This post WOULD have been Friday's posting, but for external circumstances. Tomorrow, we will have questions. Monday, we will have letters. Then, we'll go dark for the rest of the week. The Electoral-Vote New Year's annual cocaine and hookers party has been re-invented as the annual Coke and hookahs party, for reasons of sensitivity. It still takes time to plan, though.

Also, we put together the last of the 12 Christmas games, and then after it was "complete," we decided to tweak some images. For the example, we initially had this explainer: "For example, the four images above are an elf, a dragon, a dwarf, a hobbit." That was accompanied by this picture set:



We changed the pictures, and updated the explainer text to: "For example, the four images above are an elf, a dwarf, a hobbit and a troll." When the post went live, we got at least a dozen messages right off the bat along the lines of "I think that's really a dragon, not a troll." We thought it was a joke, until recognizing that it was odd that so many people would make the exact same joke, and realizing we hadn't properly updated the photo set. If you look at the correct set, which has now been posted, you will understand why we thought "dragon" was a plausible alternative.

Merry Christmas, America?: Trump Loses His Mind on Social Media

You would have to guess that Christmas is actually a pretty lonely time for Donald Trump. On an abstract level, it's a holiday based on ideas (e.g., giving) that he doesn't place much value on. On a practical level, he's in what appears to be a marriage of convenience, his kids have families of their own, and his staff also has families of their own. We would not be at all surprised to learn that, despite being the President of the United States, he spent significant portions of the day alone.

Also adding to the impression that he was not having a Merry Christmas is that he spent hours on his not-at-all-jolly social media platform, ranting and raving about his alleged enemies, and bragging about himself. Here is the message that got the most attention:

Merry Christmas to all, including the many Sleazebags who loved Jeffrey Epstein, gave him bundles of money, went to his Island, attended his parties, and thought he was the greatest guy on earth, only to "drop him like a dog" when things got too HOT, falsely claimed they had nothing to do with him, didn't know him, said he was a disgusting person, and then blame, of course, President Donald J. Trump, who was actually the only one who did drop Epstein, and long before it became fashionable to do so. When their names get brought out in the ongoing Radical Left Witch Hunt (plus one lowlife "Republican," Massie!), and it is revealed that they are Democrats all, there will be a lot of explaining to do, much like there was when it was made public that the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax was a fictitious story—a total Scam—and had nothing to do with "TRUMP." The Failing New York Times, among many others, was forced to apologize for their bad and faulty Election "Reporting," even to the point of losing many subscribers due to their highly inaccurate (FAKE!) coverage. Now the same losers are at it again, only this time so many of their friends, mostly innocent, will be badly hurt and reputationally tarnished. But sadly, that's the way it is in the World of Corrupt Democrat Politics!!! Enjoy what may be your last Merry Christmas! President Donald J. Trump

We have a few thoughts and questions:

• Do you know how many social media posts that (V), (Z), (L) and (A)—combined—have made in which we disclaim any involvement with Jeffrey Epstein? That would be "zero," in large part because we did not have any involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. That Trump KEEPS posting things insisting he had nothing to do with Epstein, well, it's a pretty obvious case of "He doth protest too much, methinks."
  
  
• We now know Trump remained cordial with Epstein well into the early 2000s, and so well into the time that Epstein was in hot water. So, the part about dropping Epstein before it became "fashionable" is just a lie.
  
  
• Also, choosing not to associate with a sexual predator is not "fashionable." It's "the right thing to do." And let's not forget that even Trump has never claimed that he parted ways with Epstein in response to the latter's crimes. They had a personal falling-out over business matters.
  
  
• Massie has already responded to being called out in Trump's message, observing that lashing out at one's enemies on Christmas is... pretty pathetic. We can't say we disagree.
  
  
• Whether or not Russia was a "hoax" (we tend to think it was not), it was also 10 years ago. It's amazing that it still occupies so much of his headspace (that said, see below).
  
  
• When asserting that the Russia situation had nothing to do with him, Trump writes that it had nothing to do with "TRUMP." Why the quotations? Why the all-caps? Very odd.
  
  
• Undoubtedly, when it comes to EpsteinPot Dome, what "TRUMP" really and truly cares about is that some Democrats will be "reputationally tarnished." There's no other reason he's obsessed with the subject. None.
  
  
• "Enjoy what may be your last Merry Christmas!" Um, what? What does that mean? Is he planning to start a global nuclear war? Or is he perhaps conceding that his tariffs will ruin every Christmas for the foreseeable future?

