December 21, 2025

FROM CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/20/volunteers-bringing-holiday-bliss-to-needy-immigrant-families/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/21/broadview-six-protest-ice-charges/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/19/chicago-immigration-enforcement-raids/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/broadview-zoning-ice-center/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/illinois-accountability-commission-pritzker-border-patrol/
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly demonize, denigrate, and condemn Trump.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/21/column-donald-trump-kennedy-center-susie-wiles-page/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
–DD: What helped you earn a bachelor’s degree? For me, back in the good old days, it was my parents who provided me with room and board while I took classes at UIC 1966-1968, weekends during my first semester at NIU in 1969, and the summer of 1969. For me, it was the money I earned delivering mail for the Park Forest Post Office part-time during the school years and full-time during the summers 1966-1969. The aforesaid enabled me to graduate debt-free from NIU with a bachelor’s degree in management in August of 1970 and owing a 1969 Dodge Charger SE.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2025/12/18/in-austin-neighborhood-of-chicago-black-mentors-are-making-college-possible

DAILY HERALD
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251219/lifestyle/downers-grove-woman-helps-form-operation-midway-bliss-to-assist-those-affected-by-ice/

CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— DD: Anticipate/expect that Democrats and RINOs will use Trump’s pot order to push more and more and more pot. Pot is poison. I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton in 2019.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/business/press-releases/accesswire/1119813/after-trumps-marijuana-executive-order-will-the-dea-face-a-court-imposed-deadline-from-mmjs-writ-of-mandamus/

FROM CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Netflix’s merger threatens to push more woke dogma on Americans
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/faith-freedom-self-reliance/4044489/netflix-warner-bros-merger-threatens-more-woke-dogma/

DAILY WIRE
— How Universities Divert Federal Science Grants To DEI And Administrative Bloat. 56% overhead rate funds college administrators under the guise of science grants.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-universities-divert-federal-science-grants-to-dei-and-administrative-bloat

PJ MEDIA
— The Left Offers Slavery, Nothing Else.
https://pjmedia.com/caskeet/2025/12/20/the-left-offers-slavery-nothing-else-n4947341

FROM CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

THE HILL
— Turley: Democratic despotism: The left moves from censored to compelled speech
https://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/5657977-democratic-despotism-the-left-moves-from-censored-to-compelled-speech/
— Trump endorses GOP’s Blakeman for New York governor a day after Stefanik exits race. DD: Which of the candidates on the Republican primary ballot in your precinct a) have sought Trump’s endorsement and/or b) have gotten Trump’s endorsement?
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5658614-trump-endorses-blakeman-ny-governor/
— DD: What helped you escape liberal indoctrination? I majored in business at UIC 1966-1968, NIU 1969-1970, and Loyola 1972-1976. I majored in accounting at DePaul 1976-1980. I majored in finance at IIT 1992-1997.
https://thehill.com/opinion/education/5601601-college-indoctrination-myth-exposed/

ABC NEWS
— Here’s what you missed at Turning Point’s chaotic convention. Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest convention has been marked by internal feuds among conservative figures. DD: Who leads TPUSA in Illinois, in DuPage County, in Milton Township, in Wheaton, and in Wheaton Warrenville School District 200? I want to promote TPUSA activities. I should write about my critics/opponents who had their operatives and their dupes destroy TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois and the Illinois Center Right coalition.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/missed-turning-points-chaotic-convention-128592455
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Some of the biggest names in conservative media took turns torching each other on the main stage, spending more time targeting right-wing rivals than their left-wing opponents. The feuds could ultimately define the boundaries of the Republican Party and determine the future of President Donald Trump’s fractious coalition, which appears primed for more schisms in the months and years ahead.)

CNN
— Top lawyer for military joint chiefs told chairman that officers should retire if faced with an unlawful order. DD: To be an employee is to be someone who obeys orders. While I worked for the Democrats who ran the federal government for almost 30 years, I never disobeyed any of their orders. My Democrat IRS and GAO superiors ordered me to give tremendous preference to their Democrat employees who they assigned me to supervise. All of those employees were minority, female, much younger than me, veteran, disabled, and/or had performance problems. But because I complained about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination and I became an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged them with the aforesaid discrimination when I was 40 years old in 1988, they wasted my career, they took many big adverse actions against me, and forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.
https://www.wisn.com/article/top-lawyer-for-military-joint-chiefs-told-chairman-that-officers-should-retire-if-faced-with-an-unlawful-order/69827195

ASSOCIATED PRESS
— Gender gap closing at Turning Point. Young conservative women embracing Erika Kirk at helm.
https://journalnow.com/news/nation-world/government-politics/article_b632d7be-f716-5ea6-b5f1-3ff96949bb96.html

