Sunday Mailbag

Wow, did we get a lot of mail this week.

Oh, and the headline theme is still eluding many folks. This link is pretty useful.

Politics: Israel...

M.D.H. in Coralville, IA, writes: For all his many faults, Donald Trump does have one unique advantage in the Middle East right now if he chooses to use it: Because Evangelicals will swallow almost anything from him, he can threaten Israel with greater credibility than previous U.S. presidents, as Israel cannot use their standard tactic of getting U.S. Evangelicals to block any threat against Israel by a U.S. president.

At the same time, Iran is in a weaker regional position than usual.

So it might, just might, be possible to push both Israel and Hamas harder than was possible in the past. Of course this could fall apart; squandered opportunities for peace are a long tradition in the Middle East.

---

A.G. in Scranton, PA, writes: I know it sounds bad, but I hope this whole thing falls flat on its face quite soon. It will one day, anyway. It might as well take Trump and his -ism right along with it rather than serve to prop it up, make it seem something other than what it is: a corrupt, fascist regime run by a vindictive and small pedophile and the people who protect him.

If he is perceived of as having brought peace between Gaza and Israel, that dream of a third term (and more; he's a physical specimen, if you recall) might not be out of reach.

Sigh... Trump 2028.

Politics: ...and Antisemitism

J.W. in North Canton, OH, writes: I am a Jew who has lived a very stereotypical American Jewish life. As a child I grew up going to Sunday school, had a Bar Mitzvah, endured some antisemitic comments in high school, lived in Israel for a year, married a Jew by choice, and now my children are on the same path. I do not believe that antisemitism education should be taught in schools.

While this may be surprising, it is beneath the Jewish people to focus only on themselves. The root of antisemitism is the hate that grows from ignorance and misunderstanding. As Jews we are bound by the commandment of Tikun Olam, repairing the world. Not just the Jewish people, the world. Tolerance and understanding of those that are different than us must be taught in our schools. It is important that people be free from fear when practicing their religion. But what about people of African, Arab, and other descent? What about LGBTQ+? And yes, what about Republicans and Democrats? None of these people should live in fear. The root of these problems is the same and should be dealt with in equal measure.

---

J.M. in New York, NY, writes: You wrote: "Sure, MAGA might attract the occasional Jewish supporter here and there, but the real agenda is two-fold: (1) pander to Christian evangelicals who believe Jewish control of the Holy Land is key to inaugurating the end times, and (2) "own the Muslims."

Trust me, there are more than the occasional Jewish supporter of the modern Nazi movement. It's all about Israel. Many just feel that anything less than 100%, no-questions-asked support of Israel is unacceptable. Biden/Harris were deemed antisemitic by some because they dared to try to get aid to Gazans and reign in Benjamin Netanyahu's worst aggression, even though he wasn't denied a single bullet of military aid.

They'll rail on and on about "antisemitism from the left"—e.g., Reps. Ilhan Omar (DFL-MN) and even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)—because they support Palestinians' rights (apparently to varying degrees; some, in fact, at least antisemitism-adjacent) while dismissing the obvious from the "Jews will not replace us" and Christian nationalist crowd who'd be happy to deny us any place in American society.

Plenty of tribesfolk have switched over and I don't see them coming back anytime soon.

---

J.H. in Louisville, KY, writes: It is certainly clear to most of us Jews that Trump is using antisemitism as the broad sword to accomplish other goals. But it is as clear to us Democratic Party Jews that you are mistaken if you really think the Republican Party is only attracting the "occasional Jewish supporter here and there."

It is hard to find a comfortable place as a pro-Israel Democrat these days. As the Party becomes more openly hostile to Israel, there will be a larger and larger drift of Jewish support away from what we always thought of as our allies. How intersectionality has led to the abandonment of the only country in the Middle East that is democratic (whether we like who they vote for or not), multicultural (Israeli Arabs have full voting rights and are in every profession including high government and legal roles), pro-women's rights, and pro-LGBTQ rights is baffling to me, especially as the groups they are choosing to support instead of Jews have views antithetical to all of those important issues. As Jews are no longer seen by progressives (and perhaps majority of Democrats?) as a minority in need of any concern (despite the massive rise in antisemitic attacks and now growing deaths), Jews (and their overweight political, legal, and financial support) are unfortunately being pushed to decide where they will be more welcomed. It's an awful decision to be faced with since, as a group, we identify so strongly with the Democratic policies. But the definition of allies is that we support one another in times of urgent need.

Abandoning generations of Jewish support for today's cause célèbre may be more costly for the Democratic Party than it, or you, think.

---

J.K. in Wilton, CT, writes: I have been a reader of Electoral-Vote.com since back in 2004 but I have to say I think you are missing the mark on The Free Press. I am a lifelong Democrat, but had to drop my New York Times subscription thanks to its constant Anti-Israel bias and refusal to retract its libels. Same for my years-long NPR subscription. The Free Press is hard to pin down. It's more opinions than news a lot of the time, but the fact that it has news from across the spectrum has been amazing. Also, quite frankly, the mainstream liberal media outright lies on Israel, the U.N. and aid organizations. I personally look forward to CBS being a mainstream outlet that breaks our current mold of lies on the left and lies on the right. The NYT is truly no better than Fox. Let's hope the new CBS is better than both. Also, The Free Press was one of the first outlets to print about famine in Gaza, when it actually happened in May, by tracking flour prices. The fact is all the other "famine in Gaza" pieces prior to that time were sloppy reporting and not true.

---

J.H. in Boston, MA, writes: While I presume it is true, what you write, that the term Semite was coined in the 19th century to refer to all peoples speaking one of the Semitic languages, including Arabic as well as Hebrew, your answer is missing some additional very relevant context.

The term "anti-Semitism" was very specifically coined by German antisemite Wilhelm Marr, a huge proponent of Germanism and advocate for eradicating the Jewish race, as an alternative to "Judenhaß," to make the position seem more scientific. It was, from its first coining, very specifically only about Jews.

The annoying etymology "Well, actually, Arabs are Semites too" objection is raised so often, and has been heard and dismissed so many times, that in the English language many authors prefer to remove the hyphen and make it lowercase, "antisemitism" specifically to emphasize that the word is not the negation of 'Semite,' but rather a whole word meaning hatred toward Jews.

But the germane point here is that the word "antisemitism" (not "Semite") only ever referred to Jews. Using it to include Arabs is not archaic, as you claim. It's false. Pointing out the etymology, as N.S. of Chicago does, is about as useful as pointing out that the West Indies are not in India and American Indians are not actually Indian. Or pointing out that homophobia isn't actually a phobia, in the clinical sense. Great, thanks.

Since you are styling the word lowercase without hyphen, I assumed you knew the reason, but your answer makes it seem like you don't.

---

P.Y. in Watertown, MA, writes: Can we all please start using the term "jew-hatred" instead of the overly vague "antisemitism"? After all, "antisemitism" only refers to Jews and not other semites. The old League of Antisemites is specifically referring to being against the existence of Judaism and Jewish culture. The term is also used so much that it barely has any meaning, whereas "jew hatred," "jew haters," etc. is so much more straightforward and correct, that it is less likely to lose its meaning any time soon. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

---

C.S. in Newport, Wales, UK, writes: R.M. in Pensacola asked what the approval ratings were of the Nazi party.

Well while they didn't have opinion polls, we do have Joseph Goebbels' diaries. Goebbels did maintain a representative network of agents across Germany to report to him of the mood of the local population—including current jokes about Hitler. The agents and their contacts were not punished, as Goebbels thought it was much more important to get a fairly accurate picture.

As is well set out in Götz Aly's book Hitler's Beneficiaries, the fanatical Nazis were a minority throughout, and the Nazi leadership spent time and effort on mollifying the general population and trying to make their life better (e.g., by robbing the wealth of all Jews and passing it on).

Another easy way to check the Nazis' popularity is to count how many babies were called Adolf (which Goebbels also did). You can see it rose in 1932/33, again in 1938/9 (when Hitler, against his own wishes, delivered peace at Munich), and then absolutely cratered from 1940 onwards.

