This is a WORD. An on time word even.

"Corruption is the heart of this. It is the water some elites drink and swim in and, unlike prosperity, corruption is what trickles down to the rest of us, and it poisons everything."

We are *all* Real America in the same way a naturalized citizen who took his oath five seconds ago is exactly as much of a citizen as someone whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower.

By illegally withholding funding for cities, the regime is creating conditions for crime rates to go up. www.courant.com/2026/01/01/t...

I'm entirely serious about this: until you internalize the view that urban America is Real America, you won't see the urgency of structural reform of an American government whose fundamental structures so disadvantage its population centers—the great engines of its prosperity, progress, & culture.

Because this is goddamn America, and this is who we fucking are

And I think liberals should stop taking the bait and ceding ground on immigration. Immigration is good. Multiculturalism is good. Free trade is good. Stop being embarrassed to say so.

Another good practice for the New Year would be for all the non-fascists in America who want to opine about politics to really begin believing that urban America is Real America & that its denizens are The Authentic People. Get some self-respect & drop the volkish nationalist view that they're not

Oh my goodness, this Wall Street Journal piece about Trump's ailing health that includes an interview with him (gift link). There are a number of ridiculous details in it and I'll put a few of them in this thread. (1/6)

What novels did you read this year. Not just new ones.

A “very serious” patsy.

oh you know our boy is thirsty if he's pumping neuralink

This is a repost from 2019. Epstein was bad before he was entangled with Trump. He symbolizes American rot.

A small 🧵on my year in reading - would love to hear about your recommendations! I read 54 books this year, which was by far a personal best (yet nowhere near some friends). I'll publish the full list below. A few highlights:

Kennedy out now

There are only 45 million foreign-born people living in the United States right now, about half of whom are naturalized citizens. So this ridiculous edge-lord post by taxpayer-funded trolls is suggesting deporting 55 million native-born citizens.

“There’s nothing wrong with Obamacare that antitrust law enforcement can’t remedy.”

A thread of some of the brilliant pieces @davidrlurie.com wrote for Public Notice this year 👇 I'm grateful to be able to work with tremendously talented thinkers and writers like him

"Mar-a-Lago spa’s practice of dispatching workers to Epstein’s home has not been previously reported ... The Mar-a-Lago bosses told the message therapist Epstein preferred spa services in the privacy of his own home, and warned the employee Epstein sometimes exposed himself during massages."

Completely destroying your career by being too racist to pay income taxes is really funny.

What novels did you read this year. Not just new ones.

This is my last big piece of the year. I wrote it as much for myself as anybody else, because there's so many EOs, court cases, temporary successes, and reversals. I wanted a place to put it all, something to come back to in future years, to keep the knowledge of what 2025 meant to trans rights.

Recall that in July, Trump's justification for banning Epstein from Mar-a-Lago was that he "stole" his spa employees. Now WSJ reports that MAL staff knew Epstein was exposing himself on the house calls they set up, which sounds like sex trafficking archive.is/QilmC apnews.com/article/jeff...

Every part of this is embarrassingly lame.

This is the problem.

Yeah, Chomsky saw anarchism not as a rigid blueprint but as a moral horizon grounded in history of democratic worker self-management, while accepting limited state action. But like most rationalists, he avoided the “how” questions. I grew tired of that. mastodon.social/@dave...

A thing to watch: In my reporting this year, ICE/DHS’s enhanced presence in cities was clearly spurring significant organizing among many liberals — and some not-so-liberals. The Trump admin may not care, but curious to see if *further* ramping up that effort will backfire come, say, the midterms.

Every major city oughta have their own book review. Well done.

🧵Part of a thread about a Harvard professor who got fed up with "woke" academia and left in protest- when his contract expired. Reminds me of a clergyman whom I knew slightly who left the Church of Scotland over allowing gay clergy- but only when he reached the mandatory retirement age/...

You know, there are so many of these stories, and I think it's mostly because journalists largely see politics as a team sports game or a way to social climb and don't understand people who see it as a reflection of their values.

Amen.

"Caitlin Flanagan, Chris Cilizza—these are not people who produce investigative journalism. These are take-merchants and mouthpieces who publish what powerful people tell them over text and DM as if it's a transgressive secret and not a comms strategy."

Starting tomorrow, Americans will face a health care crisis caused by Republican obstruction and total inaction. Millions will lose health care Millions will see costs spike by thousands Millions of families, small business owners, older Americans, farmers and ranchers will face impossible choices.

WSJ: Trump banned Epstein in 2003 which "came three years after Maxwell recruited another employee, Virginia Giuffre, who was 16 years old when she left the spa to work for Epstein." But in July Trump said he banned Epstein bc of Virginia not this other employee. www.npr.org/2025/07/29/n...

“Pete Wilson” trying to take back everything he said. www.rawstory.com/trump-latino...

Just appalling. Fcking DOGE. I hate them

Today on Volts: I've got a nerdy one for you! I talk with political scientist @samuel-bagg.bsky.social about the epistemic crisis & its roots in social identity. He explains why factchecking & media literacy classes will never solve misinformation -- why something deeper & stronger is required.

Barbara Tuchman:

This is a crime committed under the pretext of fighting crime. apnews.com/article/minn...

Doomerism in January was cowardly preemptive surrender, but done at a time when the future was unknown. Doomerism in December is still cowardly preemptive surrender, but now also requires ignoring all the non-doomer things that have happened over the year.

NYT story on this just posted, and it's appropriately harsh, emphasizing another angle: Top DOJ officials had a heavy hand in this prosecution and may have misled the court about their involvement. All this because Trump/Miller have to "win" against this day laborer. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/n...

I’m not gonna dunk on some small depressed account, but one reply I get to this is “you think there’s gonna be elections/Trump will listen to judges??” And I wonder how people haven’t noticed that Garcia is home and free and Republicans got crushed in elections this year

Working on something new for the new year.

These people. They prattle about natural defenses and preparing your immune system. But that's what vaccines do: prepare your immune system. They teach your body about the foe and leave, like a posting most-wanted poster at a police station. It's your own immune system that fights off the infection.

The president spewing Russian propaganda, which indicates he's abandoning democracy in Europe and sabotaging NATO, has become a non-news story. It's Paul Manafort's world now.

Problem w attributing blame RE Trump is you can’t say “people didn’t vote for Trump bc he said A, bc he actually said B,” is that on nearly everything Trump says A, B, F, Q, & Z. So the issue is what of the multiple & usually conflicting things Trump says on any subject that you choose to believe./1