Later, Trump also posted a picture of a model showing the (apparent) new livery for Air Force One:

There was no text, so it's not clear if the plan is to repaint Air Force One (both of them), or this is going to be the livery for Qatar Force One (if so, the 250 will be out of date well before that plane is ready). It is rather embarrassing, in our view, that a plane that will carry the President to high-level diplomatic negotiations is designed to get things started by injecting a little American jingoism into the conversation.

Obviously, "Trump says crazy stuff on social media" is pretty much in "dog bites man" territory. Still, he's been extra-unhinged in the last month or two, both in person and on social media. This is what happens when he's feeling vulnerable and weak, and he has many reasons to feel like that, these days. If you concur with our supposition that he was probably alone for much of Christmas, then this could also be evidence that his staff is reining him in these days, and when they're not around, he's extra-unhinged.

Between the million more Epstein files, the budget, a series of upcoming court decisions (most of them likely to be losses), declining approval ratings, inflation/the economy, and several other pressing matters, Trump is likely to be even more frightened and angry in January and February. And the more frightened and angry he gets, and the more that his id tells him he needs to show the world he's not weak, the more likely he is to do something really dangerous. (Z)

Legal News, Part I: Great Scott! There's Something Called "Discovery?"

It's no secret that Donald Trump uses the legal system to go after people/businesses he hates, in an effort to bully and intimidate them, whether or not there is any merit to his claims. His goal is not to win but to generate headlines and scare them into settling. Because this tactic is so transparent, it's something of a mystery why these well-financed companies, media outlets and others he's sued, who can afford just as many lawyers, don't see the opportunity that a meritless case provides.

This is particularly true in a defamation case. A defamation claim is notoriously difficult to bring, not only because one has to prove malice when it involves a public figure like Trump, but also because the truth is a complete defense. And in order to prove the truth of the alleged defamatory statement, one is entitled to discovery from the plaintiff. That extends to anything and everything related to that claim. In addition, if a plaintiff claims damages, those claims are also subject to discovery, so the defendant can refute them.

It appears that at least one group has finally figured this out. In 2022, Trump sued the Pulitzer Prize board for defamation for awarding prizes to The New York Times and The Washington Post for reporting on Russia's involvement in the 2016 election and Trump's campaign's ties that were examined by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. He claims that he has suffered personal and financial harm as a result of those awards. That's a pretty bold assertion, since it's pretty hard for any one entity to hurt a sitting president (since they are covered so widely, by so many outlets). Further, the Pulitzer board did not do the original reporting, or any reporting at all. They just gave awards to the folks who DID do the reporting.

In response to Trump's (obviously spurious) claim, the Board has now served discovery requests seeking all of Trump's tax returns from 2015 to the present, all documents related to his finances and all sources of income for that period and comprehensive medical and psychological records, as well as records of any prescription drugs he's taking. According to the Board, Trump has made all of that relevant by claiming he's been financially and personally harmed by the Board's actions. Trump has 30 days to comply with the requests. And since Trump filed this lawsuit in Florida, which is known for being very averse to these types of nuisance suits, the rules are very broad for defense requests such as these.

In addition to that, since Trump is claiming that the prizes had a "significant impact" on the 2020 election, the Board is also demanding proof of that claim as well as records relating to all of his other defamation suits, including ones brought against him by E. Jean Carroll. Trump is about to get a very big taste of his own medicine. The only question we have is: Why in the world did it take so long for someone to fight back like this? Our prediction for this case? TACO. There's no way he's going to give up all that info, especially given that much of it would become a matter of public record.

We suspect that Trump is going to face more and more pushback of this sort in 2026. First, once one or two defendants resist, it's easier for other defendants to follow suit (no pun intended). Second, Trump's batting average in court is around .200 these days (maybe lower), and any entity that is deciding whether or not to fight back has to like chances of success north of 80%. Third, the closer we get to January 20, 2029, the less power Trump has to unleash the powers of the federal government against his opponents. He's got 3 years left, and even Trump's own lawyers are able to drag court cases out for that long. Imagine what skilled lawyers can do. (L & Z)

Legal News, Part II: Apparently, Being Brown Is Not, in Fact, a Crime

Strike one against Kilmar Abrego Garcia is that he is not white. Strike two is that he IS Latino. As far as this administration is concerned, that's two strikes and you're out. There are many non-white groups that are disfavored with this VERY White House, but no group may be lower on the list than Latinos (though we are sure that Stephen Miller just uses the term "Mexicans," regardless of nation of origin). Put another way, if someone had the exact same backstory as Abrego Garcia, but they were white and their name was Kirby Abraham Garner, there is NO WAY this would have been allowed to stretch on and on and on like this.

