Auld Lang Syne by Christian Lingner

 

  

As I returned to my favorite holiday traditions over the last couple weeks, I fell again under the spell of “Auld Lang Syne.” It has always seemed to me a perfect song, with words and melody bound together so tightly as to be inextricable, like soul and body.

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And days of auld lang syne?”

The phrase from which the song draws its title, preserved in the lyrics’ original Scots language, is often translated as “long, long ago” or “old long since.” I completely approve of those who left the phrase “auld lang syne” untampered in the modern English version... Even at the phonetic level, the Scots “auld lang syne” seems to carry a vernacular charm, rolling off the tongue like fog from the highlands.

For anyone who thinks “Auld Lang Syne” was written specifically for the final cathartic minutes of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” however, these translations do provide a helpful entry point for understanding the song’s history and legacy.

Composed by the poet Robert Burns in the second half of the 18th century, the song rapidly gained popularity across the English-speaking lands. It eventually took its place among standard New Year’s Eve festivities, encouraging eager party-goers to reflect upon the year coming to a close before celebrating the year to come.

The song goes on:

We two have run about the hills,
And picked the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot
Since auld lang syne.
We two have paddled in the stream,
From morning sun till dine;
But seas between us broad have roared
Since auld lang syne.

As is so often the case with old songs, the middle verses bear the greater load of meaningful content (and are also, incidentally, the first forgotten.) The song’s first two stanzas, paired by a celebratory chorus, seem fit for a cheerful Scottish pub, where members of a merry chorus offer each other winks and drinks for the sake of the “good ol’ days.”

Now the song seems to take an odd turn by offering two verses in which a childhood memory is followed up by the admission of some painful reality. This pairing could be taken to communicate a recognition of the balance between happy and sad elements of the past.

I think it more likely, however, that the song intentionally moves from a positive note to the negative in order to emphasize how the passage of time often coincides with increased hardship. These middle verses acknowledge the reality of sad memories, while insisting on an immediate return to the chorus and its famous affirmation of times “auld lang syne.”

This unflinching and abrupt transition from sad recollection to celebratory affirmation indicates that this old song can tell us something significant about what it means to remember. By extension, it gives us a clue as to how we should make sense of our experiences more generally.

We are at the end of a year during which our mettle has been tested repeatedly by onslaughts of anxiety, loneliness, sickness and social upheaval. If you are like me, all of these things discourage reflection on the past. Because I had never before experienced these kinds of difficulties for such a sustained period, I found examining the last nine months uniquely challenging.

Before this year, reflecting on the past usually amounted to taking an inventory of my happy and sad moments, the ups and the downs, before moving on at the soonest opportunity to declare that “all in all, I have a lot to be grateful for.”

I have nothing against maintaining a sense of gratitude. Insofar as we have experienced earthly blessings, it is right and good for us to be grateful for those gifts.

However, if we limit our reflection to this sort of exercise, to focusing only on the good, I believe we place ourselves in a precarious position. Why? Suppose that the year on which we are reflecting has been as hard as this last one. What happens when our pain appears to outweigh our pleasure?

Furthermore, what are we to do when we realize that our difficulties carry right up to the present and seem far from abating? In each of these cases, we are forced to realize that if we fail to find meaning in both pleasurable and painful memories, we will not gain the solace we desire.

When we are confronted with the pervasiveness of our pain, we realize that the type of reflection that amounts to placing pleasurable and painful experiences on a scale only proves helpful for those who don’t need help. If we only find value in pleasurable memories, then that can only help people whose experience is predominated by pleasurable memories.

Additionally, in troubled times, many of us fall back on the refrain: “Well, it could have been worse.” This is nothing but the sullen sister of the first “platitude of gratitude,” as it too relies on relative thinking. But instead of weighing good against bad and coming to the conclusion that we have a lot to be thankful for, we are weighing one bad against another. Things are hard. They could have been harder.

Both statements leave us wanting. They imply that life is fundamentally a condition that is either bad or worse. This kind of thinking hardly promises the kind of positive affirmation of life that most of us are after when we reflect on our past.

There is, though, another approach. If we accept that our pleasurable and painful experiences do not comprise the totality of our lives, but are merely the setting within which our story has been playing out, then all of our experiences suddenly have the capacity to become meaningful.

Life is pain and life is joy, yes, but pain and joy contain a deeper meaning. Like the plot of land in Christ’s parable where a treasure has been buried, our experiences are precious when viewed in light of some underlying value. Our experiences are not what define meaning; they are merely the soil from which we can uncover meaning.

When our experiences are understood as the setting and not the entire story, when they no longer need to define our ultimate value, they are utterly transfigured. They take on an aspect indiscriminately lovely and to be cherished. As with the individual movements of a symphony, some dominated by confident major chords and others by questioning minor strains, so also the strands of our life’s experiences can take on a persistent beauty when understood in light of a theme unifying them.

