be signed by union members and non union members alike. thank you very much for your attention to this matter, Melissa. So here we are. Tax the rich, no cuts. And we've got a QR code in the photo and we'll have a link in the show notes to sign the petition.
Love it, love it, love it. All right, this is from Kara Pronoun. She and her. Hello, my fellow beanies. Longtime listener, first time good news. Checking in. News are checking in. I want to take a moment to shine a little spotlight on my amazing daughter. She just welcomed my fifth grandbaby into the world. An absolute little angel. I could not be more grateful. My daughter is everything you hope a mom would be. She's kind, compassionate, generous to a fault, and always leading with heart. Even in a world that doesn't always make it easy, she shows up with remarkable strength and grace. She's the kind of good we need more of. I'm so proud to call her mine for my podpet tariff. I'm sharing my pups who recently had their photo taken with Santa. Opal is the small one Santa has in a football hold as, ah, she was trying to get away. And Oliver is sitting proudly waiting to share what he wants for Christmas. They are the very best pups.
Okay, Oliver is the perfect name for this gentleman. Yes, Gentleman with a plaid driving cap on.
So good.
Oh, my goodness. Oh, we can guess the breeds. What do you think? I think a little terrier, shih tzu and. And then maybe a wheaten terrier poodle also.
Yeah, Wheaton poodle wapoodle.
All right, so the little one we got toy poodle and shih tzu. Did I say shih tzu?
Yeah, I can't remember.
Awesome. And then. Oh, Goldendoodle just did some muppety. Goldendoodle. A gentleman just with a nice haircut.
That's what Goldendoodles look like. When they have a nice haircut.
Oliver, the goldendoodle. Fantastic. Thank you so much for that. And big shout out. What an incredible family you have, Kara.
I know, it's so sweet.
All right, next up from Anonymous. Pronouns she and her. Did you see the awesome church in Dedham, Massachusetts? There's a link here. Apparently they piss people off every year, and I love it. Attached is a pic of my granddaughter, who is now my daughter and is almost 10. I love you all. Yes, I saw this photo. Anonymous. So they picked up their nativity scene, but the Jesus is gone and there's a sign that says ice was here.
That is powerful. That's also humor mixed with power.
Oh, look at the baby.
I know, little cutie. That one was so short. Ag, you want to take the next one?
Yeah, I'll take the next one. Anonymous. Pronouns she and her. Hi, Ag and dg. I wanted to share a quick good news story and say thank you to you both and the beans family for inspiring it. We just wrapped up a food drive organized by my amazing partner and myself, put on through my work with the blessing of a truly lovely and caring management team. Definitely count myself lucky for this. We scored a huge cart full of food, plus 775 bucks for the food bank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. There's a, link here. Foodbankonline.org It's a small thing, but it feels good. And it's the first time I've helped organize anything like it. I'm definitely taking inspiration from you guys and all the other listeners who share their good trouble. Just good deeds. Thanks for all you do, including helping me channel angst into action. Pet tariff. You've seen this nerd before with a giant carrot. Now, now, bestie. Giant goose. Oh, my God. That is a giant goose that your dog has as a stuffy. Oh, how wonderful setting up that food drive. You know what, Dana? When my. When I was younger, and, I have a younger sister, every year she would get in her car and drive around our suburban neighborhood and collect old blankets, and she would get dozens of them, and then she would drive around in downtown Phoenix and hand them out to the unhoused for the holidays. She was her own little blankie drive. Then she started doing flyers and stuff. I just love stuff like that. Just good grassroots, taking care of people in your community.
Yeah. That's awesome. I love this, by the way. I didn't realize this was a thing, and I've seen it on a couple people's social media accounts. This is from Jedi pronounce he and him. Hello to the queens of the Beans. Sorry I don't have something more ingenuitive. My shout out is to you wonderful ladies. I got my Spotify wrap today and you've kept me informed and entertained for 7,292 minutes this year and counting. Keep it up.
Oh, my gosh.
Isn't that fun?
Oh, my gosh.
We're their number one podcast. We're Jedi's number one podcast, followed by God Awful Movies, D and D Minus, Citation Needed, and Law and Chaos. I love having a sneak peek into your brain, Jedi.
I know. Oh, my goodness. Thank you for sending that in. I hadn't seen this yet. That's incredible.
That's awesome.
All right, next up from Jim M M. Hi, Beans Queens. Just want to share a good news Social Security Survivor benefit story. I lost my wife dawn in 2012 after a four year struggle with cancer during which she received chemo every two weeks until her body couldn't take it anymore. She did that because we had two young kids. They were nine and five when she was diagnosed and she was determined to be around as long as she could for them. She continued to work for as long as she could, albeit on a very flexible schedule. And when she died, we lost her income and I was suddenly a single dad. Fortunately, I was able to access Dawn's Social Security Survivor benefit for both kids until they turned 18. So for five years, my daughter and nine years for my son, this enabled me to work part time so that I could be home in the morning when they left for school and home in the afternoon when they came home. It also allowed me to focus on their emotional well being rather than worry about how I was going to keep them fed and sheltered. They're both doing very well today. Georgia teaches second grade in New York City, and Henry, a recent college graduate, is looking for work in his field, the arts, which has been tough thanks to the muskrat's mischief. But he's not dissuaded for my pod pet tax. I'm submitting a photo of my daughter and her new puppy, Birdie, a fellow queen. Oh, now, Jim, that's an amazing story. And it seems like we're supposed to guess what breed Birdie is.
Lab.
Yeah, Black lab. Okay, we got one.
Nice.
Jim. Cutie pie, thank you so much for that shout out to a government program.
Yeah. All right. This one's from Lucy Pronoun. She and her hello, ladies of the Beans. I wanted to give a shout out to my wonderful wife who is going through the process to start Gender Affirming Hormone therapy. She is so brave to be making this journey, and I'm so proud of her for being true to who she is. The road might be tough, but we can do anything together. The world's a scary place for LGBTQ people, and we are nervous about everything that is happening, but we can't live our life hiding. So we'll be out there and proud with our family and friends beside us. Attached are two photos. One is a, blank that I saw at a wildlife conservative park recently, and the other is of my menace of a cat, Rocky. He's a tiny, scrawny thing, but has a huge personality and a ridiculous amount of sass. And I can safely say that I think that's a red panda for you, Alison.
I think that is a red panda. I like that. Our producers redemption.
Just in case.
Yeah, red panda is under the redaction bar. And look at your sassy little booger. Oh, so cute. Thank you so much, Lucy. and that. Shout out to your wife. Thanks to everybody for your amazing good news submissions. It's going to carry us into the weekend. We're going to be back in your ears on Monday. we got a little bit of a wonky travel schedule, but we're going to make it work this weekend. so thank you all, just so much, for this. And please send your good news to us dailybeanspod.com and click on contact. Do you have any final thoughts today, my friend?
Not today.
All right, everybody, we'll see you on Beans Talk, our new video podcast over at the MSW Media Media YouTube channel. And then we'll be back on your ears on Monday. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, and take care of your family. I've been ag.
I've been dg.
And them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Alison Gill, with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joelle Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants, and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, please visit mswmedia.com msw media.