“It’s easy to get dispirited by America’s political death spiral given that the MAGA faithful remain devoted to their leader no matter what new evidence emerges. They accuse critics — even those making calm, policy-oriented critiques — of suffering from a medical condition (Trump Derangement Syndrome). I’m more inclined to believe adherence to Trump’s grievance-based movement is a condition. Like with all viruses, there are signs this one might someday break. For evidence, I offer none other than U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican from Georgia. Until recently, most pundits have viewed MTG as the epitome of what’s gone wrong with the modern GOP, where there are ‘no enemies on the right’ and conspiracy theories are as relevant as rationally based ones” (11/13/25)
“The November 4 election results are a reality check for the Trump administration. Democrats didn’t just run up the score in deep-blue enclaves. With power prices soaring, they flipped two Georgia utility-regulator seats in rare statewide victories. In New York City, more than half of voters told exit pollsters that their top worry is the cost of living. Seven in 10 Americans say their grocery bills have gone up this past year. Six in 10 say their utility costs have increased. So, yes, the affordability issues that dominated the 2024 election remain central. But President Donald Trump insists there’s no problem.” (11/13/25)
“Two weeks after Tucker Carlson’s scandalous interview with white supremacist, Jew-hating, misogynist ‘influencer’ Nick Fuentes, the MAGA right is still grappling with the fallout — particularly after the Heritage Foundation’s (of Project 2025 fame) president, Kevin Roberts, defended Carlson and took a swipe at Carlson’s ‘globalist’ critics. Meanwhile, some conservatives seem to be waking up to the fact that large segments of the right now normalize Fuentes-style hate.” (11/13/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“The difference between people who supported the British Empire and people who support the US empire is that those who supported the British Empire knew they were supporting an empire. … Supporters of the British Empire understood that the enemies of the Empire were being killed because they refused to adequately subject themselves to the King and his demands. Supporters of the US empire think the US and its allies are always attacking Evil Bad Guys in the name of spreading Freedom and Democracy, and if this happens to advance pre-existing geostrategic agendas and/or resource interests then it is purely by coincidence.” (11/13/25)
“Robert Jackson was a key figure in mid-twentieth-century American liberalism. He rose rapidly up the cursus honorum of the New Deal. In the period between 1934 and 1941, Roosevelt appointed him Assistant General Counsel to the IRS, then Assistant Attorney General for the IRS. He then worked for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division before becoming Solicitor General, Attorney General, and finally Associate Justice on the Supreme Court, serving from 1941 to 1954. Jackson was the last Supreme Court Justice who never attended college, nor had a law degree (he spent one year in law school and otherwise ‘read law,’ learning the trade as Lincoln had). He took a leave of absence to be the lead prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crimes trial. A zealous liberal in his political career, he became something of a conservative on the Court.” (11/13/25)
“As demand for self-driving services such as Waymo grows, so does evidence of their safety. The autonomous ride-hailing service reports astronomical reductions in motor vehicle–related crashes and injuries in its autonomous vehicles (A.V.s) compared to cars helmed by humans. But with innovation comes those who fear it. … History is littered with failed attempts to resist technological progress—efforts now proven absurd. Civilization didn’t cave when the Luddites resisted textile mechanization in the early nineteenth century, nor did it cave when unions representing gaslight and horse-drawn carriage workers resisted electric lighting and automobiles. If those seeking to hinder advancements like these had their way, humanity would have never climbed out of the Stone Age. And today, we should not allow contemporary Luddites to thwart the unfolding progress of humanity.” (11/13/25)
Source: The Atlantic
by Thomas Chatterton Williams
“In the age of MAGA, ideological lines that once distinguished left from right have blurred. Republicans who said they were willing to die for the market now support a president who tells the government to buy up shares in the private sector. (Bernie Sanders approves.) The right has also embraced cancel culture, a progressive trend it recently despised. But conservatives aren’t the only ones emulating the other side. In perhaps the most striking reversal of this era, progressives are now the ones who tend to speak like moralists. … When people describe the world by appealing to black-and-white morality, they tend to reveal more about themselves than anything else. For many, such language suggests that they hold their own views to be unimpeachable and the other side’s to be irredeemable. But moral clarity, like beauty, is perishable and — at least in practice — subjective.” (11/13/25)
“In a Thanksgiving letter to shareholders this past Monday, Nov. 10, business titan and retiring Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett announced that he’s ‘going quiet.’ ‘Sort of,’ he added. In fact, this ‘quiet’ farewell from one of the world’s wealthiest individuals will likely echo through the halls of American business and philanthropy for some time. For investors, there is keen interest in how his handpicked successor will perform as chief executive of one of the United States’ 10 largest firms. But it is at the intersection of affluence and altruism, of gaining and giving, that Mr. Buffett’s words and actions carry outsize implications. He has donated $60 billion over the last 20 years, and this week gifted $1.3 billion from sales of stock to four family foundations. That still leaves $150 billion of his personal fortune to be given away.” (11/13/25)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Katrina Gulliver
“‘Imagine money falling from the sky. Would you slip a tenner into your pocket before you told anyone? Chances are, most of us would trouser a few notes rather than inform the authorities.’ This is the opening of economist and banker David McWilliams’s rollicking history of money, and his description of Operation Bernhard, the Nazi campaign to destabilize Britain by flooding the country with counterfeit cash. Lenin tried a similar ploy in Russia. Despite having different political beliefs, they ‘both understood the phenomenal power of money: undermine money and you undermine the fabric of society.’ That right there is McWilliams’s underlying theme: money is the fabric of society. He wants people to understand how cash shapes our world.” (11/13/25)
“Venezuela is not small, not simple, and not susceptible to quick, low-cost military outcomes. In geographic and demographic terms alone, Venezuela is enormous. It covers roughly 882,000 square kilometers, making it substantially larger than Ukraine (579,000 sq km) or Texas (696,000 sq km). Its population — estimated to be above 31 million people — is roughly equivalent to current wartime Ukraine and modern Texas. It is a country of sprawling mountains, dense cities, jungles, and industrial corridors where military infrastructure sits interlaced with civilian life. … A few commentators on cable news shows — eager to portray potential U.S. military action as simple and manageable — have taken to comparing a possible operation in Venezuela to Operation Just Cause, the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama to seize Gen. Manuel Noriega. The analogy is dangerously misleading.” (11/13/25)
