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The Daily Beans
Fascist Hood Ornament (feat. John Fugelsang)
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Friday, February 27th, 2026 Today, Trump is seeking unconstitutional power over our elections; the Trump administration is pausing some Medicaid funding to Minnesota; Kansas has sent letters to trans people demanding the immediate surrender of drivers licenses; a Nobel winner is stepping down as head of Columbia's Brain Institute over his ties to Epstein; and Dana reads your Good News while Allison is on vacation.
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- [00:01]
Dana Goldberg
Hi, I'm Frances Collier. And I'm Angela V. Shelton. And we're Frangela. You know what you mean in your life. The Final Word podcast. Yes, you do. That's right. It is the final word on all things political and pop cultural, where we make real news, real funny, where we inspire you so you can resist. Subscribe and get a new episode of the Final Word podcast each week. It's the news we think you need to hear. That's right. We think you need to hear it.
- [00:28]
John Fugelsang
Okay.
- [00:29]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah. It's what we say. So. That's right. And because all we do is give. Every Thursday, you can listen to our hysterical podcast, Idiot of the Week. We round up the stupid. Because you know what? Somebody has to. Okay? All we do is give MSW media.
- [00:53]
John Fugelsang
News whis.
- [00:58]
Dana Goldberg
Daily Beans. Daily Beans. Daily Beans. Daily Beans. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Friday, Feb. 27, 2026. Today, Trump is seeking unconstitutional power over our elections. The Trump administration's pausing some Medicaid funding in Minnesota. Kansas has sent letters to trans people demanding the immediate surrender of their driver's license. And a Nobel winner is stepping down as head of Columbia's Brain Institute over his ties to Epstein. AG is out for one more day. So I'm your host, Dana Goldberg. Hey, everyone. Welcome to Friday. We made it. We made it together. You made it with me. I'm not going to do too much in the discussion. As we know, it's Fuglsang Fridays. I have a fantastic interview with John Fuglsang after the news. And so to waste no more time. Let's do it. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right. This first one is from the Washington Post. Pro Trump activists who say that they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a 17 page draft executive order that claims China interfered in the 2020 election as a basis to declare a national emergency that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting. President Donald Trump has repeatedly previewed a plan to mandate voter ID and ban mail ballots in November's midterm elections. And the activists expect their draft will figure into Trump's promised executive order on this issue. The White House, of course, has declined to elaborate on any of Trump's plans because I'm sure they're just a concept of a plan. Actually, not for this. I'm sure he's got it written. And this is a quote. Under the Constitution, it's the legislatures and states that really control how a state conducts its elections. And the president doesn't have any power to do that. This is from Peter Tickton, a Florida lawyer who is advocating for the draft executive order. Okay? He's one of the bad guys. Tickton attended the New York Military Academy with Trump and was part of his legal team that filed an unsuccessful 2022 lawsuit accusing Democrats of conspiring to damage him with allegations that his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. It did. And this is a quote. But there we have a situation where the President is aware that there are foreign interests that are interfering in our election processes. Again, this is from Tickton. He went on to say, that causes a national emergency where the President has to be able to deal with it. The emergency would be empowering the president to ban mail ballots and voting machines as the vectors of foreign interference. This is what he's arguing. Okay? Now, the idea of claiming emergency executive powers based on allegations of foreign interference attaches new significance to the administration's actions to reinvestigate the 2020 election. Because they can't fucking let it go. An earlier version of this proposed draft obtained by the Washington Post. It cites a 2018 executive order that declared an emergency to impose sanctions on foreign entities targeting election infrastructure. President Joe Biden repeatedly extended that emergency into 2024. The Treasury Department used the order to place Iranian and Russian entities under sanctions. And another quote, there is now clear and compelling evidence from court cases and forensic analysis that these threats have not been mitigated, but instead have intensified. This is what the proposed draft reads, by the way. It's dated April of 2025. And goes on to say, this constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to national security and foreign policy of the United States. No, all of this is bullshit. I want to say the stage is largely being set by the revelations coming out of foreign powers being involved in influencing the 2020 election. This is from Jerome Corsi, who circulated the draft executive order in July. Corsi helped spread the birtherism smear against Barack Obama. These guys are pieces of garbage. And he also helped to spread a conspiracy theory involving slain Democratic staffer Seth Rich, for which he later apologized. He said if there was a provable foreign intrusion. This is from Corsi, that would be a national security emergency, and the order could be issued under his powers as commander in chief. Well, Senator Mark Warren of Virginia, the top Democrat in the Senate Intelligence Committee, said there is absolutely no national emergency. He said, we've been raising the alarm for weeks about President Trump's attacks on our elections, and now seeing reports that outline how. Warner said in a statement in response to this article went on to say, this is a plot to interfere with the will of the voters and undermine both the rule of law and public confidence in our elections. Now the measures listed in the 2025 draft of the proposed Executive order include requiring hand marked and hand counted ballots, paper ballots, requiring voters to register a new for the 2020 midterms with proof of citizenship, and restricting mail in ballots to limited circumstances. The draft also proposes authorizing The Justice Department, U.S. citizen and Immigration Services and Social Security Administration and the Postal Service to have a role in identifying ineligible voters. All of this just reeks. Reeks. Now the draft cites emergency authority from laws including the national emergencies Act of 1976, the Federal Information Security Modernization act of 2014, and the Defense Production act of 1950. As we know right now, Article 1, Section 4 of the Constitution assigns the powers to regulate elections to state legislatures and Congress with absolutely no role for the President. Presidential emergency on elections has never been tested in court, by the way. That is a horrifying story that we're going to keep very close contact with and let you know what's going on in the future. This next one's from the Associated press. Vice President J.D. vance announced Wednesday that the Trump administration would temporarily halt some Medicaid funding to the state of Minnesota over fraud concerns as part of what he describes as an aggressive crackdown on the misuse of public funds. This asshole Vance, who made the announcement next to Dr. Oz, the administrator