Dear Everybody:
The big news of the day is yet another scandal in the Hegseth boat strikes story:
--A new leak and a new scandal in the boat strikes mess--in a different strike in October, two guys survived the initial attack and were taken on board, and then the documentation of that event was destroyed.
--According to reporters David Shuster and Melissa Corrigan, two detainees were brought on board a US Navy vessel, one in apparent medical distress having survived an explosive boat strike. Shipboard personnel followed standing protocol and code to capture video and photo documentation of the onboarding of these individuals, and then were given the dubious order to delete that footage."
--The shipboard personnel recorded their objections to deleting the material.
--It’s unclear what happened to the survivors. The military says they were returned to their home countries, but there is no record of their disembarking either.
--Adam Kinzinger: "This story proves the US military has engaged in a coverup and destruction of documents/materials related to these boat attacks. This is absolutely incredible and wrong."
--And more information on the double-tap boat strike that killed those two guys:
--Admiral Bradley says the reason they killed the guy is that they were on a list of known drug dealers and Hegseth had given an order to kill them all. In fact, the order was to kill them first, then destroy the drugs and blow up the boat. Bradley said all eleven people on the boat were on the kill list.
--Hegseth: "I fully support that strike. I would have made the same call myself."
--Ryan Goodman: "Bradley told lawmakers that the orders he received from Hegseth were to kill the individuals on the target list, which included everyone on the boat, then destroy the drugs and sink the boat, these sources said, and then added, ‘They were civilians.’" (What about that fog of war thing where they couldn’t even see the guys or if there were any guys? Their stories just keep on changing and changing.)
--NBC: "The administration has produced no evidence supporting its allegations about the vessels or the people on board."
--The fog of war story, in which they couldn’t see for the flames and smoke of the first attack, doesn’t hold up. Turns out the guys were on that raft for nearly an hour before they were killed and you could see them clearly in the video.
--The boat wasn’t heading for the States at all. It was headed for Suriname, with the drugs (if there were any) headed eventually for Europe or Africa, so it had nothing to do with the US.
--Dem Rep Jim Himes: "...these guys were barely alive, much less engaging in hostilities...I think it’s really important this video be made public...it’s important people see what it looks like when the full force of the US military is turned on two guys who are clinging to a piece of wood and about to go under, just so they have a visceral feel for what it is we’re doing."
--Dem Senator Tammy Duckworth: "There was actually a vote by Congress to put us at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. There was no such debate, here in this situation. So everything that they’ve done has been illegal. It’s illegal under international law, it’s illegal under the Geneva Convention, and it certainly is even illegal under domestic law. It was essentially murder, with that ‘double-tap’ strike. You had two survivors clinging to half a boat, and then you went in and killed them. That’s a war crime."
--Duckworth said she requested to see the classified video and after-action reports of the strike, along with intelligence debriefs. Hegseth, who thinks nothing of conducting top-secret discussions on Signal and his personal phone, said he wasn’t sure he could release the information to Congress. Duckworth said, "He can certainly release it to the members of Congress, who, unlike him--unlikely to put things out on Signal, and so we should have access to it."
--Adam Schiff: "Frankly, if the Pentagon and our Defense Secretary are so proud of what they’re doing, let the American people see that video. Let the American people see two people standing on a capsized boat--or sitting on a capsized boat--and deliberately killed and decide for themselves whether they’re proud of what their country is doing. I can’t imagine people would be proud of that."
--Ron Filipkowski: "The most transparent administration in history is now hiding both the complete Epstein files and the complete video of the September 2 boat strike from the American people, only releasing the parts of each that they want you to see, while concealing the rest."
In economic news:
--The happy talk about the economy continued from Trump and his administration. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted that the US Treasury is having their best year since 2020 and that "investors who had confidence and faith in President Trump’s economic policies have been richly rewarded." (Note: When Treasury bills go up, it’s a sign the economy is tanking and people are looking for a safe haven. High Treasury rates also mean high interest rates.)
--Bessent then went on the Sunday morning talk shows, where he was asked, "When Trump says ‘affordability is a con job,’ his approval on the economy is now down to 36%, Don’t you need to show that you feel the pain?" Bessent: "The president is frustrated by the media coverage." Question: "The polling is of average Americans." Bessent: "Average Americans are hearing a lot of it from media coverage."
