From Gene Weingarten On Corruption & Crime

The Teapot Noem® Affair by gene weingarten
Read on Substack

Welcome to the Weekend Gene Pool. You know the drill. We give you a topic, you spill your guts, we betray you by publishing it next week with snarky comments.

We’ll get to that in a minute. But first, a brief nod to what seems to be a burgeoning scandal in the Trump regime, one that was almost totally ignored yesterday, drowned out by more salacious semi-details in The Epstein Chronicles. I’d considered waiting a bit to address this new scandal-in-progress but I came up with the perfect name for it, and I wanted to stake that claim, which I have done with the headline above.

Here is the story.

Until Watergate, the existing American scandal standard was “The Teapot Dome Affair,” though “-dome” never entered the lexicon as “-gate” did for required scandal suffixery. (Tragically, the 1959 steel scandal never became “Chromedome.”)

Teapot Dome was a rather simple affair. Warren Harding’s Secretary of the Interior, Albert Fall, a man who looked like an angry and constipated Mark Twain,

Albert Fall - Secretary of the Interior, 1921-1923 - Top 10 Worst Cabinet Members - TIME

… took bribes from oilmen amounting to hundreds of thousand of dollars’ worth of cash and cows — he was also a rancher — in return for leasing them government oil reserves in the West that included the Teapot Dome field in Wyoming, which was no beaut of a butte; it was said to look something like a teapot, with its spout, but only as designed by those architects of Herman Goering’s priapic tables.

Teapot Dome, the U.S. Marines and a President’s Reputation | WyoHistory.org — Teapot Dome

This penis table... : r/WTF — Priapic Table

Eventually, Fall, the fall guy, fell. He did a year of hard labor in the ~~teapot~~ can.

—

Kristi Noem — former governor of South Dakota — is also a Westerner, and also a rancher, and also a member of the president’s Cabinet and as such also controls huge domestic budgets, and also is connected by photographs to large mountains.

The beginnings of the Teapot Noem® Affair were revealed yesterday by ProPublica. Here are the headlines:

Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts

The company is run by the husband of Noem’s chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the “emergency” at the border to skirt competitive bidding rules for the taxpayer-funded campaign.

…

The majority of the money — $143 million — has gone to a mysterious LLC in Delaware. The company was created just days before it was awarded the deal.

—

Honestly, you don’t need to know more than that. Or maybe you do. I myself didn’t read any further because the Epstein news of the day seemed to imply the possibility that Donald Trump once gave Bill Clinton a blow job. That story seems pretty, um, inflated, but you know. Eyeballs.

More on Kristi “Twisti” Noem later in the week, I am guessing.

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Today’s Gene Pool challenge is based on something that happened to me last evening. I was in my car, traveling west on Massachusetts Avenue, a bustling two way thoroughfare in D.C. I turned right onto 15th Street SE, a one-lane, one-way street going my way. This street had a bike lane, which was, of course, also one-way in the same direction as the street. I checked to my left for bikers. There were none. So I turned right. This turn was legal and prudent. And that is when I almost killed a young woman and a girl I presumed to be her daughter, who looked to be about seven. They were on an electric scooter. The girl was standing in front of her mom, between mom and the handlebars.

The scooter was going the wrong way in the bike lane at twilight. It was rolling to a stop for the light, but moving faster than I was.

I had to jam on my brakes and veer to the left to avoid them. Then I did something I almost never do. I butted in to something that was Clearly Not My Business. I pulled to the curb and got out of my car. They were still at the light.

I said, “Ma’am, this is not my business, but I think you’re risking both of your lives by driving the wrong way in a bike lane on a one-way street at night. I almost hit you. I don’t think you should do this.”

She stared at me, blandly. She did not seem offended.

“Okay,” she said.

The light changed.

She roared off, at maybe 20 miles an hour, down the bike lane, the wrong way on a one-way street, into the darkening, menacing night.

—

So, that is your challenge for the day. What is some advice — buttinsky or otherwise — that you once gave with the best of intentions that either backfired or was ignored to someone’s detriment, or yours?