for the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services and the administration was taking the action, and I quote, in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people's tax money. Now Dr. Oz, who referred to people committing fraud as self serving scoundrels, said the federal government would hold off on paying $259.5 million to Minnesota for fund Medicaid, the health care safety net for low income Americans. This is only hurting them because they're a fucking blue state and they're not doing what they want them to do when it comes to this immigration crackdown. And this is a quote. This is not a problem with the people of Minnesota. It's a problem with the leadership of Minnesota and other states who do not take Medicaid preservation seriously. Bullshit. That's bullshit, Dr. Oz. Wednesday's move is part of a larger Trump administration effort to spotlight fraud around the country. That effort comes after allegations of fraud involving daycare centers run by Somali residents in Minneapolis prompted a massive immigration crackdown in the Midwestern city, resulting in widespread protests. President Donald Trump in his State of the Union address on Tuesday announced Vance would spearhead a national and I quote, war on fraud. Dr. Oz said the administration was simultaneously notifying the Minnesota's Democratic governor, Tim Walz, as he was making his announcement publicly. He said, we will give them the money, but we're going to hold it and only release it after they propose and act on a comprehensive corrective action plan to solve the problem. They're blackmailing them. He said wahls would have 60 days to respond and advised healthcare providers and Medicaid beneficiaries who were concerned to contact the governor's office. Now, Wahls said, and I quote, this is a campaign of retribution. Trump is weaponizing the entirety of the federal government to punish blue states like Minnesota. These cuts will be devastating for veterans, families with young kids, folks with disabilities and working people across the state. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement that his team has secured over 300 Medicaid fraud convictions since he took office in 2019. He also noted and he called on the Legislature earlier Wednesday to give him more staff and legal tools to combat Medicaid fraud. He said courts have repeatedly found that their pattern of cutting first and asking questions later is illegal. And if the federal government's unlawfully withholding money meant for the 1.2 million low income Minnesotans on Medicaid, we will see them in court. So we'll keep you posted on this story because obviously this is a big deal and it is retribution. We'll probably see it happening in other blue states too. This next one is a really terrible story that I'm going to cover a little bit more in depth as well on the Beans Talk, but we need to cover it here. This is from Aaron Reed's substack, Aaron in the Morning Today, and this was of yesterday. Transgender people across Kansas are reporting receiving letters from the Kansas Division of Vehicles stating that they must surrender their driver's licenses and that their current credentials will be considered invalid upon the law's publication in Kansas Register on Thursday. Okay, as of today, when I'm recording this, should any transgender person be caught driving without a license, they could face a Class B misdemeanor carrying up to six months in jail and $1,000 fine. Kansas already required county jails to house inmates according to sex assigned at birth. Now, the letter obtained by Aaron in the Morning marks one of the most significant erosions of transgender civil rights in the United States to date. The letter, which has been reported to Aaron in the Morning by Kansas based activist states that under House substitute For Senate Bill 244, Kansas issued driver's licenses and identification cards must now reflect the credentials holder sex at birth. It warns that upon the law's publication in the Kansas Register on Thursday, February 26, current credentials for affected individuals will no longer be valid. The Legislature, the letter notes, did not include a grace period, no grace period for updating credentials and anyone operating a vehicle without a valid credential may be subject to additional penalties. Those whose gender marker does not match the sex assigned at birth are directed to surrender their current credential to the Division of Vehicles for reissuance and let me just put a question out there. How the hell do you think most of these people are going to get a new license if they're not allowed to drive? Okay now. SB 244, also known as the bathroom Bounty bill, contained heavy identification document bans as well. The bill was rushed through the Kansas Legislature in January using a gut and go procedure that bypassed nearly all public input and its key provisions. Governor Laura Kelly vetoed that bill everybody on February 13, calling it poorly drafted. But the legislature that is mainly Republican overrode her veto days later. In addition to the driver's license provisions, the law bans transgender people from using bathrooms matching their gender identity in public buildings and creates a bathroom bounty hunter system allowing citizens to sue transgender people they encounter in the restrooms. Released $1,000 in damages, including potentially in private restrooms. Who the fuck and how the fuck do you think this is going to get enforced? Seriously, do you know how many CIS women who do not fall under the guise of what they think femininity in this country should look like are going to get approached in These restrooms from cis people who think that they want to take home $1,000 in bounty? Are you kidding me? The bill takes effects immediately upon publication in the Kansas Registrar. Rather than the standard July 1st effective date giving transgender Kansasans just days between the override and the invalidation of their identity documents, the consequences for non compliance could escalate really quickly. Under Kansas law, driving without a valid license is a class B misdemeanor punishable by, like I said, six months in jail. A thousand dollar fine though first time offenders are more likely to face a citation and a fine. A conviction however, triggers an automatic 90 day license suspension. If a person drives during that suspension, they face a charge of driving on a suspended license which carries a mandatory minimum of five days in jail. The other thing, and I'll talk about this more, you need an id. You need an active ID to vote in Kansas. This is also a step of voter suppression for the trans community because between now now and the midterms, they need to make sure that they have a valid ID to be able to vote. It's a ridiculous attack on their civil rights. We're going to keep covering it. I'm just so sorry that the transgender community has become the scapegoat of this administration and so many people across this country. It must be fucking exhausting and I am so sorry. We're going to continue to cover these stories. You know we will. This last one is from Forbes, and of course it has to do with the Epstein files because everything seems to these days other than the attack on our trans community. Nobel Laureate and Columbia University professor Dr. Richard Axel announced Tuesday that he's stepping down as the CROW director of the school Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavioral Institute after the Justice Department's Jeffrey Epstein documents released highlighted his friendship with convicted sex offender. In an official statement, Axel said that he has informed the university about his plan to step down from the co director