How To Make Friends As An Adult November 26, 2025 But first . . . The Cruelty Is the Policy, writes his niece Mary: When Donald came into office, he almost immediately defunded U.S.A.I.D. Doing so hobbled America’s ability to deploy soft power which is a vital tool it has used in the past to create alliances, spread democracy, and expand its global influence . . . leaving a soft power void for our adversaries like China to fill. Donald doesn’t care about starving children in America, so there’s no reason to think he’d care about starving children anywhere else in the world, especially if they aren’t white. Since defunding U.S.A.I.D., at least 400,000 who should still be alive are dead. America has become the enemy of combating disease and feeding children, all thanks to the fact that tens of millions of people thought that it was a good idea to put a man in the Oval Office who has no basic human decency and cares nothing about humanity. Not to mention the monumental corruption, obstruction, bullying, lying, vulgarity, and incompetence. Some Congressional Republicans may not have the stomach for much more. Indeed, writes Lev Parnas . . . Marjorie Taylor Greene May Be Just the Beginning Marjorie Taylor Greene announcing she’s out isn’t just some random drama. She’s the visible tip of a much bigger iceberg that’s been forming under the surface for a long time. My phone has been buzzing with messages from people inside Trump world. They’re all saying the same thing in different ways: this is not a one-off. This is the beginning of something much larger. My sources are telling me flat out that there are more Republican members—already looking for the exits, talking about early retirement, mid-term resignations, and ways to get out before the next wave hits. Some are eyeing cushy lobbying or TV gigs. Others just want out before the Epstein files fully explode, before the legal and political cost of staying on Team Trump becomes unbearable. . . . My sources are clear: if just a few more dominos fall, the House can flip before the midterms. You know who else may be gone soon? Kash Patel, the FBI’s Agent of Chaos, who should never have been appointed in the first place, of course, and who is now Under Scrutiny for Use of SWAT Teams to Protect His Girlfriend. And now . . . Making friends as an adult is hard. Here’s the secret. grateful for your readership HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
The Lolita Express November 25, 2025November 25, 2025 EPSTEIN AND LARRY SUMMERS’ WIFE Behold: Elisa New, who has been married to Summers since 2005, sent Epstein a copy of an invitation to an unnamed event on Nov. 25, 2018 [a decade after he had first gone to prison for prostitution charges involving underage victims]. She is an American literature professor at Harvard and also discussed literature with him. She says in one message that she is going on a trip to Australia and will read a copy of “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov. The book is about a 30-something married scholar and his sexual obsession with a 12-year-old girl. People later named Epstein’s private plane, which flight logs show ferried VIPs and women all over the world, “The Lolita Express.” New then recommends he read “My Antonia” next time he’s on a long plane trip. “The prose is gorgeous, and the book has – come to think of it – similar themes to Lolita in that it’s about a man whose whole life is stamped forever by his impression of a young girl.” Which leads me to Andy Borowitz. Andy is known for his funny headlines. (Lindsey Halligan Reveals Her Dream is to Someday Go to Law School.) Sometimes, he gets more substantive — while still blazingly funny. (Who Will Replace MTG in Trump’s Clown Car?) And on rare occasion he chooses not to be funny at all. As here last week: She Says Trump Raped Her When She Was a Child. I don’t think the Epstein thing is going to go away. It’s just drip, drip, drip. The Republican standard bearer has said he can grab women by the pussy . . . was adjudicated to have raped a woman he swore was “Not His Type” . . . allegedly walked into teen-age girls’ dressing rooms . . . and has done everything he can to keep the Epstein files from coming out — even hauling one Republican Congresswomen into the Situation Room to browbeat her (unsuccessfully) into withdrawing her name from the discharge petition that finally got a vote after a 7-week Congressional recess designed to avoid it (leading some to brand his obedient G.O.P., “Guardians Of Pedophiles.) As you know, once it was clear Trump would lose that vote, he claimed to be for release of the files. Had that been true, he could simply have instructed the Justice Department to release them. Now he’ll likely instruct the Department to find other ways to delay, obstruct, and redact. See also: Forbes: Trump’s History With Jeffrey Epstein: The Full Timeline NEW TOPIC It’s not only MAGA influencers who have been unmasked, as described yesterday. See also: X’s New Transparency Tool Blows Open Global Disinformation Network Posing as “Gaza Eyewitnesses” Not to say horrible things have not happened; but some of the worst are called into question. HAPPY BONUS A quick tour of the world, in song (90 seconds).
