#ziklag

Adam Gabbatt at The Guardian:

A group of conservative donors spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop a rightwing version of late-night talkshows like the Tonight Show and the Late Show, leaked documents reveal, in a further indication of the right’s ongoing efforts to overhaul American culture. News of the effort to pump conservative viewpoints into the mainstream comes as entertainment shows and the media at large are under severe threat in the US. In September, Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show was taken off the air, under pressure from the Trump administration, after Kimmel’s comments after the killing of Charlie Kirk, while Donald Trump has launched multiple lawsuits against TV networks and news organizations.

Four pilot episodes, each of which has been watched by the Guardian, were made of the rightwing chatshow. It was promoted by the Ziklag group, a secretive Christian nationalist organization, which aims to reshape culture to match its version of Christianity. In an email in 2022, Ziklag – which ProPublica reported spent $12m to elect Trump last year – urged its members to stump up money for the project, called the Talk Show With Eric Metaxas. “For too long, the late-night talkers on network tv have filled the airwaves with progressive rants and outright mockery of anyone who espouses traditional American values,” the Ziklag email read. The Talk Show With Eric Metaxas, Ziklag wrote, will “change that forever”. The email said the show needed $400,000 to $500,000 to film five pilot episodes, “which will be presented to digital distributors, networks and tv ownership groups”.

The Guardian sat through nearly four hours of the Talk Show, and found it to be an almost exact copy of existing late-night shows, just worse: with hack jokes about tired issues and has-been, conservative guests. The show was never picked up, presumably to the chagrin of Ziklag and its investors, who had lofty expectations.

“Spoiler alert! The secular elites who currently reign over late-night tv are about to find out the joke’s on them!” Ziklag’s pitch email read. It lauded Metaxas, a conservative radio host and author who was an eager proponent of the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, claiming: “His comedic bent has gone largely unnoticed until now that is…” Unfortunately, across the four pilots, Metaxas’s comedic bent was noticeable only by its absence.

[...] Chris Himes, who produced the Talk Show, said the show was not intended to be a “rightwing late-night show”. The aim, Himes said, was “to create a broad, throwback late-night program for the entire country – not just one side”. “These are not partisan or ‘right-wing’ shows. Think Letterman or Dick Cavett in tone: humor first, with no space for snark or ‘clapter’,” he said in an email. “Sadly, much of late night over the past decade has shifted from being genuinely funny to becoming a vehicle for tribal signaling – even occasionally straying into messaging far beyond comedy. We believe the country deserves something better.”

Himes added: “To be clear, a ‘right-wing’ late-night show would be a terrible idea. What we’re building is something more essential: a genuinely funny, unifying alternative.” In the pilot episodes, there were guests who were known for rightwing politics, but Metaxas largely didn’t ask them about those politics. In episode three, he seemed to decide he needed to at least say a bit of something to satisfy the rightwing donors funding this enterprise, but that came in the form of going over well-trodden ground about liberals.

[...] The Talk Show was a terrible product, memorable only for dreadful humor and snooze-inducing interviews. In the current climate, however, it serves as a reminder that the right wing is waging a well-funded war on the media that is unlikely to end soon.

The Talk Show Starring Eric Metaxas, a right-wing version of late-night talkers such as Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show, massively bombed in its pilot episodes. Christian nationalist group Ziklag helped to fund right-wing talk radio host Eric Metaxas’s pathetic attempt at late-night talk that makes Gutfeld! on Fox “News” look good and funny in comparison, even though Gutfeld! is unfunny dreck.

See Also:

1 Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag, while he yet kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish: and they were among the mighty men, his helpers in war. 2 They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in slinging stones and in shooting arrows from the bow; they were of Saul's brethren of Benjamin. 3 The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; and Beracah, and Jehu the Anathothite; 4 and Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty and over the thirty; and Jeremiah, and Jahaziel, and Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite; 5 Eluzai, and Jerimoth, and Bealiah, and Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite; 6 Elkanah, and Isshiah, and Azarel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites; 7 and Joelah, and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

8 And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David to the hold in the wilderness, mighty men of valour, men trained for war, that could handle shield and spear; whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the roes upon the mountains; 9 Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third; 10 Mishmannah the fourth; Jeremiah the fifth; 11 Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh; 12 Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth; 13 Jeremiah the tenth, Machbannai the eleventh. 14 These of the sons of Gad were captains of the host: he that was least was equal to an hundred, and the greatest to a thousand. 15 These are they that went over Jordan in the first month, when it had overflown all its banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the east, and toward the west.

