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Sunday Mailbag

Most weeks, the mailbag does not skew THIS much toward political subjects. But, then again, this wasn't most weeks.

Politics: This Week in TrumpWorld

A.A. in Branchport, NY, writes: Once I get past the dread and sadness of the death of my country, I'm embarrassed by how easily and quickly it was done. American Exceptionalism? BAH!!!!



M.S. in Canton, NY, writes: You rightly called out Donald Trump for dodging a simple question on inflation, but you missed the bigger picture in his word salad of a (non-)answer: The President of the United States doesn't know the difference between the budget deficit and the trade deficit.

Look at what he said: "We owe $36 trillion." True—that's the national debt, which is the accumulated total of federal budget deficits. "That's because we let all these nations take advantage of us... like 200 billion with Canada... we have a deficit with Mexico of $350 billion." That's the trade deficit. (Well, actually he made up the numbers, but that's hardly new.)

So apparently he thinks that if Americans just stopped buying so much stuff from other countries, we would magically balance the federal budget. A Very Stable Genius indeed!



M.C. in Newton, MA, writes: You wrote: "Recently, Trump observed that 'tariff' is the fourth most beautiful word in the English language, behind 'God,' 'religion' and 'love.' Do you think that anyone actually believes him when he says things like this? We are absolutely confident that anyone reading this site does not believe, for one microsecond, that Trump places God, religion and love above all else."

I think there's a pretty serious mistake here: Tou forgot to check the Trump Dictionary™ for these words. Perhaps your copy is held up in customs, since like all America First™ Trump-branded products, it's made in China. To speed up the resolution of this mistake, I'll pass along the relevant definitions:

With Trump's definitions in hand, it's clear that he certainly does place God, religion, and love above all else!



V.L. in Honolulu, HI, writes: This is just a thought, but I could imagine the current administration pushing for a government shutdown. A prolonged shutdown could help them achieve their aim of reducing the federal workforce. If people go unpaid for many months, many will not be able to afford their basic necessities and will be forced to resign to find new employment. The thought is scary, but not inconceivable.



J.L. in Albany, NY, writes: The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) is actually a 3-for-1 Republican bill. You covered the "vote ID to combat voter fraud" (read: prevent Democratic leaning voters from voting) aspect.

However, the bill also requires you to register to vote using the name on your birth certificate and requires your current ID to have this information. So if "Ben" comes out as transgender and changes her name to "Sally," then she will need to keep her ID reading "Ben" in order to vote.

And there's a third aspect to this. An anti-women one. Traditionally, when a woman gets married, she takes her husband's name. We can debate whether this tradition should be continued or not, but this is how it works in most marriages and Republicans tend to like maintaining traditions. However, a woman who changes her name to her husband's name won't have her ID matching her name on her birth certificate.

If a woman is born as Sarah Jones and gets married to Jim Smith, she might change her name to Sarah Smith. Except, then her ID and birth certificate names wouldn't match and she might not be allowed to vote! This will impact millions of women across the U.S. (including my own wife).

Of course, many on the right have expressed a desire to roll back women's voting rights so maybe this is an unintended bug or maybe it's a hidden feature of the bill. Either way, it's extremely dangerous.



L.S. in Bellingham, WA, writes: I think you missed a big reason for "summer gasoline" to survive (if not become "endless"): Midwest corn farmers.

One of the ways gasoline producers meet EPA summer requirements is by mixing in up to 10% ethanol. As seven of the ten largest corn-based ethanol producing states are red Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana, South Dakota, Ohio, Kansas, and Missouri, imagine the outcry!

(The three blue states are Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.)

Politics: This Week in MuskWorld

R.H.D. in Webster, NY, writes: Let me take this moment to wish a Happy Presidents Day to our newest president, Elon Musk!



J.E. in Austin, TX, writes: I keep reading predictions about when Donald Trump and Elon Musk will part ways. My thinking is that it will never happen, for two reasons.

First, if Trump does indeed have narcissistic personality disorder, as has been suggested, then one of its symptoms, according to Mayo Clinic, is a belief by persons with the disorder that "they are superior to others and can only spend time with or be understood by equally special people." As the richest man in the world, Musk would be one of those "special people" that Trump would have to be around.

Second, Trump (or people around him) know that if the relationship goes sour, then Musk could tweet mean things nonstop about his ex-Co-President and sink the administration.

I think those guys will be joined at the hip for the rest of the term.



M.B. in Ward, CO, writes: Artificial sweetener, artificial flavor, artificial color. We all know that these substances have useful functions. If you want a zero calorie energy drink or a cheap vanilla pudding or a mauve wedding cake, these things can be handy. We also know that all of these things are inferior to their natural counterparts, and if you want a world class product, you go with vanilla beans, etc. I think Artificial Intelligence should be thought of in the same way as artificial flavor. Useful, sometimes (for example, it can make a wicked good musical playlist). But inferior, especially at the top level, to the natural counterpart (a talented human).