role to focus on research and teaching in his lab. Axel is also resigning from his position as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He said, my past association with Jeffrey Epstein was a serious error in judgment, which I deeply regret. I apologize for compromising the trust of my friends, students and colleagues. Again, this apology only came after this guy got caught. The noble laureate, who hasn't been accused by the way of any wrongdoing himself, added, what has emerged about Epstein's appalling conduct, the harm that he has caused so many people, makes my association with him all that more painful and inexcusable. Columbia University said that it has seen no evidence that Dr. Axel violated any university policy or law, but agreed with his decision to resign amid the continued fallout from the release of the DOJ files. The university statement praised Axel for his extraordinary contributions to the university and his dedication to his colleagues, to his students and to science. I'm sure there's going to be a lot more fallout from these Epstein files and you know, these people that are resigning. I do feel like it's a little bit of an easy way out. I want to see more harsher consequences. I would also love to see people who had a relationship with Epstein testify about what they knew. You know, if they're saying the judgment was bad, they should not have had a relationship with them. I think they know more than they're letting on. All right, everyone, thank you for being with me for this part of the Daily Beans. I have a fantastic interview with our Dear John Fungal saying so we're going to get to that right after this break. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. We all have that person who refuses to change anything because it technically still works, even if it's still costing them too much money even with their phone plan. Our podcast producer decided to stop doing that. He switched to using Mint Mobile and he told me that the service is better than ever, coverage is just as reliable as his old provider and the speeds are just as fast. The best part is that he's paying less than ever. Let's thank Mint Mobile for supporting this episode. Make the switch@mintmobile.com DailyBeans Mint Mobile is for everyone tired of overpaying for wireless. The whole point is simple. Keep the premium experience. Unlimited talk, text and data with the same coverage and speeds you expect, but just pay less. For a limited time you can get 50% off 3, 6 or 12 month plans of unlimited Premium Wireless. It's also easy to switch. Bring your own phone and number, activate with the ESIM in minutes and start saving immediately with no long term contracts. And Mitt makes it easy to test it out with a 7 day money back guarantee and customer satisfaction ratings in the mid 90s. Ready to stop paying more than you have to? New customers can make the switch today. For a limited time, get unlimited Premium wireless for just $15 a month. Switch now@mintmobile.com DailyBeans that's mintmobile.com DailyBeans upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for 12 months. Plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees extra initial plan term only over 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Capable device required ability, speed and coverage varies. Additional terms apply.
- [18:28]
Martin Sheen
See mintmobile.com youm can always count on Sunday to be the best day of the week. You can sleep in, go off your diet, spend the day in your pajamas and go on have that second croissant. You know what else you can count on every Sunday? The Martin Sheen Podcast. Join me, your host Martin Sheen for beautifully crafted 20 minute programs filled with never before heard stories of my life along with personal reflections and poetry that inspires. And season two begins Sunday, February 1st. The Martin Sheen Podcast is the perfect Sunday relaxing companion. A chance to put your feet up, take a deep breath and enjoy some stress free listening time from the comfort of your favorite easy chair. And that second question that stays between us there's no judgment here. So make my podcast your weekly moment of calm as we explore faith, hope, love, and what it means to be human. And rest assured, this journey is ever unfolding as I invite you to see what's next with me, Martin Sheen. So let's keep Sunday the best day of the week together and thank you for listening.
- [19:47]
Dana Goldberg
Hey, everyone, welcome back. It is Fridays, which means it's Fugal saying Fridays on the Daily Beans. He is the host of tell me everything on SiriusXM Progressive 127. He's the new York Times best selling author of Separation of Church and Hate. Available wherever books are sold. Please go to a small book plays. Don't go from the big ones. You know better than that. You can also catch the John Fuelsang show podcast or read what he has to say on his substack. So please, everyone, always welcome my dear, my dear John Fugelsang. Hi, handsome.
- [20:18]
John Fugelsang
Oh, my God. I get to be with Dana. But wow, Allison, who that. Hi. Wow.
- [20:23]
Dana Goldberg
How dare you.
- [20:24]
John Fugelsang
You make my intro look easy.
- [20:25]
Dana Goldberg
How dare you. I know this is the threesome you always dreamed of, but I had to get rid of Alison. I had to get rid of Alison and have you alone because it's just. You don't get that. That much joy in your life. No one should have that much joy having us both together. So you just get me alone.
- [20:40]
John Fugelsang
Very few men could handle it, but, you know, we'll move on from there.
- [20:43]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah. All right. Mr. Bestseller on the New York Times.
- [20:46]
John Fugelsang
It's great to see you. You're one of the funniest women in the game. I mean, like, I'm so happy to talk to you on the show because, I mean, I've talked to you a thousand times and you've been on my show, but you are one of the people that constantly gives me inspiration because you manage to always keep it funny. You keep it funny over preachy every time.
- [21:07]
Dana Goldberg
John. Thank you.
- [21:08]
John Fugelsang
It's funny first, informative second, preachy last. And you also manage to make complex, horrible things conversational and accessible. What I'm trying to say is, when can I vote for you or. Or. Or at least join a creepy cult.
- [21:24]
Dana Goldberg
And I think that's enough for this interview. We're going to sign off. Thanks for. For your time.
- [21:28]
John Fugelsang
I got all of that I needed by the book. Everyone buy the book. And thank you all so much. God bless you. Thank you. Good night.
- [21:34]
Dana Goldberg
Signing off. John, I adore you. It's been too long since we've seen each other. How is the book tour going? How's everything going with separation of church and hate before we get into the nonsense of the news.
- [21:43]
John Fugelsang
Oh, thank you. It's been very surreal, to be honest with you. This is a book that I was. I pitched this book in like, book proposals, like a grownup is supposed to do for 13 years. I had 13 years of projections on this. So to have it make the New York Times bestseller list for two months after. After many years of. Of managers and agents and. And publishers saying, wait, it's for atheists and believers. What, what I'm like for anybody. Anybody of any background who has to deal with right wing Christian nationalists and their job and their family and their damn government. So the response has been wonderful. I get a much more pious level of death threat now, Dana, than I ever had before, which has been so.
- [22:25]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, in the name of Jesus, you should die.
