Actions Not Words
Plus can we answer if God and UFOs actually exist
Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Senior Broadcast Producer Bree Tracey and Associate Producer Joe Luongo for pinch-hitting today while Amanda is off. 👏
📬 Remember: if you’re a paid (or Founding) subscriber, you’ll receive my “Things I Tell My Friends” weekend dispatch this Sunday.
👽🙏 God and UFOs
Tonight we might solve two of the greatest questions facing man kind
Is God real?
Are their aliens?
No, seriously: if God is real, can there also be aliens? If there really are UFOs and alien life forms, what does that say about God? 🤔
Explained: What rising curiosity about UFOs and aliens could mean for religion, writes the AP.
🛸 UFO Side :🎬Steven Spielberg’s new movie Disclosure Day hits theaters — and truth and fiction are getting dangerously close.
👽 Weirder: Now add Congress to this, with even more UAP/UFO hearings and revelations.
✝️ God Side: Priest Who Said Aliens Were Demons Removed as Exorcist for Washington, headlines The New York Times.
The VP: “I don’t think they’re aliens. I think they’re demons,” Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, said in a recent podcast interview
💬 You: Doug wrote in the comments to our First Dispatch asking the same question:
“As one who believes in God (and has my own proof), and believes in UFOs (but has no proof), I’m looking forward to tonight’s show! It should be interesting.”
Maybe God and UFOs have more in common than we think.
Both very well might be true — but it is more about belief and faith than facts.
Can you believe in both? Doug can! 🚀🙏
Watch Tonight📺: Our guest: Christopher Baglow, Ph.D. University of Norte Dame professor and author of Faith, Science and Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge and Creation: A Catholic’s Guide to God and the Universe.
🤔 Cautiously Pessimistic
Ten weeks of ceasefire have taught us both sides (Trump and Iran) will tell us what they want to be true.
🔄 Played Again: Last night, Iran disavowed almost everything Trump said in his press conferences yesterday and fired on a commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump called the Iranian leaders “dishonorable.” That’s like suddenly realizing the sun rises in the east. ☀️
The Pakistanis: The Pakistanis now say there is a deal. I trust the Pakistanis even less than the Iranians.
👀 Look Back: A few months ago, the Pakistanis had both the Americans and Iranians signing different deal memos.
It’s laughable.
❓ Why on earth does Team Trump keep putting up with them?
📋 Reality: We must now wait for concrete, verifiable actions.
This is regardless of what’s signed or announced.
Does Iran open the Strait without conditions and stop firing on commercial ships and the United States?
Does Iran publicly confirm it will give up its nuclear material — and then actually do it?
Does Iran publicly say it will stop funding Hezbollah — and then actually stop?
🏛️ The Administration Says Yes: Here is their version, as reported by Fox’s Aisha Hasnie:
From WH official on Iran deal:
Nuclear material will be destroyed and removed
Nuclear program will be dismantled
None of their money released until they perform
Strait of Hormuz will be open
No Iran funding of terrorist groups
🏅 If It Works: If Iran does all of those things, Trump deserves many prizes, including the Nobel Peace Prize.
⚠️ But at What Cost?
GOP Senator Tells Fox News He’s “Skeptical” of Trump’s Iran Deal:
“I hope that we’re not going to give up too much.”
Republicans rightly skewered Obama’s Iran deal and Team Biden for giving the Iranians billions. Will Trump’s deal do the same thing?
🚨 Huge Mistake?: Maybe the money doesn’t come from us, but from the UAE or other Gulf states.
🌍 Middle East Reality: Negotiating with terrorists only gets you more terrorists.
🎯 Bottom Line: To think the Trump-described deal is real is to think the mullahs changed 1,400 years of Islamic teaching and tradition because Trump took out a few radar facilities this week. I am hopeful, but not optimistic — regardless of what is “announced.”
📺 Watch Tonight: Former CENTCOM Deputy Commander Vice Admiral Robert Harward and Senior Fellow of The Heritage Foundation Brent Sadler assess the latest developments.
💰🚀 Pitchfork Time
SpaceX/Elon Musk fever took over cable news today: The world’s first trillionaire!💰
Less Reported: SpaceX IPO Created 4400 new millionaires many were tradesmen.
Click here for a genuine feel good from NYTimes
💲 How rich is Musk? 💲
TAKE:
Larry Page (Google)
Sergey Brin (Google)
Jeff Bezos (Amazon)
Larry Ellison (Oracle)
COMBINED…
And the elite establishment sits around sucking its thumb, wondering why Graham Platner and James Talarico are popular.