Send ’em as always, here. (snip-a bit MORE and a little poll on the page)

Pres. Wilson Throws a Night Of Terror, First Peacetime Conscription In U.S., SANE Is Founded, & More, In Peace & Justice History for 11/15

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorynovember.htm#november15

A Date & An SoS That Will Live In Infamy, 1st Airplane Takeoff From A Ship, & 10 Million Did Not Sign, On This Date In Peace & Justice History

Stacy Davis Gates, President Of A Union That Works:

All About the Badass Black Woman Standing Up Against Trump and His War on Chicago

Chicago Teachers Union leader Stacy Davis Gates defends public schools and Black families against Trump’s attacks.

By Asheea Smith Published November 12, 2025

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates speaks to the City Club of Chicago at Maggiano’s Banquets on Grand Avenue on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

In the heart of Chicago, one Black woman has emerged as a powerhouse in the American labor movement: Stacy Davis Gates, President of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and leader of the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT). At a time when public education, health care, and resources feel under siege, Davis Gates has positioned herself at the intersection of activism, advocacy, and community leadership — standing up to President Donald Trump’s political attacks by defending families and public education.

A steadfast advocate for Chicagoans, the union boss has her eyes set on the prosperity of Black residents in her city by any means necessary, leading a fearless charge against militarized operations including ICE and the National Guard — deployed under Trump’s direction. And since Chicago’s been targeted by the administration, Davis Gates hasn’t flinched in the face of terror. (snip-so much MORE-go read it; it’s not long)

(Updated) Thank You, It’s Your Day. We Appreciate You!

And I wish to clarify. Because I push peace so much, some could understandably surmise that I “hate the US military”, which I most assuredly do not, for many reasons, not the least of which is that the US military are human beings who, for their reasons, chose the military path for at least a while.

No, I am thankful. So many did so much for so many more, and I appreciate that. I appreciate even more that the ones who survived to be with us today, are here with us today. I have respect for those who serve in that capacity; sometimes they’re put in positions of great danger and possibly having to take the life of someone else, yet they survive and come back. I am embarrassed that the US (we the people) have yet to fulfill the package veterans ought to expect for serving, and I work so that maybe one day, we will fulfill that. The US military is a special calling for those who are called, and it’s a risk for those who join feeling they have little other path when they begin. So, please accept my thanks even if you don’t feel as if you have it coming. To me, you do, because you did it and you’re here. I always hesitate to say “happy Veteran’s Day,” because it doesn’t strike me as a happy day, but more of a solemn observance day for people who did/do work that not all of us are cut out to do. That leaves thank you, and it is sincere.

Now enjoy the damn cartoon! 🙂

Veterans Day 2025

“Apparently, Sunday night is the new big news night.”

The Overnight News by Joyce Vance
Read on Substack

Apparently, Sunday night is the new big news night. To keep us up to date on today’s developments, it’s a rare Monday morning update.

Late last night, Trump issued pardons. However, it’s an unusual list that leaves us reading tea leaves, because these aren’t individuals being prosecuted by the federal government or even people who are at risk of being prosecuted, given the current administration—those are the people who usually want and need a pardon. These pardons don’t apply to ongoing state prosecutions of fake slates of electors in places like Arizona and Nevada.

These names still don’t appear on the White House’s official pardon list. News of the pardons came from a tweet made by Trump’s man at DOJ, Ed Martin. And it wasn’t subtle: “No MAGA left behind.”

The list names a cast of familiar characters, including Rudy Giuliani, Boris Epshteyn, John Eastman, Mark Meadows, Sidney Powell, Ken Chesebro, Michael Roman, Christina Bobb, Kelli Ward, and Jenna Ellis. They are all people who advanced Trump’s effort to claim victory after losing the 2020 election. But that’s not the full extent of it. The document Martin posted purports to be a broad pardon, akin to those following the Civil War that pardons everyone involved (although here, there is no requirement to take a loyalty oath to the United States as there was following the war). It’s part of Trump’s ongoing effort to rewrite the history of January 6 and the insurrection and a signal that anyone who serves him will be protected and rewarded.

Late last night, the First Circuit rejected the administration’s request for a stay of a lower court order requiring it to make SNAP payments from emergency funds. That left the ball in the Supreme Court’s hands. Justice Jackson promptly issued a briefing schedule that requires both sides, as well as any amici, to file their briefs on the matter today. This proceeding is limited to the question of whether the district court’s order that the administration must proceed with November SNAP payments should be stayed (paused) while the lawsuit proceeds.

The First Circuit panel made the stakes plain in its opinion: 42 million people, or one in every eight Americans, rely on these benefits to keep hunger at bay.