Elon Musk owns a chunk of a company called Neuralink, which implants computer interfaces into people's brains. You see where I'm going with this. Elon Musk has, in recent months, been increasingly incoherent, inappropriate, and hallucinatory in his public speaking. It's like he's using an artificial intelligence, running an inferior algorithm. And all algorithms are inferior, at the highest level, to their natural counterparts. A human or group of humans running an algorithm or algorithms to make their decisions is the functional equivalent of a robot. Elon's Nazi salutes and his incoherence are certainly products of his personality, upbringing, and life experiences. He is who he is. But they may also be... glitches.



P.N. in Austin, TX, writes: About Elon Graf Schwerin von Musk, you wrote: "In the end, the two careers are not compatible; he's hurting Tesla by not being available and by being toxic."

No, he's not hurting them by not being available. He's certainly helping them every moment he keeps his moronic, insecure self away from the company. The man is an imbecile, whose grand discovery is that having more money means you can earn more money.



T.F. in Albion, IN, writes: You passed on the suggestion from some (presumably well-heeled) pundits to not buy a Tesla as one way of getting back at the unelected co-president. As you correctly noted, most Americans are not in the market in the first place for an overpriced, unreliable, outdated vehicle with a nasty tendency of bursting into flames, so this idea is not likely to have much impact. Instead, let me lean into Econ 101 to offer a practical and relatively painless alternative to amplify the schadenfreude: Divest!

Some folks with IRA's, 401K's, and other investments may find that their portfolios include Tesla stock (ticker: TSLA). If you own the stock individually, sell it. If you own a mutual fund or other diversified investment that includes Tesla stock, contact the portfolio manager and ask them to sell it. Explain your objections—poor financial performance is one of them. If that proves unpersuasive, dump the investment and tell them why. With Tesla stock at historic lows by recent standards, odds are you can use the capital loss incurred by selling to offset taxable gains elsewhere in your portfolio.* Further, replace Tesla with the stock of companies (Target and Costco come to mind, but there are many others) that have more sustainable business models and stand for everything Elon Musk doesn't.

This small individual action may seem insignificant, but given the stock market's herd mentality, even the sale of as little as 5-10% of the shares of a stock can trigger a price collapse. If the broader market perceives that a stock is fundamentally unloved, its price will crater. Even if Tesla manages to hold on, it will be diminished and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that your savings are not supporting a company with a history of misogyny and poor labor practices, while also giving the unelected Co-President a sharp kick in the ba**s.

* - A small disclaimer per SEC guidelines: This comment does not constitute investment advice. Consult your investment advisor (or your local democracy) before buying or selling shares.



M.M. in San Diego, CA, writes: If anyone has a few bucks to spare and wants to feel as though they're poking Emperor Elon in the eye, there's a wide range of anti-Elon stickers for Tesla owners who wish to disavow Mr. Musk. How about carrying a pocketful of said stickers when out and about, and gently gifting one under the windshield wiper of every Tesla encountered? Whenever the performative protest spirit of Abbie Hoffman or Jerry Rubin moves you...



D.B. in Earlham, IA, writes: You had a discussion of how to pronounce "DOGE." I have always felt that it should be pronounced as if there is a "d" in the middle: Dodgy. In checking the Merriam-Webster website, I find that it is considered to be chiefly British, but the definitions apply quite well to any and all actions that Elon Musk has taken in regard to the government: (1) evasive, tricky; and (2) questionable, suspicious.



B.H. in Sherman Oaks, CA, writes: You suggested that B.P. in La Habra, CA pronounce "DOGEy" with a soft "G" sound.

Then again, you could always pronounce it "dodgy," since it so clearly is.



L.S. in Black Mountain, NC, writes: Heather Cox Richardson says that instead of "DOGE" (like the long-ago Venetian ruler), she calls Elon Musk and his Muskrats "DOG-e." Might Electoral-Vote.com consider the same? The staff dachshunds might be offended, though.



D.H. in Boston, MA, writes: Whenever I see DOGE, I've started mentally replacing it with CUJO (Criminals Undermining Judicial Oversight), referring to the Stephen King book about a rabid dog that goes on a rampage.

Politics: The Federal Workforce

N.S. in Lafayette, CO, writes: You wrote: "This is obviously very shabby treatment of folks who have given themselves over to public service and who, on the whole, do very good work for not-so-great pay."

That is a fair description. My wife is a career federal employee, who has spent over two decades doing meaningful, and according to her peers, remarkable work to safeguard the public (details omitted intentionally). She now finds herself checking her e-mail each morning to see if some teenage tech-bro has sacked her. The insulting callousness from OPM has had a chilling effect around her office.

Federal workers are pawns in the latest culture war from the far right. These folks have chosen a career in service of their country, and have no say in budgets. Yet, it has become acceptable to treat these people like garbage. This gleeful cruelty puts knots in my stomach.



H.S. in Lake Forest, CA, writes: Another round of Friday afternoon action by the Trump Administration and Elon's DOGE team leaves many federal entities in shambles. I received the following insides from a friend and mentee, currently pursuing a graduate degree with the NIH: "Today by far was the worst day since changes started. Towards the end of the day we started hearing about people in multiple teams getting fired. Clinical fellows that we personally know got fired. Lab managers are going, too. Full clinical teams will be paralyzed without their clinical fellows and lab work will be severely delayed with all the admin work of managers being shifted to lab members and fewer top admins."

