This week, Rick and track the through-line behind a chaotic stretch of headlines: power—who has it, who checks it, and what happens when institutions get tested. We start with Fed Chair Jerome Powell saying the Trump administration is launching a probe against him, and what that could mean for central bank independence. From there, we zoom out to Congress: the Senate blocks a bill aimed at curbing Trump’s war powers in Venezuela, while Trump’s own rhetoric on Iran spikes (“help is on the way”) and then quickly walks back—raising the question of how much foreign policy is being made in real time, in public.

Then it’s tariffs and alliances: Trump threatens 10% tariffs on several European countries amid a Greenland standoff, and we look at how trade policy is being used as geopolitical leverage. We also cover a striking signal of shifting alignments: Canada and China reach a trade deal that suggests Ottawa is diversifying away from U.S. dependence.

In tech and defense, the Pentagon partners with Grok as part of broader AI contracting—plus the political framing that other models are “too woke.” We also hit Gaza, where Trump announces a new “Board of Peace” for restoration, and in clean energy, offshore wind notches a key court win that could shape how far the administration can go in halting permitted projects.

Finally, we do a fast misinformation cleanup: a viral claim that the Proud Boys founder was “in ICE” via a data breach doesn’t hold up. Plus: a symbolic Machado–Trump meeting that generated headlines but (so far) little policy change.

Minnesota has become the collision point for three national flashpoints at once: a massive pandemic-era fraud scandal, a sweeping ICE enforcement surge that turned deadly, and a president threatening the Insurrection Act over protests. In this episode, I break down what’s actually known, what’s alleged, what’s been proven in court, and why Minnesota—of all places—suddenly feels like the center of the national political storm.

In this episode:

• The fraud saga (Feeding Our Future): how a COVID-era child nutrition program became the site of one of the largest alleged pandemic fraud schemes in the U.S., and what federal prosecutors say happened.

• Timeline, plainly explained: when the scheme ramped up, when charges were filed, and what happened under Biden vs what’s happening now.

• The “Somali” angle and the politics around it: how real criminal cases have been used to paint an entire community, why that’s both inaccurate and dangerous, and how scapegoating is shaping federal rhetoric.

• Why Minnesota is getting so much ICE attention: the administration’s justification vs what Minnesota officials and civil rights groups argue is really going on.

• Metro Surge: what it is, how large it is, and why its scale has made it impossible to ignore.

• Shootings and protests: what’s been reported, what’s being investigated, and why clashes escalated so quickly.

• The escalation: lawsuits, funding threats, and what it means when a president threatens the Insurrection Act.

Key takeaway: This isn’t “one weird Minnesota story.” It’s a case study in how governance failures, real criminal wrongdoing, and political incentives can combine into a fast-moving crisis—where accountability, due process, and civil liberties all get tested at the same time.

Sources referenced (high-level): Reporting and documents from DOJ filings/announcements, Reuters, and the Associated Press, plus relevant court and civil rights filings.

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Today’s episode is about what happens when federal power stops asking permission.

We start in Minnesota, where an ICE officer shot and killed Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old American citizen—sparking protests, dueling narratives about what happened on the scene, and a growing fight over accountability after state investigators say they’ve been cut off while the FBI leads the probe.

Then we zoom out to the Trump administration’s renewed Greenland push—complete with talk that “military action is always an option”—and Stephen Miller’s chilling cable-news argument for annexation-by-strength.

From there, we dig into Venezuela: the Senate moving to curb Trump’s military authority, reports that lawmakers weren’t briefed, and a sweeping executive order declaring an emergency to shield Venezuelan oil revenues—while oil executives reportedly signal they’re not eager to bet big on a chaotic, high-risk rebuild.

We also break down the House vote to revive ACA subsidies (what it could mean for premiums and coverage), the latest U.S. strikes in Syria, and the emerging Iran uprising—where blackout conditions and conflicting death-toll estimates make the picture both urgent and hard to verify.

If you’ve been feeling like the news is turning into a stress test of democracy, alliances, and basic guardrails—this one’s for you.

In under a year, the Trump administration has expanded U.S. military strikes across seven countries — from high-volume campaigns in Yemen and Somalia, to one-off “precision” strikes in Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Nigeria, plus a controversial maritime strike campaign tied to Venezuela.

In this episode, I go country by country (least strikes → most) to answer five questions for each: when did the strikes happen, what was the stated justification, how many people died, are more strikes likely, and were they justified? The headline: strike counts are easier to track than deaths — because official casualty reporting is often incomplete, and independent monitors don’t always agree.

Iraq (1 strike) A March 2025 precision strike that CENTCOM says killed ISIS’s “global #2” leader and one other operative.

Nigeria (1 strike) A December 2025 U.S. strike in Sokoto State; AFRICOM said “multiple ISIS terrorists” were killed, without giving a public number.

Iran (1 strike operation) A June 2025 strike package reported to hit Iran’s main nuclear sites (Natanz, Isfahan, Fordow), involving B-2 bombers, bunker-busters, and Tomahawk missiles. Public casualty totals are unclear in the reporting.

Syria (1 major operation / many targets) Operation Hawkeye Strike (Dec 2025): CENTCOM said the U.S. hit 70+ ISIS targets using 100+ precision munitions, following attacks on U.S./partner forces.

Venezuela-linked maritime campaign (30+ strikes/operations) Since Sept 2025, Reuters reports “more than 30” lethal operations against suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing at least 110 people. Human Rights Watch argues these actions amount to unlawful “extrajudicial killings.”

