The Trumpian Predator Class Makes Its Presence Felt
Riot shields, voodoo economics. It's just business, cattle prods and the IMF. Trust I can rely on your vote - Radiohead, "Electioneering"
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In This Letter!
😁 David Shuster’s Great video
👊 My Column
💪 The Soundcheck Fund!
🥃 NYT Pitchbot’s Hilarious Pitches
Opinion | Releasing the Epstein files could have a chilling effect on
future presidents’ affiliation with known sex-traffickers.
DAVID SHUSTER VIDEO, EXCLUSIVELY FOR YOU!
WATCH as David Shuster brings us Trump’s attack on numbers. Dementia on numbers (bringing prices down 1200%??). And why one should beware of charging bears! That applies doubly to GOP Congress members holding town halls...
Cliff’s Note: A President, a Party and a Pool of Predatory Actors
This isn’t your grandpa’s GOP. Hell, it’s not even your crazy uncle’s. It’s a motley crew of Trumpist damnation.
The so-called “Grand Old Party” has upped the ante when it comes the kind of spine-tingling spider monkeys from whom they take their getting-winded-while-shuffling orders. Vicious dictators, billionaires who see us as an algorithmic experiment or a sex trafficking ring like Jeffrey Epstein’s, they’re all of a kind.
They’re Predators.
No, not the hideous, pincer-laden chaps from those fun films. Not including Kash Patel, of course.
I think we can all spot a common ancestor here…But I digress.
We’re talking about a Trumpian lot, who exploit children, women, workers, consumers, our environment, the impoverished, the middle class. The need for a college degree, healthcare, childcare, prescription drugs and, ya know, food and water.
Be they the sex traffickers, debt inculcators, violent insurrectionists, white supremacists, professional grifters, ICE sadists, super-lobbyists and worst of all? Creepy, right-wing billionaires who see us as a resource to exploit at their whim, then discard like trash.
Or what Marjorie Taylor Greene would call “my family tree.”
None would know the Constitution if it walked up and subpoenaed them.
From Trump’s decades-long friendship with Epstein to Matt Gaetz’s looming allegations and the MAGA cult’s embrace of men like Roy Moore. To Musk, Zuckerberg et al whose origin stories are rife with stolen ideas, ripped off partners, screwed workers.
Whether it's conservatives assassinating State Senators in Minnesota
or liberals refusing to sell Alan Dershowitz pierogis in Martha's
Vineyard, both sides have taken incivility to an extreme.
This isn’t a coincidence. It’s a culture of exploitation. And it rots from the head down, like a fish, as the saying goes. Or sharks and batteries, as Trump would riff about for two hours making you wish you’d overdosed on melatonin.
Predators protect their own. Con men cover for con men. And the modern GOP has become a safe haven for all of them. Democracy can survive this—but not without fighters.
Including independent media exposing it every damn day. And that’s why Blue Amp is here. We are literally about amplifying what needs to be in the conversation—it’s in our name!
And why we need you with us—loud, proud, relentless. Authentic voices that are needed at this moment.
Which brings us to the Soundcheck Fund….
We’ve talked about it. Explained why we need you to sign up for paid subscriptions to add to our five-figure investment this effort: to fund an independent-media ecosystem.
AND IT’S LAUNCH TIME!
Donald Trump has fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics in a rambling Truth Social post where he put his own name
in quotation marks, raising new questions about Biden's mental
fortitude.
Soundcheck: A Mic for the Next Generation of Political Influencers
What if the next superstar’s trapped in anonymity by right-wing algorithms? Burning out at a 9-to-5 without the time to use skills to save our democracy? Worse, if institutions, donors, and those with big platforms refused to help, so we lost this generational talent to corporate PR…After all, we all must feed our families.
What if you could be the one to help them break through?
Welcome to the Soundcheck Fund—a Blue Amp initiative designed to discover, amplify, and support emerging voices. Think of it as a launchpad for political messaging—scrappy, independent, and built to amplify what corporate media ignores.
🎧 Why We Built This
The loudest voices in politics aren’t always the smartest—just the best-funded.
Sadly, it’s often not talent that wins attention anymore. It’s ad spends. Insider access. Algorithms attuned to outrage.
The result?
Authentic voices get drowned out.
Smart commentary is hidden.
New leaders never make it past the loading screen.
We’re here to change that.
The Premise Is Simple
We’re seeding a new generation of creators—those who speak with clarity, urgency, humor, and fire. Those who’d go viral if they had time, funding, and support.
With the Soundcheck Fund, we give talented independent media purveyors:
A platform.
A payment.
A push.
You don’t need to be polished—it’s often better if you’re not. You don’t need perfect lighting or expensive gear. You just need something real to say, and the guts to say it.
Who Should Apply?
If this hits home, we’re probably talking to you:
You’ve been ranting to your friends about politics for years.
You’ve got a take that makes sense—and nobody says it quite the way you do.
You’ve got an audience, or the bones of one, but no time/money to build it out.
You’ve never been invited to the table—but you’ve been building your own.
We’ll help you turn that into a micro-platform—fast.
You’ll publish your own content. We’ll feature your work. You’ll get a micro-grant. And we’ll send readers and allies your way.
Apply HERE!
💡 Who Should Fund This?
If you’ve ever said:
“Why don’t we have our own Joe Rogan, Theo Von or Ben Shapiro?”
“Why are we always playing catch-up in the messaging war?”
“Where are the new voices who actually get it?”
…then this fund is your answer.
Supporters of the Soundcheck Fund aren’t just donors—they’re talent scouts for a more democratic and better future. The ones who can say:
“Yeah, I backed them before anyone knew their name.”
You don’t need to bankroll a media empire. You just need to help one person speak up.
📣 First Cohort: Already Making Noise
We’ve already picked the first few recipients — and they’ve been doing exactly what we hoped before we even announced them!
Calling out corporate candidates in plain language.
Writing essays that feel like a slap in the face (in a good way).
Podcasting with the urgency of people who know this moment matters.
They’re not polished. They’re real. And that’s exactly what this moment demands.
🫵 What You Can Do Right Now
Apply to join the next cohort → Right Here
Donate to fund the next voice → Right Here
Forward this to someone who needs to hear it.
The best voices in politics aren’t waiting for permission. They’re waiting for a mic.
This is that mic.
Let’s turn it on.