And, on Saturday, this: "There was another wave of e-mail firings of NIH postdocs and staff clinicians today. There were reports that scientists (whatever they mean by that) were exempt from the layoffs, but apparently that isn't the case. Some of them are on J1 visas and uprooted families and children that go to school and are adapting to a new country only to find themselves having to move back within 2 weeks. Very devastating in every way."

I have heard similar from the CDC. Basically, our most talented junior scientists in this country are being tossed aside and careers are being destroyed by DOGE. The damage will be irreparable.



M.N. in Lake Ann, MI, writes: Regarding the Federal employee deferred resignation program having 77,000 participants, I suspect that number is overstating the case. There are some people I know personally who have accepted the offer, and been told they do not "qualify," whatever that means. I suspect this is because there are a few areas that even the Co-Presidents are wary of decimating, such as those positions that provide direct patient health care, at least for now.

And as far as "petty" and "foolish" goes, it appears that some of the "you're fired" e-mails included phrases like "your work has not met the standards for continued employment" and "your work has not been determined to be in the public interest." In a few cases, the employee's access was terminated so quickly that they were unable to see or print the termination letter (which will hamper their efforts to file grievances, of course). In my nearly 40 years of service in the federal workforce, I have met very, very few people who did not provide a high level of experience and standard of work for less pay than one might receive in the private sector. This sort of message is just cruel, which I guess is the point.

Politics: Numismatics

K.H. in San Jose, CA, writes: You suggested that since the nickel also has a production cost that exceeds its face value, perhaps we should retire that coin, as well as the penny. But then we would have to decide on a further action:



A.B. in Wendell, NC, writes: I am absolutely opposed to getting rid of pennies. You know every merchant out there will do everything possible to make sure the amount due is always rounded UP, not DOWN.

I have a better proposal. Start making 2-cent coins. We had them, once, around the time of the Civil War. I happen to be a coin collector and have an 1868 2-cent coin in my collection. If they made a 2-cent coin, penny production could be reduced by 75 percent, since you would never need more than one penny in any transaction.

It also makes sense, because the other coins are all multiples of 2 or 2.5 the previous coin:

The addition of a 2-cent coin would then result in all coins being 2 or 2.5 times the value of the next-lowest coin.

P.S.: Numismatists like me have been calling for the re-issuance of 2-cent coins for decades.



L.B. in Ashburn, VA, writes: I suspect if the government does away with the penny and the nickel, that most Americans will see it as a tax increase. Imagine both are gone and a customer walks into a store to buy a $0.99 item in a state with 7% sales tax. The computed price is $1.0593, which under current rules would be rounded to $1.06. That might still be the price with a credit or debit card. Hand the cashier $2 and the change will be $0.90. The $0.99 item just had 11 cents added when "tax" was calculated.

This is not a problem in many European countries, where the price must include tax. The item would just be $1.10 and the customer would pay $1.10. The merchant would get $1.03, and the tax man $0.07.

I wonder if this is why many politicians have avoided the issue. They do not want to be seen as raising taxes.

Politics: The Kennedy Center

D.E. in Lancaster, PA, writes: In "Today's Crazypants Roundup," while talking about one of an infinite number of Trump wars and vendettas, you wondered, "Exactly what put the Kennedy Center in Trump's crosshairs is not a 100% clear." I have a suspect and it's Shear Madness, in both senses of the phrase. Shear Madness is the longest-running play at the Kennedy Center—since 1987! It is an interactive whodunnit, meaning that the audience members, along with the play's detective, vote on who the murderer is before the last act, which means the play changes from performance to performance. For the Washington, DC, version of the play, it is set in a Georgetown Unisex Hairstyling Salon owned by a flamboyantly gay man. The play is a perennial favorite of tourists and people new to the District and is billed as "family fare," appropriate for children 13 and up.

Just the fact that Shear Madness has a flamboyant gay character at a fictional "Unisex" (clutch the pearls!) salon and is billed as family fare is enough to make most MAGAs blow their lids. Add that the show includes "up-to-the-minute improvisational humor"—i.e., mild political jokes—and you can begin to see why Donnie Thinskin might not like it. Given that one of Trump's most recognizable features is that rat's nest posing as an elaborate combover on the top of his head, and that the play is set in a hair salon, leads me to guess that he has been the brunt of more than a few jokes during its run since he descended the golden escalator. Trump's MO of Flood the Zone along with so many MAGA leaders being such... colorful characters all provides a deep well of joke material.