Top Maga Influencers Unmasked November 24, 2025 Russia is definitely listening and — as it kills more and more Ukrainians in an effort to conquer a sovereign democrat state (a move Trump recognized as “genius“) — has been influencing millions of unsuspecting Americans: Top Maga Influencers Unmasked As Foreign Trolls Elon Musk’s social media site X has rolled out a new feature in an effort to increase transparency—and unwittingly revealed that many of the site’s top MAGA influencers are actually foreign actors. . . . Dozens of major accounts masquerading as “America First” or “MAGA” proponents have been identified as originating in places such as Russia, India, and Nigeria. . . . “This is total Armageddon for the online right,” wrote law student and left-wing influencer Micah Erfan. “It’s looking like half of their large accounts were foreigners posing as Americans all along.” Putin is winning. Not least because Trump wants to be him: rich beyond imagining like him . . . ruling for life, like him, over a vast landmass — all of North America in his case (Canada and Greenland would be nice to annex); all of the former Soviet Union and maybe a bit of Eastern Europe, in Putin’s. Both men have come a long way toward those goals. One was a business-bankrupting reality show personality and fake-wrestling hall of famer with a bone spur, a charming rogue to those who golfed or Epstein-partied with him who grabbed women by the pussy and kept a book of Hiter’s speeches by his bedside — and look at him now. The other, a highly disciplined former KGB agent eighth-level judo black belt, one-time KGB liaison to the East German secret police, whose parents were factory workers (though his grandfather was a personal cook for both Lenin and Stalin) — and look at him now. . . . Under Putin’s rule, the Russian political system has been transformed into an authoritarian dictatorship with a personality cult. His rule has been marked by endemic corruption and widespread human rights violations, including the imprisonment and suppression of political opponents, intimidation and censorship of independent media in Russia, and a lack of free and fair elections. If you agree we need an adequately funded opposition party — it is not yet adequately funded (I wouldn’t be asking if it were) — please click here to chip in as much as you prudently can. Now is the time to fund infrastructure. I’ll see what you do and jump through the screen to say thanks. MAMDAMI ON ANTI-SEMITISM Some of you have been worried. The proof, of course, will be in the pudding; but take these 90 seconds to be reassured. AOC ON MTG The date Marjorie Taylor Greene has chosen to quit is all of TWO DAYS after her generous congressional pension vests . . . and — says AOC — after she has made millions in the stock market on inside information. (Will she in fact “say every damn name” on Epstein’s client list before she leaves, as she has repeatedly vowed to do?) Entering Congress in 2021 with a net worth of $700,000, she will be leaving worth around $25 million. Apparently, most of the gain came from the value of her construction company, though it would be interesting to know whether its remarkable performance benefited in some way from her privileged position. VINDMAN ON A SECOND “PERFECT CALL” This one was between Trump and MBS and was perhaps even worse than the first (60 seconds — or read it here). Have a great week.
On The Off Chance . . . November 21, 2025 . . . you haven’t seen it: The Mark Kelly, et al, video that Trump considers sedition, punishable by death (90 seconds).* . . . you think he’s advancing our interests with his latest proposal to end the Ukraine war (“on Day One”): Timothy Snyder’s Five Reasons the US should not help Russia subjugate Ukraine (4 minutes).* . . . you don’t know what he’s done to farmers: Export-killing trade wars, rising equipment and fertilizer costs, huge increases in health care costs (27% of farmers rely on the Affordable Care Act for health insurance), impending rural hospital closures. . . . you know someone who’s thinking of joining ICE: Borderland Talk with Jenn Budd . . . Often times, [the young people] who are about to hear me speak come up and introduce themselves. They are interested in joining ICE, CBP and Border Patrol. The pay is outstanding, the benefits are incredible. You start at about $50k a year and can be earning over $100k in three years. You do not have to have a college degree or even a high school diploma as a high school equivalency is enough. No work experience, no prior military required. You can have prior arrests for DUIs and even sexual assault, and they will still hire you. For many, it is difficult to say no. Most think they know what these agencies are and claim that ICE, CBP and Border Patrol were once honorable. It is only Trump who has made them so corrupt and brutal. This makes me smile like the way I smile at a little child who believes Santa Claus is real. I always start out with a bit about myself. I joined in June of 1995 and rose to the rank of Senior Patrol Agent, and so on. . . . But all of that was a long time ago. So, I bring it forward to today, and show the slides of todays agents who are raping, sexually assaulting, strangulating, using their rank to force female agents into sex, sexually abusing children, producing child pornography, smuggling migrants, smuggling drugs and even trafficking children into sex. I show how Border Patrol agents commit more violent crimes than the migrants they arrest. I show how Trump’s policies created crises after crises on the southern border and how the right-wing media has sold Americans on a fake invasion that was caused by the feds simply refusing to process anyone. I show how people are still crossing today but that the agencies are lying and the media is not covering it. I leave them with the fact that these agencies see their agents arrested five times more than other law enforcement agents, that the Border Patrol has more suicides than any other agency. And then I raise my hands and show them how deformed they are from my own attempt. I beg them to not [enlist] because it will leave them destroyed. Their children will hate them, their families will disown them. They will lose their marriages and they will look in the mirror one day and not recognize themselves. . . . Recently, I have ended with making it clear that these agencies have violated their oath to the Constitution . . . They must be abolished. People say I am brave for making these speeches. You should know that it terrifies me and emotionally drains me to do them. But I have to do them, because I don’t see anyone else willing to. These young adults are where the agencies go to recruit. If all they know is the post 9/11 propaganda, they will enter these agencies and repeat history. I cannot live with that. . . . you can help: Now is the time to fund the Democratic infrastructure that all our 8,000+ candidates will rely on next fall. Have a great weekend! *Thanks to Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium Chronicles for pointing me to these links. I try to read him every day.