The administration is still trying to toss Abrego Garcia out of the country, but its efforts suffered a big blow just two days before Christmas. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Tennessee canceled the January 27 trial date and, instead, ordered an evidentiary hearing on January 28 on a motion to dismiss for vindictive and selective prosecution. The judge found that Abrego Garcia has shown that there is a "realistic likelihood" that the government acted vindictively in bringing the charges, such that the burden of proof now shifts to the Trump administration to "rebut the presumption with objective, on the record explanations for charging Abrego Garcia." If they can't produce sufficient evidence, Crenshaw will dismiss the case.

The defense claims that Donald Trump's Department of Justice only decided to charge Abrego Garcia with a crime after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered DoJ attorneys to provide specific information as to their efforts to return Abrego Garcia from CECOT. They also claim that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche personally ordered the U.S. Attorney from Tennessee, Robert McGuire, to charge Abrego Garcia and they say they have an e-mail to prove it. Abrego Garcia's attorneys have subpoenaed Blanche and others to testify on January 28, but Crenshaw is going to wait and see what evidence the government submits before deciding if that's necessary.

Meanwhile, in Xinis' courtroom, she has kept the Temporary Restraining Order in place, which prohibits immigration officials from detaining Abrego Garcia, until at least December 30, when the government must outline the next steps in his immigration case. Our guess is that now that Crenshaw has ordered discovery and an evidentiary hearing, the DoJ will move quickly to try to deport Abrego Garcia. That could mean that Costa Rica, which has said it is still willing to accept him, might be back on the table. We'll know more after next week, but as of now, he was able to enjoy Christmas with his family. (L)

Lessons, Part I: DNC Doesn't Want to Wade Back into the Intra-Party Battles of 2024, Spikes Autopsy

After a disastrous election in 2024, where Democrats lost all the swing states, the White House, the Senate, and a number of other races, the DNC commissioned an autopsy to see why the patient died. Newly minted DNC Chair Ken Martin promised, back then, to release the document. But now the report is ready and Martin wants to bury it. Why hear bad news when we won the governorship of two blue states (New Jersey and Virginia)? All is well now in Democratland.

A number of Democrats and Democratic strategists want to see the report. They think that winning a couple of easy governor's races doesn't address issues like why Latino, Black, and young voters moved sharply to the right in 2024. They want to know what needs to be done to win these folks back, and they don't think that bashing Donald Trump is the key to the midterms or beyond. Hillary Clinton tried that in 2016 and it didn't work. They want to see what's in the report.

Some Democratic strategists, like Jamal Simmons, say that the Democrats need to explain to people what they stand for and why people should put them in charge. Even Kamala Harris is down on the Party, saying the Democrats are "very much stuck in the past." She doesn't mention the fact that part of this is that candidates who lost big time think they are entitled to another whack at the piñata rather than letting someone younger get to try.

All of this said, it is possible for the DNC to pass some important lessons along without posting the PDF to their website with a big, bold link. And although we obviously have not read the report, we think it would be borderline political malpractice to release it, for two reasons. First, as the old saying goes, "When your opponent is shooting themselves in the foot, let them." At the moment, there is much focus on cracks within the GOP. So much so, we'll have a series of items on that subject when we get back from our break. It would be foolish for the Democrats to do something that might change the narrative, especially given how easily people fall into "The Democrats are SO disorganized" thinking (see below for more).

Second, Martin hasn't actually explained why he is burying the report or what is in it. But it is possible that it says: (1) crazy people on the left, like Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) are ruining the Democrats' brand and need to be silenced, or (2) tepid moderates who are well beyond their best-by date and who are afraid of their own shadows are blocking all forms of change the voters are desperate for. If the report supports one of these positions, it will restart the Bernie vs. Hillary wars, Part 914, and could tear the Party apart. Not a desirable outcome heading into a midterm election.

The real mistake here was loudly announcing the autopsy in the first place, and then loudly promising to release it. That was a rookie mistake, not worthy of someone chosen to lead one of the two major political parties. What Martin and the DNC should have done is collect information, compile it, and THEN made a decision about what to do. Many voters don't trust the Democrats, and burying the report is just going to make people think: What are they hiding? In the end, it may leak out anyway and then Martin has the worst of all possible worlds: He looks like a coward and the fight happens anyway. (V & Z)

Lessons, Part II: The Contrarian Is Not a Merryman This Christmas

Actually, in this particular case, The Contrarian isn't a man at all. After Jen Rubin left The Washington Post, she joined with Norm Eisen to form the Substack The Contrarian. Pieces for that site are all published under that name, though they are also signed by the particular author of the piece, as well.