But what is this unifying theme? What is this dynamic meaning underlying our experiences both joyful and sorrowful? In the terms of the song, how can we celebrate “picking daisies fine” alongside wearisome wandering, or raise a glass to paddling streams together alongside our estrangement across broad seas? I believe Burns has something to say to this effect as well.

And there’s a hand my trusty friend!
And give me a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
For auld lang syne.
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

After all is said and done, “Auld Lang Syne” points us to relationship as that alone which makes our memories worth celebrating. When our past experiences call to mind those with whom we have walked through thick and thin, these memories not only comfort us in isolation, but also draw us together.

I think Burns is entirely right on this score. Our supreme task and greatest joy lies in the vocation of friendship, which demands of us what we long for: a life of bearing one another’s burdens and sharing each other’s delights. Friendship is, quite simply, any relationship characterized by that beautiful word which stands out in the chorus like embossed print: kindness....

-Christian Lingner

https://www.americamagazine.org/

Auld Lang Syne by Robert Burns

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

     Chorus:

For auld lang syne, my dear,
     For auld lang syne.
     We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
     For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint stowp!
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

     Chorus

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
Sin’ auld lang syne.

     Chorus

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.

     Chorus

And there’s a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.

     Chorus

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796)

Scientists make key Alzheimer’s disease breakthrough

 

Scientists investigating Alzheimer's disease have made a key breakthrough. They have identified a vital cellular mechanism driving the most common cause of dementia. American researchers say the breakthrough marks a "promising" target for drug treatments that slow, or possibly even reverse, the disease’s development.

A team from the Advanced Science Research Center at The City University of New York (CUNY ASRC) discovered the critical mechanism that links cellular stress in the brain to the progression of Alzheimer’s. The study, published in the journal Neuron, highlights microglia - the brain's primary immune cells - as central players in both the protective and harmful responses associated with the disease.

Microglia - often dubbed the brain's "first responders" - are now recognized as a significant causal cell type in Alzheimer’s pathology. However, the cells play a double-edged role: some protect brain health, while others worsen neurodegeneration.

Understanding the functional differences between these microglial populations has been a research focus for Professor Pinar Ayata, the study’s principal investigator. Ayata said: “We set out to answer what are the harmful microglia in Alzheimer’s disease and how can we therapeutically target them. “We pinpointed a novel neurodegenerative microglia phenotype in Alzheimer’s disease characterized by a stress-related signaling pathway.”

The research team discovered that activation of this stress pathway, known as the integrated stress response (ISR), prompts microglia to produce and release toxic lipids. The lipids damage neurons and oligodendrocyte progenitor cells - two cell types essential for brain function and most impacted in Alzheimer’s disease. Blocking the stress response or the lipid synthesis pathway reversed symptoms of Alzheimer’s in preclinical models.

Using electron microscopy, the research team identified an accumulation of “dark microglia” - a subset of microglia associated with cellular stress and neurodegeneration, in postmortem brain tissues from Alzheimer’s patients. The cells were present at twice the levels seen in healthy-aged people.

Study co-lead author Anna Flury said: “These findings reveal a critical link between cellular stress and the neurotoxic effects of microglia in Alzheimer’s disease."

Flury, a member of Ayata’s lab and a Ph.D. student, added: “Targeting this pathway may open up new avenues for treatment by either halting the toxic lipid production or preventing the activation of harmful microglial phenotypes.”

The research team says their study highlights the potential of developing drugs that target specific microglial populations or their stress-induced mechanisms. Co-lead author Leen Aljayousi, a member of Ayata’s lab, added: “Such treatments could significantly slow or even reverse the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, offering hope to millions of patients and their families,”

-Stephen Beech

The Daily Sun, NewsBreak

"Trump Is Teasing U.S. Expansion into Panama, Greenland and Canada"

 

…Here’s your reminder that it’s not normal for an American president to talk about taking over territory that belongs to our allies. Greenland, the Panama Canal, and…Canada. This is, however it’s presented, speculative war talk. It’s invasion talk—how else does one country take over land held by another? We need look no further than Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to answer that.

The countries Trump mentioned haven’t volunteered interest in joining the United States. And it’s hardly realistic to think they would. Perhaps Trump will drop it when he takes office. But it’s not funny, and it’s not a joke. It’s destabilizing, and destabilization is dangerous, especially in a fraught world… The idea that there are people sitting around and acting like this is all normal is absolute madness.

This CNN headline is an example: Trump Is Teasing U.S. Expansion Into Panama, Greenland and Canada

“Expansion?” A rival to the Louisiana Purchase? None of these countries are interested in selling. The word they were looking for was invasion. That’s how one country takes over territory from another. In Germany in the 1900s, this need for “expansion” was called Lebensraum, literally, room to live in or elbow room. We all know what happened next.

