VR25 - This episode is dedicated to the memory of Cricket, the 14-month-old wirehaired pointer murdered in cold blood by Kristi Noem on an unknown date in a gravel pit in South Dakota. One week after Donald Trump took now-former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s job out to the gravel pit, Thomas, Lydia, and Matt get together for a post-mortem. After a brief amuse douche from Noem’s (ahem) closest advisor, Matt plays the one excerpt from her 2024 campaign book “Not Going Back” which should have disqualified her from a Cabinet seat. (No, not that one! But we also revisit that story too and it’s so much worse--and involves twice as many animals--than you may  remember.) We then review some of the most notable lowlights of Noem’s time as DHS Secretary, from completely failing to understand the ancient  legal concept which allowed federal judges to release so many of the people she was illegally detaining without bond to her disturbing enthusiasm for calling US citizens concerned about killer ICE agents “domestic terrorists.” Also: why exactly did Noem lose her job last week, and where did the $220 million of our money handed over to a shell company run by her former press secretary’s husband go? Finally, we take a closer look at Trump’s choice to replace Noem at DHS: an Oklahoma Senator with two first names and a temper even shorter than his MMA career.  <ol> <li> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@SeriousPodNetwork" target= "_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Watch this episode on YouTube!</a> </li> <li> <a href= "https://www.amazon.com/No-Going-Back-Politics-America/dp/1546008160" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">“NO GOING BACK: The Truth On What’s Wrong With Politics and How to Move America Forward,”</a> Kristi Noem (2024) </li> <li> <a href= "http://youtube.com/watch?si=rjf_S4IUqEHe6RaI&v=i8r0eFLUKJg&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DHS ad filmed at Mount Rushmore featuring Kristi Noem on horseback</a> </li> <li> <a href= "https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-dhs-ad-campaign-strategy-group" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">“Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts,”</a> <a href= "https://www.propublica.org/people/justin-elliott" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Justin Elliott</a>, <a href="https://www.propublica.org/people/joshua-kaplan" target= "_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Joshua Kaplan</a> and <a href= "https://www.propublica.org/people/alex-mierjeski" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Alex Mierjeski</a>, ProPublica (Nov. 14, 2025) </li> <li> <a href= "https://www.hcn.org/issues/51-21-22/indigenous-affairs-this-cherokee-congressman-is-for-trump-and-indian-country/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">“Markwayne Mullin is for Trump--and Indian Country,”</a> Graham Lee Brewer, High Country News (Dec. 9, 2019) </li> <li> <a href= "https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/ice-barbie-replacement-markwayne-mullin-makes-a-killing-from-trumps-wars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">“ICE Barbie Replacement Mark Mullin Makes a Killing From Trump’s Wars,”</a> Harry Thompson & Tom Latchem, March 9, 2026 </li> <li> <a href="https://www.mullin.senate.gov/newsroom/mullin-it-over/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">“Mullin’ It Over” column archives</a> on Markwayne Mullin’s Senate website </li> </ol> Check out the OA <a href= "https://linktr.ee/openingarguments" target="_blank" rel= "noopener noreferrer nofollow">Linktree</a> for all the places to go and things to do!

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