MSN
— Career Advice. DD: What career advice did you reject? I refused to a) become a Democrat, b) glorify and praise my superiors and supervisors, c) pander to my superiors and supervisors, d) serve as an operative or as a dupe for my superiors and supervisors, and e) help them get rid of their employees because they were Republican, White, male, older, and/or non-veteran. Consequently, my Democrat superiors wasted my career, took many big adverse actions against me, and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/mcdonald-s-ceo-the-career-advice-i-would-give-if-i-wasn-t-afraid-to-hurt-your-feelings/ar-AA1SxFgj
— Millions of retirees are owed Social Security money – are you one of them? DD: My critics/opponents will be furious when they learn that because of a law that Biden signed, a) my Social Security increased from $3,000/year to $6,000/year, and now to $18,700/year and b) I got $3,200 and $14,000 backpay awards. Because of the law, I now can start getting 47% of my wife’s Social Security. I paid into Social security 1964-1973 while I washed dishes, cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, pumped gasoline, delivered mail, worked on an automotive assemble line, sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances, and pumped more gasoline.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/retirement/millions-of-retirees-are-owed-social-security-money-are-you-one-of-them/ar-AA1SFaun
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Millions of public workers received a notice this year and saw something unexpected. The Social Security Administration (SSA) informed them that their Social Security checks were going up and a lump-sum payment was on the way. If you spent your career as a teacher, firefighter, police officer, or government worker and watched your Social Security get slashed by confusing rules, this is the change you’ve been waiting for. A newer law, called the Social Security Fairness Act, wipes out two long-hated penalties: the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). Those rules used to cut or erase senior benefits for people who also had a pension from a job that didn’t pay into Social Security. Now they’re gone, and billions of dollars are being paid out. Here’s what the law actually does, who gets money, who doesn’t, and how much people are seeing. The Social Security Fairness Act became law on January 5, 2025, and repeals both WEP and GPO for benefits payable starting January 2024. WEP used to reduce retirement or disability benefits if you had a pension from “non-covered” work. This is a job where you didn’t pay Social Security tax. GPO reduced or wiped out spousal and survivor benefits for people with those same kinds of pensions. Together, those two rules cut benefits for more than 2.8 million people. Many of those were teachers, firefighters, police officers, and federal workers under old pension systems. Under the new law, December 2023 is the last month WEP and GPO apply. Any benefit payable for January 2024 and later must be calculated as if those penalties never existed. That means higher monthly checks going forward, and catch-up money for past qualifying months where your benefit was reduced. The new law does not help every public employee. To benefit, you must have a pension based on work that was not covered by Social Security taxes. These may include: State and local teachers, firefighters, and police officers. Federal workers covered by the old Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), Some workers with foreign Social Security pensions.  If your pension comes from a job where you paid Social Security tax, you will not see a change from this law. Roughly 72% of state and local public employees fall into this group. You may qualify if: You already receive a reduced retirement or disability benefit because of WEP. You get a reduced or zero spousal or survivor benefit because of GPO. You have enough Social Security credits or a spouse or ex-spouse with enough credits, but you never applied because WEP or GPO made the benefit too small to bother with. The law covers benefits on your own record and benefits as a spouse or surviving spouse. It does not change your actual pension. It only changes the Social Security piece that was being cut because of the pension. The amount depends on your situation, but the numbers can be big. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates show that eliminating WEP alone raises monthly benefits by around $360 on average for affected workers. The GPO repeal adds even more for spouses and widows. The CBO estimates an average monthly increase of $700 for spouses and $1,190 for widows. On top of higher monthly checks, there are lump-sum back payments. Because the repeal applies to benefits payable from January 2024 onward, people who were already collecting in 2024 are owed money for every month their benefit was underpaid. By early March 2025, more than 1.1 million people had already received over $7.5 billion in retroactive payments, with an average lump sum of $6,710. As implementation continued, the totals grew. By early July 2025, more than 3.1 million payments had gone out, totaling about $17 billion, five months ahead of schedule. While some people get hundreds of dollars more per month, others see a more modest increase. The size of your non-covered pension, how much GPO or WEP used to take away, and whether you’re a worker, a spouse, or a surviving spouse are all key factors in how much you’ll receive. For people who were already receiving benefits reduced by WEP or GPO, the process was mostly automatic. In 2025, SSA recalculated records and sent a one-time lump-sum payment for benefits owed back to January 2024 and increased monthly payments going out in April 2025. If you were affected by WEP or GPO and think you might be entitled to an increased benefit or a back-dated lump sum but haven’t received any money or a notice, you need to take action. Check your “my Social Security” account to see the status of your benefits and contact SSA for help if you think there’s a problem. If you never applied for retirement, spousal, or survivor benefits because WEP or GPO made the amount tiny or zero, you most likely need to file a new application. Retroactive payment rules still apply, though, so back pay could be limited to six months in many retirement and survivor cases. So don’t wait, as the longer you delay, the more money you’re losing. . .If you have a pension from work that didn’t pay into your Social Security and your benefits were cut by WEP or GPO, you’re exactly who this law was written for. You should already have received your lump-sum back pay and have been seeing your increased benefit amount since April. If you haven’t and think you’re entitled to it, check with SSA. If you never bothered to apply because WEP and GPO made the benefit tiny or non-existent, you should reconsider claiming now. With back pay potentially limited to six months, act fast to put extra cash in your pocket sooner rather than later.)

NEW YORK TIMES
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly shout that if you cannot afford something, it is Trump’s fault. There are many things that I could/cannot afford because my Democrat superiors in the federal government wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/20/upshot/affordability-democrats-trump.html
— Turning Point’s Annual Gathering Turns Into a Gripefest. At AmericaFest, conservative leaders insulted one another, revealing serious rifts over conspiracy theories, antisemitism and who belongs in America. DD: Who leads TPUSA in Illinois, in DuPage County, in Milton Township, in Wheaton, and in Wheaton Warrenville School District 200? I want to promote TPUSA activities. I should write about my critics/opponents who had their operatives and their dupes destroy TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois and the Illinois Center Right coalition.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/20/us/politics/turning-points-americafest-ben-shapiro.html
— DD: Anticipate/expect that more and more and more candidates will use criticisms of Trump to be more and more and more anti-conservate, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older-people, anti-heterosexual, anti-married people, anti-rich people, anti-Protestant, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/us/politics/vivek-ramaswamy-anti-indian-hate.html
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that if you vote for Democrats, your health care will be free.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/us/politics/health-care-gop.html

WASHINGTON POST
— The year Trump broke the federal government. How DOGE and the White House carried out a once-unthinkable transformation of the nation’s sprawling bureaucracy.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/trump-federal-government-workers-doge/

FORBES
— DD: I should write about my critics/opponents who had their saboteurs destroy TAPROOT Republicans of the Illinois in 2012 and the Illinois Center Right Coalition in 2007. I would focus on my critics/opponents who still have lots of religious, government, political, and/or financial clout in Wheaton, Milton Township, DuPage County, and Illinois. I would focus on those who have had their operatives and their dupes take the most/biggest adverse actions against me lately.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2025/11/30/theres-a-hidden-saboteur-in-your-meetings-and-theres-only-one-person-who-can-stop-it/

FAST COMPANY
— DD: To get rid of their employees who were Republican, White, male, older, and/or non-veteran, my Democrat GAO superiors and supervisors turned their employees who were Democrat, minority, female, and/or veteran against them.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91449043/most-leaders-misread-generational-tension-these-five-habits-resolve-it-generational-tension-workplace

TIMES RECORD
— Race-based hir­ing prac­tices remain illegal. DD: How has Affirmative Action (AA) and DEI impacted you? While I was young, employers had to hire, promote, and retain based on race and gender, that is, they had to hire, promote, and retain minorities and females. The Democrats who ran the Post Office in 1966, IRS in 1971, and GAO in 1980 hired me because they could not find a qualified Democrat, minority, female, younger person, or veteran who would take the job. Because I am not a Democrat, minority, female, or veteran, my Democrat superiors ever-increasingly used AA and DEI to promote over me their Democrat employees who were minority, female, younger, and/or veteran. That ever-increasingly rendered worthless my job-related bachelor’s degree, my three job-related master’s degrees, my six job-related professional certifications, and my job-related professional license.
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/times-record-ft-smith-southwest/20251221/281522232434308

NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER
— DD: Ever-increasingly, Democrat leaders succeed in getting religious leaders to do their bidding.
https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/ice-nativity-offers-boston-archbishop-leadership-opportunity-apology

AMERICAN PROSPECT
— Another Mass Staffing Purge at the VA. DD: I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO 1980-1997. They used Gingrich budget cuts to purge the agency of its employees who were Republican, White, male, older, and/or non-veteran. They gave their managers of their Chicago office lists of employees to purge. Of course, I was on all those lists. I would not have survived for almost 18 years if I had not earned an MBA in 1976, passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979, earned a master’s degree in accounting in 1980, passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981, became a licensed CPA in 1981, earned more professional certifications in 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997, and earned a master’s degree in financial markets and trading in 1997. I should write about that.
https://prospect.org/2025/12/18/another-mass-staffing-purge-at-va/

WYOMING NEWS
— Two U.S. senators blast Trump’s nominee to be the federal attorney for Wyoming as being unqualified. DD: Were you promoted too fast? IRS promoted me when I was 23, 24, and 25. My Democrat and RINO critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that I was promoted too fast, that is, that I was unqualified. My Democrat IRS superiors got rid of the IRS manager who promoted me. To get rid of me, they disallowed my travel vouchers when I was 25, they disallowed my education deductions when I was 29, and they never promoted me again. They ignored/dismissed/belittled/badmouthed my earning an MBA when I was 27 and my passing the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. I should write about that.
https://www.wyomingnews.com/laramieboomerang/news/senators-blast-wyoming-s-u-s-attorney-as-unqualified-maga-loyalist-jan-6-supporter/article_8d8a98f8-6f07-44ee-b0db-45b0a4a75c8a.html

MITCH JACKSON
— How an Unqualified, Conspiracy Driven Loyalist Gained Power Inside the Department of Justice. DD: Were you promoted too fast? IRS promoted me when I was 23, 24, and 25. My Democrat and RINO critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that I was promoted too fast, that is, that I was unqualified. My Democrat IRS superiors got rid of the IRS manager who promoted me. To get rid of me, they disallowed my travel vouchers when I was 25, they disallowed my education deductions when I was 29, and they never promoted me again. They ignored/dismissed/belittled/badmouthed my earning an MBA when I was 27 and my passing the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was 30. I should write about that.
https://mitchthelawyer.substack.com/p/ed-martin-how-an-unqualified-conspiracy

ATLANTIC
— America’s ‘Marriage Material’ Shortage. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasing destroy traditional marriage and family. Under the Democrats, fewer and fewer and fewer people are marriage material. What helped make you marriage material? By the time I got married when I was 29 in 1978, I had worked for IRS for almost 7 years and my salary was $108,978/year in today’s dollars. I had earned an MBA from Loyola in 1976 and I was taking graduate evening accounting courses at DePaul. I lived in a one bedroom condo in the Outer Drive East building that I had bought in 1976. I was renting out a town home in University Park that I had bought new in 1972. I owned a 1972 Corvette that I had bought new in 1971.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/america-marriage-decline/681518/

NPR
— Inside Turning Point USA’s uneasy moment after Charlie Kirk. DD: Who leads TPUSA in Illinois, in DuPage County, in Milton Township, in Wheaton, and in Wheaton Warrenville School District 200? I want to promote TPUSA activities. I should write about my critics/opponents who had their operatives and their dupes destroy TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois and the Illinois Center Right coalition.
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/20/nx-s1-5648806/inside-turning-point-usas-uneasy-moment-after-charlie-kirk

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

INDIAN EXPRESS
— Is the young, white male being pushed out? A new article is latest lightning rod in US culture wars. ‘The Lost Generation’, an article published in Compact magazine last week, alleges that DEI practices have squeezed young, white men out of prestige jobs in sectors such as media and television. It has reignited the debate on representation as the Trump administration goes after DEI programs.
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/young-white-male-us-10431501/

December 20, 2025 Evening Edition

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

DAILY HERALD
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more illegal drug use.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251220/news/illinois-libraries-step-into-life-saving-role-as-new-law-expands-access-to-narcan/

RIVER BENDER
— DD: Duckworth ever-increasingly fights Trump’s use of the military.
https://www.riverbender.com/news/details/duckworthled-provision-to-rein-in-trumps-misuse-of-the-military-passes-congress-awaits-presidents-signature-89249.cfm

WAND TV
— Military lawyer swiftly fired from immigration bench after defying Trump deportation push. DD: While I worked for the Democrats who ran the federal government for almost 30 years, I never defied any of their orders. My Democrat IRS and GAO superiors ordered me to give tremendous preference to their Democrat employees who they assigned me to supervise. All those employees were minority, female, much younger, veteran, disabled, and/or had performance problems. But because I complained about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination and I became an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged them with the aforesaid discrimination when I was 40 years old in 1988, they wasted my career, they took many big adverse actions against me, and forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.
https://www.wandtv.com/news/national/military-lawyer-swiftly-fired-from-immigration-bench-after-defying-trump-deportation-push/article_0db74911-444a-5a1a-8ee6-c5f8de72ad55.html

WGLT
— Duckworth: Hegseth is “dangerously unqualified.” Hegseth left the armed services with a rank of Major, which can oversee a unit of between 300 to 1,200. DD: To discredit Hegseth, Duckworth stresses that the Army never promoted him beyond the rank of Major. IRS promoted me to GS-12 when I was 25 in 1974. The equivalent Army rank is Captain. GAO promoted me to GS-13 when I was 38 in 1986. The equivalent Army rank is Major. My critics/opponents have always ignored/dismissed/belittled/badmouthed what I did as an IRS Revenue Officer 1971-1980 and as a GAO Analyst 1980-1997.
https://www.wglt.org/illinois/2025-01-13/trump-defense-nominee-hegseth-is-dangerously-unqualified-duckworth-says

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Federal Child Sex Crime Report
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/20/federal-child-sex-crime-report/
— McHenry State’s Attorney on a Roll in Keeping Dangerous Criminals in Jail, This Time a Marengo Man Arrested for Child Porn
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/19/mchenry-states-attorney-on-a-roll-in-keeping-dangerous-criminals-in-jail-this-time-a-marengo-man-arrested-for-child-porn/
— Rep. Sosnowski Opposes Subsidy for Bears
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/19/15263/
— Head of Northern Illinois Food Bank Receives National Recognition, Salaries of Officers Listed for Year Ending June, 2024
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/19/head-of-northern-illinois-food-bank-receives-national-recognition-salaries-of-officers-listed-for-year-ending-june-2024/
— UPDATE 2: MORE Images You Won’t See in Chicago Tribune Story on Australian Jewish Massacre, GUNMEN TIED TO ISIS, POLICE INACTION
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/19/images-you-wont-see-in-chicago-tribune-story-on-australian-jewish-massacre/
— Ted Dombrowski Says Mass Transit Law “Fleeces” Taxpayers
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/19/ted-dombrowski-says-mass-transit-law-fleeces-taxpayers/