Politics: The Nobel Peace Prize

O.E. in Greenville, SC, writes: In 2024, eight Florida Republican congressmembers sent a nomination for María Corina Machado to the Nobel Committee. Of those, five are still in the House, Rick Scott is still in the Senate, Marco Rubio is Secretary of State, and Michael Waltz is U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. So, it can be said that the current Nobel Peace Prize laureate owes her nomination to right-wing Republicans, and thus, Donald Trump did not get the prize thanks to the same right-wing Republicans.

That said, if the prize was intended to be a snub to Trump, it may not work that way. As the United States is attacking watercraft, claiming that they are Venezuelan smugglers, claiming that the President of Venezuela is a drug trafficker, and that Venezuelans are invading our country—all based on Trump's words alone—Trump would no doubt seek to gain popularity by standing with Machado, whom he has praised, and who reciprocated that praise. If the United States invades Venezuela, the Nobel Committee will no doubt share the blame.

---

H.B. in Halifax, NS, Canada, writes: L.M.S. in Harbin asked: "Why can't they honor people with the Nobel Peace Prize when the dust settles?" and you gave a good answer.

I was once in the Stockholm Nobel Museum and asked a similar question, and the guide gave a similar answer... and added, "Here in Stockholm we award these prizes for achievement. In Oslo they award the Peace Prize for effort."

---

P.M. in Akershus, Norway, writes: The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten offers a path for President Trump to get the Nobel Peace Price next year. Here is what the paper recommends:

1. Continue the work for peace in the Middle East. If it is to succeed, the Palestinians must be included. The agreement that is now agreed upon was negotiated over their heads. Moreover, a halt to hostilities in the Gaza Strip is only a start. The constant new illegal settlements in the West Bank are a source of continued unrest and violence.
   
   
2. Continue the work for peace in Ukraine, but put at least as much pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin as was ultimately put on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Putin has not met a single deadline that has been set. Instead, the Russians continue to send wave after wave of drones and missiles against the Ukrainians. The only thing that can bring about a just peace in Ukraine is tougher sanctions against Russia and stronger support for Ukraine.
   
   
3. Take care of American democracy. This year's Peace Prize is a powerful reminder of how important it is to protect democratic institutions. The Nobel Committee calls it the very foundation of peace. So do not use the military against your own citizens. Stop lying about the 2020 election being stolen. Stop using the judiciary to hunt down opponents and the media.

It's great that Trump wants the Peace Prize. If he corrects his course, he might even deserve it. Whether the president chooses to follow the paper's advice reminds to be seen, but it would be interesting if somebody showed the editorial to him.

---

E.C.W. in Lviv, Ukraine, writes: I know attention is elsewhere, perhaps rightfully so, as the conflict in Gaza maybe improves and things deteriorate horribly in Chicago, but I did want to offer a few short updates from Ukraine. First off, Russia appears to be growing desperate, to me anyway, as in the past two weeks they have violated Estonian and Polish airspace with drones and fighters, and launched drone and Kalibr missile attacks at the formerly "safe" city of Lviv. I am working in Lviv and was only a few blocks away from the closest Kalibr hit, and only a few hours afterward the cafe was open and everyone was carrying on with their day. At a price tag of over a million USD for the Kalibr missiles (think Russian Tomahawks) and many thousands for the Shahed drones, this attack cost Russia $30-$35 million and killed one family in the suburbs of Lviv. The probing attacks into NATO countries accomplished nothing either. Russia claims no territory that the Ukranians don't let them occupy, and always with heavy losses.

Ukrainian morale seemed high with both residents and the diaspora, but I encountered an increasing resentment toward the war and the refugees in the neighboring countries (especially Poland). European economic and military aid has increased while attacks on Russian refining capabilities and sanctions are clearly taking a toll on the Russian economy. Of course, things could change in the coming months, but at this moment the effort seems unsustainable for Russia. I wouldn't be surprised if the Kremlin wasn't looking at an exit strategy that wasn't disastrous, but that may prove difficult.

Politics: This Week in TrumpWorld

D.E. in Lancaster, PA, writes: Yes, I know this is purely anecdotal and could very likely be a complete fabrication... yet somehow it rings true, which is why I'm sharing.

A friend of mine has a boss, who I have met. Nice guy but if you were to put him in a lineup and ask a bunch of people to pick out the Trump/MAGA supporter, they would pick him. In this case they would be absolutely correct. In the past, he has said that he can't imagine what could possibly make him abandon his support for Trump. Well, I guess he found one of those things. He knows my friend is pretty anti-Trump, but my friend said he almost fell over in shock when his Boss announced last week that he and his wife are no longer supporting Trump. My friend, of course, was curious as to why. When he saw Stephen Miller talking about the Insurrection Act and how Trump would then have plenary powers, the Boss said, "That's some Hitler bullsh**. I'm done with him."

Why this appears to ring true is I haven't seen a MAGA hat or shirt in a couple of weeks. The True Believers love to awkwardly insert a MAGA talking point into a conversation (I say, "Good morning," and they reply "Charlie Kirk died for our sins," or "It sure is, thanks to Trump's Big Beautiful Bill") but they haven't. While the MAGA voices are more silent than normal, the reverse is happening on the other side. Those on the left or who are anti-MAGA are usually very circumspect and private about their declarations, but no more. They are starting to speak out and not caring if a Cult Member gets their fee-fees hurt. The efforts by Trump and his enablers to intimidate those who are opposed to his fascist tactics are not working. If anything, it is encouraging those who have been silent to speak up. Consider this wonderful sign in Lancaster for all to see. And this area loves to hate on immigrants as it gorges on sushi and fajitas:

I have to admit, I'm a little surprised in that I thought things would have to get horribly worse before Trump started losing his devotees. One can always count on the MAGA Republicans to fail because: (1) they're lazy—it's one thing to write up a plan but putting that plan into motion is awfully hard work and (2) they are piss poor at enacting their plans—either from a sense of entitlement or their laziness, they don't want to build things up, they want to wriggle their nose and it magically appears; and (3) they always, always overreach—they will all look at a pair of deuces but act like they actually have a Royal Flush! You can always count on that, like the sun rising in the East.

---

S.C-M. in Scottsdale, AZ, writes: I watched the clip of AG Pam Bondi's non-response to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). I wished Durbin had pointed out her response basically shows she is losing the argument and she knows it.

I really hope this woman is indicted for her crimes and goes to prison for a while when we elect a sane government. Seeing her perp walked would be a delight.

---

F.C. in Sequim, WA, writes: You listed three reasons why Donald Trump might want to suppress the Epstein files. I'd like to add a fourth: Blackmail! If he's blackmailing lawyers, colleges, or judges, he'd want that information to stay hidden. And the kicker would be, if at some point in the future, we find out one of the names in the files ends up being a member of the Supreme Court!!!

---

D.A. in Hermosa Beach, CA, writes: In the discussion of the Letitia James prosecution, I think something should be said about the track record of grand jury indictments resulting in criminal convictions. A study by the Pew Research Center determined that in 2022 only 290 of 71,954 defendants in Federal criminal cases (0.4%) went to trial and were acquitted. 8.2% had their cases dismissed, 89.5% pleaded guilty and 2.3% went to trial. Among those who went to trial, 17% were acquitted (0.4% of all defendants) and 83% were convicted (1.9% of all defendants). This means that fully 91.4% of the defendants were convicted and sentenced. The study results excluded those who pleaded no contest and accepted criminal punishment without admitting guilt.

Reading the indictment, the documentation provided by tax returns and mortgage documents seems to provide straightforward facts. The indictment says that the loan was obtained representing the property to be for personal use as a second home, with rental use specifically prohibited, and says that Schedule E of the tax returns show solely rental use with zero days of personal use. If Letitia James had used the property exclusively for personal use for 2 years and then converted the property to rental use after 2 years had elapsed, that would have been an allowable conversion from personal to commercial use. Beginning commercial use immediately or shortly after purchasing the property with the loan terms described in the indictment, though, is pretty clearly mortgage fraud. A grand jury reviewed the evidence and handed down an indictment so unless Letitia James' lawyers are able to find a loophole to get the case dismissed, her chances of being acquitted appear to be slim.

