As the world seemingly slows to mark completion of another orbit around the Sun, we should not confuse respite with loss of momentum. After a shaky start, those seeking to reclaim democracy began to seize the political momentum by late summer. Their efforts gathered steam on October 18—No Kings Day. Elections held on November 4 demonstrated the breadth and depth of the resistance to Trump’s lawless administration. Additional special elections in December confirmed that a double-digit backlash against Republicans is brewing.
Republican members of Congress saw the handwriting on the wall and began to resign from “frontline” races targeted in the Democratic effort to flip the House. Trump and his legal misfits—Bondi, Blanche, and Patel—bungled the handling of the Epstein files so badly that Congress voted 427 to 1 to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act. They then bungled the actual release of the documents by violating the EFTA in nearly every way possible. Eighty-seven percent of Americans support the release of the files—something that Trump continues to oppose as recently as this past weekend.
Trump failed to deliver on his promises to reduce prices. He terrorized law-abiding immigrants and their neighbors with thuggish tactics that caused communal revulsion. He ordered the military to execute alleged criminals without trial or mercy. He demolished the East Wing of the White House without warning and graffitied his name across the memorial to a fallen leader. He mocked the struggles of the people by declaring that the “affordability” of “the grocery” was a Democratic hoax.
As Trump’s favorability ratings slid inexorably to new lows with each passing week, the grassroots resistance grew in stride. And now, on the eve of the new year, people are energized and anxious to begin again, to launch a new assault on Trump’s lawless reign of corruption.
We will start the new year from a position of strength and determination. Pausing to reflect on our achievements and blessings is no sign of weakness. Enjoy family and friends for the twinkling of the holiday season. We have much work to do, all in good time. Even dreams need rest.
Let’s meet in the new year to begin the next phase of our resistance!
See you on the other side!
A brief recap of the news.
Ukraine.
One indicator of Trump’s mishandling of the peace negotiations with Ukraine is that a leading Russian news anchor is celebrating the reports from the latest meeting between Trump and President Zelensky as a “total victory” for Russia. See Daily Express (UK), Russia thanks Trump and celebrates ‘total victory’ over Ukraine | World | News | Express.co.uk.
Although the Daily Express gets low marks for journalistic accuracy and trust (think The Mirror and The Sun), the Express article quotes Kremlin Propagandist Vladimir Solovyov at length. His statements should be viewed as having the tacit approval of Putin, who could have sent an angry message of condemnation but instead declared victory.
The stealth war on Venezuela.
A day after CNN reported that the CIA attacked a dock on the Venezuelan coast with a cruise missile, the press reacted with a uniform epiphany: “Wait, what? The CIA? What is the CIA doing with cruise missiles, and who told the CIA it was okay to attack a civilian target in a country that is not at war with the US?”
See The Intercept, CIA Was Behind Venezuela Drone Strike, Source Says.
The Intercept quoted Sam Ratner of Win Without War as follows:
Days after it took place, the U.S. public is finally learning about a CIA airstrike on foreign soil for which there is no legal justification or congressional authorization. This is the lawless Trump administration in action.The only way forward is for Congress to stop Trump’s illegal strikes and hold those in the administration who have so flagrantly broken the law to account.
The role of the CIA in regime change in South America is long and sordid. Again, per the Intercept,
The CIA also has a long tradition of fanning violence, fomenting regime change, and conducting acts of sabotage in Latin America. A 2023 analysis of the effects of CIA-sponsored regime change in five Latin American countries found the interventions caused “large declines in democracy scores, rule of law, freedom of speech, and civil liberties.”
More Epstein files in hands of DOJ than previously reported.
You may have read last week that the DOJ recently “discovered” a million additional Epstein documents in the hands of the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. That report was incorrect. The actual number of recently discovered documents exceeds 5 million pages. See NYTimes, Justice Dept. Now Said to Be Reviewing 5.2 Million Pages of Epstein Files. (Accessible to all.)