ILLINOIS REVIEW
— Kristi Noem Joins United States Coast Guard in Christmas Tree Giveaway In Chicago
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2025/12/weyermuller-kristi-noem-joins-united-states-coast-guard-in-christmas-tree-giveaway-in-chicago.html

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— DD: Which of the candidates on the Republican primary ballot in your precinct a) have sought Trump’s endorsement and/or b) have gotten Trump’s endorsement?
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/20/trump-endorses-blakeman-new-york-governor/
— Former President Clinton turns up in newly released ‘Epstein files’ — in a hot tub
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/19/former-president-bill-clinton-turns-newly-released-epstein-files-
— The snakes within the Trump administration. The president should heed his own 2016 warning.
hot/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/18/snakes-within-trump-administration/
— Recent terrorist attacks highlight the folly of unchecked mass migration
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/19/editorial-recent-terrorist-attacks-highlight-folly-unchecked-mass/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— The politically incorrect crisis: How society is failing boys and men
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/3926463/society-failing-boys-and-men/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: For decades, Americans have told a clear story about gender. Women were held back. Society was built by men and for men. The moral task of our time, we were told, was to dismantle male advantage and help women catch up. That story may have once described reality. It no longer does. Today, a growing body of evidence points to a different and deeply uncomfortable conclusion. Boys and men are now falling behind across many of the institutions that structure a stable, dignified life: education, work, family, and mental health. And yet our public conversation remains frozen in an earlier era, unable or unwilling to recognize what has changed. This is not an argument against women’s progress. Women have made extraordinary and deserved gains. It is an argument that a society can correct one injustice and create another if it refuses to update its moral lens. Start with education. In elementary and secondary school, boys now lag behind girls in reading in every developed country. They are more likely to struggle academically, to be disciplined, and to disengage from school altogether. That early gap compounds over time. Seven out of 10 valedictorians are female. On college campuses, the gender balance has flipped: Women now make up nearly 60% of undergraduates and earn close to 60% of bachelor’s degrees. Among young adults, women are significantly more likely than men to have a college degree, a reversal of the gender gap that defined much of the 20th century. Yet our educational rhetoric still sounds as though girls are the ones being left behind. The consequences don’t end at graduation. Men’s connection to work, a central source of purpose, structure, and social standing, has been eroding for decades. Prime-age male labor force participation has steadily declined, especially among men without college degrees. Entire cohorts of working-class men have drifted out of stable employment, not because they prefer idleness, but because the economy increasingly rewards credentials and social skills while offering fewer pathways for men whose strengths are practical, mechanical, or physical. For generations, society made a promise to such men: Work hard, show up, and you will earn a place. That promise has been quietly broken. The fallout shows up starkly in our health statistics. Men die by suicide at nearly four times the rate of women. Middle-aged men, particularly those without college degrees, account for a disproportionate share of what economists grimly call “deaths of despair”: suicide, drug overdoses, and alcohol-related disease. When we talk about mental health, we often focus, appropriately, on the pressures facing teenage girls. But while that crisis is loudly discussed, another one unfolds in silence: Men are dying in extraordinary numbers, and few seem to notice. Loneliness deepens the wound. Surveys show that young men are significantly more likely than young women to report feeling lonely. Male friendship has collapsed over the past few decades, with approximately 25% of young men reporting that they have no close friends at all. As traditional institutions that once anchored male social life — stable jobs, unions, churches, and fraternal organizations — have weakened, little has replaced them. Men, on average, are less likely to seek emotional support and less likely to be invited into spaces where vulnerability is encouraged. The result is a quiet epidemic of isolation. Family life tells a similar story. Roughly 1 in 4 American children now grow up without a father in the home. This is often discussed solely in terms of its impact on children, and rightly so, but it also reflects the broader marginalization of men from family life. Many men are disconnected from stable work, from marriage, and ultimately from daily involvement in their children’s lives. For all our concern about “toxic masculinity,” the more common problem in many communities is not men behaving badly, but men being absent altogether. When men fail, society often responds with punishment rather than repair. Men make up more than 90% of the prison population. The United States incarcerates more people than any other nation on Earth, and the burden falls overwhelmingly on men — disproportionately poor men and men of color. Many of the same struggles we ignore in schools and workplaces — illiteracy, untreated mental illness, and addiction — reappear in our jails and prisons, where they are far more expensive and difficult to address. None of this means women no longer face injustice. Women still bear disproportionate caregiving burdens, face violence, and encounter barriers in certain professions. Acknowledging male disadvantage in some areas does not erase female disadvantage in others. Justice is not a finite resource. But our gender conversation has become dangerously one-sided. We have built institutions, policies, and cultural narratives that assume men are always advantaged and women are always vulnerable, even when the data tell a different story. That mismatch matters. When people feel unseen or misrepresented, they disengage. When boys grow up hearing only what’s wrong with men, they struggle to imagine a hopeful future for themselves.)

NEW YORK POST
— DOGE’s federal job cuts really ARE making a difference
https://nypost.com/2025/12/19/opinion/guess-what-doges-federal-headcount-cuts-really-are-making-a-difference/

AMERICAN THINKER
— Using the Christmas Story to Demonize ICE Agents
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/12/using_the_christmas_story_to_demonize_ice_agents.html

BIZ PAC REVIEW
— ‘We are just getting started’: DHS says 2.5M illegals have now exited US
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2025/12/20/we-are-just-getting-started-dhs-says-2-5m-illegals-have-now-exited-us-1611555/
— HUD Secretary shares shocking details of welfare program usage among illegal alien families
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2025/12/20/hud-sec-shares-shocking-details-of-welfare-program-usage-among-illegal-alien-families-1611613/

BLAZE
— ’50 high-quality sons’: Chinese men are siring US citizen ‘mega-families’ via surrogacy
https://www.theblaze.com/news/50-high-quality-sons-chinese-elites-are-siring-armies-of-babies-in-us-via-surrogates-report

BREITBART
— Translator Services Helping Illegal Aliens to Cheat on Drivers Exam
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/12/20/maine-whistleblower-translator-services-helping-illegal-aliens-to-cheat-on-drivers-exam/

CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES
— Trump DOJ Undoes Clinton Sabotage of the 1996 Welfare Reform Law
https://cis.org/Fishman/Trump-DOJ-Undoes-Clinton-Sabotage-1996-Welfare-Reform-Law

CHRISTOPHER RUFO
— DEI and the “Lost Generation.” How white millennial men were purged from elite institutions. DD: My Democrat GAO superiors used Gingrich budget cuts to purge the agency of its employees who were Republican, White, male, older, and/or non-veteran.
https://christopherrufo.com/p/dei-and-the-lost-generation
(FROM THE ARTICLE: In Compact magazine, “The Lost Generation,” is a firsthand account, backed by deep reporting, on discrimination against millennial white men in the institutions of elite culture, academia, media, publishing, and entertainment. Affirmative action, a euphemism for anti-white-male discrimination, dates back to the mid-1960s, and, in the 1990s, Claremont University professor Frederick Lynch was already documenting systematic discrimination against white men in corporate environments in books such as Invisible Victims and The Diversity Machine. But Jacob Savage, the author of the Compact article, makes a persuasive case that this trend accelerated dramatically in the ten-year period between 2014 and 2024—the decade of the so-called Great Awokening.)

FOX NEWS
— University of Illinois lesson materials push leftist race, class struggles on future teachers. Lectures focus on racism, white supremacy and cultivating belonging for ‘minoritized’ students.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/university-illinois-lesson-materials-push-leftist-race-class-struggles-future-teachers-leaked-lectures
— ‘Bitter sweet’: TPUSA holds AmericaFest for the first time without Charlie Kirk. DD: Who leads TPUSA in Illinois, in DuPage County, in Milton Township, in Wheaton, and in Wheaton Warrenville School District 200? I want to promote TPUSA activities.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6386755343112
— Dallas Church depicts nativity as migrants in detention. ‘Relatable Podcast’ host Allie Beth Stuckey joins ‘Saturday in America’ live from AmericaFest 2025 to discuss churches politicizing nativity scenes by depicting them as anti-ICE.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6386757075112
— It’s not just Minnesota; Democrats have created welfare fraud everywhere. Politicians in virtually every state have let waste, fraud and abuse spread like wildfire in Medicaid.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/its-not-just-minnesota-democrats-have-created-welfare-fraud-everywhere

HERITAGE FOUNDATION
— Taxpayer Cash, Zero Accountability: Minnesota Fraud Proves Welfare Is Broken
https://www.heritage.org/welfare/commentary/taxpayer-cash-zero-accountability-minnesota-fraud-proves-welfare-broken

LEGAL NEWSLINE
— Supreme Court weighs gun owners’ challenge to IL transit carry ban
https://www.legalnewsline.com/cook-county-record/transit-gun-ban-in-illinois-a-supreme-court-matter/article_b9854254-33e7-49d7-849b-735485520cc8.html

NEWSMAX
— Property Taxes Threaten American Dream of Home Ownership. DD: Being able to itemize and to deduct real estate taxes helped me a) buy a new townhome when I was 24 in 1972, b) buy a studio condo when I was 25, and c) buy a one bedroom condo when I was 27. Being able to itemize and to deduct real estate taxes helped my wife and I a) buy a home in Wheaton when I was 29 and b) have a home built in Wheaton when I was 35.
https://www.newsmax.com/mccaughey/affordability-homeowners-syracuse/2025/12/18/id/1238829/

PJ MEDIA
— Border Crossings Down 93%, Fentanyl Trafficking Cut in Half in 2025
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/12/20/border-crossings-down-93-fentanyl-trafficking-cut-in-half-n4947321

REASON
— Mamdani’s $6 Billion Child Care Expansion Would Be a Handout to Wealthy New Yorkers. The more the government intervenes in the market, the more New York parents pay for child care.
https://reason.com/2025/12/25/mamdani-cant-raise-your-kids/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ASSOCIATED PRESS
— Young conservative women find a home in Turning Point with Charlie Kirk’s widow at the helm. DD: Who leads TPUSA in Illinois, in DuPage County, in Milton Township, in Wheaton, and in Wheaton Warrenville School District 200? I want to promote TPUSA activities.
https://www.theheraldreview.com/news/politics/article/young-conservative-women-find-a-home-in-turning-21251712.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e56BOXKhvnY

AOL
— Everything about retirement changes if you’re one of the lucky few who have a pension in America. DD: What is your attitude toward federal employees and federal retirees? I was a federal employee for almost 30 years and I have been a federal retiree for more than 28 years. My critics/opponents have always despised/hated federal employee and federal retirees. I should write about that. They believe that federal employees are grossly overpaid, that federal pensions are much too generous, and that their benefits are much too generous. In my defense, I would not have become a postal employee when I was 18 in 1966 if my high school friend had not asked me to join him in taking the postal employment test. I would not have become an IRS employee when I was 22 in 1971 if my Firestone Store boss had not fired me because I had accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile, an offer that Oldsmobile withdrew because it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint.
https://www.aol.com/finance/everything-retirement-changes-one-lucky-114500050.html

NBC NEWS
— VERY SAD: MAGA infighting over Israel and 2028 heats up at the Turning Point USA conference. Influencers turned on one another, with Ben Shapiro blasting “charlatans,” Steve Bannon calling Shapiro a “cancer” and Megyn Kelly declaring she was no longer friends with Shapiro. DD: Who leads TPUSA in Illinois, in DuPage County, in Milton Township, in Wheaton, and in Wheaton Warrenville School District 200? I want to promote TPUSA activities.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/maga-infighting-israel-2028-turning-point-usa-conference-rcna250162

NEW YORK TIMES
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly use religious leaders to do their bidding.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/briefing/a-moral-reckoning-on-immigration.html

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— What to Know About Minnesota’s ‘Industrial-Scale Fraud’ Scandal. A federal prosecutor highlights ‘fraud tourism,’ where people with no connection to the state allegedly siphoned money from safety-net programs there.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/minnesota-fraud-trump-scandal-113f4315

FORBES
— The 2026 US Job Market Will Be Competitive – How To Stand Out. DD: When you graduated from college, what frustrated your job search? For me, it was potential employers viewing me as being draft bait. They did not believe that my financial hardship draft deferment application would be approved.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecenizalevine/2025/12/19/the-2026-us-job-market-will-be-competitive–how-to-stand-out/

TIME
— ‘No Sleep for ICE’: Inside the Protest Movement Keeping Immigration Agents Awake at Night
https://time.com/7341833/no-sleep-for-ice-protests-hotels/