Now I should say the level of political humor, or at least when I saw it, was not at the barbed level of say SNL, Jon Stewart or John Oliver. Instead, its humor is more in line with the gentle but good natured pokes that a president—well, at least, a normal president—would give at the White House Correspondents Dinner. And therein lies the rub, because Trump has been continuously licking his "wounds" from the lighthearted jokes President Obama made at his expense during the 2011 event. With no stretch of the imagination, I can see some of his staffers going to see a performance of Shear Madness and reporting back to Il Douche that the play was "so nasty" and that "no president in history has been treated so badly!" Hell, I remember that during both Bush, Papa and Baby, administrations that there were Republicans that grumbled how inappropriate this play was to be billed as family fare and how unfairly the Republicans were treated by it. The 2025 production of Shear Madness is about to start at the end of this month, so with all of Federal DC to pick on, it's no surprise that Trump would want to make his presence known at the Kennedy Center. I won't be surprised if the play is canceled sometime this year or is made so desperately bland that it stops making the Kennedy Center money. With Trumpywumpy, it always comes down to the Grift or the Ego!



R.S. in Boston, MA, writes: "Exactly what put the Kennedy Center in [his] crosshairs is not 100% clear."

TCF said: "Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth—THIS WILL STOP."



C.J.P. in Los Angeles, CA, writes: Maybe Trump just took the Kennedy Center over to ensure the Village People are inducted and "YMCA" is given the true honor it deserves.

(V) & (Z) respond: If the plan is to get rid of the drag queens (see above) to make room for the Village People, the irony is thick, indeed.

Politics: Vaxx Attacks

M.N. in Lake Ann, MI, writes: J.J.P. in Rochester Hills asked about availability of vaccines with RFK, Jr. now in charge of HHS. Your response noted that since vaccines are generally privately developed and often administered at private stores or clinics, that vaccine availability should not be vastly affected.

However, there are ways that HHS might restrict access to vaccines, such as no longer covering them for people who use government-sponsored healthcare, such as the uniformed services active duty and retired personnel, and those on Medicare or Medicaid. Even for people on private insurance, some vaccines may be subsidized so the costs are reasonable. States may do some of the subsidizing, but often the real funding does come from federal money that is passed through. There is a huge program called Vaccines for Children that may be cut, as well.

And what if any medical facility or doctor that receives federal dollars is prohibited from asking if vaccines are wanted, or from publishing or providing guidance on vaccine recommendations? Will parents be able to find information on the (true) recommended vaccine schedules if the federal websites are purged? In all, I would bet that while you will probably be able to find a vaccine being offered if you really want it, the burden will be on you as the patient or parent, and the costs may rise beyond affordability for many. And if fewer people are regularly and reliably vaccinated, there is the risk of virus mutation that can create a monster from what was once a nuisance.



R.W. in Santa Barbara, CA, writes: Republicans and RFK Jr.'s misinformation about vaccines will already kill many people, simply by changing the conversation from "protect the population" to "your choice whether to protect yourself". The latter is only partly how vaccines work; sure, they reduce your chance of infection and make your infection less dangerous. But mainly vaccines work by reducing the ratio of transmission to less than 1.0 per infected person, ensuring that any outbreaks tend to die out. That also protects the especially vulnerable, like older folks and kids. When many people choose not to get vaccinated, the societal ratio goes above 1.0, so outbreaks grow exponentially. This is why schools mandate vaccination for measles, etc: to protect all the kids that an outbreak could hurt, vaccinated and unvaccinated. See COVID for a recent example.

RFK Jr. can kill many people, simply by stopping governmental agencies from advertising vaccination, disallowing mandates, and encouraging "choice." I don't know why Democrats and the media have agreed to the "personal choice" framing and aren't helping voters understand how vaccines work.



M.A.H. in Akron, PA, writes: The same day that RFK Jr. was confirmed, the surgeon general of Louisiana said that the state would no longer be promoting mass vaccinations. If we had a more conventional head of HHS, I don't think they would have felt emboldened to do this.

This will probably result in more deaths from the flu in the coming years, since there won't be annual drives to get families vaccinated against the flu.

The worst outbreak of the measles in Texas in 30 years cannot be tied directly to RFK Jr.'s confirmation, but I fear that we'll see more stories like it (and more deaths from "mundane" diseases like the flu) as the inevitable result of his confirmation.



A.L. in Broken Bow, NE, writes: While RFK's nuttery on vaccines understandably gets a lot of attention, let's not forget he's also suspicious of antidepressants. Among this week's wave of executive orders is one (likely written by Kennedy) that, among other things, orders an assessment of the "prevalence and threat" of SSRIs, antipsychotics and mood stabilizers.

I don't personally use any of those, but I have some very close friends who do and can't help but be concerned for what this might presage. How much might the suicide rate needlessly spike under Kennedy if he takes action against those medications?

Politics: Gaza

E.o'H. in Dublin, Ireland, writes: Following your item regarding the regrets some have of voting for Donald Trump or campaigning against Kamala Harris because of the last administration's support of Israel's brutal destruction of life in Gaza, I wonder if there is a view from the other perspective: Are the Democrats likely to appreciate that they could have won the election if Joe Biden had been assertive with Israel?

He had wide discretion and chose not to exercise it. Are they really all saying to themselves "it was worth it, even though it lost us the election"?



S.A.K. in Karnataka, India, writes: I see that your frustration about Muslims in Michigan voting for Trump hasn't waned. One can understand where you are coming from. I myself would never vote for the guy, without exceptions.

