Devolution Power Hour Ep. 499: Fake Wars, Franklin’s Printers & the Philly Shell

Jon Herold and Burning Bright open Devolution Power Hour by living in the word "fake." Jon walks through how often Trump calls elections and other stories fake, and why critics who treat that word as dangerous put themselves in a pickle: either Trump is telling the truth, or they have to say he is lying when he speaks. From there they sit with Benjamin Franklin on printers: if nothing that might offend could be published, almost nothing would be printed. The hosts tie that to independent media under fire, and to knowing when not to print something that would do real injury. The middle of the show turns to justice-phase expectations. Burning Bright is not on the rug of mass arrests, Obama, Clinton and Gitmo, but argues Trump still gives people chances to show who they are. They dig into media lines on Ken Paxton and Iran-war gas prices, whether Iran-strike talk is smoke for "regions of responsibility" in the Middle East, and how Houthis fit that Sovereign Alliance frame. Late in the hour: Kimberly Guilfoyle's reported Signal ask for a quiet Amex wire, and Jon's Philly-shell / Counter-Striker riff on fighting while looking like you are only playing defense.