😡 Bitter: A few weeks ago, Steve Cortes told us even Republicans are now angry when they hear about the surging stock market.
🏠 Tough: It’s harder to tell your kids why the family can’t afford groceries, going to the movies, or a summer vacation when all around them everybody else is getting richer.
⚠️ Warning: This kind of economic desperation and unfairness is what leads to legitimately awful people coming to power, like Hitler.
This is why some guy with a Nazi tattoo who (allegedly) beat his girlfriend gets elected!
“Yes, he knew exactly what the tattoo was,” say texts the New York Post saw.
🤷 Nobody Cares: The same people telling us about the tattoo are the ones protecting the establishment.
🏛️ The Establishment: Steve Moore, a few nights ago, told us the top 1% pay “pretty close to half” of all income taxes. Yes — and they have a sickening number of ways to pay far less than everybody else does.
📋 Here Is a Non-Exhaustive List
💼 Carried Interest Loophole — Wall Street’s favorite.
✈️ Private Jet Tax Deductions — 100% depreciation in year one.
🛥️ Yacht Tax Write-Offs — This is nuts.
🏢 Pass-Through Business Deduction (Section 199A) — No working stiff can do this.
📈 Bonus Depreciation / Accelerated Write-Offs
🏠 Like-Kind Exchanges (1031 Exchanges) — Delayed capital gains taxes despite sales of investment property.
👨👩👧👦 Stepped-Up Basis at Death — Great way to avoid inheritance taxes if you don’t have to sell assets.
🏗️ Real Estate Depreciation — Deduct depreciation every year, even if the property’s actual market value is rising.
🏛️ Politics: Trump promised fairness and help for America’s working class.
Instead, we got trillionaires and high gas prices... people are pissed. ⛽💸
⚖️ Be Fair: Much of this isn’t his fault — but now a more extreme-than-Trump version of left-wing populism looks awfully appealing.
📺 Watch Tonight: Prof. Liberty Vittert Capito — yes, my sister — on how this exact same situation ended up in France, Russia, Cuba, and the list goes on.
America’s establishment and business class should be demanding Congress drastically change the tax code and bring back a feeling of fairness in America.
📝NOTE: I didn’t say handouts — those don’t work... just ask Bill Clinton.
Unearned Fun!
Tonight kicks off Trump’s UFC weekend at the White House complete with flyovers and then a literal cage match on the south lawn.
Personal ♥️: My dad was appalled that Trump would defile the white house this way.
Reminder: hey dad, biden held a pride party with a trans model showing off his fake b$$bs.
Dad: Oh – well then I guess Trump’s thing is fine.
What I’m thinking 💭 : You have to EARN your fun.
In TV — you get to do segments you want (like golf!!) because your ratings are high
In college — your parents don’t mind you skipping class if you have straight A’s
Follow the logic 🧠: You have to earn your fun.
White House Grading ⛔: Trump has not earned fun yet
The economy sucks
We’re at war
Yet 🎉: he’s off having fun!
He’s hosting UFC fights at the White House
“Anti-weaponization funds”
Nominating Bill Pulte as Director of National Intelligence
It’s actually the opposite of having earned fun.
Hence approval ratings that keep dropping.
Look back 🔙: at the beginning of his administration we all marveled at the new disciplined trump
He got to have fun because people saw things working and were generally happy
He doesn’t necessarily have to fix the economy, but people have to feel like it is his number one priority
Nobody wants a defiant president when they are hurting.
Personality 😡: The worse things get the more Trump lashes out and doubles down — especially on things totally in his control.
Prediction: If the economy and Iran war continue to get worse there will be more unearned fun — that won’t sit well with America.
📺 Watch Tonight: Former Republican Representative from Pennsylvania Charlie Dent and Former Trump Campaign Deputy Communications Director Caroline Sunshine
🚁 Drone Summer
The Iran war taught us we’re not ready for drones on the battlefield — what about at home?
⚠️ New Threat: “An Iran-linked hacker group claims to have breached FBI drones and has threatened to target the World Cup that kicked off on Thursday,” reports CBS News.
🎯 Perfect Target: This weekend, 80,000 people will gather on the South Lawn for the UFC fight — they will be protected.
🚨 More Perfect Targets: Every July 4th parade, World Cup stadium and practice field, not to mention every outdoor pro and college sporting event, is a perfect soft target for drone attacks.
📦 A few quadcopters bought on Amazon, and the whole world changes.
Watch Tonight📺: Tracey Walder on why America always seems to be behind the terrorists.
Looking forward to your show tonight, Leland 😀