[Rough of cartoon killed.]

The Ann Telnaes sketch portrays Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Patrick Soon-Shiong, the Walt Disney Company/ABC News, and Jeff Bezos paying tribute to soon-to-be-again President Donald Trump. For the first time in her career, her cartoon was killed “because of the point of view inherent in the cartoon’s commentary.” Telnaes explains (“Why I’m quitting the Washington Post”):

As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I’m just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say, “Democracy dies in darkness”.

Yesterday, the New York Times reported Trump’s record fund raising totals since being elected a second time (“Trump Has Reeled in More Than $200 Million Since Election Day“):

It is a staggering sum that underscores efforts by donors and corporate interests to curry favor with Mr. Trump ahead of a second presidential term after a number of business leaders denounced him following the violence by his supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Mr. Trump has promised to gut the “deep state” and made various promises to industry supporters. Among the pledged donors for the inaugural events are Pfizer, OpenAI, Amazon and Meta, along with cryptocurrency firms.
The total haul for the committee financing his inaugural festivities — at least $150 million raised, with more expected — will eclipse the record-setting $107 million raised for his 2017 inauguration, according to three people briefed on the matter who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to share internal financial information.

The Times article notes, “Contributions to inaugural committees … are one of the last major opportunities to financially support a second-term president.” The phrase “protection money” does not appear, though there is this:

David Tamasi, a lobbyist who has raised money for Mr. Trump, dismissed a suggestion that corporate interests were giving to avoid Mr. Trump’s wrath, though he acknowledged that some donors may be trying to atone for having previously maintained distance from the president-elect.
“It is a time-honored D.C. tradition that corporations are enthusiastically embracing this cycle in all manners, largely because they were on the sidelines during previous Trump cycles,” he said. “They no longer have to hedge their political bets.”

Time-honored indeed (though so are bribery, graft, and extortion). Count on Trump, over the next four years, to push this “D.C. tradition” to limits we’ve never seen before.

Post Script – January 7, 2025: Puck reports that Melania Trump scores a $40 million payout from Amazon.

As Josh Marshall noted (after the news of the documentary, but before Puck reported the dollar figure), Jeff Bezos is acting rationally. Marshall adds (“Oligarchia, Here We Come“):

This seems like a pretty good sign that the titans of corporate America don’t look content to just be friendly to Trump but definitely go all in as special friends to the incoming President. It may not be quite North Korea territory, though who knows? But it does look more and more like the model of post-Soviet republics in which you have a nominal democracy in which an emerging class of oligarchs bid for the favor of the strong man with accelerating and competitive feats of dignity-losing strength. First, ABC’s decision to take the L in Trump’s defamation suit. Now, Jeff Bezos’s decision to fund a look at the heroic story of Melania Trump’s rise from post-Titoist Yugoslavia to trendsetter in the field of arm-candying.

And, of course, other prominent oligarchs are on board. For those keeping score:

Donations to Biden’s inaugural fund in 2021:
Meta = $0
Tim Cook = $0
Sam Altman = $0
Google = $200,000
Amazon = $200,000

Donations to Trump’s inaugural fund in 2025:
Meta = $1,000,000
Tim Cook = $1,000,000
Sam Altman = $1,000,000
Google = $1,000,000
Amazon = $1,000,000

The oligarchy is here.

Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt wrote a prescient bestseller, How Democracies Die, which was published not quite two years after Donald Trump landed in the White House. Although the authors inform us (in the introduction of Tyranny of Minority Rule) that they were surprised by what transpired in the last two years of that term — “We have studied violent insurrections and efforts to overturn elections all over the world, from France and Spain to Ukraine and Russia to the Philippines, Peru, and Venezuela. But we never imagined we’d see them here. Nor did we ever imagine that one of America’s two major parties would turn away from democracy in the 21st century.” — their book offers a clear explanatory framework, foreshadowing what took place after their book went to print in January 2018.