To round out the year, Rubin penned an item headlined "Lessons from 2025," a year that definitely did not leave her a merrywoman. We're going to give an executive summary of what she wrote, and then add our thoughts at the end. Here's Rubin's 10 lessons:

1. Democrats Refuse to Lead: Rubin writes that, at the start of Trump v2.0, some Democrats said they could work with him, get things done for the benefit of the country, etc. Then, she says, they caved in March on the continuing resolution. They caved again after the shutdown. They always cave. She says that what we learned in 2025 is that only an angry base can make them sort of stick up for what they believe in. The next test is in January when there could be another shutdown. What will the Democrats do if Trump simply refuses to budge?
   
   
2. Republicans Don't Care About Their Own Constituents: Republicans repeatedly do things that predominantly hurt their own constituents (e.g., defunding SNAP, defunding rural hospitals, etc.). They simply don't care what happens to their constituents because they know the constituents will never blame the GOP. If Republicans pass a bill that will shutter rural hospitals, Republican politicians will blame the Democrats and their base will believe it. Democrats have to stop thinking: "If they do [some horrendous thing], then their base will get hurt and the Republican politicians will suffer." Not how it works.
   
   
3. The Supreme Court Cannot Be Shamed: There was a time when the Supreme Court was partisan but tried to be subtle about it, so nobody would notice. We are beyond that. For the most part, the Court has become an arm of the Republican Party. Once in a while it does something that the Party doesn't want, so as to distract from the fact that it gives the GOP (and Donald Trump) their wishes 90% of the time. Their attitude is simply: "What are you going to do about it?" The six Republican justices are just working on the assumption that either: (1) the Democrats won't get the trifecta in 2028 or (2) they will get it but won't have the stomach to "reform" the Court (e.g., expanding it or stripping it of jurisdiction in some areas). So they can do whatever they want with no penalty.
   
   
4. Winning Requires Winning Public Opinion: Politicians, and to some extent Supreme Court justices, keep an eye on public opinion. As long as it is divided, they can ignore it. However, when it is very heavily on one side on some issue, they do pay attention. People who want to save democracy need to convince the public that it is worth saving and that this is a Big Deal. We are not there by any means now.
   
   
5. "Electability" Is a Myth: On paper, before their first election, no one thought Donald Trump, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), or Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (D) was electable. They were wrong. But they thought Terry McAuliffe in Virginia in 2021 and Bob Casey Jr. in 2024 were highly electable. Wrong again. The voters decide, not the pundits.
   
   
6. Christian Nationalists Are Not Christians: If you mean "Christian" in the sense of someone who believes in Jesus Christ and lives their lives as he instructed them to do, Christian nationalists are not Christians at all. They are white supremacists. Very different category. Jesus never talked about separating children from their families, blowing up people on the high seas, taking food away from hungry people, and telling strangers to get the hell out. The Very New Testament makes the New Testament obsolete.
   
   
7. There Are No Normie Republicans Anymore: Some people are hoping that the normie Republicans will strike back and take over from the MAGAts. Guess what? There aren't any normies anymore. They have all sold their souls to Donald Trump. Maybe when he exits the White House (or, more likely, when he exits this plane of being) they will rediscover where they misplaced their souls, but not until. Waiting for this is like waiting for Godot.
   
   
8. No Lie Is Too Big: Every time Donald Trump tells a lie so preposterous that no one can believe he means it (e.g., babies born on U.S. soil are not Americans, he can have a third term) many people say: Even his supporters won't swallow that. Wrong! They will. No lie is so big that his base will say: "He is clearly lying." Or mad.
   
   
9. Trump's Supporters Don't Support Everything He Is Doing: In poll after poll, about 40% of the voters approve of Trump, but when asked about things he is doing, many fewer approve. They like him personally, but don't necessarily like masked federal agents grabbing people, including American citizens, off the streets and locking them up for deportation. They don't like his record on affordability. They don't like his tariffs. They just like him.
   
   
10. The Public Is the Key: The key to stopping Trump is getting the public off the couch and engaged. It is not easy since most people are too busy trying to survive to pay attention to little things like democracy. But if enough people say "enough" and actually vote next year, that could be the beginning of the end. Abraham Lincoln once said: "Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed." It is still true.

And now, our thoughts. First, we recognize that Rubin and Eisen are writing as "The Contrarian," and that the brand dictates that they have to say things critical of both sides. But (Z), in particular, finds "the Democrats are disorganized" and "the Democrats always cave" to be lazy analysis, relying primarily on clichés.

The Democrats are the "big tent" party, and have been for close to 100 years (since the New Deal era). By definition, the "big tent" party is going to be pulled in more directions than the smaller tent party, especially now that the GOP has basically purged all the Rockefeller Republicans. Also, you know what you get when nobody in a political party is willing to speak up and be contrarian? You get MAGA.

