Happy Boxing Day

In some countries, December 26 is an extension of the holiday. Alas, in the US it's just another day.

Author

Donna Schwartz Mills
December 26, 2024

Today marks the second night of Chanukah, the first night of Kwanzaa, and - if you live in the United Kingdom or a Commonwealth nation, it is Boxing Day. That means they get an additional day off from work to rest and relax, enjoy their Christmas leftovers, and maybe catch up with friends at the local pub.

In this country, it’s just another day when MAGA is doing its best to make the rest of us miserable - which sometimes backfires.

Many of you have left Twitter, but just a heads up, Elon Musk, Laura Loomer, and MAGA are fighting each other nonstop over there and it is HILARIOUS

Like many of you, Karoli, Aliza, and I are enjoying this time off with our families. We will be back with a new podcast after the New Year. In the meantime - for those of you who are ready to re-engage - here are some stories you may have missed while you were celebrating:

Our once and future President spent Christmas Day spreading good cheer threats to Americans he doesn’t like, as well as Panama, Canada, and Greenland. We are trying to stay true to our vow not to reflexively react to every outrage, but this was a little hard to ignore - especially when legacy media like CNN and NBC took sanewashing to a whole new level.

CNN Headline: Trump is teasing US expansion into Panama, Greenland and Canada

He’s been fixated on this for days now. One has to wonder if this is merely more evidence of his decaying mind… or is he trying to distract us from something new that’s about to surface?

While Trump dreams of lebensraum, his billionaire boss has been fixated on the fact that his money can’t buy him everything. Elon Musk has been urging his followers on X to stop donating to Wikipedia, (which he has dubbed “Wokepedia”) because Musk wants to punish the organization for putting $50 million into DEI initiatives. If you are a Wikimedia user and support their independence, now would be a good time to become a one-time or recurring donor.

On Friday, The New York Times published a bombshell article about a coordinated smear campaign against the actor Blake Lively, orchestrated by her “It Ends With Us” co-star and director, Justin Baldoni. Lively has filed a complaint against Baldoni, and the production alleging sexual harassment and retaliation and she has receipts, obtained via subpoena. The Times accessed these texts and emails between the PR crisis management team hired by Baldoni and the production, including the observation that their success “just shows you have people really want to hate on women.”

It really is an astonishing report, especially when you consider this observation:

One Last Thing…

While we are still regrouping after the disappointments of 2024, it’s important to acknowledge the actual successes we had this year.

“The Progress Network did a nice roundup of all the terrific stuff that happened in the U.S. in 2024. Read it and cheer!” says activist Jess Craven. Jess proceeds to add to the terrific stuff with her own picks for progressive accomplishments this year. Access it here.

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