In an interview with Michael Tomasky, they suggest something else they had not foreseen: that as Trump returns to power with Republican control of both houses of Congress, attacks on civil society and on political opponents pose the greatest threat to our democratic institutions.

As Ziblatt puts it: “the need to rewrite the Constitution, say à la Viktor Orbán, is probably not the thing that’s concerning at this moment, because our Constitution works pretty well for the party that’s in control of all branches of government, and really the more serious concern is the risk of those in power going after the democratic opposition in ways that undermine competition. So it’s not about changing the rules, but really attacking civil society, attacking the opposition. That’s something that we really didn’t spell out in that scenario back in 2018, but it’s something that is top of mind for me right now.”

Levitsky suggests that “we’re going to see really classic authoritarian behavior. Many of us tend to think that—particularly given that most of us haven’t experienced authoritarianism in the United States—we tend to think of authoritarianism as dissolving the Constitution, locking up opponents, and eliminating electoral competition. And that’s highly unlikely. It’s very, very unlikely that we see a move toward sort of Putin-style authoritarianism.”

He continues:

But what I think has gotten insufficient attention among Americans is the centrality of simply politicizing the state and deploying it in ways not only to punish rivals, but also to change the cost-benefit calculation of actors across the political spectrum and throughout civil society so that they have an incentive to sort of step to the sidelines. And so, you know, first and foremost, we’ve been told to expect that the Department of Justice will be wielded to punish those who have tried to hold the Trump administration accountable. I think we’ll see it wielded against some politicians. We’ll see it wielded against some businesspeople. We’ll see it wielded against some civil society leaders. We may see it wielded against Harvard and other elite universities.
So I think this government will, far more than the first Trump administration, politicize key state agencies and wield them in ways that raise the cost of continued opposition. There may be a handful, dozens, of exemplary cases, but those cases have the potential to signal to thousands and thousands of other people that it’s just not worth engaging in politics the way they used to before. And so, young lawyers will not jump into politics, but rather stay in the law firm. Young journalists will decide to stick to the sports beat rather than cover politics. Young CEOs will decide that it’s better just not to donate to the Democratic Party. It’s very difficult to gauge how consequential that will be, but that tilting of the playing field is coming.

Let’s underscore that “classic authoritarian” threat (which goes beyond hollowing out effective government agencies and weaponizing law enforcement against Trump’s opponents): to change the cost-benefit calculation of actors across the political spectrum and throughout civil society so that they have an incentive to sort of step to the sidelines.

This authoritarian strategy is already seeing success even before Trump’s return to the White House.

Consider the billionaires and corporate CEOs who own and run mass communications outfits. Two recent headlines describe the threat to these folks (“Trump signals plans to use all levers of power against the media“) and the media’s swift response (“Media’s suck up moment“). Threats from the president-elect and his MAGA allies have hardly been veiled. The folks threatened understand how much financial and reputational damage a hostile federal government could bring. They are already falling into line. That’s anticipatory obedience.

Timothy Snyder, in On Tyranny, warns in Lesson #1: “Do not obey in advance. Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want and then offer themselves without being asked.”

Yeah, that’s happening. Right before our eyes.

And it’s not just media moguls. Once upon a time, in the aftermath of the January 6 rioting at the Capitol, corporations pledged to withhold support for those who tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. These businesses were for democracy then. But that promise has gone by the wayside for many of them, as they offer lavish inaugural gifts in tribute to the vindictive soon-to-return president.

The incentives have changed. The world is different. It’s tougher to refuse to obey. Our freedom is more constrained than before.

[Post edited for clarity and additional links added on January 2, 2025.]

It is through men’s actions that they reveal who they are. From the Sermon on the Mount: “You will know them by their fruits.”

President-elect Trump’s Christmas message (via Truth Social) suggests that he fails to appreciate (or even grasp) the spirit of Christmas as traditionally understood. Peace on earth? Faith, hope, and charity? The blessings of giving? Good will toward all? The birth of a Savior?