Disappearing Data; Presidential Death Threats November 21, 2025 Catherine Rampell at the Bulwark: In 1937, Olimpiy Kvitkin, a statistician, was executed by firing squad. His crime? Producing inconvenient census numbers, which showed the Soviet Union contained about 6 million fewer residents than Joseph Stalin had claimed, probably because of that teensy-tiny famine the country had just been through. Oops. We’re (thankfully) not at that penal stage yet. She details “Trump’s Trick for Eliminating Bad News.” (Spoiler alert: Just delete it.) Senator Elissa Slotkin: Earlier this morning, President Trump threatened me and a group of service and veteran Members of Congress with arrest, trial, and death by hanging. Here is my response [80 seconds]. Senator Chris Murphy: The President of the United States just called for Democratic members of Congress to be executed. This is not normal. We cannot allow this to feel normal. . . . Let this really sink in: The President of the United States just called for members of Congress to be executed. . . . [He] is engaged in the wholesale incitement, endorsement and rationalization of political violence in this country. . . . This is a moment for people to step up, for Republicans to step up, for business leaders to step up. Anybody who has a voice or a soapbox in this country needs to draw a line in the sand and say that it is not acceptable for the president of the United States to call for the murder of his political opposition. Trump Launches a $10 B Spying Operation Targeting American Liberals, Classifying Some As Pre-Terrorist. (Here’s the September 25 presidential decree that story refers to.) CNF CNF is holding an Extraordinary General Meeting December 10 to vote on a proposal by management to issue them a new class of shares effectively handing them complete control over governance. I’m voting NO.
Strong Floor, No Ceiling November 20, 2025 What readers are saying about Oliver Libby’s just-published Strong Floor, No Ceiling: Building a New Foundation for the American Dream: “Finally, a Book That Made Me Feel Hopeful About Our Future.” “A rallying cry for the radical center.” “A must read and what America needs right now.” A bold, unifying vision for America Strong Floor, No Ceiling is exactly the kind of book we need right now. It’s smart, hopeful, and deeply pragmatic. Oliver Libby takes on the most pressing challenges of our time, from economic mobility to political polarization, and offers a plan rooted in common sense, shared responsibility, and optimism. What makes this book powerful is that it speaks to people, not at them. It’s written for the “frustrated majority”, or those of us who still believe the American Dream should belong to everyone, not just a lucky few. Libby’s “radically moderate” framework brings together the best ideas from both sides of the aisle and shows how we can rebuild opportunity without tearing each other down. It’s equal parts manifesto and roadmap. It leaves you feeling like a brighter, fairer, more united America is actually achievable. A must-read for anyone who’s ready to move past the noise and start rebuilding together. I agree. PRKR David T.: “In case you missed it, a board member bought a million dollars worth of their stock a few days ago. I’m sure I’m grasping at hopeful straws, but that’s got to be a good sign…. maybe?” → I thought so, too, and bought more at 21 cents, though only with money I can truly afford to lose.