16 And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the hold unto David. 17 And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you: but if ye be come to betray me to mine adversaries, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it.

18 Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.

Great find. Always good to find sites mentioned in ancient sources. I have to say I’m always a little surprised at what hasn’t been discovered, particularly with Biblical sites, but I’m always very pleased to see these new discoveries.

Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Alice Herman at The Guardian:

A company owned by two of Donald Trump’s top mega-donors has routinely brought dozens of its workers from Mexico to staff its warehouses in Wisconsin and other locations even though they do not appear to have permission to work in the US, according to a Guardian investigation. Uline – a giant Wisconsin-based office and shipping supply company controlled by billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein – shuttles in its own workers from Mexico, who are using tourist visas and visas meant for employees who are entering the US temporarily to receive professional training, known as B1 visas. But instead of being part of a dedicated training program, the Mexican employees stay for one to six months and – sources with direct knowledge of the matter allege – perform normal work in Uline’s US warehouses. Lawyers and immigrants’ advocates told the Guardian they believed the alleged practice is likely illegal and could be exploitative of the workers enrolled in the program.

The company has allegedly used employees without proper work permits even as Dick Uihlein’s Super Pac, Restoration Pac, supported Trump’s presidential campaign with a TV advertisement attacking his opponent Kamala Harris for allowing an immigrant “invasion” at the US-Mexico border. The Uihleins have emerged as a major force in rightwing politics, spending tens of millions of dollars supporting candidates, including president-elect Trump and other rightwing politicians, who have called for a mass deportation of immigrants. They were the second-largest political donors in this year’s election, giving more than even Elon Musk, the world’s richest man.

Inside Uline, a privately held company worth an estimated $8bn, the Mexico-US program is called “shuttle support” and was launched about three years ago, sources said. The Guardian’s reporting is based on interviews with sources who have direct knowledge of shuttle support and spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals, and internal documents seen by the Guardian that referred to the worker program, including rules for family members and other guests who are allowed to visit the workers. Over the course of a months-long investigation, Guardian reporters also observed a dozen Uline workers from Mexico living in a hotel near the company’s Pleasant Prairie headquarters, where the company pays for their lodging, food and rental cars. A staff member at the hotel confirmed that Uline was among the first customers at the hotel to book “blocks” of suites for workers when the hotel opened about three years ago.

A spokesperson for Uline and the Uihleins declined to comment. Sources who spoke to the Guardian alleged that executives at the highest level of the company, including Liz Uihlein, know about shuttle support. It is not clear why executives have turned to staff that are employed by Uline in Mexico to work at their US warehouses, but sources said it could be connected to the company’s strict and complicated hiring practices, which include follicle drug testing of employees.

[...]

3,000 miles from home

The corporate hotel in Wisconsin where at least a dozen Uline workers from Mexico live is about 3,000 miles (4,800km) from their homes in Mexico. Some are accompanied by their wives for their stay. Most participants in the shuttle support program are men. The hotel is comfortable, and was designed to meet the needs of long-term guests. The clean and modern suites have kitchenettes, and breakfast is served every morning: a waffle machine, granola, eggs and dry cereal, and salsa, cheese and sour cream. Hotel staff seemed to make an effort for the holidays. The lobby area included a 10ft Christmas tree and other decorations – including four knit stockings, hung over a fake fire off to the side. Still, the hotel, which the Guardian is not identifying to protect the safety of the workers, is located in a relatively remote location in landscape that would be barren but for the presence of huge warehouses – from Uline to Amazon – along the highway. Uline opened the largest warehouse in Wisconsin here earlier this month, a 1.44m sq ft facility that adds on to the company’s 9.6m sq ft footprint in the Kenosha area. [...]

