December 2, 2025
Welcome to the season of joy and light . . .
December is usually my favorite time of year. I love the holidays, I love winter, and I love traditions.
This year feels different. I think we all feel it.
A big part of that is the uncertainty and instability we are dealing with, both internationally but also even more within the United States. And the very people who should be providing stability and strength are the ones who are causing the problems.
Today, Trump held the ninth Cabinet meeting of this term - the last one for 2025. As previous ones have been, it was televised, and as in previous meetings, viewers could listen to members of the Cabinet and other attendees praise him to the skies. Sec. of State Marco Rubio probably told the truth when he said this has been “the most transformational year in American foreign policy since the end of the Second World War, at least,” although DHS secretary Kristi Noem was widely mocked for telling him “You made it through the hurricane season without a hurricane—you kept the hurricanes away. We appreciate that.”
But also as in the past, Trump made numerous false or misleading statements on a wide range of topics - ending wars, gas prices, inflation, crime in D.C., aid to Ukraine, Social Security, and many more. CNN’s Daniel Dale is known for his fact-checks of Trump statements, and this time was no exception.
One thing that was apparent to even casual observers of the meeting was that Trump appeared to have a great deal of trouble staying awake - even though he started the meeting off claiming that he was “sharper than I was 25 years ago.”
Trump’s physical and mental condition have been a source of concern for many observers for some time, and recent investigative reporting has shown that his schedule and workload this term are significantly less than in his first term. Trump had an MRI in October, the second one in a year, and this week the White House released a memo from his doctor about the scan.
Sean Barbabella said in a statement that Trump’s physical exam included “advanced imaging” that is “standard for an executive physical” in Trump’s age group. Barbabella concluded that the cardiovascular and abdominal imaging was “perfectly normal.”
“The purpose of this imaging is preventative: to identify issues early, confirm overall health, and ensure he maintains long-term vitality and function,” the doctor wrote.
The memo did not give enough specifics to satisfy medical professionals, who said an MRI is not typically part of “preventative” care. MRIs are used to diagnose or assess a wide variety of conditions.
One of the biggest topics for those watching the administration’s actions right now concerns the September 2 strike on a Venezuelan boat that killed all 11 people aboard, including two who survived the initial attack and were killed with a second hit. As reported initially in the Washington Post on Friday, Admiral Frank Bradley - the commander of the operation - followed a spoken order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “Kill them all.”
However, on Monday we read this:
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the boat strike was “conducted in self defense to protect Americans in vital United States interests,” adding that the military action was “in accordance with the law of armed conflict.”
She said it was Admiral Mitch Bradley, the Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command, who ordered the strike and that he was “well within his authority” to do so.
That has many people worried that the administration is trying to shift the responsibility for the second strike away from Hegseth. In effect, they’re throwing Bradley, and by extension all those who serve under him, under the bus.
When Pete Hegseth responded to questions from reporters today, he also appeared to be trying to shift responsibility for the actual decision to Bradley. He claimed that he “supported” Bradley. He also said that while he watched the initial strike, he didn’t stay through the whole operation because he had another meeting to attend . . . and he denied seeing any survivors:
I did not personally see survivors. . . because the thing was on fire. It was exploded and there was fire and smoke, you can’t see anything, you got digital - this is called the fog of war. This is what you in the press don’t understand. You sit in your air-conditioned offices, or up on Capitol Hill, and you nit-pick and you plant fake stories in the Washington Post about “kill everybody”, phrases and anonymous sources not based in anything. . .
There’s one tiny bit of good news in this whole mess. For all that Hegseth has done everything he could to limit the ability of the press to report on the Pentagon, he has “not deterred rigorous reporting about the boat strikes. On the contrary, the reporting has been led by news outlets that handed in press passes.”1
Misc. Short Takes:
I’m going to start off with this because it’s got me shaking my head. The White House launched a new “Media Offender of the Week” feature on its official website. As of today (12/2/25) the page is showcasing the “illegal orders” video. The page “criticizes and catalogs media organizations and journalists it claims have distorted coverage,” as The Guardian put it. (Personally, I found it rather useful as a way to identify reliable sources for the video and the response to it!)