Tax Tweaks For Your Consideration November 18, 2025November 17, 2025 In response to last Thursday’s post, How To Make $60 Billion, Bob F. reminded me that you’d have to win more than $200 million a week for more than 1,000 weeks in a row, not $100 million, because “the cash option is valued at less than half of the total of the annuity option.” And the other problem, Bob notes, is that “the jackpot resets to $50M after a win, so you can’t win $100 million (let alone $200 million) drawing after drawing. But luckily there are two drawings per week, Tuesday and Friday, so it will still only take 2000 weeks if you win every time.” Pull that off, in order to match the poorest of today’s 25 richest Americans, and you’d face yet another problem: In the 38 years of extraordinary good fortune it took to net $60 billion this way, the fortunes of those 25 richest Americans may have grown considerably. By just how much would depend, in part, on whether we reform the tax code. Which leads me to today’s topic. Tom L.: “A friend suggested that once you hit a net worth of $1 billion, you should be given a parade and a little award that says, “you won capitalism.” After that, all income is taxed at 100%. If you complain that you can’t live on $1 billion, we take the award away (at least you had the parade).” → I love it! Sort of. What I’d really like to see is an end to the “stepped-up basis at death” and other tax loopholes that make the estate tax a joke. And income from wealth and speculation taxed at the same rate as income from work (though I would keep the Qualified Small Business Stock exemption that incentivizes innovation). With that rate rising to 45% (say) on income above $25 million (say). And an IRS adequately funded to collect the taxes due — out of fairness to the majority who already pay every penny due. And a voluntary corporate tax surcharge — like this — that would only begin to kick in if the corporation’s highest paid employee (typically, the CEO) makes more than 50 times as much as her median employee . . . and that would steepen gradually to 5% when top total compensation exceeded a thousand times the median. Voluntary, because the board of directors could choose to raise median worker pay and/or limit top pay in order to avoid the tax if they felt that was in the best interest of the shareholders. If inequality has become a problem in America (and does anyone think it has not?), this would be a nice little way to lean against it. See, also, the Patriotic Millionaires Equal Tax Act. (To make tougher capital gains treatment more palatable, we should perhaps consider netting out inflation in calculating taxable gains. So if you had bought something for $1,000,000 40 years ago and sold it now for $2,500,000, you’d have no tax to pay, because after inflation you’d actually have lost money. As it stands now, you’d have to pay nearly $500,000 in federal and state tax on that capital “gain.” Now that virtually all preparation is computerized, the logistics of the calculations might not be difficult at all.) BONUS Who Will Replace MTG In Trump’s Clown Car— Andy Borowitz at his substantive best.
Fixing Capitalism November 17, 2025November 13, 2025 [I’m traveling for a couple of days — without my computer! — so here’s something I never got around to posting years ago that might still be of interest.] Kara Swisher’s interview with Mariana Mazzucato. Stop Whining About Big Government. The narrative that the private sector drives innovation is only half the story. Ms. Mazzucato — who counts the pope, the billionaire Bill Gates and the U.S. congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez among her readers — says governments should act more like venture capitalists, rather than let the private sector hog all the glory and the rewards. BONUS? My name is Joey Garrand, and I believe a book of mine may interest you. The title of the book is Fixing Capitalism: A New Redistribution System. It’s free. I seek nothing more than to share this book and the ideas within. I appreciate your time, and let me know if you read! Thanks. I took the briefest look . . . is he Andrew Yang, only a half decade too young to run for President? . . . so I can’t say for sure it’s worth your time. (Andrew’s The War On Normal People, long since recommended, definitely was and is.) But I plan to take a closer look when things slow down. Let me know what you think.