First thing Monday morning, Justice Jackson issued a briefing order requiring the DOJ to file its response to the First Circuit’s decision by 4:00 p.m. and giving the plaintiffs until 8:00 a.m. Tuesday morning to respond. The government is “the applicant” at this stage of the case.

Federal Law enforcement abuses in Chicago. The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal over Chicago federal Judge Sara Ellis’ preliminary injunction restricting the use of force against protesters and journalists. If you stop for just a moment and zoom out, the utter lunacy here comes into focus. The government is fighting for the right to use excessive force against peaceful protesters. Why not take the obvious position that while it disagrees with the Judge’s assessment of the facts, it intends to fully comply with the law regarding treatment of people exercising their First Amendment rights? But that is not the government’s view of the matter.

Finally, marriage equality is safe, at least for now. The Supreme Court issued its list of grants and denials on cases from Friday’s conference this morning. The case I wrote to you about last night, involving Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis, who objected to issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples, was on the denial list, so the Court will not hear Davis’ appeal. That means there were not four Justices who wanted to hear the case, which, as I mentioned, doesn’t have particularly attractive facts for undoing longstanding precedent. This denial doesn’t tell us anything about whether the Court might be interested in undoing gay Americans’ rights if the “right” case comes along.

Last night, I started the newsletter by writing, “It’s going to be another blockbuster, high-stakes legal week. If you feel a bit overwhelmed, like I did Friday night at dinner when legal opinions were breaking out everywhere while I tried to have a meal with friends, remember that I’ll be here for you all week to try and keep things organized and understandable.” I didn’t expect it to be this soon, but the courts, for a change, are moving at lightning speed. Thank you for being here with me and reading Civil Discourse.

We’re in this together,

Joyce

1st Gay Rights Organization Founded This Date In Peace & Justice History

(I don’t know what this formatting is about. This is the 3d try, so here it is as it is.)

November 10, 1924

HENRY GERBER

INDIVIDUAL | Inducted 1992 [Posthumous]

The founder of Chicago’s Society for Human Rights in 1924, the first gay rights organization in the United States, Henry Gerber was born in Bavaria as Joseph Henry Dittmar on June 29, 1892, and arrived at Ellis Island in October, 1913. With members of his family, he moved to Chicago because of its large German population. After working briefly at Montgomery Ward, he was interned as an alien during World War I. He wrote that although this was not right, he did receive three meals a day. From 1920 to 1923 he served with the U.S. Army of Occupation of Germany and during this time, he came into contact with the German homosexual emancipation movement. He subscribed to German homophile magazines and was in contact with Magnus Hirschfeld’s Scientific-Humanitarian Community in Berlin. In 1924, Gerber returned to Chicago and was hired by the post office. Gerber’s return to Chicago was amidst a backdrop of urbanization and an emerging gay subculture.

Following what Gerber had seen in Germany, he felt the need to establish an organization to protect the rights of gays and lesbians. With several friends, Gerber formed an organization which was later incorporated as The Society for Human Rights, a nonprofit corporation in the State of Illinois. The organization published a newsletter, Friendship and Freedom, which was distributed to its small membership.

In July, 1925, the society came to an abrupt end. The wife of one of the co-founders reported her husband, a reputed bisexual, to her social worker who contacted the police. Following a police raid, Gerber and several others were arrested and prosecuted for their deviancy. After three costly trials the case against Gerber was dismissed. Gerber lost his entire life savings defending himself and was fired from his job at the post office for conduct unbecoming a postal worker.

After his ordeal, Gerber moved to New York City where he reenlisted in the U.S. Army and served for 17 years. During the 1930s he managed a personal correspondence club and wrote articles in gay publications under a pseudonym. The correspondence club became a national communications network for gay men. In the 1940s, Gerber exchanged a number of letters with Manuel Boyfrank of California. Boyfrank was enthusiastic about organizing to combat homosexual oppression. Gerber offered his assistance, but refused to risk his job again. He continued his assistance through personal correspondence and numerous articles.

On December 31, 1972, Gerber died at the U.S. Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home in Washington, D.C., at the age of 80. He lived to see the Stonewall Rebellion and the start of a new era of activist gay and lesbian liberation organizations.

(Updated with link & my apologies) Protest Art, & Stagecoach Mary, From “The Saturday Evening Post”

Considering History: Protest Art and Art as Protest in American History

Art has been integral to the foundational American story of protest.

