“As in his first term, Donald Trump now presides over a visibly sinking ship as his approval ratings slide. MAGA, a movement built around the personality of one man, never amounted to a coherent political force or even a workable coalition. Claims that Trump and his lieutenants won a mandate in 2024 and then ‘saved’ the country were always delusional. After all, his margin was thin, as was that of his party in Congress. Three forces are killing MAGA, perhaps even pushing the US in a distinctly socialist direction. The first are the internal divisions, which are growing ever-more pronounced and will only intensify as an aging Trump becomes an ever-lamer duck, particularly if Democrats romp to victory again in the 2026 midterms.” (11/12/25)
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Charles Eisenstein
“ve been rereading John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. This passage from Chapter 5 is shockingly relevant to the farm crisis today. It describes the early stages of the consolidation and corporatization of farms that continue to accelerate. Even more relevantly, it illuminates the systemic nature of that process, which defies any attempt to locate blame.” (11/12/25)
“‘Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.’ — Thomas Jefferson … This clearly states a scriptural principle (one found in the Bible, that is.) Peter told the Sanhedrin, ‘“we must obey God rather than men.’ Tyranny, even its milder forms such as authoritarianism, are evil, sinful, and an affront not just to human liberty and freedom and people, but to the God who has given us liberty and freedom. But tyranny is not just evil, it is corrupting, it is disgusting, to any lover of liberty, to anyone who values human life and dignity, to anyone who believes that humans have rights. (Regardless of where those rights come from.)” (11/12/25)
“This is an administration that is willing to kill people whether it’s legal or not or whether it’s ethical or not. It’s an administration that is contributing to the erosion of our ability to appreciate the full weight and value of personhood. They’re exploiting our disposition to use distance and country of origin to calculate the permissibility of sin. Some may find themselves apathetic to the murder of these people. That sort of attitude commits you to barbarism: human life has no value. Did we always believe that or did our transition begin in 2016?” (11/12/25)
“Few topics feel more relevant right now than how Americans see others who disagree with them politically. As a social psychologist, I get to regularly teach students about these dynamics. And now, from FIRE’s latest National Speech Index, there is new data that almost perfectly illustrates the extent of partisan bias in this country.” (11/12/25)
“History and the constraints of American federalism suggest the euphoria and catastrophism that have followed Zohran Mamdani’s election victory are misplaced.” (11/12/25)
Source: The Atlantic
by Simon Shuster, Nancy A Youssef, & Gisela Salim-Peyer
“Vladimir Putin’s Russia may seem like an obvious place for Maduro to turn as he scours the world for well-armed friends willing to help him withstand a U.S. pressure campaign that threatens his 12-year reign. … Earlier this year, Maduro signed what he called a ‘historic and strategic’ pact with Putin to expand trade and military cooperation. But the Kremlin’s response to Maduro’s existential crisis has been underwhelming for a country that considers itself a great power. … Maduro may be about to learn the same difficult lesson absorbed by the governments of other Russian allies, including Armenia, Syria, and Iran. They all recently appealed to the Kremlin for help only to discover that the war in Ukraine has taken such a toll, and remains such a priority, that Russia’s ability to come to the rescue is severely diminished.” (11/12/25)
“Today, Donald Trump presides over his own Murder Incorporated, less a government than a death squad. Many brushed off his proclamation early in his second term that the Gulf of Mexico would henceforth be called the Gulf of America as a foolish, yet harmless, show of dominance. Now, however, he’s created an ongoing bloodbath in the adjacent Caribbean Sea. The Pentagon has so far destroyed 18 go-fast boats there and in the Pacific Ocean. No evidence has been presented or charges brought suggesting that those ships were running drugs, as claimed. The White House has simply continued to release bird’s-eye view surveillance videos (snuff films, really) of a targeted vessel. Then comes a flash of light and it’s gone, as are the humans it was carrying, be they drug smugglers, fishermen, or migrants. As far as we know, at least 64 people have already been killed in such attacks. The kill rate is accelerating.” (11/13/25)
“The Trump administration has announced a proposal for a 50-year home mortgage, supported by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte. It’s a plan that would lower monthly payments but severely increase cost for borrowers through significantly higher interest payments. The proposal has been greeted with rage and disdain across the nativist right. Commentators like Glenn Beck and Matt Walsh, as well as elected officials like Thomas Massie, have all condemned it as financially ruinous and politically insulting to hard-working Americans. Among Trump’s most hardline nativist base, there is real anger. Trump entered politics promising to take the country back for his white, Christian base. He promised not fiscal discipline but social welfare for the right kind of American. For migrants and minorities, he offered deportation and incarceration.” (11/12/25)