The German geographer Friedrich Ratzel came up with the term Lebensraum in the early 1900s. Under Hitler and the Third Reich, Lebensraum was used to justify “expansion” to the East. There was angry rhetoric about fulfilling destiny and the notion that those countries were filled with inferior people who the Germans should be permitted to elbow out—Jews and Slavs.

They compared it to the American expansion to the West. We should not be surprised that the man who, according to his first wife Ivana, kept a copy of Hitler’s collected early speeches, My New Order, by his bed would go there.

Trump, for the record, denied he’d ever read Hitler’s book Mein Kampf at a 2023 rally. That book laid out Hitler’s justification for his vision and provided the philosophical basis for the Nazi government and, ultimately, for the murder of more than six million Jews during the Holocaust.

Trump issued the denial after calling political opponents “vermin” and saying undocumented immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country” while on the campaign trail, language reminiscent of Nazi propaganda. Trump also claimed he didn’t know Hitler had said anything of those things to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

“I know nothing about Hitler,” he insisted. “I have no idea what Hitler said other than (what) I’ve seen on the news. And that’s a very, entirely different thing than what I’m saying.” Trump’s longest serving Chief of Staff, retired Marine Corps General John Kelly, said that during his tenure, Trump suggested that Hitler “did some good things.”

Some things are too important to ignore, even on Christmas Eve. Trump is not making friendly jokes with our neighbor Canada about becoming the 51st state. Greenland has its own indigenous people and a long-time relationship with Denmark. Panama’s conservative President José Raúl Mulino released a video reminding anyone who cared to tune in that “every square meter of the canal belongs to Panama and will continue to belong” to Panama. What Trump is doing is dangerous. On top of his lukewarm support for NATO, it could threaten post-World War II stability.

Experience has shown that Trump will back down and abandon plans in the face of persistent opposition. The bully does not have the courage of conviction. We saw that when he distanced himself from Project 2025 after its exposure and extensive discussion in the news during the campaign.

But he has realigned himself with its goals during the transition period, now that public opposition has dissipated. We saw it happen recently when Trump broke with Robert Kennedy Jr.’s views on polio vaccines after crazy nonsense about a Kennedy ally opposing them surfaced.

Senator Mitch McConnell, a childhood polio survivor, made his opposition to that view plain as public outrage swelled. “Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed—they’re dangerous,” McConnell said, a view he has unfortunately not shared publicly about a second Trump presidency. It was enough for Trump to back down.

There is a path to stop crazy, but it’s one that requires focused and sustained public opposition. We know that in Trump 2.0, it will be important to pick battles carefully. Threatening the sovereignty of friendly nation-states, especially those we rely on for strategic support, in such a cavalier fashion is one of those moments. And he’s not even president yet.

We’re in this together,

-Joyce Vance

 

Did you get a package you didn't order? It Could Be a Scam

 

As you gather all the last-minute holiday packages arriving at your doorstep, be careful about any that you didn't order or ones that don't have a return address and want you to scan a QR code: it could be a scam.

These so-called brushing scams have been around for a few years and there's a few varieties. They can range from a "victimless" crime to one that involves scanning a QR code to find out who the package is from.

That could lead consumers to a site tricking them to enter personal information, similar to a phishing scam. In some cases, malicious QR codes could also install malware to steal information from the consumer's phone.

Police departments around the country have been sharing warning messages on social media about the scams this holiday season.

How does a brushing scam work?

The reports of the brushing scam started a few years ago with packages appearing on people's doorsteps. But when consumers were trying to figure out if it was something they ordered, they contacted Amazon or the retailer only to be told to just keep it, even if it wasn't something they ordered.

Many packages are from Amazon, but from third-party sellers – and an Amazon spokesperson said the company takes action against them.

The sellers are trying to boost their reviews, Jennifer Leach, associate director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer and Business Education, told USA TODAY.

"Dishonest businesses and scammers are sending all sorts of unordered junk in the mail – and then writing good reviews for their business in your name," Leach.

"That’s bad for honest businesses, which don’t cheat to get reviews, but it could be bad for you, too," she said. "Getting this stuff in the mail could mean a scammer has created an account in your name, taken over your account on the shopping site, or even created new accounts in other names, but tied to your address."

The consumers receiving the product often aren't "harmed" in the scam – and they often get to keep the free product – so some call the brushing scams "victimless" crimes. But the items are usually things consumers don't necessary want and are inexpensive, like ping pong balls or a flashlight.

And future shoppers looking at reviews by the seller who sent the package could be making a bad buying decision based on pumped-up reviews.

What do I do if I receive a package I didn't order?

If you get an unexpected package, there are several steps you can take to protect your identity,” said Melanie McGovern with the Better Business Bureau.

“First, notify the retailer that you received a package, check your account for recent orders, and change your passwords," said McGovern, who also encouraged consumers to report the activity to the BBB's Scam Tracker , www.bbb.org/scamtracker as a warning to others.

Leach with the FTC also said to check online accounts to see if there are any problems.