HUFFINGTON POST
— DD: Hate-filled conservative-hating conservative-haters ever-increasingly work against Erika Kirk. DD: Who leads TPUSA in Illinois, in DuPage County, in Milton Township, in Wheaton, and in Wheaton Warrenville School District 200? I want to promote TPUSA activities.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/erika-kirk-turning-point-usa-gen-z_n_6925f13ae4b063285310f023

December 19, 2025

GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton. Pot drags you down. I have never used pot and I never will. Did your classmates and coworkers use pot?  What if your classmates had used pot? If my Crete-Monee High School classmates had used pot, my 1966 class ranking would have been higher. If I had used pot, my ACT score and my GPA would have been lower. UIC would not have accepted me in 1966 let alone NIU in 1969, Loyola in 1972, DePaul in 1976, and IIT in 1992. If I had used pot, I would not have passed on my first attempt the CPA examination in 1979 and the Certified Internal Auditor examination in 1981. If I had used pot, I would not have become a licensed CPA in 1981. If I had used pot, none of my employers would have hired me let alone promoted me. Firestone Stores would not have hired me in 1970. IRS would not have hired me in 1971 let alone promoted me in 1972, 1973, and 1974. GAO would not have hired me in 1980 let alone promoted me in 1986. If my IRS and GAO coworkers had used pot, I would have had less competition. I would have been promoted much faster and much higher than I was. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com
— Who is more likely to use pot? From what I see, it is those who have trouble dealing with reality, who have health, financial, and/or other problems, and/or who fall for vices. From what I see, they are more likely to be liberal, Libertarian, Democrat, RINO, minority, female, younger, unmarried, LGBTQ, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time. The more that you use pot, the sooner that you will crash and burn. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

NBC5
— Marijuana criminals flow into Illinois prisons as president relaxes weed status. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/marijuana-criminals-flow-into-illinois-prisons-as-president-relaxes-weed-status/3865686/
https://www.nbcchicago.com/video/news/local/cannabis-reclassification-could-reshape-the-illinois-industry/3865691/

ABC7
— Illinois Accountability Commission holds 1st meeting on claims of abuse in ‘Operation Midway Blitz’
https://abc7chicago.com/post/chicago-operation-midway-blitz-news-illinois-accountability-commission-discusses-impact-federal-agents-using-chemical/18298598/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Thursday defended their agents actions, which they continue to say are exercised only in the face of grave threats and dangerous situations. “DHS law enforcement officers follow the law and the U.S. Constitution,” a statement from DHS read in part. “Our law enforcement show incredible restraint and professionalism in exhausting all options before any kind of non-lethal force is used.”)

CBS2
— Dozens more Chicago police officers and private security guards to begin patrolling CTA on Friday
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/cta-security-plan-police-officers-security-guards-patrols/

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly fight deportation of their illegals.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/19/opinion-gregory-bovino-christmas-immigration-raids/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Trump admin ending grants for support services at many Illinois schools. The administration informed ACT Now Illinois last week that it is discontinuing its Community Schools grant, effective Dec. 31. DD: Democrat leaders use grants to promote the Democrat Party platform.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2025/12/18/act-now-illinois-community-schools-grant-trump
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/marijuana/2025/12/18/cannabis-trump-reclassify-marijuana-research

DAILY HERALD
— Elgin council meeting paused twice following interruptions from residents frustrated with federal immigration enforcement tactics. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly fight deportation of their illegals.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251218/news/elgin-council-meeting-paused-twice-following-interruptions-from-residents-frustrated-with-federal-im/

ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
— Want to talk affordability in Illinois? Start with taxes. DD: Ever-since I became an IRS employee when I was 22 years old in 1971, my critics/opponents have wanted me to pay more taxes. They were furious that I paid less federal income taxes by itemizing. They were even more furious that I paid less federal income tax by deducting my deducting my education expenses 1972-1981 and 1992-1997.
https://www.rrstar.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2025/12/19/want-to-talk-affordability-in-illinois-start-with-taxes-opinion/87827310007/

JOURNAL COURIER
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://www.myjournalcourier.com/business/article/cloud-lifts-over-cannabis-companies-future-amid-21250757.php
— Trump suspends green card lottery program that let Brown University, MIT shooting suspects into US
https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/trump-suspends-green-card-lottery-program-that-21251664.php

ALTON TELEGRAPH
— Illinois bill would let people with past convictions run for office
https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/illinois-bill-convictions-office-21248130.php

WAND TV
— EEOC urges white men to report discrimination. DD: In Diersen v. GAO, the courts ruled that discrimination against older White males was not only legal, but that it is what Congress wanted.
https://www.wandtv.com/news/national/head-of-workplace-rights-agency-urges-white-men-to-report-discrimination/article_5098cb76-91e7-573c-8977-e20aeb5aad43.html

NORTHERN PUBLIC RADIO
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly side with Venezuela against America.
https://www.northernpublicradio.org/2025-12-18/venezuelans-brace-for-hardship-as-trump-threatens-oil-blockade

NPR ILLINOIS
— DD: The mainstream news media exists to promote more hatred against Trump.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-12-18/fcc-chair-faces-questions-about-threats-to-broadcasters-and-agencys-independence

POLITICO ILLINOIS
— December 19, 2025
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/12/19/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-651/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

JOHN KASS
— Which Identity Is Unworthy? It Might Be Yours. DD: According to Democrat and RINO leaders, the following identities are unworthy: conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, heterosexual, married, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or whose ancestors have been in America for a long time.
https://johnkassnews.com/which-identity-is-unworthy-it-might-be-yours/

