☕️ MARIACHI MEN ☙ Thursday, October 2, 2025 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠

Shutdown enters day two (no one noticing); Dems and media faceplant on their own rakes; Pentagon fat-shaming fallout; Venezuela tension; Kirk memorial spreads; Elon vs woke Wikipedia; ADL exposed.

Good morning, C&C family, it’s Thursday! Your roundup includes: shutdown news as the nation enters the second day of the federal government being “closed” and still nobody notices and difference, except that Democrats and the media dance on rows of rakes and keep bashing themselves in their fat, political faces; more thoughts follow Tuesday’s fat-shaming at the Pentagon; Venezuela braces for incoming fire; Charlie Kirk memorial movement may be spreading, hopefully with our encouragement; Elon targets woke Wikipedia editors with competitive, AI-powered truth seeking machine; Anti-Defamation League shredded after citizens discover its long-held, defamatory bias against Turning Point, with a little help from Elon Musk and Kash Patel.

🌍 WORLD NEWS AND COMMENTARY 🌍

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For reasons known only to itself, corporate media views government shutdowns as the highest of high drama. Whenever real news begins to drag, they will publish long personal impact interviews with depressed federal employees who feel downright put out by having to get paid for not selflessly working for the people at rates 30-40% above comparable private sector pay. Or tragic tales from national park goers who found bathrooms locked and were forced to do their business bear-style. But I digress. Yesterday, the NYT ran many breathless shutdown stories; this one deliciously headlined, “Trump Uses Shutdown to Maximize Pain for Democrats and Move Forward With Layoffs.”

CLIP: Trump trolls Democrats with tasteful ethnic celebration (0:15).

Shutdown season’s most telling sideshow, its iconic theme, is rapidly becoming a scandal forever to be known as Mariachi-gate. The party started two days ago, when President Trump reposted an AI meme that pasted a cartoon sombrero and a thick Pablo-Escobar-style handlebar mustache onto House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries attending an otherwise snoozy clip of Schumer complaining about Republicans, while Jeffries stood robotically beside him, backgrounded by a jaunty mariachi tune.

Furious Democrats erupted, sputtering outrage and instantly branding the post (what else?): rampant racism.

How dare you!?

Trump did not apologize or blame his interns. He doubled down, utterly confounding Democrats by rapidly posting even more mariachi memes and loudly piping the snappy Mexican jingle into a recent White House press conference. The mockery was unmistakable. And if there’s one thing joyless Marxists cannot abide, it’s someone, somewhere, laughing. Even if the humor is middle-school level. (Hey—at least it’s not fart jokes.)

If —even now— you’re tempted to dismiss the mariachi meme wars as childish or beneath the dignity of the office, consider this: Trump is daring the media to cry “unprofessional.” Because the moment they do, the spotlight naturally swings to Democrats’ own far less flattering and even more childish and deranged behavior. Regardless, the GOP’s message is clear: Democrats are fighting for Mexicans, not Americans.

It’s tasteless, transgressive, and a trifle ugly, but undeniably shrewd — political jiu-jitsu in meme form.

🔥 Meanwhile, OMB Director and self-described “Christian Nationalist” Russel Vought has appeared on the scene like a Budgetary Angel of Death. According to the story, he has announced canceling $8 billion in “Green New Scam” grants (Vought’s description) intended for blue states, canceling “321” goofy Energy Department awards, and pausing $18 billion in federal infrastructure assistance intended for New York —Chuck Schumer’s district— by furloughing the staff responsible for reviewing and approving those grants.

What else was he supposed to do? He can’t pay what the government doesn’t have. President Trump meets with Director Vought today to discuss the next steps:

But, of the Times’ parade of shutdown horribles, my personal favorite was the tragicomedy at the Voice of America. Kari Lake has been heroically trying to broom the entrenched lefties haunting that compromised “independent” agency. Right after she finally pink-slipped the VoA’s purple-haired crew, two days ago, a federal judge swooped in and ordered 532 of them to be rehired.

Jubilant, they rushed back, plunking their Fauci bobbleheads and Che mugs back onto desks they’d only just packed up a few days before.

And then —boom— came the shutdown. All 532 were immediately furloughed. The latte foam hearts from the department’s fancy cappuccino machine lasted longer than their triumphant reinstatements did. Every single VoA broadcast fizzled out, silenced not by Lake, but by the budgetary axe the Democrats handed her.

Old-school sitcom writers couldn’t script it any better unless they added a mariachi soundtrack.

Senator Patty Murray (D-Wa.) complained bitterly that Republicans are “gleefully using the shutdown they have caused as a pretext to inflict even more pain in some sort of sick political game.” Gleeful might be a tiny overstatement, but otherwise fair.

Meanwhile, Senate Republicans again attempted a vote yesterday to again authorize a short extension of Biden-era funding, and Democrats again successfully opposed it. It baffles me how progressives think the Democrats can hope to win the “blame game.”

Shutdown 2025’s motto is: Viva la fiesta.