However, the fact that you keep hammering on that frustration—at times, literally in every day's post—is now starting to border on mocking and taunting of a group of voters who had so little to choose from in a primarily two-party system. Bluntly stated, you are starting to sound like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Tom Cotton (R-AR).

If I am not mistaken, Kamala Harris wouldn't have won Michigan even if 90% of Muslims there had voted for her. I haven't seen you call out the other groups of voters who sat out the election and were much more responsible for Trump's win—at least, not as much as you have Michigan's Muslims.



H.B. in Toronto, ON, Canada, writes: I was surprised not to see you mention this article: "Pro-Trump Arab American group changes its name after the president's Gaza 'Riviera' comments."

It's a quintessential example of the Arab-American community realizing the leopard is eating their face. I don't say that out of mirth—just concern.

Politics: Filibustered

C.J.R. in Seattle, WA, writes: Thank you for the daily sanity check. I believe that has been very helpful in keeping some level of optimism for the future. However, I do think that your item "Democrats Should Send Joe Manchin a Valentine's Day Card" may have been off-base.

To begin with, the filibuster was used against the John Lewis Voting Rights Act in 2021. That attempt to reinstate universal voting rights across the country, and stymie Republican efforts to disenfranchise millions of voters, may have been enough of a swing for Democrats to keep the House and Senate in 2022.

One of the primary reasons Democrats did not vote in 2024 is that they felt the Biden Administration did not do enough for them. I rather agree with them, in that the Republicans in Congress were actively blocking anything that Biden tried to do. By removing that block, Biden could have achieved much more of his agenda, and produced enough votes for Kamala Harris to move into the White House.

The result of maintaining the filibuster is that we now have an administration that is openly admitting its goal of becoming a dictatorship, is ignoring judicial rulings, is ignoring Constitutional amendments by executive order, and is even floating the possibility of running for another term. With the likelihood of voting rights being further squelched on a national basis, the chances of future elections being free and fair is in serious doubt.

Getting rid of the filibuster may have given the government the ability to work well enough to defend itself from the current Republican coup.



A.G. in Scranton, PA, writes: I know we're getting deeper and deeper into hypothetical territory and that really there's no way to know if this might have been, but...

What if packing the courts and getting student loans forgiven and women their rights back and Black folks their once-sacred right to vote back had been the Democratic Oomph that would have stopped a lot of people from saying home on Election Day?

The Democratic Party blew the 60 votes back in the Obama years, and I complain bitterly about that, and so there's no reason to think they wouldn't either overreach or waste the power and lose in 2024 anyway, but it's possible it might have been the thing people wanted, the Oomph.

I still believe the Republicans will nuke the filibuster when the Democrats bring things to a near-standstill. These are in-the-moment, cheap-emotional-win sorts of people in charge now... and those who aren't, are pretending to be out of fear of Donald Trump. They don't think about 2026. If they do, it's to convince themselves that it will be a red wave. The echo chamber is a very hard thing to break free of.

Not saying you're wrong. I will send Joe Manchin a box of chocolates... white chocolates because, well, you know.



C.E. in Murrysville, PA, writes: I disagree with your argument. I think the filibuster should be abolished. No doubt that the Republicans would implement many of the items on your long list of bills. People need to see just how crazy they really are. Would the Democrats do some overreach when they are in charge? Sure. But they are not nearly as crazy: 0.01 x Crazy = MildlyIrritating. I would also argue that one of the items you list is very unlikely: mandating gun ownership for all able-bodied males over 18. If anyone shows up at your door to confiscate your guns, it will be one of Trump's Stormtroopers. Wouldn't want the people to have the means to overthrow the ObergruppenFührer, would they.

As time goes on (it could be quite a while), it is likely that the thinking on both sides would migrate toward the middle, which is currently very close to the left. Depending on a parliamentary quirk, like the filibuster, is not a good way to govern.

Politics: Oh, Canada!

E.S. in Maine, NY, writes: I was in Canada right after Christmas, visiting with my daughter, her husband and her in-laws. At some point I was telling her mother in-law about my earliest, and most profound, memory of how much Canada was a friend to our country. In 1980, Iranian revolutionaries overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking many U.S. diplomatic personal hostage. Six Americans manage to hide until they made their escape with the help of the Canadians. The Canadians closed their embassy the same day as our people left Iran.

I surprised myself and my daughter's mother-in-law by choking up, holding back tears as I told her this. The Canadian people in Iran, and elsewhere, risked their lives to help Americans get to safety. This is what friends and allies do for each other. It is absolutely despicable that our demented, vile president is treating one of our best friends as he is.

It occurred to me that Donny does not have any understanding of friendship because he has never had a real friend. He only sees others as items that he can get something from, exploit and use. A hollow man, with a hollow soul.



R.L.D. in Sundance, WY, writes: Having been invaded by the U.S. once or twice in their history and kind of overshadowed by us more recently, Canadians are a little sensitive about the idea of being taken over by the U.S. I taught a class in Edmonton a while back, and one of the first things the class pointed out to me, when I introduced my self as an American, was: "We kicked your ass in the War of 1812!" They're still a little salty about that.