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Pritzker Wasn’t Paying Attention During the 1974 RTA Referendum
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/19/pritzker-wasnt-paying-attention-during-the-1974-rta-referendum/
— Criticism Mimics 1974 RTA Opponents’ Road Tax Diversion Arguments
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/19/nita-criticism-mimics-1974-rta-opponents-road-tax-diversion-arguments/
— Examples of Homeowners Who Lost Equity Through the Property Tax Sale Process
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/19/examples-of-homeowners-who-lost-equity-through-the-property-tax-sale-process/
— Man Charged for Lighting Women on Fire on CTA Train and Lighting Up City Hall
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/18/man-charged-for-lighting-women-on-fire-on-cta-train-and-lighting-up-city-hall/
— Republican Congress Folks Ask Trump Not to Pardon Madigan
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/18/republican-congress-folks-ask-trump-not-to-pardon-madigan/
— Rep. Sue Ness Asks Constituents about Double-Dipping Elected Officials
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/17/rep-sue-ness-asks-constituents-about-double-dipping-elected-officials/
— Illinois Public Sector Unions Spend More on Politics Than Any Other State
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/17/illinois-public-sector-unions-spends-more-on-politics-than-any-other-state/
— Household Income Limit for Senior Real Estate Tax Deferral Going Up to $75,000
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/17/household-income-limit-for-senior-real-estate-tax-deferral-going-up-to-75000/
— NBC Minimizes Democrats’ 60% Toll Increase
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/17/nbc-minimizes-democrats-60-toll-increase/
— Biss Calls for Repeal of Second Amendment
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/17/biss-calls-for-repeal-of-second-amendment/
— Next Dems Will Make It Easier for Sgt. Dam
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/16/next-dems-will-make-it-easier-for-sgt-dam/
— Crooks in State Government
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/16/crooks-in-state-government/
— Why This Gambling Opponent Voted for the Lottery
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/15/why-this-gambling-opponent-voted-for-the-lottery/
— Discount on Lyft Rides on Christmas and New Year’s, First Come, First Serve
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/15/discount-on-lyft-rides-on-christmas-and-new-years-first-come-first-serve/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Don’t blame racism for inequality in America. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly blame Republicans for all the problems that those who are the following have: liberal, moderate, Libertarian, Democrat, RINO, minority, female, younger, non-rich, unmarried, LGBTQ, disabled, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and/or noncitizen.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/3919625/inequality-america-study-racism-american-dream/

NEW YORK POST
— Mamdani appointee resigns after vile antisemitic social media posts resurface
https://nypost.com/2025/12/18/us-news/zohran-mamdani-appointee-catherine-almonte-da-costa-made-vile-antisemitic-comments-in-unearthed-social-media-posts/

BREITBART
— Democrats Fight for Illegals, Career Criminals, and Terrorists over Americans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9ZcyN8VQT8

FEDERALIST
— EEOC Makes Direct Appeal To White Males Facing Workplace Discrimination. DD: In Diersen v. GAO, the courts ruled that discrimination against older White males was not only legal, but that it is what Congress wanted.
https://thefederalist.com/2025/12/18/employment-commission-makes-direct-appeal-to-white-males-facing-workplace-discrimination/
— Large School Systems See Plummeting Foreign-Language Students Thanks To Immigration Enforcement.  DD: What percent of the students in your school district are noncitizens?
https://thefederalist.com/2025/12/18/large-school-systems-see-plummeting-foreign-language-students-thanks-to-immigration-enforcement/

FOX BUSINESS
— Evanston mayor Biss makes the ‘conscious decision’ to choose illegal aliens over Americans
https://www.foxbusiness.com/video/6386677331112
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IjokWmyy7I

FOX NEWS
— A group of House Republicans is urging President Donald Trump against reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-republicans-demand-trump-reverse-course-after-strongly-considering-marijuana-executive-order
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE5eDjAAp-M

NATIONAL TAXPAYERS UNION
— Comptroller General Dodaro’s Final Testimony Underscores Why Congress Needs a Strong Watchdog. DD: If Gingrich had reformed GAO instead of gutting it, there would be no need for DOGE. If Gingrich had reformed GAO instead of gutting it, my Democrat GAO superiors would not have been able to a) force me to take a $23,472 (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980, b) keep me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for GAO, c) delay my promotions and never promote me beyond GS-13, d) always rank me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, and e) force me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.
https://www.ntu.org/foundation/detail/comptroller-general-dodaros-final-testimony-underscores-why-congress-needs-a-strong-watchdog
(FROM THE ARTICLE: This week, Gene Dodaro, the outgoing Comptroller General of the United States, delivered his final testimony to Congress. After 15 years leading the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Dodaro used his closing appearance to highlight persistent high-risk areas across the federal government that expose taxpayers to waste, fraud, and abuse. He also reiterated a warning GAO has issued consistently during his tenure: without sustained leadership and reform from lawmakers, the nation’s fiscal trajectory is becoming increasingly perilous.)

NEWSMAX
— Democrat Candidates Tout Backing From Pro-Trans Ideology Group
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/democrats-senate-reproductive-freedom-for-all/2025/12/18/id/1238894/

TOWNHALL
— It’s No Shock Why Enrollment in These Large School Districts From Foreign-Language Students Is Down. DD: What percent of the students in your school district are noncitizens?
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/12/18/its-no-shock-why-enrollment-in-large-school-districts-from-foreign-language-students-n2668124
— Can the Dark Ages Return?
https://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2025/12/19/can-the-dark-ages-return-n2668175

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

NEWSWEEK
— DD: To get more votes from minorities and from women, Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly promote more hatred against Whites and against men.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-admin-encourages-white-men-to-claim-discrimination-money-11235826

AOL
— About 1.5 million Americans could face soaring healthcare insurance premiums in 2026 with ACA subsidies set to expire. Will your income still qualify? DD: Are/were your healthcare insurance premiums subsidized? Ever since I became a part-time postal employee when was 18 in 1966, my critics/opponents have been furious that the federal government has paid 72% of my healthcare insurance premiums. They have been even more furious ever since I got married when I was 29 and the federal government started paying 72% of my wife’s healthcare insurance premiums. That 72% subsidy is a major reason why people despise/hate federal employees, federal retirees, and their spouses. That 72% subsidy helped me withstand tremendous efforts by my Democrat superiors in the federal government to waste my career and to get rid of me.
https://www.aol.com/finance/1-5-million-americans-could-190000891.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The subsidy cliff affects households with incomes that are above 400% of the federal poverty level (FPL). For 2026 marketplace coverage, that’s about $62,600 for a single person and $128,600 for a family of four in the contiguous U.S.)