Ben Railton

This series by American studies professor Ben Railton explores the connections between America’s past and present.

It’s hard to describe our current moment as a golden age for much of anything in America, but we are indeed amidst a renaissance of protest art. Portland’s inflatable resistance frogs have morphed into a consistent presence of life-size artistic costumes at protests, including at the massive #NoKings rallies on October 18^th.

*People dressed in inflatable duck costumes at the Indianapolis No Kings protest on October 18, 2025 (Photo courtesy of J. Bortel)*

And public and street art has likewise become a consistent space for expressions of protest and resistance, as illustrated by this graffiti quotation from the 14^th Amendment found on the wall of an abandoned Dunkin Donuts near my university in Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

*Protest graffiti in Fitchburg, Massachusetts (Photo courtesy of Ben Railton)*

Those examples comprise two distinct but interconnected categories: protest art — artworks present at or directly representing collective actions; and art as protest — artworks that themselves comprise an expression and form of resistance. Both types are part of a long, rich history, as art has been integral to the foundational American story of protest. Here I’ll highlight just a few examples of each category from across our history. (snip-MORE-click through on the title)

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Missing in History: Stagecoach Mary Broke Barriers (and a Few Noses)

America’s first Black female mail carrier defied bias, bandits, and bad weather to deliver the mail on time in Montana.

Nancy Rubin Stuart

Mary Fields ca. 1895 (Wikimedia Commons)

“I like to be rough. I like to be rowdy. I also like to be loving….I like to baby sit.”

—Mary Fields

Mary Fields was as beloved as she was feared. Few people dared challenge the six-foot-tall, 200-pound former slave who carried a gun, drank, and had a hot temper. Despite her formidable image, Fields loved children, helped others, and carried the mail through the blizzards of northern Montana.

Born into slavery around 1832 in Hickman County, Tennessee and freed after the Civil War, Fields later found work as a chambermaid on the Mississippi steamboat Robert E. Lee. There she met Judge Edmund Dunne, who hired her as a servant in his household. After his wife’s death, Dunne sent Fields and his five children to live with his sister, Sara, or Mary Amadeus, Mother Superior of the Ursuline convent in Toledo, Ohio around 1874. There the former slave and the nun became fast friends. According to the Toledo Blade, legend has it that when Fields arrived in Toledo, Mother Amadeus asked if she needed anything, to which her friend replied, “Yes, a good cigar and a drink.”

*Mary Fields ca. 1895 (Wikimedia Commons)*

The following year, Mother Amadeus was sent to Montana Territory to establish a school for indigenous girls at St. Peter’s Mission, west of the town of Cascade. When Fields learned that Mother Amadeus was stricken with pneumonia, she moved to Montana and nursed the nun back to health. After that, the 52-year-old Fields volunteered at the convent, hauling stones to build the school, fetching supplies from nearb y towns, washing the convent’s laundry, tending to its many chickens, managing the kitchen, and maintaining the mission’s garden and grounds. (While she lived at the convent, Fields refused to be paid for her work, preferring to come and go as she pleased.) (snip-MORE-click through on the title)

A Couple Of Pieces From “Them”

A Man Got His Jaw Broken Defending a Trans Woman. The Community Paid for His Surgery

Jarod Adkison had been left with a concussion by three men.

By Abby Monteil

After the story of a cisgender man who was severely beaten over the summer while defending a trans woman went viral, strangers have helped him cover his reconstruction surgery.

33-year-old Jarod Adkison told Austin American-Statesman that he began chatting with three women while visiting Barton Springs Pool near Austin, Texas on July 26. While they were sitting by the pool, Adkison noticed three men who appeared drunk coming up and making fun of one of the women, who is trans.

“It all stemmed from the men seeing the trans lady and making a lewd gesture,” he said. (snip-MORE-click on the title to finish)

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Our First Lady Cole Escola to Play Gender Nonconforming Role in Netflix’s One Piece

The performer will play the role of Bon Clay.

By James Factora

Cole Escola has been cast in the third season of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of One Piece as a fan favorite character.

The news of the actor’s casting was announced on Monday. They will be playing Bon Clay, who is described as “a master of performance and precision who is as dangerous as they are dazzling, a theatrical assassin who turns combat into art.” The character in the original manga is described as an okama, a Japanese umbrella term that can refer to gender nonconforming men, trans women, and crossdressers. So basically, Escola is perfect for the role. (snip-MORE-click through on the title)