As to the Democrats caving and/or not leading, they currently control zero-thirds of the trifecta in Washington. There was a time when the minority party had some meaningful amount of power in Congress, but that time is not today. And yet, despite these serious institutional obstacles, the blue team has held the Republicans' feet to the fire. They stuck the GOP with ownership of the shutdown and health care. They forced a surrender on the Epstein files discharge petition, and they got two other discharge petitions through the House in the span of a month, which is a larger total than in the previous 30 years. The Democrats also saved SNAP for the next year, which is no small thing for those folks who depend on the program. We're not the only ones who see things this way; Politico's Nicholas Wu and Meredith Lee Hill also noticed that Congressional Democrats have been doing an awful lot of winning, for the minority party.

And, of course, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and their colleagues have another big bite at the apple when the current budget extension runs out in January. It's likely to be ugly, but the Democrats are in a pretty strong position, given current public opinion polling, and given that, again, they are not in power and the buck does not stop with them. It would appear Donald Trump is already having nightmares, because he is already (and once again) pushing for Senate Republicans to kill the filibuster.

(Incidentally, we would like to run some reader comments on this issue. If you have thoughts about what a Democratic "win" on the budget would look like, please send them to us at comments@electoral-vote.com, preferably with subject line "Blue Win." If you have thoughts about what a Republican "win" on the budget would look like, please send them to us at comments@electoral-vote.com, preferably with subject line "Red Win." Please make sure to include your initials and your city/state (or city/country if you are outside the U.S.)

Meanwhile, if you were asked "Who is the leader of the Trump resistance?", you would have to answer "Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA)," right? (Though Gov. J.B. Pritzker, D-IL, has also been no slouch.) Newsom has successfully counter-moved to check efforts by Texas to steal control of the House. He has used both state-level legislation and lawsuits to stymie the Trump administration in many different ways. He has also gotten under Trump's skin with many a mocking social media post. This simply does not align with the assertion that "Democrats refuse to lead."

Of course, most of Rubin's attention is given over to Republicans, and to two different, somewhat conflicting points of view. On one hand, she implies (e.g., #2 and #7) that MAGA voters and politicians are a lost cause as long as Donald Trump is in the White House (or as long as he's alive). At the same time, she asserts (e.g., #4 and #10) that the elections are a battle for hearts and minds, and that those hearts and minds can be won over, even by unorthodox candidates (#5). Winning over the true MAGAts is probably impossible, but winning over independents is potentially doable.

There are clearly people who voted for Trump and who have now become alienated from him, for one reason or another. There are also clearly people who voted for Trump, but NOT for the Republican Party. Trump, as you may have heard, will not be on the ballot in 2026, 2028 or in any other year. Technically, he could run for Congress in 2028 in House district FL-22 (PVI of D+4), challenging Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL), but that is kind of small ball for him. It seems to us that Rubin is much more on the right track with "public sentiment can be won over" than she is with "MAGA voters and politicians are a lost cause." The issues that cross party lines are largely kitchen-table issues, and Democrats certainly seem to have embraced that notion in the last 3-4 months or so.

In short, we think there are some useful lessons here, some of them unpleasant. But one has to look with a very critical eye (you might even say a contrarian eye) to separate the wheat from the chaff. (V & Z)

In Congress: Johnson Puts Up a Record-Breaking Performance

In 2025, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) was responsible for a number of historic feats. Though not in a good way, mind you.

To start with, the House managed to pass fewer bills than in any first-year-of-a-presidency in modern American history (it used to be that a new session of Congress did not meet until December of its first year, which left rather little time for legislating; that schedule changed in the 1930s). As a result of the House's general inaction, only 38 bills managed to become law. Basically, it's the BBB, the Epstein bill, a few kicking-the-can budget resolutions, and a bunch of bills renaming post offices. By contrast, almost 80 bills became law in the first year of Trump v1.0.

The House also held fewer votes—362—than in any other year of the 21st century. By contrast, the folks over in the Senate were busy beavers, holding 659 votes. Virtually all of those were votes on Donald Trump's nominations for various executive branch and judicial posts. If not for holding the power to advise and consent on nominees, the Senate would have virtually nothing to do.

The lower chamber is also on pace for a record number of retirements, at least for the current century. There are 25 Republicans who have already announced plans to stand down; the record for the GOP is 42 (in 2018). There are also 19 Democrats who are heading for the exit; the record for them is 37 (in 2022). We'll know a lot more in January, as there's usually a wave of retirements after members return from the holidays, with their reminder of what life was like before they had to be in Washington all the time.