If it were any other president, I'd say this convicted felon in the White House was purposely trying to find the most hurtful thing to provoke Canada into... I don't know, something. But since it is this particular convicted felon, I can't bring myself to give him so much credit. Either way, I don't know of a more sure way to piss off any given Canadian than to imply or state that they ought to be or are already are a part of America.



J.O. of Portsmouth, NH (but presently in Québec City, PQ, Canada), writes: Good morning from Quebec City where I am visiting family. You're gonna love this. I caught this commercial for a flood service company on the evening news for the French language service of the CBC (called RDI). I hope no 'Murcans fees-fees are hurt. Enjoy!





B.C. in Youngstown, OH, writes: I've been thinking about the reason for Trump's obsession with Canada, and this is the only thing I could come up with:

Melania Trump kisses Justin Trudeau



D.L. in Oaxaca de Juárez, México, writes:

Problem solved!

A map with Greenland, the U.S.
and the Panama Canal annexed into Canada, all with Canadian names, like 'Canada Canal'

Politics: New Denmark

C.Z. in Sacramento, CA, writes: I loved your item on California becoming "New Denmark," but it has already happened!! Welcome to Solvang, California! Since 1911, Solvang, CA, has been "The Danish Capital of America".

Love the pastries... and the wooden shoes!

(V) & (Z) respond: Hm. We already knew the 'Nades have been playing the long game. Apparently the Danes have, too. It must be that cold-weather temperament.



K.F. in Allen Park, MI, writes: Didn't the Canadians make noise about buying California, Oregon and Washington State a few weeks ago? Would this result in a bidding war between Danes and Canadians? Or would they find a way to combine their bids into one? Canada takes everything north of San Francisco. Danes take the rest.

(V) & (Z) respond: Yeah, but who gets sourdough bread?



G.D. in Jurupa Valley, CA, writes: The results of the last election left me wondering who the people of this country are. If this were a club, I would have quit. So as a long-time resident of California, I say to the Danes: Velkommen til mine venner!



R.L.D. in (now fully assimilated) in Sundance, WY, writes: As a loyal Wyomingite, I totally think we should trade California to Denmark in exchange for Greenland! We'd clearly end up with the better end of that deal. Plus, California already has a good start on Denmarkification, as attested by the city of Solvang. And if I know my fellow Wyomingites, I'm sure they'd be in favor of divesting ourselves of the Socialist Nightmare™ that is California. They (the Californians, not the Wyomingites) would probably be happier under the Danish Crown than the Bigly House of Orange anyway. Enjoy your aebleskiver!

(Seriously, I love me some aebleskiver. And medisterpolse, mmmmmmm.)



K.C. in McKinleyville, New Denmark, writes: I would assume, with Denmark making its move to acquire California, that our own "little Denmark" town of Solvang is on board.

I, for one, am ready to trade avocados for chocolate chip pancakes. And just to help things along in the transition, the Danish word for "dachshund" is gravhund (pronounced "gownd").

Politics: Legal Eagles

J.P. in Horsham, PA, writes: In response to KFK in Cle Elum, who asked for organizations worthy of receiving donations to offset the cost of lawsuits to stop Trump in the courts, I would add two additional organizations to the ones you listed: Americans United for the Separation of Church and State and the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Both organizations are at the forefront of preventing a Christian nationalist takeover of the country.



M.P. in Leasburg, MO, writes: I am an avid, yearly supporter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which has just developed the new Freedom Without Favor Fund—a four-year, $5 million investment that will help cover resources needed to protect the equality of Americans from the onslaught of White House sanctioned extremism, particularly as it pertains to Project 2025.



D.B. in Keedysville, MD, writes: Marc Elias, of Democracy Docket, has been on a Youtube channel with Bryan Tyler Cohen for quite some time, and he really knows his stuff, has his finger on the pulse of what needs to happen and what can be done, AND evidently has a cadre (or a team, or a staff, or a group, I dunno) of lawyers who are fighting the good fight for democracy and voting rights and such things in courtrooms all over the country.

Look (don't you hate sentences that start with "Look"? Nonetheless...), I am quite stingy with my recurrent contributions. Instead, I keep a file where I list all my one-time donations, with dates and amounts, to keep from going overboard in service of the multitude of good causes, because I cannot support the entirety of the need to the recurring extent I would like. But, I have made an extremely infrequent exception in the case of Democracy Docket, because I know they're doing exactly the things that are critically necessary to block, overturn, and/or roll back all the miserable depredations of our current age.

Yes, I lodged a recurring, monthly contribution to Democracy Docket. I take their e-mails regarding issues and progress, and I strongly recommend to all that you do the same! If there's a way out of this miasma of blind adherence to brain-dead authoritarian politics, they'll help us navigate through it.



P.M.M. in Paris, France, writes: The Electronic Freedom Foundation has been involved in lawsuits about electronic freedoms for more than 30 years. For instance, they are currently mounting a case about unethical access to databases containing private governmental info by the DOGE guys.



