Literally the U.S. government’s position is “The strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.”

A titan, and a terrible loss. RIP.

A reminder that Trump has been fantasizing about seizing oil from other countries for more than a decade, before he even ran for president: www.nationalreview.com/2015/07/dona...

The December round-up from Dailies & Sundays, plus my top 10 favorite posts of 2025!

Best thing I’ve read this morning, from a human rights lawyer in Mexico. Translation is in the ALT-text.

Kyrie, eleison. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

In case you're not keeping track, he's threatened Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia just this morning. Also, if it's fine to just invade anybody we have a problem with, there is no reason this government should oppose China invading Taiwan, right?

A new year, a new national nadir.

I bet FIFA feels pretty stupid right now.

Further proof of the violence and lawlessness of the New York City subway system

Anyway, real men wore bright colors and loud prints back in the day so show that they were confident, so I am amused by modern "tactical" guys who only wear black talking about the good old days. Prove it! Checked trousers or get out.

obviously not the biggest issue here, but an AI cannot feel regret or be sincere so this “apology” is utterly worthless

I was wondering what Mamdani's first executive order would be, and I'm not disappointed by this. He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.

It cannot hurt that his mother is Mira Nair

I’m afraid that it’s already time to designate this as the all-purpose meme for press coverage of the Mamdani mayoralty

Delightful reading!

An absolutely wonderful, versatile, powerful and powerfully funny actor who enlivened everything he was in, and a huge loss. I'm not going to say the word, but we're all thinking it in his honor. RIP Isiah Whitlock. deadline.com/2025/12/isia...

As a general rule, the answer to “What about ____?” is “I liked ten other movies more.”

It is a magnum opus indeed, y'all!

The last book I read was The Gospel According to Luke, so . . . wow.

I’ve been hard at work on this all month: an epic history of the theme of Jesus’ birth and the Gospel infancy narratives in “Peanuts.” I couldn’t get it done by Christmas Day, but hey, it’s still the Christmas season! I hope you enjoy it. This is, I think my comics writing magnum opus so far.

It’s not the day after Christmas at the Grey Havens without The Muppet Christmas Carol

Just noticed that, a few minutes ago, typing a reference to the shepherds in Luke’s Gospel while writing about “Peanuts,” my fingers waywardly wrote “by nite.” HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN

Pope Leo XIV begged world leaders for 24 hours of peace on Christmas Day. President Trump celebrated Christmas by bombing Nigeria, claiming something something Islamic State something persecuted Christians, all which sounds fishy to people who know things and are tethered to facts and evidence.

the drive to create hollow feel-good bullshit for temporary online clout has resulted in so much abuse that it's sickening, whether it's exploiting children, animals, or in this case the elderly

Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning; Jesus, to thee be glory given;

“Some of you may have heard it said that ‘a baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.’ … How much more this baby: Emmanuel, God with us, as one of us! The infinite, incomprehensible Creator of the universe now wears a human face.” — from my homily for Christmas Eve

“Some of you may have heard it said that ‘a baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.’ … How much more this baby: Emmanuel, God with us, as one of us! The infinite, incomprehensible Creator of the universe now wears a human face.” — from my homily for Christmas Eve

Near-perfect entry in the timeless genre of Holiday Staff Greeting From the Clueless Boss—"I was right last week and I'm right today, Merry Christmas and don't think you get a day off."

Just watched this. Heartbreaking and shocking. Watch it while you can.

just perseverating slightly on how Weiss’ insistence on flipping the numbers is rank admin apologism but also just terrible journalism. More Than Half of People Deported to Secret Prison Had Criminal Record is textbook dog-bites-man; its only function is to make the real story feel like less of one.

Spread this far and wide. An ethically and legally compromised editor at CBS killed this story by bowing down to bullies.

I really, really wish the US bishops were much more aggressive on this issue. The fact that any Catholic thinks they can support this in good conscience is a blot on our whole national church.

A copy on this at YouTube has already been killed by Paramount. Watch and share as widely as possible while we still can.

We posted an article about “Terry and the Pirates” and “Steve Canyon” creator Milton Caniff and how he depicted Christmas in his strips: www.hoganmag.com/blog/3349-4g...

"In March, two rookie NYPD officers [..] were indicted by Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz for felony crimes, including robbing and groping an alleged sex worker." It "won't be going any further." "How do you just let this disappear?" #NewYork #USA #Policing #SexWork

One year ago. This has been one of my most popular pieces.

Marley was dead: to begin with. Happy publishing anniversary to A Christmas Carol!

I wish that Miller would be haunted by that reply forever. But I doubt it.

I am vain enough to think that some of my dreams are worth sharing with other people. This dream from two months ago is Exhibit A. I swear I am not making any of this up! (My own mother said that if it weren’t me, she wouldn’t have believed that anyone had dreams like this. But I really did!)

ICYMI, my review. (I have to say, response to this piece has been very gratifying!)

The man who wrote that headline—condemning Father Jud along with Msgr. Wicks—would 100 percent have been on the coalition to hand Jesus over to Pilate for crucifixion. Good thread.

the inevitable sad piano version of Nick's Dan Bongino song is honestly the entire extent of the news I needed to see about Dan Bongino today and for the rest of time

Ten years ago today I created this meme. I wish it weren’t still so relevant.

one of my less important political opinions is that people should have known about Trump’s total lack of empathy from the fact that he has never owned a pet

The Lord is near to us always. We rejoice always. We may not always feel full of euphoria and exuberance. Think of John the Baptist imprisoned by Herod in today’s Gospel, sending disciples to Jesus to double-check whether he really was the one to come. My latest homily, for a snowy Gaudete Sunday

I've unearthed the 1961 speech that Father Louis J. Twomey, SJ, gave to the NAACP in New Orleans while members of the American Nazi Party protested outside. open.substack.com/pub/matterst...

Love to learn new things about my favorite Christmas movie 🎄🗼👶