It is not at all difficult to figure out the basic dynamics that gave rise to these various trends (which are somewhat mutually reinforcing):

• American politics is particularly bitter and divisive right now, and members are subject to constant verbal abuse (not to mention fears of physical assault).
  
  
• In both chambers, but particularly the House, the majority's margin is razor-thin, and just a few defections is fatal. Aisle-crossing is not completely dead, but it's mostly dead.
  
  
• Johnson's "leadership" qualities are in dispute. His Trump-lapdog status is not, and many members resent the Speaker's lack of independence.
  
  
• Trump has little interest in legislating, and prefers to "govern" by executive order.
  
  
• This year includes the longest shutdown in American history.

Maybe things will get better in 2026, but with these same dynamics still in play, and with the messy fight over the budget coming up, we wouldn't bet on it. And then, if the Democrats take either chamber, and we have a divided government as of 2027, things will REALLY grind to a halt. All that one can really hope for is that utter dysfunction eventually provides momentum for some sort of meaningful change. (Z)

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Ogden Nash Wrote "The Ostrich" and "The Duck," but Not "The Hen"

We wrote that last week's headline theme is "in the category Holidays. For a hint, we'll say that it should be relatively obvious WHICH holiday we might have in mind this week." On Saturday, we added "There were 12 possible words we could have used; we managed to use seven of them." And here is the solution, courtesy of reader W.M. in Livonia, MI:

This week's puzzle are all gifts from "The Twelve Days of Christmas":

• We've Seen This Before, Part I: Trump's Words Ring Hollow
• We've Seen This Before, Part II: Lord Almighty, Do These People Have No Awareness of Popular Culture?
• We've Seen This Before, Part III: He Who Pays the Piper Calls the Tune
• We've Seen This Before, Part IV: On Health Care, GOP Fears Their Goose Is Cooked
• I Read the News Today, Oh Boy: Visit Vic Fleming, See a Partridge!
• This Week in Schadenfreude: Katie Miller Is Not the Lady People Want to Hear From
• This Week in Freudenfreude: Coal's Swan Song Is Coming

It's basically a gift of some people dancing and, like, 30 birds.

That's pretty much the long and short of it. Of course, hens, from this headline, are another one of the gifts.

Here are the first 60 readers to get it right:

T.K. in Half Moon Bay, St. Kitts A.G. in Plano, TX C.B. in Lakeville, MN T.F. in Craftsbury Common, VT S.G. in Durham, NC R.H. in Corning, NY G.S. in Basingstoke, England, UK S.K. in Ardmore, PA D.M. in Lexington, NC W.V. in San Jacinto, CA D.C. in Portland, OR C.C. in Stratham, NH J.G. in Truro, England, UK J.M. in Eagle Mills, NY E.P. in Windham, CT M.J. in Oakdale, MN B.D. in Portland, OR K.R. in Austin, TX D.S. in Nashua, NH B.K.J. in San Diego, CA

N.S. in Fayetteville, NY H.M. in Portland, ME B.M. in Chico, CA J.B. in Royston, England, UK M.M. in Dunellen, NJ J.W. in Newton, MA M.E.T. in Garden City, NY P.H. in Buffalo Grove, IL J.S. in Huntington Station, NY K.F. in Berea, KY J.J. in Johnstown, PA K.M. in Olympia, WA M.K. in Long Branch, NJ M.S. in Highland Park, IL J.N. in Zionsville, IN N.H. in London, England, UK J.W. in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany M.B. in Denver, CO D.L. in Uslar, Germany G.W. in Avon, CT

R.M. in Summerville, SC A.L. in Atlanta, GA M.F. in Goshen, KY T.T. in Conway, AR K.G.W. in Lafayette, IN J.A. in Redwood City, CA A.J. in Baltimore, MD M.A. in Park Ridge, IL G.H. in Acton, ME R.R. in Lancaster, PA P.J. in Quakertown, PA C.R. in Cromwell, CT T.P. in Kings Park, NY R.E. in Birmingham, AL M.S. in Canton, NY B.B. in Bonita Springs, FL R.R. in Westborough, MA R.N. in Cleveland, OH A.J. in Huddersfield, England, UK J.F. in Fayetteville, NC

The 60th correct response was received at 5:37 a.m. PT on Friday.

For this week's theme, it relies on one word per headline, and it's in the category History. For a hint, we'll say that if a headline word is misspelled on a Friday, that's usually deliberate, and instructive.