(V) & (Z) respond: You really should be more critical of: (1) the right-wing media, and (2) any documents produced by the Trump administration. We have written, several times, that Lindsey Halligan's right to bring these charges is an open question. We have written, several times, that malicious prosecution is definitely in play here. We have written, several times, that fraud is a crime of intent, and proving intent in such cases is very, very difficult (e.g., the fake electors in Michigan who just got their case dismissed). Finally, there is reporting from The New York Times and others that James allowed her (troubled) niece to use the house, rent-free, for several years. That is entirely consistent with "second home" usage.

It is certainly possible James will end up in hot water. But the conclusion that her chances of avoiding punishment are "slim" is simply not supported by the available evidence.

---

M.C. in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, writes: Of the Letitia James indictment, you wrote:

We don't pretend to understand the thought process here from a political standpoint. Is the base really excited when the administration tries to "punish" its enemies in this way? And does that benefit outweigh the embarrassment that will come when the administration (almost certainly) loses in court? Maybe Trump's personal need for revenge is so great that it's "politics be damned," especially since he will never personally be before voters again. That's our best guess, but we really just don't know.

The indictment may have been the lead story across many outlets, but the collapse of the case is rather less likely to be, at least in the right-wing echo chamber. Those who will learn of the collapse of the court case have already been written off as enemies of the state.

---

S.E. in New York City, NY, writes: You wrote: "We don't pretend to understand the thought process here from a political standpoint. Is the base really excited when the administration tries to "punish" its enemies in this way?"

Looking at the comment section in Facebook, I'd answer, yes, they are. They're acting as if James Comey and Letitia James had committed mass murder, sold state secrets to Russia and China, and burned down the White House. They're ready to set up a guillotine and have a party over the graves.

---

R.E. in Birmingham, AL, writes: I just watched the new American Experience episode on PBS. It is "Hard Hat Riot," and mostly describes one week in New York City in 1970. Blue-collar protesters clashed with anti-war protesters at a time when American political party identities were early into the sea change that we take for granted today. The "hard hats" were overwhelmingly Democrats then, and are the heart of MAGA today.

I recommend it for its own sake, and also because I think it shows how Trump learned to see America. And he never unlearned it.

Politics: RFK Jr. Goes Off Half-Cocked

S.G. in Newark, NJ, writes: Boggled by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s claim that "There's two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It's highly likely because they are given Tylenol," I read the Danish study to which you linked. A couple of things jumped out at me.

First, not surprisingly, Kennedy is playing a little bit fast and loose with the numbers. The only doubling of risk reported was for "infantile autism" diagnosed in the first four years of life. The study describes the overall risk of "autism spectrum disorder" throughout the study as increasing by between 46% and 62%. Not a trivial increase, but not a doubling.

Second, as you reminded us, and as epidemiologists all know, association is not causation. So, even though epidemiology can provide tremendous causal insights, epidemiologists generally look for corroborating information before making causal claims based on an observed association. One important type of corroboration is biological plausibility, i.e. some at least plausible, even if unproven, mechanism that might explain how the studied risk factor brings about the studied health outcome. The paper's discussion of how circumcision might cause autism is pretty thin. It boils down to: (1) Painful trauma very early in life is associated with increased risk and severity of psychological problems; (2) Circumcision is a painful trauma; (3) Autism is a psychological problem and (4) Therefore, it is plausible that circumcision may cause autism. As the authors state, that hypothesis was a main reason why they did the study. They also acknowledge, unsurprisingly, that their findings do not prove the hypothesis. I'm not saying the hypothesis is wrong or that it's wrong to infer causation without conclusive proof of a biological mechanism (the latter is what tobacco manufacturers argued for decades). But it's certainly wrong to treat this study as proving that circumcision causes autism.

And the most important thing I learned from the study is what its authors think of Kennedy's real point—that it's not the circumcision, but the acetaminophen used to treat the pain of the circumcision, that causes autism. The study authors describe a previous study (presumably the second of the two to which RFK referred) that "demonstrated a strong, positive correlation between [national] rates of neonatal circumcision and ASD [autism spectrum disorder]." That study "was actually carried out in an attempt to indirectly address the possible impact of paracetamol [acetaminophen] in early life on ASD risk, under the questionable assumption that boys undergoing circumcision always receive paracetamol to curb the procedural or postoperative pain." That's right—what our HHS Secretary calls "highly likely" is a "questionable assumption" according to the authors of one of the two studies he mentions. In fact, the Danish study lists several interventions used to diminish the pain of the circumcision procedure itself. Acetaminophen isn't one of them.

---

C.R. in Cromwell, CT, writes: In regards to the item on the autism/circumcision "connection" identified by the stable geniuses in this administration and wielded as a smoking gun against Tylenol, I share the following. My amazing spouse is a postpartum nurse with a decade of experience. She points out the minor detail that Tylenol is not standard treatment after circumcision. The most common treatment is lidocaine and sucrose.

---

J.A. in Monterey, CA, writes: Regarding the Kennedy-circumcision-autism idea, whereas the common-factor-of-economic-status is plausible, my best guess is that the two studies were false positives. This is like the high correlation found between the annual number of Nic Cage movies and the number of drowning deaths in the U.S. We don't know how many studies had circumcision as a factor that showed no evidence of a relationship with autism. And if we considered 1,000 various outcomes (diseases) instead of many different factors, about 50 (5%) of the diseases would be significantly correlated with being MAGA (with 95% certainty)... just due to being false positives.

---

J.M. in Norco, CA, writes: Another reminder that correlation does not always equal causation:

---

K.B. in Tallahassee, FL, writes: From the front page of our hometown newspaper (yes, we still have one) this week comes this headline: "Whooping cough cases surge 81% in Florida." The article goes on to document 1,295 cases of whooping cough through September 27 of this year, compared to 715 cases for all of 2024. The scourge of Dr. Ladapo and the anti-vaxxers is well underway in Florida...

---

L.C.G. in Portland, OR, writes: Here in Hellish Portland, even the Halloween decorations are political:

Politics: H-1B Visas

J.G. in Farmington, CT, writes: I am dismayed at the idea that this H-1B issue is "complicated."

It's not. It's what everyone who understands Stephen Miller's motivations was expecting. You start with the criminals, then temporary protected status, then the law-abiding undocumenteds, then skilled workers, then you pull up the ladders for green cards and naturalizations and refugees, then you revoke citizenship for any naturalized citizen who doesn't have the right opinions. We're 9 months into this presidency, they have more than 3 years to go; you don't think this is part of the plan? Miller is a white supremacist! That's what this is! It's not complicated at all!

But anyway, specifically to respond to the people who wrote in:

R.C. in Newport News: Waste, fraud and abuse is not exclusive to H-1B staffed companies, and the primary blame lies with career NASA subcontract managers for both contracting offload labor to a disreputable house and not closely managing their work. (I've worked for a direct-charging federal aerospace contractor for 20 years.) And by the way, if you worked for a federal contractor and you observed waste, fraud, and abuse, why didn't you call the hotline?

S.K. in Bloomfield: I don't care (and neither should you) if someone squats to do their business. What happens in the toilet should ideally stay in the toilet, unless something goes terrifyingly wrong. There's a native-born white man at my workplace who folded his arms while using the urinal—like a machine gunner at the Battle of the Bulge, he'd decided to spray-and-pray. There's another Real American who, presumably suffering from a hangover (and if he wasn't, what the hell?), rested his forehead on the wall with eyes closed and arms limp at his sides, and startled awake when I walked up next to him (leaving one urinal's separation—this isn't 'Nam, there are rules). In other words, if you can point me to a study that shows a causation between squatting and poor quality of, uh, output in the workplace, then I might change my mind, but you can't, so I won't.