An Amazon spokesperson provided this statement regarding brushing scams: "Third-party sellers are prohibited from sending unsolicited packages to customers, and we take action when our policies are violated, including by withholding payments, suspending selling privileges, and reporting bad actors to law enforcement."

Amazon suggests if you receive a package or item that you didn't order, check with friends and family or contact Amazon customer service to confirm it's not a gift to you. If you receive a package addressed to someone else, please contact Amazon customer service.

If you can confirm the package addressed to you wasn't ordered by you or anyone you know, report the package online by going to the Report Unwanted Package form on Amazon at https://ac c ount-status.amazon.com/report-unwanted-packages .

"Amazon investigates reports of 'brushing' and takes action on bad actors that violate our policies, including suspending or removing selling privileges, withholding payments, and working with law enforcement. Customers don't need to return the item," the Amazon spokesperson said.

What is a QR code scam?

Another type of brushing scam will also have no return address on an unexpected package, but there will be a QR (quick-response) code with instructions to scan on your phone to see who the package is from.

Scams involving QR codes are not new. But with the popularity of QR codes, which when scanned are a shortcut to a website, and are used for tasks ranging from reading a restaurant menu to paying for parking, there are also bad actors.

If you get a package you are not expecting or you didn't order, don't scan the QR code, said the FTC in a blog post in 2023.

"A scammer’s QR code could take you to a spoofed site that looks real but isn’t. And if you log in to the spoofed site, the scammers could steal any information you enter," the FTC blog post said. "Or the QR code could install malware that steals your information before you realize it."

Avoid holiday scams: Don't let fraudsters ruin your holidays. Protect yourself with these tips.

What is a smishing scam?

The U.S. Postal Inspection service also recently issued an alert reminding customers not to interact with text messages indicating your package is lost or with tracking information for a package you did not order.

Smishing is a form of phishing, the fraudulent practice of sending messages disguised as reputable sources to get consumers to reveal personal or financial information, as previously reported by USA TODAY.

Betty Lin-Fisher is a consumer reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at blinfisher@USATODAY.com or follow her on X, Facebook or Instagram @blinfisher . Sign up for our free The Daily Money newsletter, which will include consumer news on Fridays, here. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Did you get a package you didn't order? It may be a brushing scam.

 

Finding Light in Winter by Mary Pipher

The mornings are dark, the late afternoons are dusky, and before we finish making dinner, the daylight is gone. As we approach the darkest days of the year, we’re confronted with the darkness of wars [and more].

I am in the last decades of life, and sometimes I feel that my country and our species are also nearing end times. The despair I feel about the world would ruin me if I did not know how to find light. Whatever is happening in the world, whatever is happening in our personal lives, we can find light

This time of year, we must look for it. I am up for sunrise and outside for sunset. I watch the moon rise and traverse the sky. I light candles early in the evening and sit by the fire to read.

And I walk outside under the blue-silver sky of the Nebraska winter. If there is snow, it sparkles, sometimes like a blanket of diamonds, other times reflecting the orange and lavender glow of a winter sunset.

For other kinds of light, we can turn to our friends and family. We also have the light of young children.

And, we will always have the light of memory…deep inside us are the memories of all the people we’ve ever loved.

Every day I remind myself that all over the world most people want peace. They want a safe place for their families, and they want to be good and do good. The world is filled with helpers. It is only the great darkness of this moment that can make it hard to see them.

No matter how dark the days, we can find light in our own hearts, and we can be one another’s light. We can beam light out to everyone we meet. We can let others know we are present for them, that we will try to understand. 

We cannot stop all the destruction, but we can light candles for one another.

 

Remembrance

 

Harry (1878 - 1944)     

John (1895 - 1976)

Johnny (1961 - 1987)
Bertha (1896 - 1987)   
Dorothy (1925 - 1990)
Bob (1942 - 1994) 
David (1922 - 2013) 
Jim (1951 - 2018)
Bill (1951 - 2020)
Rich (1950 - 2021) 
Brian (1947 - 2023)
Terry (1948 - 2023)
Joe (1951 - 2024)

 

from Meditation 17 by John Donne (1572-1631)

No man is an island, entire of itself.
Every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friend's
or of thine own were:
any man's death diminishes me
because I am involved in mankind,
and therefore, never send to know
for whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for thee…
 

Reasons Why Hegseth Should Not Be Confirmed as the Secretary of Defense

 

“Each of us swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. We did not swear it to an individual or a party. American elections and the peaceful transfers of power that result are hallmarks of our democracy.”

They wrote, before the events on January 6 took place, that “this year should be no exception.” Of course, tragically, it was. At the time the Post published their letter, all sorts of alarm bells were already going off for anyone who was paying attention (unlike in FBI headquarters). The former civilian leaders of our military were deeply concerned, so much so that they went to press with it.

They referred to senior defense leaders who they quoted as weighing in to say, “‘there’s no role for the U.S. military in determining the outcome of a U.S. election.’ Efforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory.”

