This Week’s Episode: The $130 Million Check That Bought the Pentagon
A reclusive billionaire heir who inherited everything from his Gilded Age ancestors just wrote a personal check for $130 million to pay American troops during the government shutdown—and nobody’s asking the obvious questions.
Timothy Mellon, who calls welfare “slavery” while living entirely off inherited wealth, who funds anti-LGBTQ politicians while gay soldiers serve in the military he’s now bankrolling, has achieved what even Elon Musk hasn’t: direct purchase of government function with zero oversight, zero vetting, and zero accountability.
In this episode, we unpack how Trump’s billionaire donors have transformed American democracy into something indistinguishable from Russian oligarchy—except ours comes with tax deductions. We explore why Republican billionaires are so obsessed with punishing the poor and the gay, and what it means when private citizens can simply write checks to fund the military whenever Congress won’t.
This isn’t just about one $130 million donation. It’s about watching democracy die not with jackboots, but with wire transfers—while the Pentagon says “thank you” and nobody asks what Timothy Mellon expects in return.
The American experiment is ending with a receipt, and we need to talk about it.