For everyone who thinks an H-1B visa holder is stealing an American's job, see this. The total unemployment rate for computer/mathematical is 3%; for architecture/engineering, it's 1.4%; both are lower this year than the last. This is well below the 5% rule of thumb for normal turnover, and indicates deep scarcity. Restricting H-1Bs will reduce economic output and cause prices to rise in the short run (and there will only be a short run; once Miller and Howard Lutnick are out of power, all this goes away) because it takes 8-12 years to train an entry-level engineer—the emphasis on STEM has to begin in middle school.

This is stupid, nativist, racist policy, and it needs to be flushed down the toilet. After squatting, or standing, or sitting, or doing the "hover" (like in a porta-potty or a long distance bus).

---

P.K.W. in Chicago, IL, writes: Back in 2007, I was an IT manager at a major financial institution. The company for which I worked had a contract with a computer consulting firm based in India to supply individuals for work here in the states. I had two of these individuals assigned under me. Their work was exemplary. It was my understanding that these individuals were here on L-1 visas and that these visas were owned by the consulting firm and not the employees. I encouraged both of them to apply for H-1B visas, since they would own them, giving them freedom to seek new employment here. Eventually, one of them contacted me and let me know that he had gotten an H-1B visa and that his salary at a new employer was now 60% higher than his previous salary.

Politics: The Case of the Missing Aviatrix

D.H. in San Mateo County, CA, writes: Cheese slipped off the cracker into Amelia Earhart's lap? Possible, but I would suggest an alternative, albeit conspiratorial theory: Epstein files. If you want to see where any given agent would search for archived material, just ask them all to do a generic search. Then you know where substantially all agents may choose to search for material. If you're going to extirpate materials, it's wise to know where they may be backed up.

---

E.F. in Baltimore, MD, writes: Seems pretty clear to me. Her remains are halfway around the world from Epstein's Island. Couldn't possibly find a more distant distraction, unless Trump sent Elon Musk to Mars to search for her.

---

R.R. in Pasadena, CA, writes: I was a member of TIGHAR for a while, which is following the (quite likely) hypothesis that Amelia Earhart ended up on Nikumaroro. They have done extensive work going through the government files that are available, and everything that might have been classified has long been unclassified. Some files were kept secret for a while, as there were some things that the government might not have wanted to release at the time as they could have been embarrassing to the Itasca (the Coast Guard ship on station to guide Earhart to Howland Island) and the Navy. That's all been unclassified though, but there is a small possibility some files are stored somewhere that haven't surfaced yet. If there are any "missing" files, the TIGHAR searches have not found any hint of them, and it's very unlikely they add anything to the pile of evidence of what happened.

It's very possible this is another case of Donald Trump seeing a news report and demanding the government "do something" about it. The last one was the Fox "News" story about "rioting in Portland" that used images from 2020, and now there's reporting about Earhart's plane being "found" in the Nikumaroro lagoon based on a Google Maps image of what is most likely a palm tree that has fallen into the lagoon. If TIGHAR is correct, the plane is somewhere around Niku, they just haven't found the smoking gun yet (though what they have found is pretty much enough to call the mystery solved). The people claiming that they have found the tree... er, plane are sending an expedition next month, and Fox has been reporting on it.

Whether it's just another distraction from Jeffrey Epstein or a president losing his faculties yelling at clouds, the effect is the same: We have a government wasting its resources on distractions based on non-fact-based stories that the President saw on TV. That really should make anyone that cares about effective government or corruption angry, and if it's due to dementia, it's very scary because who knows what orders he might yell out, especially since his "news" comes from propaganda sites. Next thing we know, he's going to call up Bruce Willis to blow up the interstellar comet coming through the solar system, even though it won't come anywhere close to Earth (and no, it's not an alien spacecraft).

---

J.B. in Waukee, IA, writes: You wrote in "The Case of the Missing Aviatrix" that a possible reason for Trump releasing files on Amelia Earhart is because he's losing mental control. While I don't doubt that the cheese has slipped off the cracker a while back, I think that you can tie this back to Trump's most favorite pastime: grift.

One of Trump's donors is Deep Sea Vision's CEO Tony Romeo. Romeo sold off a previous real estate business to start Deep Sea Vision with the goal of finding Amelia Earhart's plane. There was recent press about Deep Sea Vision finding a plane-shaped rock that they thought was Earhart's plane. Romeo is also a Trump supporter and donor. I'm assuming there's some quid pro quo going on here where Romeo is buying access to classified information about Earhart in hopes of discovering clues to her plane's whereabouts, and Trump is happy to pocket the money and use this as a distraction for whatever damning evidence his administration is withholding regarding Jeffrey Epstein's accomplices.

---

A.B. in Wendell, NC, writes: I can tell Trumpie-boy what happened to Amelia. She and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were among some 300 people abducted by an alien race known as the Briori in 1937. For some reason, the group that included Earhart was never released from cryostatic suspension, and there she remains, today, on a planet in the Delta Quadrant, awaiting the day, some 300 years from now, when she will be released by Captain Kathryn Janeway.

---

B.G.M. in Dedham, MA, writes: My first thought upon reading the item about the sudden, urgent need to find Amelia Earhart was to connect it to the previously noted presidential propensity for taking policy ideas from movies and television. I immediately wondered whether the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The '37's" (season 2, episode 1) had aired in the DC market recently. However, when I checked the listings for that area, it appears that the rerun cycle for Voyager is currently wrapping up season 5. A dead end when it comes to regular TV, but could he have randomly clicked into it on Paramount+? Who knows?

---

G.M. in Laurence Harbor, NJ, writes: It's those old audio tapes Trump plays all day:

Amelia! You're breaking my heart,

You're shaking my confidence daily,

Oh, Amelia, I'm down on my knees,

I'm begging you please to come home.

(V) & (Z) respond: So, his next move is going to be to direct the FBI to leave no stone unturned in an effort to figure out where Joe DiMaggio has gone?

Politics: Fixing the Internet

J.G. in Chicago, IL, writes: I definitely agree with (V) that social media is a big part of what's wrong with the Internet these days. Unfortunately, replacing Section 230 with a requirement that social media platforms be treated like normal publishers, like the New York Times, would probably just kill social media stone-dead pretty nearly immediately. On the bright side, this would stamp out the harms coming from social media, but it would also stamp out all the good stuff folks are getting from social media, too. No Nerdfighteria. No How to ADHD. No rambling skeet storms from skilled authors making a book tour sound like fun, or at least like an amusing quest to watch from a distance. No easily findable early information about local issues.

Section 230 seems deeply broken the way it is now, but a fixed Section 230 would need to push social media companies to have good moderation processes suitable for dealing with millions or billions of things getting published to the social media platform every day. They also need to have actually reliable review processes and be required to actually follow their own rules so that creators know what they can rely on from the social media platforms so that they can focus on making the things they're actually interested in.

---

J.C. in Fez, Morocco, writes: I like your suggestions to improve the Internet. I wish the web was more like what Tim Berners-Lee envisioned, where everyone could link to everything. But one problem with your idea that I foresee is that in authoritarian governments, if there is no anonymous posting, well, yes, people would be very careful about what they post. And the way the Internet was used in places like the Arab Spring to bring freedom (temporarily) would never happen. It's just lucky that our U.S. government is not authoritarian or restricting WrongThink in any way.

Politics: Project 2029

R.M. in Pensacola, FL, writes: I enjoyed (V's) item on Jonathan V. Last's version of Project 2029. There were plenty of excellent ideas that (V) submitted as his own suggestions, and I support a lot of them.

However, there is a problem... not so much with the list, but with what we currently face right now.

It doesn't matter what the laws are. There are plenty of good laws and items in the Constitution that should be constraining the current administration. However, those laws depend on everyone doing their job.