They admonished Chris Miller, the acting secretary who had assumed his post most unusually after Trump lost the election in 2020, with his chief of staff, Kash Patel, at his side that “They must also refrain from any political actions that undermine the results of the election or hinder the success of the new team.” Just days later, the two were in place as rioters overran the Capitol.

Our country has a proud tradition of a civilian-led military, designed by the Founding Fathers to avoid the risk of a coup by the military. The Secretary of Defense doesn’t come to the job from active duty, and waivers have to be obtained from Congress for those out of uniform for less than seven years, as President Biden did for Lloyd Austin and Donald Trump did for James Mattis.

The irony, then, was that in 2020 it was that same civilian leadership of the military that in no small part was responsible for preventing a president from being the one to insinuate the takeover.

Donald Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth to be the Secretary of Defense. It's a nomination that should have been ended by allegations of financial mismanagement—Hegseth denies them—of an organization whose budget ran into tens of millions, not the $783 billion dollar budget he would oversee at the Pentagon.

And, of course, there are the other criticisms that have been leveled at Hegseth, of misogyny and sexual assault, which he also denies, and of excess drinking, of which he says he won’t drink if he’s confirmed.

Politico reported on Thursday that a dozen senators, both Democrats and Republicans, have taken the unusual step of asking for his FBI background investigation. The report relates this interesting detail, “Some Republicans, such as [Maine Republican Sen. Susan] Collins and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, say the claims are serious enough to warrant greater access to the findings.

While it’s unlikely the FBI findings would be made public, they could still give Republican senators political cover to vote against Hegseth or support his defense.” Hegseth has said he has nothing to hide and welcomes the FBI background process, so if everyone’s in agreement, let’s get that report into the senators’ hands!

You may recall from the whole affair with Justice Kavanaugh that the FBI does background investigations aren’t always as fulsome as the seriousness of confirmation proceedings suggest they should be. 

As in that case, there’s also the possibility that a report could whitewash serious issues by, for instance, failing to speak with all of the witnesses who have information to offer or neglecting leads so that the process can be completed quickly. But the fact that even Republican senators are asking for the report shows that this is a nomination that deserves far greater scrutiny than Donald Trump and his followers want it to get.

As we saw in January of 2021, it’s one of the most important jobs in government. It’s about leading the military, but it is also, in times of great stress, about upholding the Constitution and the rule of law. The secretary of defense is supposed to lead the military and serve the people, not the president. Right now, it’s only the Senate, and let’s be blunt, Republican senators, who can ensure that this next pick is up to the job.

Can you imagine Pete Hegseth signing on to a letter like the one that was written by Ashton Carter, Dick Cheney, William Cohen, Mark Esper, Robert Gates, Chuck Hagel, James Mattis, Leon Panetta, William Perry, and Donald Rumsfeld? Can you imagine him heeding the kind of advice his predecessors, if he’s confirmed, are likely to offer him?

It’s not often that you see a group that consists largely of former politicians from both parties, including a Vice President (Cheney), coming forward to make a definitive statement like the one in the Post that January morning. It’s not that it was controversial; perhaps it’s that it wasn’t, but that it desperately needed to be said, nonetheless, in that moment.

At his confirmation hearing, Pete Hegseth needs to be asked, among many other things, if he agrees with the sentiment expressed by the men who held the job he aspires to. If the answer isn’t an unequivocal yes (and it’s unlikely it will be given the context), it’s just another reason he’s not fit to serve.

We’re in this together,

-Joyce Vance

 

MAGA Extremists

 

Yesterday, Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) released an “Interim Report on the Failures and Politicization of the January 6th Select Committee.” As the title suggests, the report seeks to rewrite what happened on January 6, 2021, when rioters encouraged by former president Donald Trump attacked the U.S. Capitol.

Loudermilk chairs a subcommittee on oversight that sits within the Committee on House Administration. The larger committee—House Administration—oversees the daily operations of the House of Representatives, including the Capitol Police. Under that charge, former House speaker Kevin McCarthy permitted MAGA Republicans to investigate security failures at the Capitol on January 6.

Loudermilk was himself involved in the story of that day after video turned up of him giving a tour of the Capitol on January 5 despite its being closed because of Covid. During his tour, participants took photos of things that are not usually of interest to visitors: stairwells, for example. Since then, he has been eager to turn the tables against those investigating the events of January 6.

Loudermilk turned the committee’s investigation of security failures into an attack on the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, more commonly known as the January 6th Committee. Yesterday’s report singled out former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY), who has taken a strong stand against Trump’s fitness for office after his behavior that day, as the primary villain of the select committee.

In his press release concerning the interim report, Loudermilk said that Cheney “should be investigated for potential criminal witness tampering,” and the report itself claimed that “numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney” and that the FBI should investigate that alleged criminality.

