News On Tap For Thursday, October 2, 2025

Realities Vs Perceptions

Today’s “News On Tap” is all about clarity, since clearly we can’t trust the mainstream news media. We’ve got more on the Republican shutdown, & the monster Russ Voughr. We’ve also got updates on Trump’s immigration wars -& how good folks are fighting these monsters. Plus, Epstein & election news, & some entertainment news too. Plus, we’ve got David Schocket & John Fugelsang in the bar tonight. No room for clips today. So read up & get informed!

First Round - Shutdown Realities

The Republican Shutdown

• Government Shutdown Live Updates: Trump Regime, Republicans, & Democrats All Holding Firm As Shutdown Goes Through Day 2

• Democratic Leaders Hold Firm On Shutdown Stance In Face Of Trump Regime’s Illegal Mass Firing Threat

• Federal Workers Are Illegally Being Forced By The Trump Regime To Push Partisan Message Of Blame For The Shutdown

• Trump & Vought Are Causing Bipartisan Alarm By Trying To Turn Shutdown Into DOGE 2.0

• New WaPo Poll: 71% Of Voters Want The ACA Tax Credits Extended; Trump & Republicans Seen As More Responsible For The Shutdown, 47% To 30%

• Alex Shepard: Democrats In Congress Finally Grew A Spine

• Bill Scher: Republicans Could End The Government Shutdown Today, If They Wanted To. Clearly, They Don’t.

Trump’s Corrupt Criminal Govt.

• Russ Vought, Trump’s OMB Director, Says Mass Firings Will Begin ‘In A Day Or Two’

• Senior Federal Officials Have Quietly Warned Trump Admin. That Mass Govt. Employee Firings Violate Appropriations Law [Gift Link]

• Trump’s Corrupt & Criminal Budget Goon Russ Vought Is Ramping Up His War With Democratic States With $18B In Energy Cuts

• Trump, Vought, & Their Toadies Are Taking Sadistic Glee In Slashing Projects In Blue States. They’ve Clearly Forgotten Their Cuts Will Hurt MAGA Voters Too

Second Round - Fighting Forward

• Hundreds Of Celebrities Relaunch A McCarthy-Era Committee To Defend Free Speech

• To Fight Trump’s Funding Freezes, Some States Are Proposing A New Gambit: Withholding Federal Payments

• Could California - Or Other States - Withhold Federal Tax Dollars In Response To Trump? Not Easily.

• David Atkins: MAGA Has Not Won Yet - And They Might Never Fully Win. So Quit Being All Gloom And Doom.

• Paul Krugman: An Autocracy Of Dunces - How Good Americans & Trump’s Halfascism May Just Save Our Democracy

Third Round - Immigration Wars

• Trump’s DC “Crime” Emergency Is Over. ICE Officers Are Still Patrolling With Them - Which Is Against DC Law

• ICE Agents Raid Chicago’s South Shore Apartments, As Trump Threatens That Chicago Could Become Military Training Ground

• Drones, Helicopters, Hundreds Of Arrests: Trump’s Immigration Crackdown In Chicago So Far [Gift Link]

• How ICE Terror Campaigns Are Used By Cruel Employers To Keep Workers In Fear

Fourth Round - More News To Drink About

The Trump/Epstein Cover Up

• Rep. Robert Garcia,, Top Democrat On House Oversight, Says Commerce Sec. Lutnick Needs To Testify Over Stunning Epstein Claim: ‘We Need To Speak To Him’

• New PBS News/NPR/Marist Poll Shows Roughly 75% Of Americans Want The Epstein Files Released

Election Land

• New Poll: Spanberger Holds 10-Point Lead Over Republican Challenger For Governor

• Federal Funds For Hudson Tunnel Project, Frozen By Trump Admin., Now Hitting New Jersey’s Race For Governor

Foreign Affairs

• Police Declare Terrorist Incident As At Least Two Killed In Car And Knife Attack Outside Manchester, UK Synagogue On Yom Kippur

• Israeli Military Intercepts Aid Flotilla Bound For Gaza

• Eiffel Tower Closed As Nationwide Strikes Held Across France Against Austerity

Fifth Round - Media, Entertainment, & More

• Jane Goodall, Famous Primatologist, Conservationist, & Humanist, Dies At 91

• New Gallup Poll: U.S. Trust In Mainstream Media At All-Time Low Of 28%

• Media Trust Hits New Low, But One Detail Gets Overlooked - The Personal Effect

• OpenAI’s Sora 2 Copyright Infringement Machine Features Nazi Spongebobs And Criminal Pikachus

• Taylor Swift’s ‘Release Party Of A Showgirl’ Continues Her Streak Of Unexpected Box Office Successes

• MLB Wild Card Series Game 2 Winners, Losers: Dodgers Advance, Yankees, Padres, Guardians Stave Off Elimination

• Shohei Ohtani To Make Postseason Pitching Debut For Dodgers In Game 1 Of NLDS

Today’s Special Guest

David Schockett is a novelist, short-fiction writer, essayist, humorist - and former podcast host with Jody! A resident of Los Angeles for 40 years, he also founded and operates the legendary Dragonfly nightclub in Hollywood. And while he’s done many other important things, they won’t fit here. But he’ll tell us about some of them tonight.

Tonight’s Bar Regular:

John Fugelsang, writer, broadcaster, podcaster, comedian, & friend – & the Host of “Tell Me Everything with John Fugelsang” weeknights on Sirius XM – is stopping by the bar again, and this time he’s made the top ten bestseller list for BOTH the L.A. Times *and* the N.Y. Times. That’s right - Jon is bi…coastal with his great book, “Separation of Church and Hate” He’ll join us tonight to talk with us about today’s news, and about several of the topics he’s written about recently on his great Substack. Plus he’s got another book tour event coming up in Chicago we’ll talk about too.

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