With Congress just straight-up looking the other way with what the current administration is doing, and the Supreme Court actively doing everything they can to assist in the administration's goals, what's to stop a future Congress and Supreme Court from doing what they are currently doing now? The laws that are on the books currently don't matter much. We may see a similar playbook in the future.

---

M.N. in Madison, WI, writes: I have a few ideas for Project 2029:

1. Make the Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement into independent agencies.
   
   
2. The President doesn't get to nominate the leaders/board members of independent agencies. Instead, the House nominates a slate of 10 nominees through some flavor of multiple-winner election that doesn't allow the majority to dictate all candidates on the slate. Then, the Senate chooses one candidate through some form of ranked choice voting, preferably one that favors the most centrist/most acceptable candidate. Most ideal would be a Condorcet method (I happen to like ranked pairs).

---

T.M. in Salt Lake City, UT, writes: Executive Order #1: "I, President [insert name of Democrat president-elect] hereby declare every Executive Order signed by Donald J. Trump null and void."

---

D.H. in Forest Park, IL, writes: Adding to JVL's list of items: Day 1 Executive Order cancelling all XOs signed during the 2025-29 presidential term. This should be signed by Autopen.

---

J.I. in San Francisco, CA, writes: I was thinking about this just the other day. Democrats need to get everything down and just execute it all on Day 1. I would suggest the following modifications and additions:

1. Don't expand the Supreme Court, just add subordinate courts as the constitution allows that deals with what the Supreme Court does right now, except maybe leave the interstate arbitration stuff. Rationale: The Supreme Court is so busy it can only handle less than 1% of cases it gets, so we need subordinate courts to help out. Oh, and term limits in these new courts, or at least assignment (i.e., rotate from these courts to other courts so they don't get entrenched).
   
   
2. Don't just fire the agency heads, fire every single Trump hire all the way down the line. Nothing personal, just can't trust them if they have a "loyalty pledge." It wasn't like he typically hired quality folks, anyway.
   
   
3. Add some teeth to the oath that civil servants take—make sure they are aware that violating Hatch Act and other guidelines are subject to dismissal and getting barred from rehire, and that they are bound to the Constitution only and NOT to any personal loyalty pledge.
   
   
4. Tighten up all the electoral vote processes to be rock-solid, get rid of any pointless crud left over from horse and buggy days.
   
   
5. Nobody in acting positions requiring Senate confirmation unless the person is already Senate-confirmed, plus also no double-dipping—you get 1 position max, not 2 or 3 or 10.

I can think of more but these bother me more than the others.

---

C.C. in St. Paul, MN, writes: Pass the Equal Rights Amendment.

Pass a national law protecting reproductive rights.

I agree priority #1 is protect democracy, but how can you truly have a functioning democracy when the law considers half your population expendable?

Maybe you should run for office, (V)...

---

R.G. in Dallas, TX, writes: I have an additional suggestion. Congress should direct the FTC to promulgate rules that define "News" as a term of art in commercial communications and advertisements, and require internal controls for journalistic quality and standards for accuracy before labeling a media product as "News." The FTC has long enforced similar labelling requirements such as "Made in USA" (as do the SEC and FDA). The rule would not bar any speech, but would distinguish "News"max from NewsHour.

---

T.G. in Salem, OR, writes: I'd like to add a few ideas as well:

1. Grant statehood to Puerto Rico (as well as D.C.).
   
   
2. Change the minimum wage to a level which actually represents a living wage, remove tip wage exceptions AND have it increase annually under the same COLA that Social Security and Federal Government wages increase.
   
   
3. Change the House of Representatives to reflect equal representation. After each census, House representation will be allotted as 1 representative for every 500,000 residents (the current population of Wyoming, the smallest state in population). If a state has a population of 15,327,211 they would get 30 representatives. As soon as their population increased to 15,500,000 to 15,599,999, they would get another representative but it would NOT come from some other state. Currently, California has 1 representative for every 761,000 residents while Wyoming is 587,000.
   
   
4. Enact a Code of Ethics for SCOTUS and give it "teeth."
   
   
5. Make Congress eligible for retirement just like the military. If the military personnel or police officers have to risk their lives for 20 years to receive a pension, Congress shouldn't be vested after only 5 years.
   
   
6. Keep the filibuster in the Senate but make it an actual filibuster. If a cloture vote is not attained, continue debate. A cloture vote is to end debate and proceed to the next step. If more debate is wanted, let the debate happen. ONLY debate on the bill (no reading Green Eggs & Ham or the Atlanta phone book). As long as debate continues, the floor is open. As soon as debate stops, a vote is taken.
   
   
7. Rewrite the tax code from scratch. Eliminate the cap on paying into Social Security. Eliminate all tax-exempt status. Eliminate the federal income tax on Social Security. Make every tax deduction reasonable to a small-business owner (payroll, rent, insurance, product, utilities, supplies, advertising, travel). Allow executive compensation to be tax deductible only as much as 300% of the median worker salary and allow bonuses to be tax deductible ONLY if a profit was realized in the previous fiscal year and only an amount up to 100% of the base salary. Make corporate tax rates the same as individuals (by just adding 000). Whatever an individual tax rate is on $10,000 (of taxable income), corporations would pay on $10,000,000 of taxable income. Whatever an individual tax rate is on $50,000 (of taxable income), corporations would pay on $50,000,000 of taxable income. And make all incomes taxed at the same rate (no more lower capital gains rates).

I have more but these are just a few things that I believe would ACTUALLY Make America what Americans deserve... again.

---

J.S. in Chicago, IL, writes: End or severely restrict presidential pardons.

Pass amendments to add deadlines in the Constitution where they are missing, such as deadlines related to the approval of a Supreme Court nominee to avoid shenanigans like Mitch McConnell's refusal to start the process of approving Barack Obama's nominee to replace Antonin Scalia.

---

P.R. in Arvada, CO, writes: I think you missed a couple of important items in your list of suggestions. Any government contract that is found to have been awarded without following the proper rules will be immediately canceled and the company that was the recipient of the contract will be banned from being awarded government contracts for the next 10 years, including the termination of all current contracts. Make it in these greedy corporations' best interest to make sure that they are fairly awarded these contracts. No more of this "Let's buy some Cyberstucks because the rich guy in the Epstein files can't sell them."

Secondly, release the Epstein files.

---

F.S. in Cologne, Germany, writes: You wrote that you want to return "power to where it belongs: Congress." I couldn't disagree more. I mean, Congress can't even pass a budget. And how many laws did Congress pass within the last 50 years that fundamentally changed the U.S. for the better? Pretty close to zero, in my opinion. So in my view Congress does a lousy job and therefore doesn't deserve more power.

(V) & (Z) respond: So... keep the power concentrated in the Executive Branch? How's that working out?

Politics: The Democrats

R.L.P. in Santa Cruz, CA, writes: Thank you for your response to the complaint of K.M. in Sydney, that Democrats are incompetent at messaging. They aren't, as you pointed out. Republicans are acclaimed for their messaging success, not because they are more skilled messengers than Democrats but because their central message, which I think is accurately summarized as "white supremacy forever," resonates with roughly 60% of America's dominant cohort, including 70% of white working class Americans, 80% of white evangelical Americans, and 99% of American billionaires.

---

P.L. from Los, Angeles, CA, writes: R.S.M. in Collin County asked:

What will it take for someone of stature, such as Barack Obama or George W. Bush, to stand up forcefully and call out the atrocities being perpetrated by TCF? Do you consider their silence to be deafening, or are they waiting for the most opportune time to take a public stand of which cannot be ignored by the media—right or left? Why isn't Obama all over MSNBC, or on CNN, or Meet The Press (forget any CBS programming). Why have they remained silent?

Your reply largely cites personal reasons for both men, but I believe there might be more to it. My political science courses emphasized that a key component of a stable regime is the peaceful transition of power. I have always understood US presidents' near silence after their time in office as a convention derived from that concept.

---

M.L.H. in Florence, KY, writes: I hope that (V) has emailed a copy of "Newsom Understands the Incentive Structure" to every governor of a blue state. They need to read it thoroughly.