- [22:27]
John Fugelsang
Oh, always. That's the 1700 year battle of Christianity. Right? The authoritarians from Rome to Combo Ver, Caligula today, they used Jesus name to get power. They then do the opposite of everything. Jesus tells us how to treat each other with that power. And there are always the real Jesus followers, not all of whom are Christian, who rise up in Christlike resistance to the authoritarian Christians. And that's the 1700 year history of the religion. Everything we see playing out right now, we've seen it. The civil rights movement, I mean, segregation was propped up by Christianity and it was the liberal Christians, like MLK and his non Christian allies.
- [23:11]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah. Jesse Jackson.
- [23:12]
John Fugelsang
Slavery, propped up by Christianity.
- [23:14]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely.
- [23:15]
John Fugelsang
And it was the liberal. It was Frederick Douglass and the Quakers and Harriet Tubman who pushed back Columbus. Prompted by Christianity. The Catholic priest on his third voyage, De las Casas, the first white person to do an act of protest in this hemisphere over how Columbus treated the indigenous people. I'm not anti faith. I'm not anti Christian. There's an incredible history of Christian activism, but it's always resistance to Christian authoritarianism, which is always shitty.
- [23:42]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely. And I love that you're like, I'm not anti faith. You were raised by a priest and a nun. I mean, for God's sake, like, this has been in your bloodline for your entire life. First of all. Right. And the second thing that I just want you to know this. You were so nice at the beginning of this interview, talking about how much you respect me. Whenever I talk about when people are throwing the Bible at people, using it for hate. And especially, obviously, you know that this has been weaponized against the LGBTQ community in ways that we didn't even realize were possible. You're the guy I want arguing for me when it comes to what the Bible actually says about these things. You were so smart and you were so well read with this, and you're so quick. I don't know why anyone would go up against you. Go up against you when it says, you know, let's take the Old Testament and the New Testament. And you're like, I don't think you even know what those books are. You don't even know what they are.
- [24:28]
John Fugelsang
Well, yeah, most of them haven't. Most of them haven't read the Bible. That's the thing about these right wingers, right? And including our family and loved ones, you know, they were groomed to be like this. I know there's agency involved, but no baby comes out thinking they're better than other babies because of their religion.
- [24:42]
Dana Goldberg
Well, except Stephen Miller. I think Stephen Miller was born evil. I really do.
- [24:46]
John Fugelsang
Well, I listen. I'm more compassionate on him because he has to sleep upside down till it's time to feed. So it's true. It's true.
- [24:52]
Dana Goldberg
It's hard. It's hard with his eyes open. It's bizarre.
- [24:55]
John Fugelsang
I want to correct some listeners here. I never said that he was Satan's butt plug. I said, Stephen Miller's head looks like Satan's butt plug. And I really wish people would stop misquoting me on these things. LGBTQ justice is one of the cornerstones of why I wrote this book. You cannot say that you follow Jesus and discriminate against LGBTQ brothers and sisters.
- [25:21]
Dana Goldberg
Thank you very much.
- [25:21]
John Fugelsang
You can't do it. There is no part of the Bible anyone can use to say that same sex relationships are a sin. I'm going to say that again. There is no part of the Bible that anyone can credibly cite that they say, I live by this. Nobody lives by Leviticus. Nobody lives by Deuteronomy. Nobody lives by everything Paul says in Romans either. Everybody picks and chooses the parts of their holy books they want to pick. We all do it. Everyone of every religion. But some of us do it to justify love. And some of us do it by treating people shitty. And for the lesbians, there is no part of the Bible anywhere that ever comes out against women, with women and ever. You can misinterpret, ever.
- [26:03]
Dana Goldberg
And the Bible doesn't mention trans people at all. Like, it's not even part of it, but they use it to weaponize against the trans community. Are you going to correct me?
- [26:11]
John Fugelsang
Totally. Yeah. Well, no, it doesn't Mention transgender people per se. Although there are, you know, there are animals in nature that change gender. The coolest named animal in the world, the fish, the slippery dick can. The slippery dick is how dare you change.
- [26:25]
Dana Goldberg
How dare it exist.
- [26:26]
John Fugelsang
I'm here to serve it's public. Part of my parole.
- [26:29]
Dana Goldberg
Have you seen the platypus pussy though? That one. That one knows how to change. No, it's. Is that not part of the king?
- [26:34]
John Fugelsang
It's in the letter to the Galatians where, you know, the right wingers don't like to quote Jesus too much. You might notice this. They never quote Jesus. They never fight to put a Jesus quote on a classroom wall or a men's room wall. They like to quote Paul more. And it's Paul's letter to Galatians where he says there is neither Greek nor Jew, slave nor free. There is either male nor female in Christ. There is nothing in the scriptures that says that recognizing gender identity is anti Jesus. There is no Christ based argument to reject someone's gender identity. None whatsoever. And Jesus is very, very specific throughout his entire part of the book that how you treat the lowest member of society is exactly the way you treat him. The American Medical association has weighed in on this, The American Psychological association, the World Health Organization. Gender dysphoria a real thing. Not all children do any kind of surgery or medical treatments. There are other treatments for it. However, it's really amazing. There seems to be only two areas where these conservatives think the state and the government should get in between a family and their doctor. And it's women with their uteruses and it's trans children trying to decide how to have a happier life. In both cases, the Christians have, have, have been led astray. The Christians have taken stuff that does not appear anywhere in the Jesus parts of the Bible and have used it to impose an anti Jesus blaspheming version of Christianity which violates the New Testament and the Bill of Rights. Jesus is against the death penalty more than once. These people don't follow Jesus and they want to claim Leviticus to be against gays because it says you shall not lie with a man as with a woman. My whole book, Dana's.
- [28:18]
Dana Goldberg
That's what I was going to ask, what you would say.
- [28:20]
John Fugelsang
First off, none of them follow it. None of them follow it. You have to murder people who work on Saturday if you follow Leviticus.
- [28:26]
Dana Goldberg
Absolutely. The threads. Sin is a sin. If a sin is a sin, is a sin. You're not allowed to wear garments that have different things.