Somalia (111 strikes) Al Jazeera, citing New America’s strike tracking, reports at least 111 U.S. strikes since Jan 2025, tied to operations against al-Shabaab and ISIS-Somalia. AFRICOM statements and independent reporting disagree at times on civilian harm, and total deaths across the full set of strikes are not publicly consolidated.

Yemen (339 strikes) Yemen Data Project reports 339 U.S. strikes in 53 days (Mar 15–May 6, 2025) during “Operation Rough Rider,” with at least 238 civilians killed and 467 injured (including children). Reuters reported a ceasefire announcement in early May.

• The strike campaign is highly concentrated in Yemen and Somalia, with a separate and legally contentious campaign at sea tied to Venezuela.

• Counting strikes is easier than counting deaths — especially where official casualty reporting is limited or disputed.

• The “justified?” question depends on which framework you use: self-defense & counterterror vs sovereignty, proportionality, transparency, and civilian protection.

ACLED (as cited by Al Jazeera), Yemen Data Project, Reuters, CENTCOM, AFRICOM, Human Rights Watch, and New America strike tracking.

This week on The Lonely Liberal: the biggest headline is Venezuela. The U.S. carried out strikes, captured Nicolás Maduro, and President Trump declared America will “run Venezuela” — while also saying U.S. oil companies will be heavily involved. We break down what’s known about the operation, why it’s detonating international-law alarms, and the reality behind the “oil prize” narrative: Venezuela has massive reserves, but its production has been depressed for years and rebuilding capacity would take serious time and money.

Back at home, we hit the politics of power and control: Trump says the National Guard is leaving Chicago, Los Angeles, and Portland — a flashpoint that quickly turns into a federalism fight over who actually has authority over troops and public order. We also cover Trump’s first veto of his second term, killing bipartisan Colorado water funding for a major drinking-water project — and what it signals about spending politics, intraparty feuds, and governing priorities.

On the economy, Trump postpones furniture tariffs for a year, a move with real near-term implications for household prices and retail supply chains. In the clean energy culture war corner, Trump claimed wind turbines will wipe out America’s bald eagles — using a viral photo that wasn’t even a bald eagle — and we talk about how misinformation both distracts from and cheapens legitimate wildlife and permitting issues.

And then there’s the gut-punch governance story: millions are feeling the effects of Social Security delays amid a crushing backlog, which for many people functions like a benefit cut. Finally, we close with the lighter-but-telling saga of Trump Mobile pushing back its gold phone release — a brand-meets-business story with a whole lot of scrutiny attached.

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From DOGE to bribes, this year has been absolutely insane for American politics. In this week's episode, Rick and I discuss our top 10 craziest news stories of 2025, covering all of Trump's most insane moments.

This week we’re taking a tour through the corners of American power — from missing files and secret wars to Hunger Games-style patriot pageants for kids.

We start with the latest Epstein document dump and the quiet disappearance of 16 files from the Justice Department’s website, including at least one photo of Trump with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Why did Congress pass a transparency law if DOJ can blow the deadline and yank files with no consequences? We dig into what was released, what mysteriously vanished, and what this says about how the system protects the powerful even when it pretends to expose them.

Then we move to Trump’s big primetime address, where he promises an economic boom, blames immigrants for everything from rent to hospital wait times, and pairs it with a more aggressive foreign policy: bombing ISIS targets in Syria and seizing Venezuelan oil tankers on the high seas. We break down what’s actually happening behind the tough talk — and who pays the price when “peace through strength” looks a lot like forever war and economic brinkmanship.

Back at home, we talk about the Brown University shooting, where the alleged gunman was ultimately found dead — and where an anonymous Reddit user may have been the key to cracking the case. It’s a story about gun violence, online sleuthing, and how a homeless internet stranger did more to protect students than half of Congress. We’ll also hit a rare bit of good news: the Pentagon is finally phasing out shooting pigs and goats for medic training and moving to high-fidelity human simulators. It’s one of those small, quiet stories where science and ethics actually win.

Finally, we zoom out to the politics of wealth and spectacle. Mitt Romney publishes an op-ed basically saying “tax the rich, like me,” calling for higher taxes on people like himself in cities like New York. And in the same news cycle, the White House rolls out the “Patriot Games” — a Hunger Games–adjacent national sports competition for kids, conveniently designed to reinforce the administration’s culture-war line on gender in sports. It’s bread-and-circuses energy for the semiquincentennial, backed by corporate sponsors, at a time when basic democratic institutions are fraying.

This week on The Lonely Liberal, I’m unpacking the fentanyl crisis with one rule: follow the data, not the rhetoric. After the Trump administration designated illicit fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction,” I wanted to understand what that label actually changes—and whether the new Venezuela-centered narrative matches what we know about how fentanyl reaches the U.S. The White House+1

We’ll break down the real fentanyl pipeline: how the U.S. entered the “third wave” of the opioid epidemic in 2013, why illicitly manufactured fentanyl rapidly saturated the drug supply, and what public reporting says about the main supply chain—precursor chemicals, Mexico-linked production, and smuggling overwhelmingly through legal ports of entry. Government Accountability Office+3CDC+3Congress.gov+3

Then we do a hard fact-check: how much fentanyl does Venezuela actually produce or send to the U.S.? Spoiler: the best available public evidence points to Venezuela as not being a meaningful fentanyl source or route—raising real questions about whether “WMD” framing is being used to justify escalation abroad instead of focusing on what actually reduces deaths at home.