‘It really shows the cynicism’

Immigration experts – including lawyers and advocates for immigrant rights – said they believed the shuttle support program appeared to break the law. The B1 visas that are being used by some of the workers to enter the US are intended for workers to train or briefly attend a seminar or conferences, they said. “It does not allow them to obtain wages for labor in the United States, it absolutely does not,” said Marc Christopher, a Wisconsin-based immigration lawyer. “If they’re doing warehouse work, especially second or third shift, that’s not a close call.” He added that he believed it was “absolutely 100% not allowed”. Ira Kurzban, another immigration lawyer, said he believed it was “clearly illegal” for the company to be engaged in a pattern of conduct that possibly involved labor trafficking of people who were coming under “one pretense, but actually coming in for another reason”. Uline’s alleged use of its Mexican workers to staff warehouses in the US underscored the real difficulties facing some companies, Kurzban said, in being able to secure legal arrangements for workers.

“This is the whole false premise of Trump. I mean, the idea that these people are taking jobs away from Americans. They’re not. We need millions of people to do this kind of work. We’ve always looked away even though we know most people who fulfill these kinds of jobs are not allowed to be working in the US.” Another immigration lawyer, Mo Goldman from Arizona, said it is a common practice for employers to call him and ask him how to legally employ foreign workers, only to find that the legal processes are “very restrictive and difficult to navigate”. [...] It is not the first time the Uihleins have acted in a way that appears to contradict their rightwing anti-immigration stance. ProPublica reported in 2019 that Uline had sought special visas for foreign workers even as Trump, whom Dick and Liz supported, was implementing his strictest immigration policies. The company even filed suit against the federal government in Illinois after the Trump administration rejected a 2018 petition to hire a full-time software engineer from India. In court testimony in an unrelated case, ProPublica noted, Dick Uihlein, who serves as CEO, was asked if his donations to a group supporting conservative politicians meant he did not just support immigration reform, but a more stringent immigration policy. He said: “I would say that’s correct, yep.”

Election deniers and Maga firebrands

Public records and media reports show the Uihleins became a major force in American politics after the landmark Citizens United decision, which upended campaign finance law and enabled corporations and other special interest groups to spend unlimited sums of money on elections. Dick and Liz Uihlein have donated millions in support of politicians on the right, including Trump and other election-denying candidates and causes. The family’s political influence has skyrocketed alongside the growth of their company, which brought in $8bn in revenue in 2024, up from $7bn in 2023 and $6.1bn in 2022. According to Federal Election Commission filings, the Uihleins spent at least $130m during the 2024 election cycle to support Trump and other rightwing Republicans.

Dick Uihlein has, in particular, focused his donations largely on culture-war candidates and Maga firebrands. In 2017, Uihlein was the top funder of Republican Roy Moore’s Senate bid, continuing to run ads in support of Moore even as the Alabama politician faced allegations of sexually assaulting minors. Moore denied any sexual misconduct. In 2022, Dick Uihlein threw his support behind the Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, a far-right politician who has decried the separation of church and state and peddled conspiracy theories.

In the wake of the January 6 Capitol riots, WBEZ Chicago revealed that Uihlein had bankrolled Tea Party Patriots, a group that helped organize the #StoptheSteal protest that gave way to the insurrectionary violence. A July investigation by ProPublica and Documented also identified the Uihleins as supporters of Ziklag, a secretive Christian donor network that invested in voter purges, anti-trans activism and pro-Trump electoral infrastructure. Outside of national politics, Dick Uihlein has demonstrated a particular interest in Wisconsin, where Uline is headquartered, and Illinois politics, where he and his wife live. In 2018, for example, Uihlein poured millions into an Illinois gubernatorial election, supporting the Republican incumbent’s primary challenger with ads blasting LGBTQ+ and abortion rights. During Wisconsin’s 2023 state supreme court race, Restoration Pac and Fair Courts America – groups that Uihlein has bankrolled – spent millions in support of the rightwing candidate Dan Kelly. One Mexican Uline worker who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity said he felt the Uihleins’ strong support for Trump was “a little contradictory” given the company’s practice of bringing Mexican workers to the US. “But I’m here to work, I’m not here in some illegal way,” he added.