---

D.S. in Acton, MA, writes: Such an excellent take in "Newsom Understands the Incentive Structure." That the Democrats are doing none of this (Newsom excluded) is why I no longer consider myself a Democrat. They are like Vichy France, and I refuse to ally myself with collaborators.

---

D.N. in Elgin, IL, writes: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is getting a lot of recognition for his mockery of Trump, but Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) has also been both vocal and clever.

---

M.M. in San Diego, CA, writes: I'm predicting that J.B. Pritzker wins the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028. Donald Trump will unintentionally raise Pritzker's national profile with the National Guard deployment, and Pritzker will relish the fight. As a lawyer with business/finance experience, he won't give corporate, big business types jitters (the tradReps?). He's Midwestern, which I believe will play better nationally than Gavin Newsom's slick West Coast vibe. He's no-nonsense and comes across like he's not going to stand for the extralegal, illegal shenanigans of the current administration. If I were the least bit entrepreneurial, I'd start churning out "Pritzker 2028" yard signs today.

---

R.E.M. in Brooklyn, NY, writes: In response to J.J. in Johnstown, you wrote that it is unlikely Democrats would refuse to have a vote on a replacement VP were J.D. Vance to become President. In general I think you're right—it would look like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who by then might well be Speaker Jeffries, was keeping it open in the hope that Vance would also somehow cease to be President so that Jeffries would ascend to the office under the Succession Act. However, I suggest one scenario where Democrats would keep the office open: if the Senate were tied 50-50. That would keep monstrous presidential appointments from being confirmed, whereas there is no doubt a Vice President Rubio or Scott would break the tie and rubber-stamp anyone whom Vance appointed.

(V) & (Z) respond: Good point. Counterpoint: Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA).

---

R.L.D. in Sundance, WY, writes: The only plausible reason I can think of to keep the vice presidency vacant in the case that J.D. Vance accedes to the presidency is if he nominates someone even dumber, crazier, and more corrupt than Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). I am no longer willing to claim that there is no way Vance would do something like that, after watching every single institution of government fall to this administration's hammer, so I won't rule out the possibility of a vacant VP chair. But it doesn't seem likely.

---

S.S. in West Hollywood, CA, writes: When Adelita Grijalva is finally sworn in, I would suggest she holds her hand on the Epstein files.

---

D.C. in Brentwood, CA, writes: I just wanted to write in to talk about the minor acts of protest I've been doing, which feels like too little, but better than nothing: provocative t-shirts.

In response to this executive order, I've just printed up the t-shirt in the first couple of photos, in a few colors, chosen for the most implicit irony, with a friendly font on one side, and a "scary" font on the other:

And earlier this year, after the story of someone being rejected from the country for having a J.D. Vance meme on their phone, I wore this t-shirt as I went through customs at SFO:

For the first time ever, I was sent to secondary screening, though I have to admit that the CBP officers inspecting my luggage were respectful, commented positively on my t-shirt, were supportive of free speech when I engaged them in conversation about it, and said that if they took a meme to their superior as a reason to reject someone, they'd expect to be disciplined. Hopefully they're not the San Francisco-specific exception.

People told me I shouldn't wear that t-shirt, but that was the reason I felt I should: We talk about not pre-capitulating to fascism, and fearing the response to wearing a meme t-shirt would be exactly that.

I've also printed and worn a t-shirt challenging people on the meaning of being an American, but it was too wordy.

All Politics Is Local

K.B. in Chicago, IL, writes: Can you please cover what's happening in Chicago?

There have been daily protests in Broadview. Soccer moms and journalists are getting tear-gassed and shot with rubber bullets. The local nonprofit news outlet Block Club Chicago has had four journalists attacked by ICE. They did the same to a CBS Chicago reporter—completely unprovoked.

Last week, ICE raided an entire apartment building on the South Side in the middle of the night. There were 300 agents wearing military fatigues, and there was a helicopter. They kicked down doors and rounded up over 30 people, including children and American citizens. Some of the children were reportedly naked.

Could you imagine such an overt constitutional violation ever occurring in a white suburb? We'd never hear the end of it (and rightfully so). All of this appears to be a PR/propaganda stunt for DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who posted video on Twitter.

Meanwhile, they've illegally detained an alderwoman (similar to what happened to Sen. Alex Padilla, D-CA). They've shot two people so far with live ammunition. They paraded down Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago—Chicago's equivalent to Fifth Avenue in New York City—in full military gear and carrying assault rifles, trying to intimidate residents and tourists. They detained at least one family that was just spending time at the park.

Our community is under assault. Our own government is going to war with us, completely unprovoked. Please report on this!

---

H.G. in Charlottesville, VA writes: I am a faithful reader of your site. I am also a Virginia resident and voter who will absolutely vote for Abigail Spanberger. You wrote the following about gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears' (R) strategy: "Roughly 100% of Earle-Sears' ads attack Spanberger for refusing to toss trans people under the bus and then run the bus back and forth over them three or four times."

No, the ads are calling out Abigail Spanberger (D) for refusing to be against biological men in a women's restroom/locker room in schools, and against biological men participating in girls/women's sports. That is not asking Spanberger to throw them under the bus. While biological men in a women's locker room and/or playing on a girls or women's sports team is not nearly as widespread as the right likes to imply, being against it is in line with what the overwhelming majority of voters believe. Why Democrats continue to be on the losing end of the so called "80-20" issues is no small reason why they are even more unpopular than Trump at this point, and lost the popular vote in a presidential election for the first time in 20 years.

---

J.G. in Chantilly, VA, writes: While not defending Jay Jones' texts, I am always amazed that The Convicted Felon (TCF) can issue a horrible text daily and nobody bats an eye, but if a Democrat is caught with some embarrassment in the past, everyone loses their poop. For crying out loud, thousands of Federal employees in Virginia have been fired or furloughed. Thousands of private contractors have been fired or seen their businesses close. Businesses are losing money because many of their workers are being deported or terrorized. That is what is going to determine the outcome of the upcoming election, not some ill-considered attempt at "humor." Oh, and voting began 3 weeks ago, so it's a bit late to replace our less than perfect candidate, who has apologized for his bad judgment, not doubled down on it like the TCF would.

As for the race itself, two reliable polls (Emerson and Schar) have Abigail Spanberger ahead by double digits. Only the right-leaning Trafalgar poll has her leading by just 5. Even that poll had Jones leading as well. The only people getting worked up over "boys in girls bathrooms" are the same people who get worked up over that and all the culture wars issues. But economics is the driver of this election, as it was in 2024 and will be in 2028.

A quality candidate need not be a saint. They do need to address the issues people care about.

---

L.S. in Greensboro, NC, writes: In your item about Democratic Senate candidates bringing in large amounts of money, you wrote, with respect to the North Carolina Senate election, that "The Republicans' only hope is to goose Republican turnout enormously and suppress Democrat turnout. The latter may not be so easy with the governor and secretary of state both being Democrats, though."

There is a problem with this statement. The North Carolina secretary of state has had no role in running state elections in the time I've lived here (since 1997). That has been the responsibility of the governor, who appointed all members of the state and county election boards, with a majority from their party on each board.

Following the election, the state legislature moved that responsibility to the state auditor, who was the highest remaining Republican on the Council of State. This was a classic example of "bait and switch," since voters expected their choice for governor, in a race with thousands of ads and mailings, to run elections, rather than the auditor, for whose race I did not see a single ad or mailing, and who won by only 1.7% in our evenly-divided state. If we had known in advance that the auditor was going to gain this enormous responsibility, surely the parties would have made it a much higher profile race, and the result may very well have been different.

Call me crazy, but I think if the legislature is planning to make major changes in a constitutional office it should be done before the elections so voters can actually make their choices based on the job the candidates will actually be expected to perform.

