The Midweek Burn

Greetings from the underground,

Do you ever hit a point where you just don’t feel like talking? And then it stretches longer than you expected or want to admit.

Texts sit unanswered, calls go ignored… Not because I don’t care, I just don’t really have it in me. Friends, family, colleagues… everyone ends up on the other side of the silence and it’s been like that for a couple weeks now.

There’s a sense of guilt that creeps in when you realize how long it’s been, but sometimes you don’t have to explain things — you just need some space.

That’s why I’m doing The Midweek Burn as a written piece this week instead of a live show or recording. I didn’t really feel like talking and if I’m being honest, I’ve always liked writing better anyway.

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So… what’s got me burning this week?

Short answer — Everything. All of it. Everyone.

First — fucking Charles visiting the White House and humiliating Trump.

I’m not necessarily mad at Trump getting made a fool of, we all enjoy that. I’m pissed that we are such a trailer park piece of shit country that the inbred family we gained our independence from, recognizes that weakness and have the posture to humiliate the office of the president.

The King of England arrived in Washington this week and from the beginning it was an embarrassment. When Charles and Camilla arrived, the performance art spoke for itself. We fought a revolutionary war against the British crown and Trump rolled out a team of redcoats on the White House lawn. Redcoats aren’t neutral historical decoration in this country — they’re literally the visual representation of the people we shot at so we wouldn’t have to bow to a king.

Charles even had Trump standing there practically begging for his prize at the state dinner. The King of England announced that they were gifting Trump a bell from the British submarine named HMS Trump, and turned the thing into a bit while Trump stood there waiting. “Give us a ring,” Charles joked. It was the latest example of Trump seeing gold plating and believing that he’s suddenly a member of the aristocracy. It’s an embarrassment to see the president of the United States grinning like a toddler while the King of England dangles a toy bell over his head.

Yet, here we are.

The country that threw tea in the harbor, fought the Revolution, burned monarchy from our founding mythology, and built an entire civic religion around not having kings… is posting things from White House social media like pictures of Trump and Charles with the caption “TWO KINGS.”

Two kings.

In America.

During a state visit celebrating 250 years of our nation and the independence from Britain.

You almost have to admire their commitment to missing the point.

Charles even went to Congress. In a steady and measured voice, he talked about democracy as something to be protected, not just claimed. He emphasized the alliances with NATO, Ukraine, and the idea that the West actually stands for something when it stands together. He brought up climate change, global cooperation, even the importance of checks on executive power. The subtext wasn’t subtle: uphold the rule of law, respect institutions, don’t abandon your allies, don’t burn down the system that made you powerful in the first place.

Everything Republicans aren’t doing right now.

Imagine being Charles for those few days. Imagine spending four days around this gilded casino goblin while trying to maintain centuries of royal composure. You’re the fucking King of England, and somehow you walk into the White House and it looks more like a trailer park than a dignified place to visit.

That’s how bad Trump makes us look.

A hereditary monarch from a family tree that looks like it was drawn by a two year old, came to America and still managed to look more serious, more disciplined, and more self-aware than the president of the United States.

That should embarrass all of us.

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And then there’s the Supreme Court of the United States under John Roberts.

That slimy bastard.

I seriously don’t understand what his endgame is.

I’m fucking confused.

Start with Shelby County v. Holder when they gutted pre clearance and basically told states with a history of voter suppression, “You’re good.” That was the beginning.

Then you’ve got Rucho v. Common Cause where they looked at partisan gerrymandering and said “not our problem.” Which is a hell of a thing for the highest court in the country to say about the way election maps are drawn.

Then you’ve got Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, where they made it more difficult to challenge voter restrictions under the Voting Rights Act. Not impossible, but more difficult. Narrower. More technical.

Of course, you’ve got Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which ripped away constitutional rights that had existed for fifty years and sent it back to states like women’s lives were some kind of administrative inconvenience to be left dying in a parking lot.

It’s a pattern of regression and taking away. Not just one decision, but a steady, deliberate narrowing of rights, protections, and accountability for the government.

And then today, they went after what’s left of the Voting Rights Act.

In Louisiana vs. Callais, the Court ruled 6-3 to strike down a congressional map that had created a second majority Black district… a district that existed specifically to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

Louisiana tried to follow the law, and the Court said the fix was unconstitutional.

The ruling doesn’t technically erase Section 2, but it guts how it works. It raises the bar so high that proving discrimination becomes almost impossible unless you can show explicit intent and not just real-world impact.

That’s the shift. Section 2 was built on the idea that discrimination doesn’t always announce itself, it shows up in outcomes, in maps that dilute power, split communities and makes sure that certain votes matter less.

Now the Court is saying that unless you can prove someone said the quiet part out loud, good luck.

This opens the door for states to redraw maps in ways that weaken minority voting power while calling it “race-neutral.” It gives cover for politicians to strip majority-minority districts apart and make changes that are more difficult to challenge in court.

When you look at the through line of Shelby County, Brnovich, Rucho, Dobbs, and now this… it almost looks like a Court that steps in at the exact moments when rights are supposed to be protected, and takes them away instead.

Not loudly or all at once… just enough each time to reshape the system without ever saying that’s what they’re doing.

And that’s what hurts the most… not just the decisions, but the fact that they’re happening in plain sight and being fed to us like neutrality.

So that’s what’s got me burning this week…

The embarrassment that we are forced to endure on behalf of a fucking toddler that gets impressed by shiny gold bells because they have his name on it. The embarrassment that goes along with the King of England sitting in an Oval Office filled with tacky gold plated bullshit. The embarrassment that comes with a country that we kicked the shit out of, coming to visit in our 250th anniversary year, and having the big dick energy enough to clown us in our own house.

And what the absolute hell is going on with SCOTUS… what’s the end game here? To make us all slaves to the kleptocracy that they’ve created? Because it seems to me like No Kings might be bullshit at this point. We don’t have any checks or balances, much less guard rails. We have two branches of government that sit by like cucks while a madman at the top fucks us every day.

So, Congress… FUCKING DO SOMETHING.

Until next time,

Evan.

(My apologies for the strong language)