Naw. None of that. Those sentiments have nothing to do with Trump or his “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” that follows “GO TO HELL!” and “MAY THEY ROT IN HELL.”

We can, however, see a faithful, unwavering reflection of the man – and his embrace of Christmas – if we look at his Trump Store site. Donald Trump is never more in his element, never does his character reveal itself more clearly, than when he is squeezing a profit off his name. And he is at it now as never before.

From yesterday’s Washington Post:

The Trump Store has a gift for every patriot on your Christmas list.
It’s a little late for this year’s celebrations, but you can get a very early jump on next year and count down with the $38 Trump Advent calendar. Or trim the tree with a $95 Mar-a-Lago bauble or a $16 MAGA hat ornament, sold in nine colors. (A glass version of the hat ornament is $92.) Stuff stockings with an $86 “GIANT Trump Chocolate Gold Bar” and a $22 pair of candy cane socks printed with “Trump.” Prepare a holiday feast with a $14 Trump Christmas tree pot holder and $28 Trump apron featuring Santa waving an American flag.
The profits from these holiday trinkets do not benefit a political committee or a charitable cause, but the Trump Organization, the Trump family’s privately owned conglomerate of real estate, hotel and lifestyle businesses. As the company encouraged customers to celebrate the holidays with Trump gifts for all ages, President-elect Donald Trump personally profited off of his upcoming term in a manner that is unprecedented in modern history — even during his unconventional first stint in the White House.

Take a look. The pull-down menu for Collections features Holiday Gift Guide,45-47, Trump 45 Collection, Fall Collection,Sweet Treats, The Honey Collection,Pickleball Court Sports, Gold Collection,Mar-A-Lago, Made in America, and New Arrivals.

Something for everyone on your list. Men, women, kids, and dogs. A range of price-points. And links at the bottom of the page to other Trump-branded stuff (hotels, golf, real estate, wine). Trump and family are making a play to cash-in big time on his second go-round in the White House.

Now that represents, for Donald Trump, the spirit of the season. The message is loud and clear.

[Screengrab from realdonaldtrump’s Instagram account]

The Christian right’s leader observes the holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth with a message that stretches into two-parts:

Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in its building 110 years ago), always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in “repair” money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about “anything.” Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World. Likewise, to the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the U.S. to be there, and we will!…
…Page 2: Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections, and are always going after the Great Citizens and Patriots of the United States but, in particular, their Political Opponent, ME. They know that their only chance of survival is getting pardons from a man who has absolutely no idea what he is doing. Also, to the 37 most violent criminals, who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given, incredibly, a pardon by Sleepy Joe Biden. I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky “souls” but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL! We had the Greatest Election in the History of our Country, a bright light is now shining over the U.S.A. and, in 26 days, we will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Regarding the spirit of Christmas, Trump is consistent. His Christmas message from 2023:

Merry Christmas to all, including Crooked Joe Biden’s ONLY HOPE, Deranged Jack Smith, the out of control Lunatic who just hired outside attorneys, fresh from the SWAMP (unprecedented!), to help him with his poorly executed WITCH HUNT against “TRUMP” and “MAGA.” Included also are World Leaders, both good and bad, but none of which are as evil and “sick” as the THUGS we have inside our Country who, with their Open Borders, INFLATION, Afghanistan Surrender, Green New Scam, High Taxes, No Energy Independence, Woke Military, Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Iran, All Electric Car Lunacy, and so much more, are looking to destroy our once great USA. MAY THEY ROT IN HELL. AGAIN, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

When asked earlier this month about his 2025 Inaugural address, Trump pledged that it would be a unifying message:

“Unity. We’re going to have a message. It will make you happy: unity. It’s going to be a message of unity.”

We’ll see soon enough how that goes.

Sherrilyn Ifill suggests that Justice Alito embarrassed himself on the bench earlier this month in his disregard of well-established policies and practices of judicial procedure and, further, that the Supreme Court’s majority “has elevated its own outcome-focused agenda over adherence to an established and consistently applied set of litigation rules.”