The report seeks to exonerate Trump and those who participated in the events of January 6 while demonizing those who are standing against him, rewriting the reality of what happened on January 6 with a version that portrays Trump as a persecuted victim.

Trump’s team picked up the story and turned it even darker. At 2:11 this morning, Trump’s social media account posted: “Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee, which states that ‘numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, and these violations should be investigated by the FBI.’ Thank you to Congressman Barry Loudermilk on a job well done.”

To this, conservative writer David Frum responded: “After his successful consolidation of power, the Leader prepares show trials for those who resisted his failed first [violent attempt to overthrow the government].”

Liz Cheney also responded. “January 6th showed Donald Trump for who [he] really is—a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our Capitol and law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave.”

She pointed out that the January 6th committee’s report was based on evidence that came primarily from Republican witnesses, “including many of the most senior officials from Trump’s own White House, campaign and Administration,” and that the Department of Justice reached the similar conclusions after its own investigation.

Loudermilk’s report “intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did,” Cheney wrote. “Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth. No reputable lawyer, legislator or judge would take this seriously.”

CNN aired clips today of Republican lawmakers blaming Trump for the events of January 6.

Last night, Trump also filed a civil lawsuit against pollster J. Ann Selzer, her polling company, the Des Moines Register, and its parent company Gannett over Selzer’s November 2 poll showing Harris in the lead for the election. Calling it “brazen election interference,” the suit alleges that the poll violated the Iowa Consumer Fraud Act.

Robert Corn-Revere, chief counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told Brian Stelter, Katelyn Polantz, Hadas Gold, and Paula Reid of CNN: “This absurd lawsuit is a direct assault on the First Amendment. Newspapers and polling firms are not engaged in ‘deceptive practices’ just because they publish stories and poll results President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t like. Getting a poll wrong is not election interference or fraud.”

Conservative former representative Joe Walsh (R-IL) wrote: “Trump is suing a pollster and calling for an investigation of [Liz Cheney]. Don’t you dare tell me he’s not an authoritarian. And don’t you dare look the other way. Donald Trump is un-American. The resistance to him from Americans must be steadfast & fierce.”

This afternoon, Trump’s authoritarian aspirations smashed against reality.

The determination of the MAGA extremists in the House to put poison pills in appropriations measures over the past year meant that the Republicans have been unable to pass the necessary appropriations bills for 2024 (not a typo), forcing the government to operate with continuing resolutions. On September 25, Congress passed a continuing resolution that would fund the government through December 20, this Friday. Without funding, the government will begin to shut down…right before the holidays.

At the same time, a farm bill, which Congress usually passes every five years and which outlines the country’s agriculture and food policies including supplemental nutrition (formerly known as food stamps), expired in 2023 and has been continued through temporary extensions.

Last night, news broke that congressional leaders had struck a bipartisan deal to keep the government from shutting down. The proposed 1,500-page measure extended the farm bill for a year and provided about $100 billion in disaster relief as well as about $10 billion in assistance for farmers. It also raised congressional salaries and kicked the government funding deadline through March 14. It seemed like a last-minute reprieve from a holiday government shutdown.

But MAGA Republicans immediately opposed the measure. “It’s a total dumpster fire. I think it’s garbage,” said Representative Eric Burlison (R-MO). They are talking publicly about ditching Johnson and voting for someone else for House speaker.

Trump’s sidekick Elon Musk also opposed the bill. Chad Pergram of the Fox News Channel reported that House speaker Mike Johnson explained on the Fox News Channel that he is on a text chain with Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, both of whom are unelected appointees to Trump’s proposed “Department of Government Efficiency” charged with cutting the U.S. budget.

Johnson said he explained to Musk that the measure would need Democratic votes to pass, and then they could bring Trump in roaring back with the America First agenda. Apparently, Musk was unconvinced: shortly after noon, he posted, “Any member of the House or Senate who votes for this outrageous spending bill deserves to be voted out in 2 years!” Later, he added: “No bills should be passed Congress [sic] until Jan 20, when [Trump] takes office.”

This blueprint would shut down the United States government for a month, but Musk—who, again, does not answer to any constituents—seems untroubled. ″‘Shutting down’ the government (which doesn’t actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill,” he tweeted.

Pergram reported that Musk’s threats sent Republicans scrambling, and Musk tweeted: “Your elected representatives have heard you and now the terrible bill is dead. The voice of the people has triumphed! VOX POPULI VOX DEI.”

But Trump and Vice President–elect J.D. Vance seem to recognize that shutting down the government before the holidays is likely to be unpopular. They issued their own statement against the measure, calling instead for “a streamlined bill that doesn’t give Chuck Schumer and the Democrats everything they want.”

Then Trump and Vance went on to bring up something not currently on the table: the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is a holdover from World War I, when Congress stopped trying to micromanage the Treasury and instead simply gave it a ceiling for borrowing money. In the last decades, Congress has appropriated more money than the country brings in, thus banging up against the debt ceiling. If it is not raised, the United States will default on its debt, and so Congress routinely raises the ceiling as long as a Republican president is in office. If a Democrat is in office, Republicans fight bitterly against what they say is profligate spending.