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Speaking of mariachi music, three days ago, Reuters ran an under-reported story headlined, “Venezuela’s Maduro readies security powers in case of feared US attack.” Might there be some dots to connect between War Secretary Hegseth’s “all hands” meeting with the generals and the narco-terrorists running Venezuela? Some warbloggers suspect so. So, apparently, does Venezuela’s President, Nicolas Maduro.

Media uselessly obsessed over Hegseth’s public remarks about military girth and some officers’ inability to climb a short stairway without resting, but more serious independent commenters noted that both President Trump and Secretary Hegseth also spoke to the generals in private, outside public view.

What did they discuss? And was that the real reason they were all summoned to one place? To receive new orders?

🚀 Since returning to office, President Trump has singled-out Venezuela, describing the communist country as what could only be described as an enemy. The country (and its authoritarian leader) have flooded the US with hard drugs and dispatched teams of cartel soldiers across Biden’s broken border. You’ve heard much about the Tren de Aragua gang; Trump says they are working directly with and for the Venezuelan government.

Most recently, corporate media has reported a growing US Naval fleet off Caracas and in the Caribbean, which has recently and quite summarily blown up a handful of drug-running boats. Reports say the U.S. has deployed at least eight warships, a nuclear submarine, and more than 4,500 troops to the Caribbean since mid-August, all ostensibly as part of an anti-narcotics operation. The State Department also recently doubled the reward for Maduro’s arrest to $50 million.

Through several executive orders, Trump has labeled Maduro, other Venezuelan officials, and the entire regime as a “foreign terrorist organization,” which our government collectively calls the Cartel de los Soles. The orders authorized military force against the cartels.

Perhaps not coincidentally, two years ago, Venezuela and China cemented a close formal relationship described as an “all-weather strategic partnership,” which includes Chinese participation at nearly every level of Venezuela’s military and economy. Reports from defense journals say Venezuela is preparing to buy advanced Chinese fighter jets, which would also introduce Chinese military advisors and infrastructure into the South American country. Headline from China’s English-language website, May:

In August, CNN ran a story under this headline:

That’s a pretty important question, and one that potentially justifies a whole-of-military meeting. If the US does move against Venezuela, will China butt in? In other words, the War Department in the Pacific is just as involved in any potential action against Caracas.

Now consider this headline, from Latin Times, last week:

The good news is, China has loudly complained but has not explicitly warned of any kinetic response to US actions against Venezuela. The agreements between Maduro and Xi do not include mutual defense provisions, at least not to our knowledge.

🚀 On Monday, President Maduro responded to the various American actions by signing a decree granting him even more security powers— explicitly preparing for war, and justified by fears of an imminent U.S. military incursion into that country. He also sent a letter to President Trump offering “direct talks” and hotly denying that Venezuela sends any drugs to America.

What does Maduro know?

So the warbloggers are wondering whether the U.S. military is preparing a major military action against Venezuela. It’s not much of a leap. Taken all together, Trump’s executive orders, military maneuvers, and public comments all confirm that’s what he wants to do.

Meanwhile, Marco Rubio and JD Vance have been telling the Europeans that America is de-prioritizing overseas adventures and focusing on American geopolitical interests, which in this case would be stopping the flow of devastating, destabilizing drugs and ejecting China’s military from South America, which is not separated from us by an ocean like some other media-favored conflicts (cough, Ukraine).

Obviously, I don’t know the plan (and don’t want to). I’m merely presenting what corporate media won’t, which appears to be a strong likelihood that the U.S. military is about to make a major geopolitical move in our own hemisphere (for a change). In which case, the media almost certainly hopes to trick low-information consumers into thinking Trump is just overreacting to harmless recreational drug use, when the real problem with Venezuela is clearly much more serious and complex.

If it does happen, remember that the Democrats love wars that benefit Europeans. They only oppose using the military to defend America from countries that are actually attacking us with destabilizing hard drugs, and infesting us with criminal gangs who, as we’ve seen, bribe or threaten our local judges and officials.

If Maduro starts popping up in memes wearing a cartoon sombrero, you know what’s coming next.

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Yesterday, Lake and Sumter Style ran a terrific story headlined, “Schofield Road in Clermont Officially Designated as Charlie Kirk Memorial Highway.” Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini announced on X what appears to be the first of what will hopefully be very many more roadway memorials to Charlie Kirk:

It wasn’t easy. “The decision,” the Style reported, “came after an hours-long and often heated public hearing where residents debated whether the late conservative activist should be honored with a road naming. Commissioners ultimately agreed the dedication was about condemning political violence rather than endorsing political views.”

So far as I can tell, Florida counties Melbourne and Clearwater have rejected proposals to name roads for Charlie. Miami-Dade and St. Lucie are still discussing it. Hopefully, they’ll follow Lake County’s example. If you live in Miami-Dade or St. Lucie, you know what to do.

I couldn’t find any stories reporting similar efforts outside Florida. If you know of one, share it in the comments. You might mention the idea to your local commissioners.