- [28:33]
John Fugelsang
You're not allowed to tattoo your skin because of Leviticus. I sure am gonna miss the Marine Corps. Can't have shrimp. I mean, that shrimp cocktail is as abominable as George Michael Knight at the Ramrod Bathhouse. And adultery. You're supposed to stone adulterers to death according to Leviticus 20:10. So if you really believe that this means the gays are bad, I'll let the Secret Service know that you're bringing rocks over to Mar a Lago. They don't believe it, Dana. They don't believe it. They don't live by it, they don't obey it, but they'll use it to hurt a minority that Jesus commands them to love Jesus. The whole thing is the character of Jesus shows up and does this really kooky thing they like to talk about, but not unpack, called the Little New Covenant. The Jews have their covenant with God and it's very beautiful. And they will be God's people. And God will bless them and they will worship him and God will tell them how to treat each other. And then Jesus, this other Jewish guy comes out and he says, well, actually, I'm bringing a new covenant. I'm reinterpreting the old law. I'm fulfilling the law. So Jesus overturns Jewish laws on divorce, he overturns laws on the death penalty, he overturns laws on Sabbath observatory, challenges laws on Sabbath observance, food purity. Jesus is the one who says, fuck your few purity laws. Man's defiled by what comes out of his mouth, not what goes into it. Like, he was smart Jewish boy, and he really upset some of the local Jewish authorities, The Pharisees. Not all of them. Not all of them. But a few of the right wing conservative Pharisees hated this guy being more godly than them. And they conspired with the imperial occupying Roman government to have him killed. Because religious conservatives teaming up with authoritarian government is literally what killed Jesus. And the Jews didn't do it. It was the Romans. And then the Roman Empire took over the religion and rewrote it to make the Jews the bad guys. But the ones who tortured Jesus and crucified him for sedition and hung a sign on his head mocking his Judaism. Oh, the Romans, they hated torturing this poor fellow. The Jews made us the Roman Empire occupying Judea. We're powerless. The Roman Empire, yeah, they. I mean, and so you see how imperial Christianity took over Jesus's operation and then spent 2,000 years getting people to worship Caesar. And the further away they got from the non violent Brown skinned, homeless, Jewish faith healer hanging out in the poor neighborhoods of Galilee. And that's the racket. That's 2,000 years of this bullshit. And there's good Christ followers who resist it. But generally speaking, I don't fault people who don't trust religion anymore based on, oh, my God. Of course, conservatives.
- [31:12]
Dana Goldberg
I agree with you.
- [31:13]
John Fugelsang
It's always the conservatives. It's the fundamentalist Jews, Muslims and Christians. It's the liberal Christians, liberal Jews, liberal Muslims getting along fine right now around the world, getting along just fine nonviolently. It's always the extreme conservatives of all faiths.
- [31:30]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, I agree with you. Well said. I could sit here. I mean, this is my Bible class. This is what I learn. I love it.
- [31:35]
John Fugelsang
Get me all riled up, Dana.
- [31:37]
Dana Goldberg
I love it. I mean, usually it's a different way, but now we're talking about religion. Let's do this. I. Do you watch the State of the Union? Did you watch it through. Did you watch any?
- [31:44]
John Fugelsang
I had to. Yeah. You know, we had to do it for SiriusXM.
- [31:48]
Dana Goldberg
Yep.
- [31:49]
John Fugelsang
And I was like, couldn't we do something positive? Like, couldn't we play Hiroshima footage maybe or something? And they wouldn't let us something more uplifting? Yeah, seriously, like, let's.
- [31:57]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah, it was a disaster. I mean, it was such. It was such bullshit listening to this guy drone on and on. And, you know, I've been watching, you know, specialists, one of the things. And this is something that you'll probably. And I just do want to do a little trigger warning on this for some people when it comes to, like, finding sexual satisfaction through violence. And I know that sounds like a strange thing to bring up right now, but I think you'll probably see it, too. There's so many times, if you watch Trump's speech, when he's talking about violence, when he's talking about death, when he's talking about bludgeoning, there is a satisfaction in him that has been studied that it almost looks like a weird sexual arousal that he gets off on other people's pain. And it's grotesque. And you can see it in the speech. You can see it in the clips. It's horrifying.
- [32:38]
John Fugelsang
That began when he was such a horrible child, his parents gave up and sent him to military school. However, what backfired was in military school, he learned how to haze people, and that's what he still does to this day. Donald Trump is a man who gets off on public humiliation.
- [32:56]
Dana Goldberg
Yes.
- [32:57]
John Fugelsang
He's not into dignifying other people. He's deeply Insecure and has a hollowness where his mother's love should have gone. His mother was sick his entire childhood, and he just is a bad seed from the get go. But he's a coward, and that's why he has to be above people, because he does hate himself so deeply. He knows that no woman ever went with him because of his personality or his looks. And this is the whole thing. He gets off on humiliating people in public, and he gets off on hurting people, and in a much more comical Kaliya like way than previous bad people have done. I mean, Nixon's a racist, Reagan's a racist, but they didn't take pleasure in suffering, Right?
- [33:35]
Dana Goldberg
Yes. And you can see it. The cruelty is the point. Mary Trump has been saying this from the beginning. She's been telling us who her uncle is through books and through her podcast and everything else. He. I truly do believe he is one of the most evil, if not the most evil person that's ever walked this earth. And I know that's saying a lot. We've got Mussolini, we've got all these other people.
- [33:53]
John Fugelsang
But in my lifetime, I think Stalin might be a little bit worse.
- [33:57]
Dana Goldberg
In my experiences, though, that's. Yeah, I think there's a group of them I'm talking about. Also, if you take into what we know about the Epstein files that I'm adding to the disgustingness of who this person is, the evilness of it. It's a compilation of everything.
- [34:15]
John Fugelsang
I'm going to just point out George W. Bush still has a higher body count in terms of people dead because of his presidency.