If you have a guess, send it to comments@electoral-vote.com with subject line December 27 Headlines. (Z)

This Week in Schadenfreude: Maybe It Was a Mistake to Tinker around with the Kennedy Center Honors

Donald Trump is, of course, obsessed with numbers—IQ, newspaper subscribers (see above) and, in particular, TV ratings. His obsession with numbers is surely due to his being a "money" guy who has been keeping score his whole life. It probably also has to do with his cognition; he "gets" numbers, and likely struggles with things that are a little more abstract. Meanwhile, his particular interest in TV ratings undoubtedly dates back to his days as a reality TV star.

We cannot imagine how Trump and/or the people around him managed to put the idea in his head that, as soon as he imposed himself on the Kennedy Center, and he appointed himself host of the Kennedy Center Honors, ratings would be through the roof. That obviously wasn't going to happen. Beyond the fact that many viewers actively boycotted, the fact is that the show was broadcast at a time when people are occupied by holiday-related events. It also does not help that pretty much all the honorees—George Strait, rock band KISS, stage/screen star Michael Crawford, disco pioneer Gloria Gaynor, and actor Sylvester Stallone—had their heydays in the 1970s, or maybe 1980s, and so are well outside the cultural frame-of-reference for many viewers (say, any viewers under the age of 40).

For all of these reasons, the ratings were, predictably, very poor. It attracted just 2.65 million viewers, which is the smallest total in the history of the program. It is considerably fewer than last year (4.1 million), and is well down from the show's peak of 5.6 million viewers in 2019, when the show Sesame Street was honored. This year's Kennedy Center broadcast trailed a re-broadcast of Frosty the Snowman, a re-broadcast of Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Saturday Night Live, Good Morning America, The CBS Evening News, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and about 40 others. It was, of course, completely outclassed by the #1 program of the week, which was The NFL on CBS, with about 25 million viewers.

To add insult to injury, CBS edited Trump's 12-minute opening monologue down to just 2 minutes for broadcast. It's not clear if Trump knows that or not, but he probably does. Maybe it helps explain the tweets (see above). We wonder if he will insist on hosting again next year, or if he'll learn his lesson, and hand hosting duties over to someone else. Maybe Donald Trump Jr. can take over; apropos for a winter program, he'd undoubtedly bring his own snow.

And that's not the only Kennedy Center-related news this week. Chuck Redd, a drummer and vibraphone player, has been hosting a Christmas Eve jazz program, called "Jazz Jams," at the Kennedy Center for the last 20 years. However, once Donald Trump's name was slapped on the building, Redd canceled the show. "When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert," he explained to The Associated Press.

Trump acolyte Richard Grenell, who is now the president of the Kennedy Center, quickly fired off a nasty letter to Redd. It offers a master class in MAGA rhetoric. For example, from the opening portion of the missive:

Your decision to withdraw at the last moment—explicitly in response to the Center's recent renaming, which honors President Trump's extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure—is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution.

Regrettably, your action surrenders to the sad bullying tactics employed by certain elements on the left, who have sought to intimidate artists into boycotting performances at our national cultural center.

"Disagreement" and "intolerance" are not synonyms, nor are "boycotts"/"pushing for boycotts" and "bullying."

The letter also has this:

Your dismal ticket sales and lack of donor support, combined with your last-minute cancellation has cost us considerably. This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt.

So, Redd's concert was selling no tickets and attracting no financial support. And yet, by canceling it, he's cost the institution $1 million—far above the take for even a very successful performance. You can't have it both ways... unless you are utilizing MAGA logic.

Things are certainly going to get worse at the Kennedy Center before they get better. There are already plenty of acts who don't want to have any association with a particularly unpopular administration, and a particularly unpopular maneuver by that administration. Now that threats of lawsuits are flying? Better to just leave the Kennedy Center off the itinerary completely. There are certainly artists and traveling shows who will be more than happy to make an appearance, but we doubt there are enough of them for 365 days of programming. Further, we're not sure that, say, Lee Greenwood or Larry the Cable Guy are a great match for the demographics of D.C. (Z)

This Week in Freudenfreude: You Have to Be Loving These News Stories

We thought that, for the last freudenfreude of 2025, we'd do a rundown of some positive stories from the last year. There's no overarching theme here, beyond that:

1. AIDS: One of the things that makes AIDS particularly tough to treat is that the virus hides itself within healthy white blood cells. Researchers at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in Melbourne, Australia, think they have found a way to overcome that "camouflage," which would allow for the disease to be completely cleared from a person's system, such that the 40 million people afflicted worldwide would not have to take a lifetime course of suppressants.
   
   
2. King Tut: Last month, the long-planned Grand Egyptian Museum opened to visitors. It is 117 acres, includes 100,000 artifacts—among them the tomb of King Tutankhamun—and is also within walking distance of the pyramids of Giza. Seems like a great vacation trip, and is much more guilt-free than seeing objects in a museum run by one of the nations that plundered them.
   