--Treasury posted on their official account another one of the Franklin the Turtle memes, even though the author and publisher of the books have told them to stop. This one had Franklin the Turtle wearing a MAGA hat and fanning out $100 dollar bills in front of the Capitol building.
--Aaron Astor: "Higher long-term rates are a big reason housing is unaffordable. You’re celebrating this?"
--Ken Goodrich--"Seriously thought this was a parody account. Did anyone currently employed at the Treasury even take an economics class?"
--`The Onion had a headline reading, "Trump announces 5000% increase in all numbers."
--u/Inside-Specialist-55: "In the longest line I have ever seen at our local church food bank. Been standing here for an hour, it’s 34 degrees. I have always went here when things were bad. This year the line wraps around the building a second time...everyone is freezing and an older lady in line had to be taken inside because she looked like she was about to pass out from being too cold and shivering. If this is a sign that America isn’t doing well, well, I do not know what is. I am in a small town in Kentucky with a population of less than 4800 people. Literally 10% or more of the county residents are here. This is insane."
In Epstein news:
--Late Friday afternoon, a federal judge unsealed the Epstein grand jury records in South Florida. The judge said the Law Congress passed and Trump signed overrides background grand jury secrecy.
--One of Epstein’s victims has filed a $310 million dollar lawsuit alleging Trump ran a "trafficking venture" that was "identical in every material respect" to the one run by Epstein.
--Ghislaine Maxwell is petitioning the court, asking to be released for "compassionate relief" reasons. She filed a habeas petition challenging her incarceration. She says she’s being treated unfairly and being subjected to cruelty by the justice system. Interestingly, no lawyer signed on to this. She’s doing it by herself.
--As part of her petition, Maxwell is claiming that the release of the Epstein files would create "undue prejudice so severe that it would foreclose the possibility of a fair retrial," so she needs to get out now before the files are released.
--The American Economic Association banned Larry Summers for life for his association with Epstein.
In Who ARE These People? News:
--GOP Rep Corey Mills is in all sorts of trouble. Not only has he been accused of physically assaulting several of his girlfriends--including a physical altercation with one severe enough to cause bruising (he’s married, by the way) and being a "psychopath" with them-- and of lying about his military record, his educational record, his finances, hic charitable giving, and the awards he’s won, he is now accused of owning an arms export business while sitting on a committee overseeing that business, which is a MAJOR conflict of interest.
--Right-wing podcaster Joe Rogan: "Jesus was born out of a virgin mother. What’s more virgin than a computer? If Jesus does return, you don’t think he could return as AI? AI could absolutely return as Jesus."
--Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk says Mamdani appeals to single women because he promises government will provide the kind of support a husband normally would. "I think there’s a tendency, especially when you live in a city like Manhattan, where, again, you are so career-driven, and you almost look to the government as a form of replacement for certain things, relationship-wise, even. What I don’t want to have happen is women, young women in the city look to the government as a solution. To put off having a family or a marriage because you’re relying on the government to support you, instead of being united with a husband, where you can support yorself and your husband can support, and you guys can all combine together." (Somehow I don’t think young women think having a job and supporting themselves is relying on the government.)
--Journalist Katie Couric: "Wait, what???????"
--Former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue Elaine Welteroth: "Sorry what? The government supports single working women in Manhattan?!! LET US KNOW WHEN THAT BILL GETS PASSED SIS (with a laughing and crying emoji.)
--Billionaire Bill Ackerman has an answer for MAGA males who can’t get dates. He says he always asks a woman he wants to go out with, "May I meet you?" He says not one has ever said no. Hilarity ensued online, with many saying, "THAT’S your dating advice?" and others pointing out that the women’s not turning him down might have something to do with the fact that he is a billionaire.
In Trump’s Delusions of Grandeur news:
--White House spokesman Anna Kelly reacted to criticism of Trump’s slapping his name on the Institute of Peace by saying, "The US Institute of Peace was once a bloated, useless entity that blew $50 million dollars per year while delivering no peace. Now, the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, which is both beautifully and aptly named after a President who ended 8 wars in less than a year, will stand as a powerful reminder of what strong leadership can accomplish for global stability. Congrats, world!"