- [34:24]
Dana Goldberg
Sure.
- [34:25]
John Fugelsang
Donald Trump has a higher body count of Americans dead because of his presidency.
- [34:30]
Dana Goldberg
That's a fair differentiation. Yeah.
- [34:33]
John Fugelsang
I do think that with the USAID cuts, we may see Donald Trump surpass George W. Bush for the most global civilians killed because of his presidency. But, you know, it's really hard to measure it. I mean, how evil he is. And I struggle with it because on the one hand, is it evil or is it just a human ID that has never been encumbered by any kind of limitations. He was insulated from reality by money for so many years. In his 40s, he was so bad with money, his bank put him on a $400,000 a month allowance.
- [35:05]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
- [35:06]
John Fugelsang
Because he was. He had no impulse control, and then he was insulated by celebrity and then by politics. You know, I can't call him a fascist because he doesn't believe in anything but himself.
- [35:17]
Dana Goldberg
Right.
- [35:18]
John Fugelsang
His movement is fascist.
- [35:19]
Dana Goldberg
He's a narcissist.
- [35:20]
John Fugelsang
He's A narcissist. And he is the hood ornament on a fascist car that is facing him. Fascists. I mean, Project 2025 is using him and has used him 100%. That's what fascist agenda.
- [35:33]
Dana Goldberg
That's why when I think about, like, he's gonna die probably before the end of his term, he looks awful, he's sick, that none of this is gonna stop. This has already been. We've got Miller, we've got Jenny Vance, who's as captivating as dry paint, you know, on a wall.
- [35:48]
John Fugelsang
And thank God for that, huh?
- [35:49]
Dana Goldberg
Right? I know. Thank God he's hated. Cuz it's the Peter Thiels and the Stephen Millers that are gonna take control because they're already in control. So for me, having Trump gone is just one evil less in the world. But none of this damage is gonna go away. We have to be able to try and stop this when it comes to the midterms and so on and so forth.
- [36:08]
John Fugelsang
I think what you're saying is that J.D. vance is gonna take all the fun out of Trump's death. I think that's what you're saying. And it's true, man. Baby will be replaced by baby man. It seems like it's inevitable because Trump's not a healthy man. We can talk about that, right? He's not a. He's not a healthy man. His body is 40% crisco. You know this, Dana? Yeah, yeah, this. He looks like a stress ball someone left in a microwave. You know what I'm saying?
- [36:32]
Dana Goldberg
I was talking to Cliff Cash, and I bet you anything Caroline Levitt was massaging his ankles at the State of the Union, just hoping that one of the things didn't get released.
- [36:41]
John Fugelsang
Have you seen those ankles? It looks like he's smuggling Eric across the border. The man is like, his arteries are deep fried. You understand what I'm saying, folks?
- [36:49]
Dana Goldberg
He's not a healthy garbage pail kid. You remember the garbage pail kids?
- [36:52]
John Fugelsang
Yes, I do. Oh, it's like his whole immune system has given up and started vaping. I mean, he says this is. He's phoning it in. He could live a very long time. And I'd like him to live a very long time. Preferably in the Hague, preferably in a debilitated state with immigrants changing him every day. I'm writing a book right now about all of this and Christianity, and I'm having to really reconcile the fact that I don't know who the President's going to be when this book comes out. But the reality is that J.D. vance, who is so deeply pathetic. I mean, J.D. vance makes me think. I mean, my God, makes Mike Pence look like Lincoln. And Mike Pence is going to be famous for doing the right thing once in his entire miserable, bigoted life. One time, Mike Pence did the right thing, and now he gets. He's going to get a Presidential Medal of freedom someday. J.D. vance has no charisma. J.D. vance is like every side effect of Ambien happening all at once. You know, he's like every horrible child on the Wonka Chocolate Factory tour fused into one MAGA. You think MAGA's gonna show up for this doughy, amoral eyeliner model? You think maga's gonna come out from the. Come out from the swamps and down from the mountains and in from the woods to vote for this? Yeah, he looked. He looks like he just stole Pee Wee Herman's bike. Dana, I know. You are what I'm at. I mean, it's going to be glorious to see.
- [38:09]
Dana Goldberg
I feel like that reminds me with the whole Cash Patel thing. Someone actually said that Kash Patel has. Hey, wait up, guys. Energy. Like, that's the whole energy. Catch. Patel. I feel like J.D. vance, too. Hey, guys, wait up.
- [38:21]
John Fugelsang
It's so sad when the little kid who couldn't fit in gets a little bit of power and turns into an embarrassment of addiction. Cash. But, I mean, somewhere in hell, J. Edgar Hoover is appalled. He's wearing a dress.
- [38:33]
Dana Goldberg
He's wearing a dress in a great way.
- [38:35]
John Fugelsang
Disgusted at what has happened to his beloved bureau with this little podcasting douche running around. And look. But this is why Trump hired these people. Yeah, of course, he didn't hire them because they'd be good at their job. He tried that last time, and it was adults in the room saying, Mr. President, you can't do that. So this time, he hires these no talents who will never say, sir, that's illegal.
- [38:56]
Dana Goldberg
No, because it's the most power they've ever had. It's the most power they've ever, ever had. They're not going to question it. They want to be close to power. That's what they want. They will never be powerful men as long as they're close to it. They feel like they've done something with
- [39:07]
John Fugelsang
their lives, but they're stupid because they're all.
- [39:10]
Dana Goldberg
Thank God.
- [39:11]
John Fugelsang
They're all. They are all there to be lanced off like a boil as soon as things go bad. Because, you know, if the Cash Patel thing turns embarrassing for Trump, he's gone he's gone. Pete Heath. The first time one of these scandals. Sticks Gone.
- [39:26]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
- [39:27]
John Fugelsang
All these idiots he hired, they're all yes men and flunkies and henchmen. I mean, look at Pam Bondi right now. The only thing we should be leading with in any conversation is the fact that Donald Trump and Pam Bondi have broken the law every single day since December 19, 2025, to protect men who rape children.