---

J.B. in Waukee, IA, writes: In your item "Democrats Running for the Senate Are Pulling in Big Bucks," you mentioned that one of challengers in the Republican primary against Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) is Derek Dooley, former University of Tennessee football coach. You also called him a carpetbagger because of this. However, Dooley is the son of former longtime University of Georgia football coach and national champion Vince Dooley. He grew up in Athens, GA. He attended the University of Virginia for undergrad, but went to the University of Georgia for law school. Afterward, he pursued a career in coaching at Georgia as a graduate assistant while his father was the Athletic Director at the university. From there, he proceeded to fail upward until he got the University of Tennessee job. For real; he has a career losing record and his only winning season of 6 as head coach was an 8-5 record at Louisiana Tech in 2008. So, Dooley may be a bad coach, a dumbass, a nepo-baby and wildly unqualified for the Senate, but I don't think he qualifies as a carpetbagger.

---

D.H. in Boston, MA, writes: I just learned of an interesting election happening in Georgia this year. Two of the five members of the Georgia Public Service Commission (the state utility regulator) are up for re-election, as discussed in this podcast by the excellent David Roberts. One of the Democratic candidates is a guest on that show.

This election seems esoteric, but it's interesting because it's at the top of the ballot, and it might show how much of an issue electricity prices and climate change are to voters. Electricity prices have gone up a lot in Georgia recently, so the turnout and results should be informative. I'm going to keep an eye on it.

---

R.Y. in Knoxville, TN, writes: You wrote: "[GOP House Candidate Matt] Van Epps appears to be MAGA, but not crazypants MAGA. Think Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), as opposed to Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ)."

Sen. Blackburn (R-Predatory Lending and Bonding) is definitely crazypants MAGA. She is quieter and doesn't go off on space lasers or underground UFO bases (it must be in the water) but she is keenly in the crazypants camp.

Only Jesus Could Go to China

B.C. in Walpole, ME, writes: I taught courses on both World Religions and Modern China over a stretch of 20 years and hold degrees in both history and religion. D.R. in Phoenix asked: "Confucianism (is this even technically a religion?)" Not if you start with the idea that religion is defined by belief in God. It is necessary, as (Z) wrote, in his excellent response, "to move beyond a monotheistic, Western view of religious practice."

Neither God/gods nor faith play a role in Buddhism, Daoism, or Confucianism. Attempts to map Eastern religions onto an Abrahamic religious model prevent understanding of the Eastern religions. The Buddha, for example, placed the issue of the existence of God in the category of "questions not tending to edification," and demanded that his students take nothing on faith but that they demonstrate the truth for themselves.

Communism did not find a theistic situation in China and impose atheism. China had no system of gods and goddesses, or idea of God. Neither the Chinese concept of "Heaven" (as in a ruler losing the "Mandate of Heaven") nor the concept of the Dao ("dow"; formerly transliterated "Tao" under the Wade-Giles system) refer to what Judaism/Christianity/Islam would recognize as God, or that Hinduism would recognize as deity or Deity. The rebels in the Boxer Uprising claimed spirit possession by various gods, but these "gods" were mostly heroic figures from traditional Chinese operas, not from a religion.

The CCP's concern, especially after Tiananmen Square (1989), was to suppress all groups that could create an organization on which opposition to the government could be built. Small house churches are allowed, but nothing presbyterian or episcopal—no organization above the congregational level. Falun Gong became too big and widespread, so it was crushed. The Uyghurs are Muslim; the CCP doesn't really care one way or another about Islam, but Muslims represent a huge, multinational population, so the Uyghurs must be sino-cized.

In the last 100 years and more, neither Communism nor Christianity has proved any match for the power of nationalism. The Chinese Communist Party, which came to power in 1949, began distancing itself from Soviet doctrine and practice as early as the 1950s, and the death of Mao and Deng Xiaoping's policy of "Building Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" (capitalism) accelerated that trend.

It is interesting to consider, though, that in the 1960s, China saw a (short-lived) development of a nascent religion with the Communist Party as God the Father, Chairman Mao as Savior and Prophet, and the Quotations from Chairman Mao as the Bible.

---

J.C. in Fez, Morocco, writes: As I recently lived in China for a year and a half, I wanted to share what I know or experienced in regards to the religious question.

There is the ongoing Uyghur genocide. That's why we left—I didn't want to be in a country committing genocide when I couldn't speak against it. It's not easy to be a Muslim in China.

The Chinese have a social point system. Christians don't get the best jobs or houses, and find it difficult sometimes to marry those they want to. As with the problems Muslims face, there are cameras everywhere. Chinese Christians are not supposed to visit Western churches.

I got into trouble with my school because I was told 2 hours beforehand that I was supposed to memorize a Chinese phrase advocating for luck. Since it's not a scientific concept, I considered it religious, and not part of my religion. The Chinese Principal and Party Official that is always in his office did not like that—my suggesting that they were religious.

History Matters: Ty Seidule Edition

B.P. in Pensacola, FL, writes: You answered a question about the video from Prager University by Gen. Ty Seidule (ret.). I've known about that video for a long time and have recommended it to people who claim that the cause of the Civil War was something other than slavery.

More recently, Seidule authored a fascinating book entitled Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause. I didn't know Seidule, but we overlapped briefly (his last year was my first) at Washington and Lee University, which bears Lee's name. Also like Seidule, I was raised in the South in a culture that lionized Lee, by a mother from Virginia who was as progressive as they come, but who also had been taught growing up that Lee was a saint of sorts. Like Seidule, it took time, well into adulthood, truly to unlearn that history and fully appreciate the extent to which so much of the white South has been brainwashed (or "whitewashed") by the Lost Cause. Washington and Lee as an institution has also struggled with that legacy. The school was first founded in 1749, became "Liberty Hall" in 1776, was renamed Washington College after a gift from George Washington, and Lee was its president from 1866 until his death.

Lee's legacy at the school is complicated because he saved the school from failure, started one of the first journalism programs in the country, and implemented a number of commendable programs and traditions that continue today, including a simple, student enforced, single sanction (expulsion) honor code. And it is for those things that his name was added to the school's. Yet, at the same time, there are stories of his tolerance of mistreatment of Blacks in the community by students. Today, Washington and Lee is a truly fantastic liberal arts institution, and has in recent years honestly confronted its, and Lee's legacy. And really, there are likely no schools of that age that do not have troubling histories; for example, the namesake of Yale (Elihu Yale) was a slave trader. It was also a great school back in the 1980s, when Seidule and I attended. So while we didn't know each other, his path through childhood and into college and mine were similar in some important respects, and we both spent much of our adulthood learning that much of what we had been taught was simply untrue. So, regardless of the shoulder bars he wears, there's a lot more to him than just that video.

Our nation would be a very different place if more men and women raised in the South had honestly confronted our region's history rather than clinging to a tapestry of lies out of fear that somehow those alive today are blameworthy for the sins of the past, or a desire to believe that our ancestors were somehow all saints. But the present is not at fault for the past. And this dark, twisted belief is not only our own fault for failing to acknowledge it, but also the failure of our education system to teach the real history in the first place. And now we are effectively seeing the "Lost Cause" roaring back to life, as acknowledging that the Civil War was about slavery has become somehow too "woke," or teaching in schools that America was never anything other than a shining city on a hill is somehow "un-American." America is best when it lives in truth; indeed, wearing blinders to real history is an un-American as it gets.

---

F.K. in Savannah, GA, writes: Regarding your answer to M.B. in Pittsburgh and your description of Gen. Seidule's portrait, his BG insignia in his shoulder straps are part of the modern Army Dress Blue uniform that officers and enlisted wear. For a time in the early part of this century (I think maybe around 2001 to 2018?) it was the standard "Class A" uniform worn every day in appropriate duty (such as positions in the Pentagon). When I served as an active-duty Engineer Officer ('77-'81), it was (and now once again is) used for "formal" occasions. All Army officers of ALL ranks (whether commissioned via West Point, ROTC [as me], or OCS) MUST own it, only enlisted SGT E5 (I think) and above are required to have it. Yes, the blue color and shoulder straps for officers are based on the Civil War era uniform.