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Yesterday, the Hill ran a wonderfully encouraging story headlined, “Musk says xAI building ‘Grokipedia’ after criticizing Wikipedia.” Wikipedia, which tragically had originally showed so much promise, has long been hollowed out by leftists. For example, Wikipedia’s first paragraph about Charlie Kirk’s political positions cites the Southern Poverty Law Center calling Charlie’s “rhetoric divisive, racist, xenophobic, and extreme.” A reckoning is long overdue.

“We are building Grokipedia @xAI,” Musk said on X Tuesday. “Will be a massive improvement over Wikipedia. Frankly, it is a necessary step towards the xAI goal of understanding the Universe.”

Wikipedia is often described as “the largest written collection of knowledge in human history.” Hopefully not for much longer.

There wasn’t much in the way of tangible news, and so the story falls squarely into the “somebody said something” category. But still. Musk, after all, is the world’s richest man and, whatever else you might think about the space billionaire, has done more to protect free speech than anyone alive. He literally paid $48 billion to buy X and save it —and the rest of us— from censorship, even though every major advertiser bailed the next day.

Musk has recently heaped well-deserved criticism on the free online encyclopedia and called it “hopelessly biased.” One of its two founders, Larry Sanger, 57, now calls the platform “completely corrupted.” Daily Mail headline, yesterday:

As one recent example from the Mail’s article, Wikipedia’s elite editors first attempted to delete the entry on Iryna Zarutska’s brutal murder on the grounds it was insufficiently newsworthy. After backlash forced them to restore the entry, they edited out the killer’s name and all references to his race and the racial motivation for Iryna’s killing. They even argued about whether to call it a “murder,” as though the Ukrainian refugee might’ve been killed in a tragic railway accident or as though her cause of death remains forever mysterious, like covid jab victims.

🔥 Wikipedia is managed by a loose group of 62 administrative editors. Only one-fifth of them use their real names; the rest remain anonymous. They are super woke. Wikipedia’s co-founder Sanger coined the helpful term GASP to describe the editorial group: Globalist, Academic, Secular, and Progressive.

Not much substance is known about Musk’s proposed replacement apart from a few posts by his development team hinting that objective truth is the highest priority for knowledge, a terrifying prospect that fills progressives’ hearts with fear. Despite the lack of technical details or any launch date, the announcement flooded the tech media with straight news, and filled corporate media with hastily written op-eds decrying Musk’s search for truth as anti-democratic.

In other words, progressives feel that people should get to vote on the truth, unless the vote goes the wrong way, in which case: mandates.

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In more great free-speech news, yesterday Newsweek ran a story headlined, “ADL scraps ‘Glossary of Extremism’ after backlash.” Also yesterday —based on the same backlash— Reuters ran a story headlined, “FBI cuts ties with Anti-Defamation League, FBI director says.” It is deeply ironic that the Anti-Defamation League is being taken down because it defamed Charlie Kirk.

The ADL is a historically powerful, politically connected NGO that ostensibly opposes antisemitism through advocacy and legal defense. But it mostly acts like a progressive powerhouse, advocating for loony leftwing causes that have nothing whatsoever to do with protecting Jewish citizens’ rights. Here’s the entry from the ADL’s dictionary defining “racism:”

Worse the ADL has deeply embedded itself into the nation’s institutions. The ADL’s own website claims it has worked with the FBI, states, and local law enforcement to identify domestic “extremist hate groups” since the 1940’s. It’s everywhere. At a 2014 ADL summit, recently indicted former FBI director James Comey said that the FBI worked hand-in-pocket with the ADL to host civil rights and hate crime training “for state and local counterparts.”

But the ADL suffered a significant setback this week.

Following Charlie Kirk’s assassination, alert independent researchers discovered the ADL’s “Glossary of Extremism and Hate,” which included a fulsome entry against Turning Point USA. Rightful outrage ensued, with Elon Musk posting a string of comments critical of the ADL. Then more information emerged disclosing how much Biden’s DOJ had relied on the ADL to compile its own lists of “hate groups” and domestic terrorists, like pro-life activists and Catholics.

Yesterday, the FBI announced it was “cutting all ties” with the ADL, and FBI Director Kash Patel posted that notice on his X stream, saying the bureau “won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs.” Buh bye.

Following yesterday’s announcement, the ADL deleted the entire glossary from its website. According to a statement, the hateful glossary has now been permanently “retired.”

It can be argued that, by falsely slandering his college-outreach organization as an “extremist hate group,” the ADL is at least partly culpable in Charlie’s assassination. Even in death, Charlie Kirk continues to change minds and influence the political landscape. The ADL’s poisonous reign of terror is coming to an end. The beastly ADL is strong and hard to kill off. It is not dead yet, but it’s been seriously wounded. And hunters are tracking it right now.

Just think. A year ago, we were still trying to get people to pay attention to the Twitter files. Look how far we’ve come in such a short time. Elections —and assassinations— have consequences.

Have a terrific Thursday! Coffee & Covid shall return tomorrow morning with more highly caffeinated essential news and commentary.

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