💬 The Rubin Recap, Issue 25

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POV: Being off the grid for a month and coming back to see a U.S. senator looking like an idiot — and saying idiotic things

That's right, folks. I'm back.

It was the ninth consecutive year that I went off the grid for the month of August -- you know the drill: no news, no social media, no craziness for the entire month -- and it flew by. The good news is, AI Dave didn't take my job. 😅

It was the real me back in the chair this week, and it's the real me typing out this newsletter. Nice job by the team keeping in touch with all of you while I was gone. (At least, that's what they told me.)

It's always a strange experience coming back online after not paying attention to the news for an entire month, and I'm very thankful for the great Jillian Michaels, who spent about two hours getting me up to speed on everything that went down in August. I've gotta tell you, I don't think anything tremendously earth-shattering occurred while I was gone this year. The Trump-Putin summit in Alaska is something I didn't see coming necessarily in August, but at the same time it wasn't unbelievable.

Frankly, I thought the biggest story of the month, in a weird way, is the apparent demise of Howard Stern at Sirius-XM. Looks like his show may be getting canceled. Stern's been irrelevant for a while now, but like him or not, it's a big deal that a guy who once commanded a daily audience of close to 20 million and fought the establishment ended up becoming the establishment, and saw his audience wither away — and is now being abandoned by the establishment. His descent into woke madness, groveling for Biden and Kamala Harris the way he did, was probably the final straw. Bye-bye booey, Howard!

And speaking of “go woke, go broke,” how about that backlash to the Cracker Barrel logo change? The CEO there basically tanked the company's stock before reversing course. As I told Jillian, at a Cracker Barrel near Poughkeepsie, New York, in the mid-90s, I ate the best baked potato I've ever had in my life. Still think about that potato to this day. See, you’re not going to get that kind of interesting recollection from AI Dave. Glad he’s gone! That kind of stuff only comes from the real Dave Rubin.

And if you’re looking to avoid the AI craziness, and the rest of the bad actors out there using the internet to scam people, check out our sponsor today, Incogni, which is offering a great deal for readers of my newsletter. All those suspicious text messages you’ve been getting lately — Incogni’s got you covered. Not sure what AI Dave thinks, but the real Dave Rubin thinks that’s a good move.

And now that I'm back on the grid, I see it's still the same crazy world that I left at the end of July. 

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, a man who was nearly the vice president of the United States at one point, said something jaw-dropping this week. This is a sitting member of the U.S. Senate who takes the exact opposite position of the Declaration of Independence. You really need to watch it to fully appreciate what he said about how Americans' rights aren't God-given, and instead come from laws and the U.S. government. Ahh, Tim -- let me remind you what Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights."

Also self-evident is that Tim Kaine looks like he lives in an insane asylum with the way he was wearing his glasses while making these ridiculous remarks. Between him and Chuck Schumer, I gave Democrats a tutorial on how to wear glasses. Hard to believe that's what's necessary, but here we are.

I wasn't the only one who took a summer break. The Epstein files story came bursting back into the headlines this week after largely dying down before I went off the grid.

Democrats are desperately trying to force the release of the Epstein files because they think it will sink Trump. Which is what makes this video clip that resurfaced this week so interesting. It shows a lawyer for Epstein victims, named Bradley Edwards, who has been working for years on the case, saying Trump helped his investigation back in 2009.

"He is the only person who, in 2009, when I served a lot of subpoenas on a lot of people or at least gave notice to some pretty connected people ... He is the only person who picked up the phone and said, 'Let's just talk. I'll give you as much time as you want. I'll tell you what you need to know.'" Now this is a clip you’re not going to see on CNN.

There's nothing like an invigorating news story to help you come back on the grid, and the Trump administration really delivered on that front this week. Trump had the U.S. military launch an airstrike on a Venezuelan drug boat. The vessel was packed with illegal drugs and 11 members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Suffice it to say, neither the drugs nor the gang members made it out of this one folks, as the dramatic videotape showed.

Not sure about you, but this is exactly what I voted for.

Tulsi takes the top spot again in our Trump administration power rankings

That’s two straight wins for Tulsi Gabbard after she tied with Marco Rubio last week. Who ya got in this week’s poll? So many choices — RFK Jr., who finished second to Tulsi last week, tore it up on Capitol Hill, clashing with Bernie Sanders and Pocahontas. Don’t forget about that Venezuelan drug boat that got blown to smithereens, and Rubio warned the gangs and cartels that there’s more of where that came from. Get your vote for next week’s ranking in ⬇️

Tweet of the week

What to know

• I’m going down under for the next leg of the Don’t Burn This World tour next month! I’ll be appearing at the Capitol Theatre in Melbourne on October, 18, and then at the Concourse in Sydney on October, 21. And I’ll be wrapping up the tour at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre on October 27. For more info and to get tickets, click here.

• A new episode of Actual Friends dropped on Friday, and I chopped it up with Sage Steele and Russel Brand about being off the grid for a month and suddenly now back on. I spilled a few secret vacation details, and we talked about Sage’s upcoming wedding. Check out the new episode here, and make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss any episodes.

• Like I mentioned to above, everyone could use a little extra protection online. Your info is out there, and scammers will text you trying to trick you into sharing what’s not out there. This week’s sponsor, Incogni, can help prevent your personal info from being exploited. Click here to take advantage of the exclusive offer.

• Was this email forwarded to you? Get on the list and sign up here.

Until next week … — Dave