--Marco Rubio defended putting Trump’s name on the Institute of Peace. "Trump will be remembered by history as the President of Peace. It’s time our State Department display that."
--CNN quoted an agency official who said, "It’s pretty ironic that he put his name on an institution he destroyed."
--The building is currently standing empty because Trump eliminated it. (The Institute is currently suing him.)
--Trump is apparently determined to put his face and name on EVERYTHING. According to the National Park Service, Trump tried to put his face on the 2026 America the Beautiful passes along with other non-traditional designs. (Note: The redesign is illegal, based on language written into the act that originally established park passes.)
--Trump: "Caitlin Collins (he purposely misspelled her name) of Fake News CNN, always Stupid and Nasty, asked me why the new Ballroom was costing more money than originally thought one year ago. I said because it’s going to be double the size and the quality of finishes and interiors has been brought to the highest level. Also the column SPAN has been substantially increased for purposes of viewing. It is actually under budget and ahead of schedule as my jobs always are. It’s just much bigger and more beautiful than originally planned."
--The ballroom is behind schedule. It was supposed to break ground in September. Trump just fired his old architect and hired a new one.
--The photos of the cabinet meeting the other day show that Trump has now put that gold filigree stuff all over the cabinet room as well as the Oval Office.
In resistance news:
--More than 500 students from public and private schools in Portland, Maine, walked out of class to rally at City Hall in support of classmates kidnapped and sent to Texas by ICE last month.
--Hundreds of anti-ICE protesters, angry because Home Depot has been allowing ICE to use their parking lots as a place to capture and detain immigrants (who come there looking for construction jobs) brought Home Depot’s business to a halt by buying and then returning 17-cent ice scrapers by the hundreds.
In historical news:
--Today is the day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in an attack that caught everyone by surprise and destroyed a lot of the US Navy. It was a terrible, terrible day. But luckily, the aircraft carriers weren’t there that day, and one of the damaged ships, which the Japanese planes tried to sink as it was escaping to block the channel, made it safely out, so the disaster wasn’t complete, and some good things came out of it.
--First, it finally brought a resisting United States into the war. As Japanese Admiral Yamamoto said, "I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant. All we have done is provoke a strong enemy and fill him with terrible resolve."
--Second, it completely finished off the Nazi-friendly "America First" movement which had been flourishing in the United States till then and which bore a remarkable resemblance to Trump’s "America First" movement.
--Third, it sealed the fate of Germany’s and Japan’s Nazism, which was rampaging through the world then, although nobody knew it at the time. It just goes to show you that, even when everything looks lost, it isn’t necessarily.
In other news:
--Mike Johnson immediately swore in the GOP winner of the special election on Tuesday, only two days after he won, even though he made Democrat Adelita Grijalva wait 50 days to be sworn in.
--Trump is reportedly angry at being called "sleepy" and at the consistent news stories regarding his health, age, and brain.
--Speculation continues about the state of JD Vance’s marriage to his wife Usha as she continues to appear at events without her wedding ring. JD says Usha "gets a kick" out of all the speculation (I’ll bet) and that their marriage is "as strong as ever" (Isn’t that what Hollywood celebrities always say right before they announce the divorce?)
In good news:
--Dem Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez donated 1600 Thanksgiving turkeys to hungry families in the Bronx.
--Former Prince Andrew has been stripped of his final remaining royal titles. Pathetically, he is still demanding his staff at his Windsor mansion call him Your Royal Highness and bow as if nothing else has changed.
--There’s been a new scientific breakthrough to strengthen bones which could reverse osteoporosis. The ID of the receptor necessary for strong bones has been identified, a blood-based implant substance which comes from the maternal brain hormone.
--The James Webb telescope may have seen the first stars created in the universe.
Best comment of the day, from Lewis Howes: "They say nobody is coming to save you, but many people have saved me, even if they didn’t intend to. It can be as small as a smile from a stranger, a nudge from an animal, words from a writer,the lyrics to a song, an observant friend. We are all saving each other every single day in tiny, seemingly insignificant ways."
Keep calm and carry on,
Connie Willis