She concludes a commentary worth reading in full with these words:

Our entire profession should be concerned about the court’s increasingly cavalier treatment of the rules and long-standing practices that allow lawyers to effectively develop litigation strategy and anticipate outcomes, whether they are beneficiaries of the court’s excesses or not. The very concept of the rule of law is premised on an expectation of stability and consistency in how law is practiced, not just what laws will be applied and to whom.

We have yet to see what the court will do with the Skrmetti case. But if recent cases, and the oral argument, are anything to judge by, at least some of the conservative justices seem prepared to get to the outcome they have decided by any means necessary. More and more, the conservative majority’s approach has put the rules and norms that govern our system of litigation in the crosshairs as much as the substantive rights of marginalized groups.

The Republican majority on the high court has long since become intent on advancing the interests of the contemporary Republican Party. Ifill’s observations are just the latest data point confirming an off the rails court.

Thus spake Elon Musk after the flood of misinformation he blasted out to his legion of followers on X succeeded in killing the bipartisan spending bill in the House.

It’s not clear how Speaker Mike Johnson will put the pieces together to avoid a government shutdown this weekend. Musk, who lacks both authority and accountability, is pleased with himself and with this result.

Just close down the govt until January 20th. Defund everything.
We will be fine for 33 days.

YES https://t.co/sOnGmxlHMK

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024

One month before the second Trump administration begins and the chaos is here already.

If Trump did suspend some laws and constitutional provisions, 52% of the public would be bothered a lot by this. This number is down from 65% who felt this way in June. Those who say they would be bothered a lot by this ranges from 77% of Democrats (down from 86% in June) to 55% of independents (down from 68%) and just 23% of Republicans (down from 41%).

“As recently as this week, Trump said those who investigated the Jan. 6 riot should go to jail. Still many Americans see this more as bombast than intent. If he is serious, however, he can probably bank on his fellow Republicans to stand behind him, or at least turn a blind eye,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

– Monmouth University Poll, December 12, 2024

When asked, “If Donald Trump did suspend some laws and constitutional provisions, would that bother you a lot, bother you a little, or not bother you at all?” Republican respondents were largely untroubled at the prospect of President Trump suspending provisions of the Constitution.

The chart below reveals Republican responses to the question:

23% – Bother a lot

34% – Bother a little

36% – Not bother at all

Remember when (before Newt Gingrich, Fox News Channel, the 2008 presidential election results, and before Donald Trump rode down the golden escalator) Republicans were the law and order party?

Caitlin Clark bends the knee to an invisible mob

NO!!!! Caitlin, what HAPPENED here?? My God. What a fumble. Just so, soooooooooo, dumb. Unreal. God, kids are so insufferable in 2024. I mean, I just couldn’t imagine being in college/right out of college right now. 

It must be the worst. Gen-Zers are just the worst. 

Anyway, it’s all just completely unnecessary by Caitlin Clark. She’s bending the knee to a mob that nobody cares about anymore. 

Caitlin – we won! The sane people won. The good guys won. We don’t need to cater to the lunatics anymore. The left is DOA. It’s over. Sanity is back. 

Now, why did the best player in the WNBA – by a laughably wide margin – crumble like a cheap tent? I’m sure she was pressured by wackos behind the scenes to do so. 

— so says Tomi Lahren

Kevin Drum, who clicked on a Fox News report on the commentary excerpted above, links to the Time cover story with the complete Caitlin Clark quote and offers his take:

Wow. I mean, sure, Clark mentioned white privilege in passing, and no self-respecting conservative can pass that up. But even for a MAGA die-hard doesn’t this seem a little overwrought? Is it that infuriating just to briefly acknowledge that Black people are pretty good basketball players? The MAGA mind virus is a powerful thing.

“The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pick federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, which for decades has protected millions of people from a virus that can cause paralysis or death.”