The debt ceiling is not currently an issue, but Trump and Vance made it central to their statement, perhaps hoping people would confuse the appropriations bill with the debt ceiling. ”Increasing the debt ceiling is not great but we’d rather do it on Biden’s watch. If Democrats won’t cooperate on the debt ceiling now”—again, it is the Republicans who threaten to force the country into default—“what makes anyone think they would do it in June during our administration. Let’s have this debate now.”

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) explained: “Remember what this is all about: Trump wants Democrats to agree to raise the debt ceiling so he can pass his massive corporate and billionaire tax cut without a problem. Shorter version: tax cut for billionaires or the government shuts down for Christmas.”

President and Dr. Biden are in Delaware today, honoring the memory of Biden’s first wife, Neilia, and his one-year-old daughter Naomi, who were killed in a car accident 52 years ago today, but White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a statement saying:

“Republicans need to stop playing politics with this bipartisan agreement or they will hurt hardworking Americans and create instability across the country. President-elect Trump and Vice President–elect Vance ordered Republicans to shut down the government and they are threatening to do just that—while undermining communities recovering from disasters, farmers and ranchers, and community health centers.

Triggering a damaging government shutdown would hurt families who are gathering to meet with their loved ones and endanger the basic services Americans from veterans to Social Security recipients rely on. A deal is a deal. Republicans should keep their word.”

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo pointed out the relationship between Trump’s authoritarianism and today’s chaos on Capitol Hill. Trump elevated Musk to the center of power, Marshall observes, and now is following in his wake. Musk, Marshall writes, “is erratic, volatile, impulsive, mercurial,” and he “introduces a huge source of unpredictability and chaos into the presidency that for once Trump doesn’t control.”

Ron Filipkowski of MeidasNews captured the day’s jockeying among Trump’s budding authoritarians and warring Republican factions over whether elected officials should fund the United States government. He posted: “The owner of a car company is controlling the House of Representatives from a social media app.”

—Heather Cox Richardson

Notes:

https://cha.house.gov/about#:~:text=House%20Administration%20manages%20the%20daily,are%20set%20by%20the%20Committee.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/politics/watch-jan-6-panel-releases-video-of-rep-loudermilk-leading-a-capitol-tour-day-before-attack

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/21/jan-6-riot-trump-capitol-00047018

https://cha.house.gov/2024/12/chairman-loudermilk-releases-second-january-6-2021-report

https://cha.house.gov/_cache/files/6/d/6dae7b82-7683-4f56-a177-ba98695e600d/145DD5A70E967DEEC1F511764D3E6FA1.final-interim-report.pdf

https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/17/media/trump-lawsuit-des-moines-register-ann-selzer-poll/index.html

https://thehill.com/business/budget/5040567-government-funding-deal-shutdown-deadline/

https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60580

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5046736-government-funding-house-vote-fast-track/

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/18/johnsons-spending-gop-problems-2025-00195216

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-musk-2670491497/

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/johnson-forward-stopgap-funding-bill-despite-elon-musk/story?id=116903027

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/18/trump-joins-elon-musk-in-opposing-house-gops-government-funding-bill.html

https://apnews.com/article/biden-memorial-wife-daughter-killed-accident-delaware-a00f53d572a90386a55f206f59c7ff3e

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/12/18/statement-from-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-on-republicans-threatening-a-government-shutdown/

https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-vows-pursue-more-defamation-claims-after-abc-news-settlement-2024-12-17/

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trumps-trump

https://apnews.com/article/congress-budget-trump-musk-johnson-5dc9fd8672f9807189032811d4ab0528

X:

davidfrum/status/1869359704385925446

ChadPergram/status/1869384847673745746

emptywheel/status/1869391339584151948

AccountableGOP/status/1869397789538729999

RpsAgainstTrump/status/1869416953464406483

WalshFreedom/status/1869408028954603983

ChrisMurphyCT/status/1869501953195352408

ChrisMurphyCT/status/1869203329081118983

jakesherman/status/1869448889876832538?s=46

Bluesky:

atrupar.com/post/3ldlz4q7zec2i

ronfilipkowski.bsky.social/post/3ldlz4uawec2m

yasharali.bsky.social/post/3ldm3rqevv22m

ronfilipkowski.bsky.social/post/3ldmj6risy22m

macfarlanenews.bsky.social/post/3ldmouc57vk2t

maxwellfrost.bsky.social/post/3ldmchrizp223

yasharali.bsky.social/post/3ldmdfbihfc22

 

Trump Followers Are Misinformed

 

...The Republican Great Depression forced reforms to banking that are with us to this day (although George W. Bush undid some of them, resulting in the Great Theft that triggered the Bush Crash of 2008). While we still are generally wary of banks, they’re not Public Enemy Number One in the public’s mind anymore.

