Failing Upward | Winners & Losers
Another unqualified Trump loyalist gets a new job, while a veteran journalist loses a big fight with his MAGA loyalist bosses.
Before I unleash this week’s Loser on you, I have to plug Six Questions with Steven Beshcloss (and a couple other things).
It’s a new podcast we’ve launched (you probably heard about it last week). We premiered last week with the incredible Mary L Trump, and we’ve got New York congressional candidate George Conway on with Steven Beschloss this week. It’s a smart, sharp show that comes in a tight little package. The framing — six questions — is meant to pack a punch without packing for an overnight stay.
At a time when content comes at you from a million different places, it’s kind of revelatory to get guests like these to cover so much ground in so little time — the premiere ran about 27 minutes. In and out.
But this show is the tip of the spear of another project I’m very excited about: lots of our content is — or will soon be — available as podcasts. Shows like Behind the Numbers, Strategy Session, First Draft, Unholy Ground, The Two Joes, On The Ground with Joe Trippi and lots more will soon be found on Apple or Spotify or wherever you get your pods, so that you can listen on your car ride (or, like me, catch up on your favorite pods while you mow the lawn on Saturdays).
Even if you don’t do podcasts (our loyal Substackers out there, unite!), we’d love for you to click on the link below and follow Six Questions. Another great thing about this show: it’s not seat-of-your-pants breaking news. If you hold onto it for a few days, it’ll still be relevant, unlike so much streaming content these days.
Let us know what you think!
Okay. Where was I? Oh yes, Losers.
Last week, on June 2nd, a sort of Freaky Friday thing happened with two men who are essentially opposites. One, who is patently unqualified to do a specific job, was hired to do that job. The other, who has 51 Emmys for doing his job, was fired from it.
This column could be called “Failing Upward,” or “Lifestyles of the Rich and Fraudulent.” Every week there is another example of men or women being elevated to jobs they simply are not qualified for because they are willing to do bad things for the boss.
This is another one of them. But this is much, much bigger than a fraud being hired to do a big job. It’s a threat to our civilization.
Bill Pulte, Loser
Bill Pulte is the grandson of William J. Pulte, founder of PulteGroup, one of the largest U.S. homebuilders. He’s worth about $200 million, he claims.
He is the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Chairman of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
As of last Tuesday, he’s ALSO the acting Director of National Intelligence (he will continue to do the other jobs, too, because of course he will).
On Truth Social, Trump said that Pulte has “deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America … over $10 trillion at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac.”
Trump said he’s “a very talented guy.”
The second before he was elevated to DNI, he had exactly zero minutes of experience in national intelligence, although he is reportedly a Trump donor.
I’m not going to linger on the intrigue surrounding his elevation to this role. Lots has been written about it already. But before we move on, let’s talk about the role itself.
The Director of National Intelligence is the highest-ranking intelligence official in the United States government and the President’s principal intelligence officer. They oversee and coordinate the 18 agencies of the U.S. Intelligence Community, including the CIA and the NSA.