This is a formal portrait of me as an Army Engineer Captain (red shoulder straps with the "railroad tracks" of a Captain) in 1981:

I Know, It's Only Rock and Roll...

B.C. in Walpole, ME, writes: You wrote about racism and rock and roll. I taught U.S. History for 40 years, and the longer I taught, the more my classes (averaging 14-16 students, as few as 10, as many as 18) were based on inquiry. We—students and teacher—raised questions and sought to develop satisfying answers based on logic and facts. I was surprised to discover, time and again, how often racism played a role, setting aside all questions and issues that directly concerned race and racism. Somewhere, lurking in the shadows, racism always seemed to have an influence; it always seemed to be a piece of the puzzle, even if a small one. I don't think the large majority of our citizens are able to grasp that.

---

M.S. in Canton, NY, writes: In your answer to a question on the history of rock and roll, you compared the career arcs of Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley. Many decades ago, I read a light-hearted opinion piece in a big-city newspaper (remember those?) that argued that all of humanity can be divided into two groups, jerks and chumps: Jerks are people who take advantage of other people, and chumps are the people who get taken advantage of. As an example—which is over-simplistic and ungenerous, but still contains a nugget of truth—the author wrote, "A chump named Chuck Berry invented rock and roll; a jerk named Elvis Presley got the credit."

---

J.T. in San Bernardino, CA, writes: Look, I know you have a Ph.D. and everything, (Z), but everyone knows that rock and roll was invented by Marty McFly. Chuck Berry stole the idea when his brother, Marvin Berry, tipped him off to McFly's sweet licks at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance at Hill Valley High School on November 12, 1955.

(V) & (Z) respond: It's a funny bit, but the suggestion that a Black guy "stole" rock from a white guy is also a little cringe. One wonders if they would include that exchange if the movie was made today.

---

T.R. in Vancouver, BC, Canada, writes: Since the subject of the early history of rock and roll has come up on the site, I wanted to give a shout out for interested readers who may not be aware of it to Andrew Hickey's podcast A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs. It's an extraordinarily well-researched, chronologically ordered deep dive into rock history, with each episode discussing an individual song or artist starting from the origins of rock; he's currently up to the late sixties with episode 180 on Led Zeppelin. The early episodes inevitably grapple with the "first rock and roll song" question, which Hickey wisely declines to take a stand on, his motto being "There is no first anything." Worth a listen for any rock history nerds out there.

---

R.M.S. in Lebanon, CT, writes: Here is another song that might take the prize for the first Rock and Roll song. "Sixty Minute Man" is a song by the Dominoes from 1951. It features an electric guitar, piano and a steady drum beat. I think this song combines elements of R&B, rock and roll, and country music. The piano part in particular sounds like it could be from an old country song. The song's narrator is a Black man discussing his sexual prowess and inviting married women who aren't satisfied by their husbands to have encounters with him.

My late grandfather, who was born in the 1920s, used to listen to this on tapes when I was a young child in the 1980s. I was too young to understand the meaning then, but I get it now.

Should I get a t-shirt that says "Sixty Minute Man"?

Readers on the Dole

P.M. in Port Angeles, WA, writes: Regarding (Z)'s answer about pineapple on pizza, there can be only one combination that is allowable: pineapple and spam. Any other option, such as Canadian bacon is... well, un-American.

---

R.L.D. in Sundance, WY, writes: Regarding pineapple on pizza, cooking that fruit does good things for its flavor. That's why it's commonly put on ham before it goes in the oven and why there is such a thing as pineapple-upside-down cake. So, as a pizza topping, I like it with either ham or Canadian bacon, I like it with other kinds of toppings, I like it with just the cheese and sauce, especially cold the next morning for breakfast (cold pizza of any kind for breakfast is another favorite of mine). I would eat it in a box, I would eat it with a fox. I do so like pineapple and ham, Thank you, thank you, Sam I am.

---

J.M. in Eagle Mills, NY, writes: After yesterday's post, we went out to dinner with some college friends. (We're all in the half-century range...) And wouldn't you know, part of the group ordered Hawaiian pizza!

The first time I encountered it was in Rapid City, SD, circa 1979. After that, I don't recall seeing it again for another 20 years.

---

J.E.S. in Sedona, AZ, writes: In (Z)'s response to D.S. in Layton about pineapple pizza, he argued the sweet/savory dynamic of many cuisines as justification for the deployment of fruit on a slice. This answer misses the very fundamental problem inherent in placing Dole slices on your dough, which is a violation of the Grease Group vs. Water Group divide (the only food groups that matter), as fully explained here.

Gallimaufry

D.C.W. (and the dachshund herd) in Fredericksburg, TX, writes: Last Sunday's Mailbag has to be one of the very best ones I have read in the many years I have been reading electoral-vote. I think you have the most astute, intelligent, and witty readers anywhere. They catch most of the nuance and make their points very well.

I commend you for publishing these pearls. Other sites just let people comment willy-nilly and there are some real wastes of time and words out there. I not only learn from you: (V), (Z), (L), (A) and the Staff Dachshunds, but I learn so much from your readers. I appreciate their measured and informed responses on so many topics.

Thank you for your hard work. I know you all have other "day jobs," but your work here is helping more than you know. And (Z), remember, you need to pull for my Dodgers in the playoffs, so when they win the World Series (!) you can say that they cannot beat your Angels. Of course, this year you can say that anyway.

(V) & (Z) respond: We appreciate the very kind words. We do not often run laudatory messages, but we felt this one was more about the readership than about us, and that the contributors to the mailbag (last week's and otherwise) would like to know their work is being well received.

---

M.M. in Houston, TX, writes: Not a correction. Just pleased to hear someone else use the phrase "cool our jets." Didn't think that one was around any longer.

---

S.W. in San Jose, CA, writes: (V)'s reply to S.C. in Mountain View regarding the endian wars saddens me. All truly right-thinking engineers know that there are two ways of representing bytes of data in a computer's memory: big-endian and wrong-endian.

The so called "little-endian" representation is anathema to logical minds. Any system that requires the programmer to jump through mental gymnastics to reorder the bytes depending on whether you're examining them one at time or in words is nonsensical.

Having learned to program in college on a Univac 1110, a mainframe word-oriented computer without a native byte-representation of raw memory, imagine my horror when thrust into the world of microprocessors to discover that some of those CPUs forced their programmer to explicitly change how they write their code depending on the type of access being made (byte vs. word). That's something the computer is supposed to do for you.

After over 4 decades of enduring the travails of dealing with the unwashed hordes of wrong-endian worshipers, I say no more. No more will I contort my brain to write a simple memory-dumping program that shows both bytes and words. No more will I have to unravel ASCII strings in core dumps into meaningful words. I retire at the end of this year. To all those that survive me, I wish you well as you deal with the wrongness of the world and I hope that some day that truth and goodness prevails and ends the long nightmare of wrong-endianness.

Big-endian forever.

(V) & (Z) respond: But do you, or do you not, put pineapple on your pizza?

---

R.S. in Ticonderoga, NY, writes: Reading the comment from A.G. in Scranton about the Marines and the Navy reminded me what a 20+ year Navy veteran once told me "Marine" stood for: "My ass rides in Navy equipment."

Final Words

B.B. in Metairie, LA, writes: The gravestone of the genius Irish writer/comedian of Goon Show fame, Spike Milligan, reads: "Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite." That's Irish for "I told you I was ill."

If you have suggestions for this feature, please send them along.

---

If you wish to contact us, please use one of these addresses. For the first two, please include your initials and city.

• questions@electoral-vote.com    For questions about politics, civics, history, etc. to be answered on a Saturday
• comments@electoral-vote.com   For "letters to the editor" for possible publication on a Sunday
• corrections@electoral-vote.com To tell us about typos or factual errors we should fix
• items@electoral-vote.com            For general suggestions, ideas, etc.

To download a poster about the site to hang up, please click here.

---

Email a link to a friend.

---The Votemaster and Zenger