Tax Tweaks For Your Consideration November 16, 2025 In response to Thursday’s post, How To Make $60 Billion, Bob F. reminded me that you’d have to win more than $200 million a week for more than 1,000 weeks in a row, not $100 million, because “the cash option is valued at less than half of the total of the annuity option.” And the other problem, Bob notes, is that “the jackpot resets to $50M after a win, so you can’t win $100 million (let alone $200 million) drawing after drawing. But luckily there are two drawings per week, Tuesday and Friday, so it will still only take 2000 weeks if you win every time.” Pull that off, in order to match the poorest of today’s 25 richest Americans, and you’d face yet another problem: In the 38 years of extraordinary good fortune it took to net $60 billion this way, the fortunes of those 25 richest Americans may have grown considerably. By just how much would depend, in part, on whether we reform the tax code. Which leads me to today’s topic. Tom L.: “A friend suggested that once you hit a net worth of $1 billion, you should be given a parade and a little award that says, “you won capitalism.” After that, all income is taxed at 100%. If you complain that you can’t live on $1 billion, we take the award away (at least you had the parade).” → I love it! Sort of. What I’d really like to see is an end to the “stepped-up basis at death” and other tax loopholes that make the estate tax a joke. And income from wealth and speculation taxed at the same rate as income from work (though I would keep the Qualified Small Business Stock exemption that incentivizes innovation). With that rate rising to 45% (say) on income above $25 million (say). And an IRS adequately funded to collect the taxes due — out of fairness to the majority who already pay every penny due. And a voluntary corporate tax surcharge — like this — that would only begin to kick in if the corporation’s highest paid employee (typically, the CEO) makes more than 50 times as much as her median employee . . . and that would steepen gradually to 5% when top total compensation exceeded a thousand times the median. Voluntary, because the board of directors could choose to raise median worker pay and/or limit top pay in order to avoid the tax if they felt that was in the best interest of the shareholders. If inequality has become a problem in America (and does anyone think it has not?), this would be a nice little way to lean against it. See, also, the Patriotic Millionaires Equal Tax Act. (To make tougher capital gains treatment more palatable, we should perhaps consider netting out inflation in calculating taxable gains. So if you had bought something for $1,000,000 40 years ago and sold it now for $2,500,000, you’d have no tax to pay, because after inflation you’d actually have lost money. As it stands now, you’d have to pay nearly $500,000 in federal and state tax on that capital “gain.” Now that virtually all preparation is computerized, the logistics of the calculations might not be difficult at all.) BONUS Who Will Replace MTG In Trump’s Clown Car— Andy Borowitz at his substantive best.
Praise And A Suggestion For The President November 15, 2025 PRAISE Trump unveils deal to expand coverage and lower costs on obesity drugs. This is great. Dr. Oz Proclaims Americans Could Lose ‘135 Billion Pounds’ by Midterm Elections With New Weight Loss Drug Pricing — by which he meant 135 million not billion, but still. The true goal should be somewhere in between, because surely we 340-or-so million Americans are on average more than 6 ounces — but less than 400 pounds — over our healthiest weight. SUGGESTION You could lose a pound or two yourself. But that’s not my actual suggestion. My suggestion is that — because surely the President of the United States cannot be a pedophile — you release the Epstein files. If your suspicions about the Democrats whom you’ve ordered the Justice Department to investigate are true, you’ll kill two birds with one stone: exposing them while exonerating yourself. (Another suggestion: Rename the “Department of Justice” the “Department of War on People You Don’t Like”). Also: Release the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop. Your supporters know they are of true national significance. So why shield the Bidens? And release what the investigators you sent to Hawaii found about Barack Obama’s birthplace. You said, “They can’t believe what they’re finding!” So let us see! (And release your 2013, 2014, and 2015 tax returns? Are they still under audit?) HOAXES The whole Epstein thing is a hoax. The climate crisis is a hoax. Your rape of E. Jean Carroll was clearly a hoax — because why would you have attacked her? In your words, “she’s Not My Type.” (Though she seems happy in this photo with Epstein, whom you allegedly regaled about the incident shortly after it happened.) Your 2020 election defeat was rigged — a hoax. The Russia thing, obviously, is a hoax . . . but Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi was real. In point of fact, though — on that last point, Russia versus Benghazi — there is a difference. Here it is: No fewer than six Republican-led investigations cleared Hillary of any wrong-doing; whereas the Mueller report, which none of your supporters have read, found nearly 400 pages of evidence pointing to collusion that could not be proven in its strict legal definition because of your obstruction of justice, for which more than 1,000 former Republican and Democratic federal prosecutors said any other American would have been indicted. So Benghazi — though tragic — was not a justifiable stain on Secretary Clinton’s service; while the only tragic thing about the Russia investigation is that you and Bill Barr managed to get no one to read it. BONUS A blast from Trump’s past — Trump’s generosity knew no bounds. It is well worth affirming you are “not a robot” to read this account. (Actually, he was promoting a start-up that, like his steaks and airline and university and foundation, seems now nowhere to be found. But, boy, does he know how to put on a show.) Our DNC LGBT dinner last night was great. The carrot cake was amazing. Governors Whitmer, Hochul, and Healey. DNC Chair Ken Martin. Congresswoman Sarah McBride, HRC President Kelley Robinson — and Emily “Hawking” Shiller, a trans Navy fighter pilot who flew 50 combat missions before retiring after 20 years and who leads SPARTA, with more than 3,000 members (of the estimated 18,000 trans members of the military). Thanks to all of you who contributed to help fund the opposition party! And to all of you who still will! Have a great weekend.