- [39:46]
Dana Goldberg
That's it. No mincing.
- [39:49]
John Fugelsang
Innocent people are not protected in the files. I'm in the Epstein files. Dana. I'm in the files from a show that we did at the Beacon Theater. There's my name on the flyer. Someone was on the mailing list, so I'm on the files. But, you know, I didn't rape a child because my name's not blacked out. You know whose names are blacked out? The guilty members. You know who's not blacked out? The victims. The survivors. They were promised confidentiality. They didn't get it. And they've broken the law every single day to protect child rapists. And you see it in the MAGA circles now. They are so angry at this. They're all ready to come together and finally blame Pam Bondi. Magma will not blame Trump. They are.
- [40:27]
Dana Goldberg
That's exactly. And I've been saying this over and
- [40:29]
John Fugelsang
over, and they will. Trump will fire Pam Bondi because she protected Trump and didn't bring. And then he'll bring someone else in who will also distract them.
- [40:37]
Dana Goldberg
And that's exactly what Blake Trump.
- [40:39]
John Fugelsang
And that's why he hired these people. Yep.
- [40:40]
Dana Goldberg
That is specifically the women that are taking the fall. You see it day in and day out. It's Kristi Noem.
- [40:45]
John Fugelsang
Oh, Kristi Noem. It'll be the same thing when it's time. Yeah, 100%. But Hank, Seth, too. It's going to happen. I mean, Dan Bongino, you could argue, is the first one. You could argue. Bongino.
- [40:55]
Dana Goldberg
Yeah.
- [40:57]
John Fugelsang
That's an insult to ladies and Bongino was the first. Bongino was the first.
- [41:02]
Dana Goldberg
No. Bless his heart. You maybe. You have to be this tall to ride this ride. All right. You and I could do this for hours. It means that this is going to
- [41:08]
John Fugelsang
be the longest podcast in history.
- [41:09]
Dana Goldberg
I love you, my friend. You're going to be back next time. How can people find you when they want to listen to you outside of the Daily Beans?
- [41:15]
John Fugelsang
John, first off, here's the thing. Allison Gill means well in so many ways. And you listeners know this. She means so well, she needs to smile more. But other than that, you know, she does a good job around here. And so I'm like living for the day that I get to go on a tour with you, Dana. Because, my God, we'd set rooms on fire, we'd break, we'd have so much fun. The three of us could do. The three of us could do some damage is all I'm saying. But the. My, my show is called Tell Me Everything. It's Every night on SiriusXM progress127. If you don't have Sirius XM, we're a free podcast called the John Fugelsang Podcast. I'm on all the socials, including Substack, which I have to flog. Allison calls it the Fugal stack. I will not do that. And my book is called Separation of Church and Hate. And it's so great to see you, Dana. I love you on this show.
- [41:59]
Dana Goldberg
It's so great.
- [42:00]
John Fugelsang
You are such a. I mean, I love you as a comedian so much, but you have come to inspire me so much as a broadcaster, as an activist, as someone who actually uses their gift for humor to fight for people that you'll never meet. And I thank you. You've talked me off a ledge more time than you realize.
- [42:18]
Dana Goldberg
Right back at you, my friend. I think that's a good way to end this. John, thank you so much for joining us. All right, everyone, give us a couple minutes. We'll be right back with good news.
- [42:26]
John Fugelsang
We were taping that.
- [42:29]
Dana Goldberg
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- [44:08]
Martin Sheen
dailybeans you can always count on Sunday to be the best day of the week. You can sleep in, go off your diet, spend the day in your pajamas and go on have that second croissant. You know what else you can count on every Sunday? The Martin Sheen Podcast Join me, your host Martin Sheen for beautifully crafted 20 minute programs filled with never before heard stories of my life life along with personal reflections and poetry that inspires and season two begins Sunday, February 1st. The Martin Sheen Podcast is the perfect Sunday relaxing companion. A chance to put your feet up, take a deep breath and enjoy some stress free listening time from the comfort of your favorite easy chair and that second croissant that stays between us. There's no judgment here and so make my podcast your weekly moment of calm as we explore faith, hope, love and what it means to be human. And rest assured, this journey is ever unfolding as I invite you to see what's next with me, Martin Sheen. So let's keep Sunday the best day of the week together and thank you for listening.
- [45:28]
Dana Goldberg
Oh I love John Fugal saying All right everyone, welcome back. It's time for the good news.
- [45:32]
John Fugelsang
Who likes good news?
- [45:33]
Dana Goldberg
Everyone?
- [45:34]
John Fugelsang
Then Good news everyone.
- [45:49]
Dana Goldberg
All right, it's time for Good News Friday.
- [45:51]
Martin Sheen
Good news.