M.J.M. in Lexington, KY, writes: I give to Public Citizen. They send me updates on their suits.



M.L. in Washington, MI, writes: The Southern Poverty Law Center



P.P. in Denver, CO, writes: Another great place to give is Earthjustice.



B.B. in Dothan, AL, writes: The Institute for Justice does incredible work. I understand they have won a number of SCOTUS cases.



D.K. in Three Rivers, CA, writes: My sister and her husband decided several years ago that the best use of their personal wealth would be to advance causes they care about: preventing climate change, promoting regenerative agriculture, social equity, and education. They are personally very involved in all the funding choices, and they try to find leverage points that are under-served by other philanthropists (e.g., covering capacity-building and overhead costs, supporting startup level organizations).

Among others she gives to The New York University School of Law's State Energy and Environmental Impact Center. They have a program that funds and places fellows with state attorneys general offices to support the AGs in their environmental and energy-related actions and litigation. During the last Trump administration, the state AGs were critical in challenging many of the administration's harmful actions in the environmental space. This program adds to their capacity to manage the extra workload.

She also gives to the State Democracy Defenders Fund. They work to safeguard fair elections and oppose autocracy.



M.G.F. in Minneapolis, MN, writes: In response to the search by K.F.K. in Cle Elum for ways to support the legal pushback against the Trump administration's actions, I encourage readers not to neglect social service organizations.

There are real people to whom the United States has made commitments who are now being abandoned. Private donations will not be able to replace the (illegally) terminated Federal grants, but it's something. To provide one option, I point people to Global Refuge (part of that Lutheran crime syndicate) providing services to recently arrived refugees.

Such organizations may not be active in courts (though who knows with the potential of cases disputing the non-payment of their contracts), but they are one more avenue to doing the right thing by our neighbors and participating in public advocacy.

Politics: The Media

T.B.S.S. in Silver Spring, MD, writes: Writing about The New York Times, C.A. in Tucker asks, "What on earth is going on at that newspaper?"

I've never worked for the Times, but I've put in enough years at stodgy institutions—and talked to enough friends who HAVE worked for the Times—to know the answer: Newspaper editors are the most stubborn lot on earth. It's a job with a thick standards-and-practices manual that's been fussed over for generations. Editors work their way up slowly, methodically, and aspire to work at the Times above all. There is a Way These Things Are Done, whether that means performing objectivity in the face of the gallows or merely bestowing stuffy honorifics upon Mr. Loaf and Mr. Dogg. "Oh, the Internet is laughing at us? Then, by God, we must be doing something right!"

Whatever's going on at the Times, it's at least in the neighborhood of the same thing that's going on with Susan Collins, who just dusted off her favorite word ("concerned") again. Any remotely self-aware human being, upon being mocked endlessly about the "concern" that always seems to accompany her own inaction, would have stricken that word from her vocabulary years ago. Pampered traditionalists like these were made for genteel times—and, to put it mildly, are ill-suited for this moment in history.



F.M. (former RV nomad, now anchored in Fargo, ND), writes: CNN has a "light" web page: lite.cnn.com. It has none of the bawdy crap that fills the regular page and, for me the most important feature... it has NO images of TCF or of anything or anyone else. Just links to news stories which, themselves, have no pictures. I can feed my information obsession without the elevation of blood pressure caused by the visage of the orange Jesus.

I became curious to learn if other news sites had similar settings. The Guardian (which now gets my WaPo money) has a setting that turns off images. So does AP. Reuters, too. But the BBC does not. So, I e-mailed them to request such a setting and, within 2 days, I received an apparently personalized reply. They promised to give my request careful thought. And they offered the following suggestion:

[M]ost browsers offer some level of image control:

If ever there was a favor I could bestow upon my friends and fellow readers of Electoral-Vote.com, this might be it. You're welcome.

All Politics Is Local

R.W. in Santa Barbara, CA, writes: I lived in Albuquerque for 25 years. In response to the question from D.E. in Lancaster about "Why is New Mexico blue?", there is an additional reason beyond the ones you listed. The state is bimodal in education and economically: It also has a large upper-middle class. Sandia and Los Alamos national labs bring in a large amount of money and highly educated workers, which also spins off a number of high-tech small companies, Intel and defense plants, etc. In such a small state, that has a large proportional impact, and those educated voters skew Democratic.



M.S. in Canton, NY, writes: The question from D.E. In Lancaster, and your answer, about why politics in New Mexico is so different from what you see in neighboring states, reminds me of the quote attributed to Manuel Armijo, the last Mexican governor of the territory: "Poor New Mexico! So far from heaven, so close to Texas."



R.H. in San Antonio, TX, writes: I went to law school and spent 28 years in Louisville, KY, where every lawyer in the courthouse knows every other lawyer in the courthouse, and many in the courthouse community are VERY tuned-in to local and statewide politics.

Everyone I talk to assumes Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will not run again, but I haven't heard from anyone who knows Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) who has any idea if he's running for the McConnell seat or not. (Andy is more a Lexington and Frankfort lawyer, though he worked for Stites and Harbison, a large Louisville law firm.)

