Over The Horizon, What Can It Be?
And the man who wants to make hungry people cry
Welcome back.
Last week, I read an article about Donald and Elon’s divorce and how it has been affecting the children:
Some DOGE staffers still embedded across federal agencies fear that the rift and public mudslinging between Trump and Musk could…damage their future job prospects. … [They] worry that if Trump distances himself from DOGE, their ties to it could become a professional liability.
Poor tykes. They are scared of what, in prior posts, I’ve termed the cost of professional rejection: career death as a consequence for helping Trump. They know that with Trump no longer loving on DOGE, they will never get another job in the MAGA movement; and they are scared that other employers won’t hire a DOGE brat.
We need to turn that fear into reality. We need to put in the shredder resumes that say “DOGE” on them. We need to reject the DOGE kids’ business school applications. We need to decline their invites to schmoozy networking coffees.
We need to not be Coinbase:
Some DOGE staffers still working inside the federal government have begun looking for jobs elsewhere. And while there is concern among some about their future career prospects, some major tech companies have expressed interest in hiring DOGE alumni - with companies like Coinbase even creating a dedicated hiring portal.
Coinbase is choosing its own interests over democracy; the rest of us shouldn’t.
The rest of us should deny DOGE employees the professional opportunities they salivate for until they have quit DOGE, recanted the work they have done for Elon, and somehow made amends for it. Because, like all juvenile delinquents, DOGE kiddies won’t stop causing trouble until they face painful consequences – consequences that are up to us to impose.
Making a hungry people cry
This week, KTB names and shames Patrick Penn. Patrick grew up in foster care and served in the army. Then he moved to Kansas where he worked for a defense contractor and, briefly, as a substitute teacher.
In 2020, Patrick was elected State Representative. In the four and a half years since, he has become infamous in Wichita for saying dumb things, for acting out when his feelings get hurt, and for supporting crackpot policies dear to MAGA.
First, the dumb things Patrick has said. Some are just harmless ineloquence: for example, “You can go to school all you want, but you can’t buy class” was the mixed metaphor he used to insult a critic who was more confused than hurt.
But less bemusing are the dumb things Patrick says to right wing media outlets. In a Fox News interview, Patrick blamed this and that on “woke white woman Democrats.” He published an op-ed in Breitbart News attacking the supposed “abortion industry” for trying to get his mother to abort him before he was born.
Patrick even did a radio interview with Sean Hannity. Patrick rambled on about the states he has lived in; about “the weak man of the west who we call let’s go Brandon”; and about how “CRT is something straight from the pit of hell. It’s something straight out of cultural Marxism.” An exhausted Sean Hannity finally cut Patrick off when Patrick said he would now discuss the entire history of liberalism.
Careful there, Sean. Yes, Patrick says dumb things, but be delicate when you cut him off. Because remember what I mentioned up top: a second reason so many people dislike Patrick is that he acts out whenever his feelings get hurt.
For example, when Patrick was criticized at a candidate forum held at a local church, he simmered for a while in silence, then got mad, threw his nametag at a church elder, and, while church security intervened, stormed out grumbling.
Patrick also stormed out of a presser being held by the Black Legislative Caucus. Patrick stomped off as the Chair pleaded, “Please stay here, Representative Penn. The whole point of this press conference is to say that while we disagree, we should be respectful and hear everybody out.”
When a schoolgirl refused to violate school safety rules by letting Patrick enter her school unaccompanied, Patrick huffed at her, “That’s not the treatment you give your State Representative!” And when a lobbyist refused to shake Patrick’s hand, Patrick threatened him, growling “You don’t want me for an enemy.”
(And how rotten must a politician be for a lobbyist to refuse to shake his hand?)
But Patrick’s most infamous episode of acting out was not an angry tantrum. It was a “joke” he cheerfully told on the House floor.
A “joke” about shooting a political opponent.
While giving a speech, Patrick asked another State Rep who is a veteran, “Gunner, sabot, that guy from Hutch in the open, fire for effect - what would you say?” That guy from Hutch is the nickname of a Democrat who Patrick was mad at; the rest of his question is military speak for shoot to kill with specialized munitions.
That stunt, and all of Patrick’s bad behavior, has garnered Patrick a lot of bad press. But Patrick’s acting out has not damaged MAGA’s opinion of him because Patrick is a steadfast supporter of Donald Trump and crackpot MAGA causes.
Causes such as opposing (in Patrick’s words) “race Marxist ideology that the teacher unions and Democrats want to use to indoctrinate our children.” Causes such as preventing immigrants from “going through my refrigerator, putting their feet up on my white sofa, flicking through my TV, using my toothbrush.”
And causes such as banning transgender girls from playing girls’ sports. Patrick voted for a ban, and then to override the Governor’s veto of that ban, because…um…well, Patrick’s explanation is kind of difficult to untangle:
Should LSU’s female champion Angel Reese give up her spot, her recognition and her victory - a Black woman - because a man decided to suit up with the females and go dominate the court? ... You want to say that you want to help Black people, I encourage you to vote yes on this! … Vote yes, override this veto, end racism!
Ah, makes sense now: letting trans middle schoolers play ball games is actually racism, plus we need to protect Angel Reese. How obvious.
Patrick’s embrace of weird MAGA causes is a third reason Patrick has become so notorious in just four and a half years. Presumably, it is also the reason why, this May, Donald Trump appointed Patrick to be Deputy Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services at the Department of Agriculture.
In Patrick’s new gig, he is supposed to implement and oversee 16 food assistance programs including WIC and SNAP. But Patrick just wants to use his new position to cause damage and hurt people:
“We’re going to have some fun in D.C. We’re going to break a few eggs, make a few omelets. Make a couple people cry, and that’s what we look forward to doing.”
God help America’s hungry. Patrick certainly won’t.
Contact KTB
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