- [45:52]
Dana Goldberg
We made it through the week. Thanks for hanging out with me. I can't wait till Allison is back if you do have any good news. Confessions, corrections, idioms of the world, assholes of the Senate and there are so many of them Misheard lyrics, shared swears Find the cat what the mutt send them to me. Make sure you attach a pod pet tariff picture of a pet, a picture of an animal, picture of a baby, anything your happy place, anything that would just make us smile. Attach the picture and if you want to send it the good news, you can go to dailybeanspod.com good to submit your good news. All right, first up, we've got good trouble from Kim Pronoun. She and her hi beans Queens. The Trump administration has set its sights on the Big Bend Border and Disaster Looms. Last week, residents of the Big Bend region learned that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem approved physical border wall construction with Big Bend national park and Big Bend Ranch State Park. To expedite this process, the Federal Register posting waves 28 laws protecting environmental and cultural resources, including the Wild and Scenic Rivers act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. This was done quietly and on the sly. Not even MPS or Texas Parks and Wildlife Department officials even knew about the plan. If not for some serious investigative reporting by our local newspaper, which is bigbensentinel.com we might not even know anything until the contractor showed up. Local resistance is organizing rapidly. We're going to have a couple links to those people who are putting this together, but we are fighting a massive uphil battle and need all the help we can get. Please help us spread the word that a wall through these two pristine parks is unnecessary. Our location on the border of Texas, Chihuahua and Coahuila is hundreds of miles from the nearest cities in both Mexico and Texas. All roads leading out of this area already have checkpoints. Very few immigrants attempt to migrate through this very harsh terrain. I've attached photos of the Rio Grande where the wall is planned. They illustrate how devastating and unnecessary this construction would be, especially since the natural canyons already create a physical barrier. For my pod pet tax, I've included a photo of the very rare Big Bend Roadrunner in full on resistance mode. I love a good photoshop picture. Oh, maybe it's not photoshopped. Maybe this bird just know how to give the bird. I think it might be photoshopped but it's so good. Hashtag no Big Bend Wall. Thank you so much for this good trouble Kim. We'll have links in these show notes so that you can make some trouble yourself. Okay, this next one's from Ashley Pronoun she and her Dana, I wanted to take a minute to thank you for the past week of news. I would like to say thank you for keeping me sane. But really, how can anyone be sane in this dumpster fire of a news cycle? So thank you for keeping me engaged and for every day that you and Dr. Gill let me know that I'm not crazy or alone when listening to the Orange Menace break another oath building our cultural norms. I believe that we should tell people when they are doing a great job because no one else tells you when you are, but everyone tells you when you fuck up. Let's face it, there are far more things involved when things are working than when they Aren't. Case in point, our current administration. It just took a billionaire with a chainsaw to fuck up versus the thousands of people who were laid off last year. Thank you for your humor, your grace, superb ability to convey so much meaning with so few words. Okay, maybe just the one word. Thank you and Dr. Gill, for showing the power of friendship every day, but especially this week. For my pot pet Tariff, here's a picture of my oldest and youngest. Notes My son's stink eye. My oldest is now a junior in college and my son is a junior in high school. My oldest is currently studying marine biology and is doing a semester in Australia. So, Dana, when you said you loved whales, I knew I had to send you this. A humpback whale. We saw breach in Massachusetts. We saw humpback whales in Maine and Massachusetts. And despite many whale watching trips, we have yet to see another one. First of all, the picture of your kids is fantastic. This is why you have to become a patron, so you can see these pictures. They bring me a lot of joy, everybody. Oh, my gosh. And of course, a whale breaching out of the water. The fact that like a 2 ton mammal can make itself explode out of the water and lift its entire body blows my mind. It's just so cool. It is just so cool. All right, thank you so much for that submission. Next up is from Kelly Pronoun. She and her hello beanie beauties. Thank you, Dana, for filling in for Allison while she takes a much deserved break. It's our job as resisters to remind fellow freedom fighters that they will flame out if they don't allow themselves to occasionally chill. We were in this for the long haul. Until fascism dies or we do, we must stay mentally and physically healthy. Thank you for giving us some light in these dark days and for reminding us that we need to take care of ourselves. From Poppet Tariff, I present Evie, who is an annoying little shit, but did her job and barked like hell when a Nazi showed up at my house. The breed looks like a Chihuahua. It's really hard to tell from this, but we're going to find out. Answer We've got. She's a chug. Yeah, she's a cross between a chihuahua and a pug. Look at me. I actually got one right. What's that? This other thing that's redacted here. Let's see. Basically, she has a pug body and a tiny little chihuahua leg. She's an abomination and we love her. I love the way people talk about their animals because I also feel like if people were honest, they would also talk about some of their children this way. Oh, they're like, that's an abomination. But we love her. All right, this is from Evan Pronouns he and him. Hello creators of my favorite podcast. Heard the news about Geo Aurora facility. That slave labor issue has been an ugly blister for years. I live in Colorado and I heard the news first from you, so thank you. Hopefully I'll have some baby pics for Dana later this summer, but for now, here's a pic of a buttercup rolling in dry wetland grass while I gather reeds for a bee hotel. Evan, you sound very cool. I reported The White House YouTube channel State of the Union video for scam and misleading. I've been smiling all week since I've done it. Loves. Oh, look at this baby. Looks like a pity like Australian shepherd mix. Oh, this is so cool too. I love this. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh my gosh. We have a very quick one from Anonymous. Pronoun she. They. He finally asked in Cancun. And we have a beautiful picture of a lovely couple getting engaged. Oh my God. And look at the second photo. These are fantastic. Anonymous. Congratulations. I love love. Next up is from Steph. No pronouns from Steph, but hey you two. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate what you bring into my life almost every day. The fact based breakdowns keep me grounded and informed, the humor keeps me sane, and the genuine kindness you lead with honesty restores a little faith in humanity each time I listen. It's such a rare combo. Smart, funny and deeply human. And it matters more than you probably know. Thanks for showing up the way you do. I'm attached pictures of Maynard the cat, Phoenix and Brady the dogs from my pet tariff, tax or whatever you want to call it. Oh, these baby boxer. These boxers look so comfortable right there. I just want to go lay with them. I want to snuggle the babies. And your kitty is a big kitty. I think it's an orange tabby. I'm just going to make this shit up because Allison's not here to be like Dana. That's a man coon. I don't think that's how you say that. A Maine coon cat. A man coon. Maybe those are the ones that have the man faces. Y' all can't leave me alone to talk about cats on the podcast. It's a disaster. It's a disaster. This week, however, has not been. Even though there's been craziness in the news. Can't thank you enough for all of the sweet comments. I'm so grateful for my POD co host Allison. I realize how much I don't know. I mean, I know. I know I'm doing a good job without her, but I think we're better together. I think we always have been and we always will be. But all of you make this better for me. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Please do something nice for yourself. Take a breath from the news. Go outside. Either enjoy the melting snow or the sunshine. Hopefully you get some good weather. Just do something nice for yourself, okay? I love you all very much. Thank you for joining me. Till Monday. Until Monday, that's it. 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. Allison will be back with me on Monday and until then I've been DG and them's the Beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison 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 Studio. 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 Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information please visit mswmedia.com msw media.