If he runs for the Senate next year and loses, his 2028 chance at the presidency is seriously deprecated, while his term as Governor ends in January 2027, at which point everyone expects him to be spending a bit of time in IA, NH, and SC.

I do not personally know Andy, but I do know people who do know him. I wish him luck, as he's been a very good governor.



J.E. in Akron, OH, writes: I think you are too critical of Gov. Mike DeWine's (R-OH) choice of Jim Tressel as the new lieutenant governor. First, the job is only worth a thimbleful of a famous warm liquid. Second, while he hasn't previously held public office, Tressel served as a university president (Youngstown State) for nearly a decade, where he oversaw improvements in graduation rates and several capital improvements. Finally, although his politics are not entirely clear, he doesn't appear to be a full-on MAGA Republican. However, his status as a beloved former football coach probably compensated for that when his appointment was approved by our MAGA-dominated legislature. In my opinion, this was a deft move by DeWine to avoid giving a platform to a more Trumpy Republican.



P.K. in Marshalltown, IA, writes: As a native of Ohio who has buckeyes adorning his home and office taken from trees in the three states in which he has lived—Ohio, Michigan, and Iowa—I must take exception to your comment about the political experience of Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jim Tressel. Coaching THE Ohio State University football team may be the most political job in the entire state. Additionally, he served as President of Youngstown State University—a pair of academics should know the political savvy needed to succeed in this office. Jim Tressel is no babe in the woods.



R.L.P. in Santa Cruz, CA, writes: In "Voting Rights Battles to Watch," you wrote: "Republicans (correctly) understand that if all eligible voters could vote in all elections, they would probably never win the presidency again and would struggle in all but deep-red states and districts." You are right, of course, but even in deep-red states, Democrats have opportunities if they put forth a monumental effort (and spend billions of dollars) in effective GOTV efforts for Black voters.

Take Mississippi, for example (an egregious case, with Mississippi being, among other things, the only remaining state whose flag includes the noxious, CSA stars-and-bars). In Mississippi, 36% of eligible voters are Black. About 80% of the other Mississippi residents vote Republican, which would come to 51% (that is, 80% of 64%) of eligible voters if they all voted. It is a sad fact that the 80% figure cannot be reduced. That would involve changing hearts and minds that haven't budged in 400 years. But since not everyone votes (especially Black voters, since Black voters face all sorts of threats to well-being by exercising the franchise, but also white voters because they are lazy no-accounts), it may be possible to change turnout and voting patterns among black voters enough to put 51% of Mississippi votes in the Democratic column. Similar analysis leads to similar conclusions in other Southern states with large Black populations such as Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and the Carolinas.

Projects like this, not TV ads, are where Democrats should invest the billions of dollars they are able to raise. The work should be continuous, year-round, every year, with trained, paid, local activists in the lead.

Gallimaufry

M.B. in Pittsburgh, PA, writes: Since you are wanting to publish more uplifting, non-political comments... the question from A.G. in Plano, about the best Price is Right game, brought back memories of a "good guys finish first" story. In the early 1980s, I had a TA in first-year calculus at a certain purple-loving university in the Midwest named Bill Butterworth. There was a portly fellow in the class who relentlessly made fun of him, calling him "Mr. Butterbrains" and similar insults. Well, it turns out that Professor Butterworth, who did receive his Ph.D. in Mathematics from said purple-loving university, had a 12-year stint as the mathematics consultant to The Price is Right! Obnoxious guy from the class... who knows?



F.H. in St. Paul, MN, writes: Long-time readers of Electoral-Vote.com may remember the Oxford comma debate that cost gallons of pixels to be spilled. After the uneasy 7-8 year truce, I pray that this once again won't break out into open debate and snark. Think of the children.



R.C. in Des Moines, IA, writes: I would hope a lifelong Cubs fan like me would remember that the 2016 World Series clinching game was against the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians). S.S. in Carmel must have been at the League-Championship-clinching game, which was against the Dodgers. A 5-0 dismantling of Clayton Kershaw and Co. and a glorious day for every Cubs fan.

(V) & (Z) respond: We took the verbiage from S.S. in Carmel as meaning that they were at the game that clinched a World Series berth. Obviously, the Cubs could not defeat the Dodgers to win the World Series, since both teams are in the National League (a.k.a. the downtrodden cousin to the mighty American League).



L.S. in Greensboro, NC, writes: So, Electoral-Vote.com is featured a study from USC. I guess the rumors of Satan's minions strapping on their ice skates are true!

(V) & (Z) respond: We almost pointed out, at the end of that, that when USC commenced this study (and several others), the first thing they did was... raid the faculty at UCLA. Indeed, the study that was referenced began under the auspices of one of (Z)'s former professors (Jeff Cole, with whom he had Comm 10).

Final Words

R.H. in San Antonio, TX, writes: When King Agesilaos II of Sparta (ruled c. 398 - c. 360 BC) was near death, he was asked if he wanted a statue erected in his honor. He replied that he did not, "since, if I have done anything noble, that will be my statue; if I have done nothing noble, then all the statues in the world cannot preserve my memory."

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