Billionaires in the 19 countries that make up the individual nations in the G20 earned $2.2 trillion last year, according to a statement prepared by global charity Oxfam, while their combined wealth grew to $15.6 trillion. “The annual cost to lift up the 3.8 billion people who currently live below the poverty line is $1.65 trillion,” they said in a statement calling for support of a South African proposal for the G20 to create an international panel to address global poverty. The U.S. boycotted the meeting this year.
A three-judge panel of the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Trump’s former personal attorney Alina Habba has been unlawfully serving as the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. This is the second time in two weeks that a Trump interim appointee has been ruled to be unlawful; last week, charges against James Comey and Letitia James were dismissed in the Eastern District of Virginia when a judge made a similar finding about attorney Lindsey Halligan. In their decision, the panel wrote the government’s arguments in support of the appointment would “effectively [permit] anyone to fill the U.S. Attorney role indefinitely,” and they said “this should raise a red flag.”
Travelers going through TSA checkpoints without either a passport or a REAL ID will be charged a $45 fee starting on February 1. The fee will cover all travel within a 10-day window for the traveler.
The FDA is planning to make major changes to the procedures used to approve vaccines, following claims that Covid vaccines were responsible for the deaths of at least 10 children. Additional changes will also be made to restrict the number of vaccines given at a single time, and the schedule of vaccination for children. Public-health experts say the changes could significantly slow the process and make it more difficult for people to receive adequate vaccinations.
The Department of the Interior has announced four proposed rules “to restore Endangered Species Act regulations to their proven 2019 and 2020 framework.” Two of the rules revise regulations put in under Biden in 2024 that the administration says “expanded federal reach, created unnecessary complexity and departed from the statute’s clear language.” Comments on the rules can be submitted through December 22.
The Trump administration will begin withholding SNAP benefits from most Democratic-led states next week unless they agree to turn over to the USDA information about recipients, including their names and immigration statuses.
The “Survey of Consumer Sentiment” from the University of Michigan shows that consumer confidence in the economy is at its second-lowest level since 1978.
The survey assesses consumer confidence levels in the U.S. with regards to the economy, personal finances, business conditions, and buying conditions.
Resistance Actions:
Even though most of the news here today concerns other topics, immigration enforcement is still a major, major issue all across the country. The image I used at the top of today’s post has been one of my favorite Christmas pieces ever since I saw it on a social media post a number of years ago. This year I tracked down the artist, because I wanted to get permission to use it here (librarians are sticklers for copyright!)
It turns out he lives and works more or less right in my backyard, in Portland, Oregon. And not only was he willing to let me use the art, he also told me that all the proceeds from sales of the cards and posters he sells with the image (available in his Etsy store) are being donated to SOAR Immigration Legal Services, which provides “culturally competent, immigration-related legal representation and education to refugees and immigrants with limited income throughout Oregon and southwest Washington.”
I’ve posted before about how art can be a form of resistance. This is another example - not just the image itself, with its sly references to the religious story of a poor couple looking for shelter when no one wanted to help them - but also using art as a way of supporting a cause that helps push back against the regime.
So yes, I bought a box of cards.
And I’m also spreading the word, because I want to support SOAR, and because sharing information like this is another form of resistance. This is how we build the networks that connect us.
One last thing . . .
The holiday season is a customary time to send cards - whether or not you celebrate Christmas. And lots of people love to get real, physical cards and letters. That makes this a great time to update your contacts! If you have friends online, reach out to them and ask if they’d be willing to give you their address . . . they may not, but you might be surprised.
Consider also giving cards to people you see regularly but don’t really know well - neighbors, people you see at school or the store, etc.
You don’t need to write a novel, just a short message like “Merry Christmas” or “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy New Year” and your name.
You may not even need to purchase a card; nice stationery is fine if you have it.
If you see the person regularly, you may not even have to stamp it - just leave it on their desk or tucked under the wipers on their car.
There! You’ve made contact with a living, breathing person, who now knows your name and that you are a friendly individual. They may actually say hello the next time you meet.
That’s one way to build connections with people. . . a small little action, but eventually you will find that you’ve developed a web of people you know and recognize. And those webs of contacts are a vital part of developing resilience, both as an individual and as a community.
OK, that’s all for now. We will get through this together - just stay loud, stay strong, and never, ever give up!
Thank you!