Instead, today there’s barely an American family that doesn’t have a horror story of being denied essential healthcare because a giant insurance company refused to pay a claim or authorize a procedure, test, or medication.

It’s not an exaggeration to point out that Americans’ hatred of health insurance executives today is right up there with my mother’s generation’s hatred of bankers in the 1930s. Which explains why Luigi Mangione is now a folk hero: He’s the John Dillinger of this generation. Donald Trump campaigned as a similar type of [so-called] bad-boy folk hero.

He’s the guy who was going to take down the Black people, Hispanics, and women who white Republicans believe have gained their positions by virtue of their skin color or gender rather than their competence. He’ll give white men their mojo back by destroying Brown peoples’ lives and tearing families apart. He’s going to cut our taxes and “drain the swamp.” He’s going to “protect” our kids from liberals and queer people.

Americans, after all, know they’ve been screwed. Forty-three years of Reaganism has gutted the middle class, as I lay out in my new book The Hidden History of the American Dream.

Whether they know the details or not, working class people intuit that houses cost twice the average annual income in the 1960s but cost ten times the average annual income today. Boomers controlled over 21 percent of the nation’s wealth when we were in our 30s, but today’s generation in their 30s only control 4.6 percent of the nation’s wealth. One paycheck was the price of entry to the middle class 43 years ago; today it takes two or more.

What the people who support Trump don’t realize, though, is that it was Trump’s own Party and his own class of extremely wealthy people who did this to them. And who are now gaslighting them. A Harris poll a few months ago found how badly Trump followers are misinformed:

— Fully 55 percent of Americans thought the economy was shrinking, although it’d been steadily growing throughout Biden’s four years in office.
— Half (49%) thought the stock market was down, when it was hitting all-time highs, up 24 percent in 2023 and over 12 percent in 2024.
— The same percentage believed that unemployment was at a 50-year high, even though it was below 4 percent, a 50-year low.
— An amazing 72 percent of Americans believed inflation was increasing when, in fact, it had collapsed from over 9 percent to less than 3 percent.
— As a result of these false beliefs, fully 56 percent of voters thought America was in a recession on election day when, in fact, the economy was doing better than any time in the past 50 years.

People who consumed billionaire-owned right-wing media or got their news from billionaire-owned social media were actually less well-informed than people who claimed to follow no news at all.

It’s a true testament to the gaslighting power of billionaire Murdoch’s Fox “News,” billionaire-owned social media, and billionaire-owned rightwing hate radio: they succeeded in convincing virtually the entire Republican base that up was down. Along with a lot of help from the richest man in the world and his purchase of the world’s largest social media platform, which he turned into a sewer of grievance, hate, and lies.

It’s what happens when a man like Musk spends a quarter-billion dollars on deceitful television and other advertising media. And, tragically, it’s also an example of the failure of the Biden administration and congressional Democratic leadership (and the DNC) to simply and daily promote their own successes over the four years of his presidency.

What’s most relevant here is that Luigi Mangione identified a real villain: a parasitic, greedy, and psychopathic health insurance industry that does not exist as it does here in any other developed country in the world.

Donald Trump, on the other hand, promised to fix a middle class that’s been broken by 40 years of Reaganomics’ austerity and low taxes on the rich…with more austerity and low taxes on the rich.

Which is going to present a real challenge for Trump when he takes over. He’ll continue to claim he’s fighting for the little guy as he cuts taxes on billionaires, guts Social Security, makes college and healthcare more expensive, increases pollution, and throws the nation into a recession with his deportations and tariffs.

He’s already trying to position himself as his own version of Luigi Mangione, a “giant killer” who’ll take on a corrupted system even at the peril of his own life.

But reality can be problematic. Convincing people that Trump’s efforts are working once he’s back in office is going to be a much bigger lift for rightwing media. They’ll try, of course — throughout his last administration Trump and rightwing media repeatedly proclaimed the “best economy in American history” when, in fact, he never even got to Obama’s or Biden’s economic numbers.

The simple reality is that while Trump is a revolutionary, he’s promoting a revolution that will exclusively benefit the corrupt and the morbidly rich. He’ll make things worse for average people, just like he did last time; just like George W. Bush did, and Ronald Reagan did.

All three had severe recessions, each kicked off by tax cuts, just like Reagan’s recession after his tax cuts. Clinton, Obama, and Biden — eschewing tax cuts and instead raising taxes on the rich — never had a recession.

But Donald Trump will go big on shoveling government money to billionaires and thus bring our economy to its knees. Then, and really only then, should CEOs across multiple industries begin to worry as unemployment and inflation both explode while billionaires and massive monopolies make off with another $7 trillion like during his last administration.

Until that time, the only CEOs who really have a legitimate reason, based on current public opinion; to look over their shoulders are in the health insurance industry.

-Thom Hartmann

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