The reporting is ambiguous in the use of the terms “pages” and “documents.” Based on my experience in major litigation, a “document” averages 2.5 pages. Moreover, most major document productions contain a high percentage of duplicates. For example, if a single email was copied to ten people, each of those ten emails is considered a separate “document,” and those ten “documents” may consist of dozens or hundreds of “pages.”
But whatever the correct number of newly discovered documents is, their existence raises the urgent question of whether Pam Bondi and Kash Patel considered those documents when they declared that the “Epstein files” provided no basis for additional prosecutions.
A federal judge prevents the White House from defunding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Trump’s earliest assaults on the rule of law involved the Office of Management and Budget defunding various agencies. Neither the OMB nor the President has the authority to refuse to spend funds appropriated by Congress. See The Constitution and the Impoundment Control Act of 1974.
But the absence of constitutional and statutory authority has not stopped the administration from simply refusing to disburse funds as directed by Congress, thereby effectively starving federal agencies into non-existence.
Trump used that playbook on the Consumer Fraud Protection Bureau. On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the administration to provide funding to the CFPB pending trial. See HuffPo, Judge Stops White House From Defunding The CFPB.
Yesterday, I noted that Trump continues to violate the Constitution every single day of his second term. The ongoing refusal to spend funds appropriated by Congress is another way in which Trump’s second term is a continuing violation of the Constitution. The order by US District Judge Amy Berman is a significant victory for Congress and the American people.
But . . . . if the Supreme Court applies its shadow docket gambit, the Supreme Court will overturn Judge Berman’s order, effectively allowing Trump to terminate the CFPB by fiat, ignoring Congress’s creation of the agency that protects consumers from financial fraud.
Reader Party in Los Angeles on February 1, 2026.
I am happy to report that everyone who has RSVP’d to the Reader Party, to be held in Los Angeles on February 1, 2026, at 2:00 pm, has guaranteed admittance. There are fewer than 10 spaces remaining, which I will keep in reserve for readers who missed the announcement in the last two editions of the newsletter.
If you signed up for the party, look for an email on Wednesday, December 31, 2025, with further details. Jill and I look forward to seeing you in February!
Concluding Thoughts.
The sentence above, “Even dreams need rest,” is a paraphrase of a statement by a Spanish philosopher (or poet) whose name I cannot remember. The original phrase was, “There are dreams that need rest.” I encountered the phrase as an undergraduate English major and have carried it with me for more than 4 decades, but I cannot recall the source and have been unable to identify the author through internet searches. I don’t claim it as my original writing and would be happy to rediscover the original source.
Jill and I are hosting a New Year’s Eve Party on December 31st. Our plan is to stay up until midnight (Eastern) to ring in the new year! I will send a short note tomorrow wishing everyone a Happy New Year, but will take the night off to celebrate with friends and family.
I hope everyone has a blessed, safe, and happy New Year’s Eve!
Pro-democracy protest photos
Chattanooga Bridge Brigade
Lovely chilly day we had on the Moore Road overpass today.
Happy to get to spread a little joy with our message of Peace on Earth.
Lots of honks and waves.
Pasadena, CA
Missoula Montana!
Daily Dose of Perspective
The image below captures the Fireworks Galaxy, which is 25 million light-years from Earth, and the open star cluster NGC 6939, which is 3,800 light-years from Earth.
So, to help with perspective, the Fireworks Galaxy lies far outside of our home galaxy, the Milky Way. But the star cluster lies within the Milky Way at a relatively close 3,800 light years from Earth.
When you look up at the night sky and see stars, every one of those stars is inside the Milky Way, our home galaxy. Although we can see a handful of galaxies with he naked eye, we cannot see individual stars within those neighboring galaxies. So, if you see a star while looking up at the night sky, you can confidently proclaim that it is within the Milky Way.
The Milky Way is 80,000 to 100,000 light-years in diameter and 1,000 light-years “thick” at the spiral arms.
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