   
3. Putting the "Viking" in "EV": In Norway, 88.9% of cars sold in 2024 were electric. While we won't know for sure until that nation releases its annual report next month, it is likely that Norwegians will achieve their goal of going all-electric by the end of 2025. This was accomplished by giving generous incentives to EV buyers, while also imposing heavy taxes on cars with internal combustion engines. It also helped that all of the political parties in Norway are on board with the plan, meaning a change in government did not mean a change in policy. For other nations that might aspire to this goal, Norway will be a model of how to do it.
   
   
4. Age is Just a Number: The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing involves more than 20,000 pensioners. Researchers have performed a standard battery of cognitive tests over the past 2½ decades. And this year, they published results that suggest a 68-year-old born in the 1950s has, on average, the same cognitive ability as did a 62-year-old born in the 1940s. Those two numbers are close enough to justify the headline that pretty much every outlet used: "70 really is the new 60."
   
   On a somewhat related note, Natalie Grabow of Mountain Lakes, NJ, is an 80-year-old grandmother of five. This year, she became the oldest woman to finish an Ironman Triathlon. That's a 2.4-mile swim, followed by a 112-mile bike ride, followed by a 26.2-mile run. On some level, Grabow was making up for lost time, because she did not learn how to swim until she was 59.
   
   
5. Reading Rainbow: For 26 years, the book-loving children's program Reading Rainbow was hosted by LeVar Burton, who is probably best known as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Then, the money ran out, nobody stepped forward to take up the banner, and the show went away. Now, after nearly 20 years, and countless attempts at a reboot, it's back as a YouTube show, hosted by Mychal Threets, who is an actual librarian, and whose enthusiasm for reading leaps out of every frame.
   
   
6. Blind (Association) Football: Light for the World, the adidas Foundation, and the United by Sport program have been working to promote blind football around the world. The sport is played on a smaller pitch, with a ball that has a rattle in it, and with a strict rule requiring silence from viewers. Among the success stories, the South Sudan Association of Visually Impaired fielded its first team 5 years ago, and this year won the second division African championship. Next year, they will move up to the first division, with hopes of playing the Paralympics in 2028.
   
   
7. Heart Health: In the 1970s, scientists decided that Americans' heart problems were a national crisis, and that something needed to be done. Thanks to better surgeries, better medicines, better diets and and a big decline in smoking, the decades since have witnessed a 66% decline in deaths related to heart disease, an 81% decrease in deaths due specifically to coronary artery disease, and a 90% drop in deaths from heart attacks. As a result, 2025 was the first year in nearly a century where heart attack was not the #1 cause of death for Americans.
   
   
8. Always and Forever... Or Not: Polyperfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) were embraced by industrial concerns because they are cheap and are very hardy, lasting pretty much forever. They have thus found their way into many products, particularly the packaging. The problem, as it turns out, is that they are forever, which means they accumulate over time in places like the oceans. The other problem, as it turns out, is that they are carcinogenic. Now, scientist think they have found a cost-effective and safe way to break the PFAS down.
   
   
9. Fire Recovery: Southern California was hit by two terrible outbreaks of fire this year, one that hit the Pacific Palisades (on the coast) and another that hit the area around Altadena and Pasadena (about 20 miles inland, near Caltech and the Huntington Library). It will take years for everything to be rebuilt, but there were a couple of stories about resilience and human decency that have already made news.
   
   First, there is a youth theater troupe in the Palisades that began rehearsals for the Gershwin-written "Crazy for You" just one day before the fires. Many cast members, as well as troupe director Lara Ganz, lost their homes in the blaze. Still, they decided to soldier on, encouraged by a letter from the members of the Gershwin family. The play opened as planned, with most of the cast intact, and with the Gershwins even attending one of the performances during the show's 2-week run.
   
   Meanwhile, over in Altadena, six high schools were compelled to cancel their proms due to fire damage. However, a charity called Alice's Kids, with the assistance of actor Steve Carell, stepped forward to stage the proms, free of charge for all the attendees.
   
   
10. Closer to Home: Both of the staff dachshunds had operations this month. Flash had his spleen removed due to tumors. There was a two-in-three chance the tumors were malignant, which would have meant a prognosis of 6-9 months. But they were benign. Then, earlier this week, Otto had to have a tumor removed from his right leg. The surgery was successful in getting most of the mass, and the rest will be dealt with via radiation.
    
    Both dogs are still on some painkillers, but they have otherwise bounced back, and are basically 100% again. Not bad for two old fellas who both turned 15 this week.

Have a good (rest of your) weekend, all! (Z)

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