NEW YORK TIMES
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/12/18/us/trump-news

WASHINGTON POST
— Democrats will not release the autopsy of their 2024 loss. Party leaders hope to avoid contentious fights over the party’s failing as it attempts to reboot for the 2026 midterms. DD: My critics/opponents continue to blame all the losses that Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct have suffered since 2000 a) on what I have done as the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000 and b) on what I did as the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois chairman 2005-2012 and as an Illinois Center Right Coalition officer 2003-2007, etc. I should write about my critics/opponents. I would focus on a) Republican candidates on ballots in my precinct since 2000, b) Illinois Republican Party, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Milton Township Republican Organization leaders since 2000, c) conservative leaders since 2000, and d) religious leaders since 2000. I would focus on those who have had their operatives and their dupes take the most/biggest adverse actions against me.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/18/democrats-2024-harris-trump-autopsy/

USA TODAY
— White men urged by EEOC to file discrimination claims in anti-DEI escalation. DD: In Diersen v. GAO, the courts ruled that discrimination against older White males was not only legal, but that it is what Congress wanted.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/12/18/trump-anti-dei-eeoc-discrimination-white-men/87830694007/

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/marijuana-drug-reclassify-trump-administration-db8eb9b4
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly blame Trump for their inflation. What has helped you deal with inflation? Ever since my wife and I got married in 1978, we a) spent money like we had only one paycheck instead of two and b) saved as much as we could for our retirement.
https://www.wsj.com/video/series/potomac-watch-strassel/wsj-opinion-donald-trump-tries-to-recover-on-inflation-and-affordability/BD7DA3B4-DD5F-4300-BAAB-75CE2F90406C

WION
— DD: Biden did not “allow” 25 million illegals to come in, he brought them in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm2mC0ysRio

NPR
— Inflation cools slightly in November as worries about affordability grip Americans. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly blame Trump for their inflation. What has helped you deal with inflation? Ever since my wife and I got married in 1978, we a) spent money like we had only one paycheck instead of two and b) saved as much as we could for our retirement.
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/nx-s1-5647510

COLUMBIA SPECTATOR
— Yes, Columbia needs more conservative professors. DD: Virtually all federal employees are Democrats. While I worked for the Democrats who ran the federal government for almost 30 years, virtually all of my superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates were Democrats. Many, most, and at times, virtually all of them were veterans who blamed Republicans for America losing the Vietnam War.
https://www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025/12/19/yes-columbia-needs-more-conservative-professors/

NIEMAN LAB
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly use DEI to get rid of Republicans who are the following once and for all: conservative, White, male, older, heterosexual, married, non-poor, Protestant, German American, and/or whose ancestors have been in America for a long time.
https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/dei-dies-in-darkness-taking-integrity-with-it/https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/the-dei-whiplash-continues/
https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/the-dei-whiplash-continues/

ATLANTIC
— Rescheduling Marijuana Is an Enormous Mistake. Trump’s executive order does little more than offer a tax cut to an industry that profits from addiction. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/12/trump-marijuana-rescheduling-tax/685317/

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GOVERNMENT AUDITING
— A Letter from the U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro. DD: If Gingrich had reformed GAO instead of gutting it, there would be no need for DOGE. If Gingrich had reformed GAO instead of gutting it, my Democrat GAO superiors would not have been able to a) force me to take a $23,472 (21%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980, b) keep me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for GAO, c) delay my promotions and never promote me beyond GS-13, d) always rank me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance, and e) force me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.
https://intosaijournal.org/journal-entry/a-letter-from-the-u-s-comptroller-general-and-chair-of-the-intosai-journal/

FREE MALAYSIA TODAY
— Should candidate eligibility include health requirements? DD: What about additional requirements including relevant education, relevant work experience, relevant professional certifications, and relevant professional licenses? If I had run for a government office, I would have stressed my relevant education (master’s degrees in business, accounting, and finance), my relevant work experience (almost 9 years working for IRS and almost 18 for GAO), my relevant professional certifications (accounting, internal auditing, fraud examination, government financial management, financial services auditing, and forensic accounting), and my relevant professional license (CPA).
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2025/12/19/should-candidate-eligibility-include-health-requirements

TIMES OF INDIA
— Trump’s H-1B Visa Chaos: Jobs At Risk, Families Traumatized As Wait Pushed To Late 2026. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/global-pulse/trumps-h-1b-visa-chaos-jobs-at-risk-families-traumatised-as-wait-pushed-to-late-2026/videoshow/126062036.cms
— Why Is India The Hardest Hit By Donald Trump’s H-1B Visa Crackdown? DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/short-videos/briefs/why-is-india-the-hardest-hit-by-donald-trumps-h-1b-visa-crackdown-global-pulse/shorttakes/126061288.cms

December 18, 2025 Evening Edition

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— Trump signs executive order that would reclassify marijuana as less dangerous drug. DD: Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/reclassification-weed-president-donald-trump-signs-executive-order-today-would-reclassify-marijuana-less-dangerous/18298372/
— Trump administration moves to cut off gender-affirming care for transgender youth
https://abc7chicago.com/post/trump-administration-moves-cut-off-gender-affirming-care-transgender-youth-new-hhs-restrictions/18298513/
— Trump’s handpicked board votes to rename Washington performing arts center the Trump-Kennedy Center
https://abc7chicago.com/post/trumps-handpicked-board-votes-rename-washington-performing-arts-center-trump-kennedy/18298307/

NBC5
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) bring in more illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/new-illinois-laws-will-impact-thousands-of-students-in-the-new-year/3865125/

FOX32
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more LGBTQ.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/buffalo-grove-volunteers-send-handwritten-support-cards-lgbtq-people-nationwide

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— President Donald Trump signs order that would reclassify marijuana as less dangerous drug. DD: Pot is poison. In 2019, I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/trump-executive-order-reclassify-marijuana/
— New Trump administration proposals could further reduce gender-affirming care for minors in Illinois. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly make children sexually active LGBTQers.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/gender-affirming-care-trump-proposals/
— State commission highlights ‘unjustified’ uses of tear gas, pepper spray by federal immigration agents
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/illinois-accountability-commission-pritzker-border-patrol/
— President Donald Trump’s Justice Department sues Illinois over sensitive state voter data
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/18/illinois-voter-data-lawsuit/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Durbin, Duckworth seek criminal probe of Chicago’s immigration blitz — even after Trump leaves office
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/12/18/durbin-duckworth-criminal-investigation-operation-midway-blitz-ice-tactics
— New state panel takes shot at holding Trump immigration blitz to account: ‘We will not forget’  The chairman of the newly formed Illinois Accountability Commission acknowledged their eventual recommendations are likely to “fall on deaf ears” in the Trump administration.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/12/18/illinois-accountability-commission-trump-immigration-midway-blitz

DAILY HERALD
— Palatine Township trustees this week approved a $1.65 million tax levy for its community mental health board.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251218/local-politics/a-good-thing-for-people-palatine-township-levies-first-tax-for-community-mental-health-board/

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— Justice Department sues for access to Illinois voter rolls
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics/justice-department-sues-access-illinois-voter-rolls
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Pot is poison.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/cannabis/trump-signals-marijuana-rescheduling-tax-relief-ahead

CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— The head of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has urged white men to report workplace discrimination based on race or sex.  DD: In Diersen v. GAO, the courts ruled that discrimination against older White males was not only legal, but that it is what Congress wanted.
https://www.news-gazette.com/news/nation-world/head-of-workplace-rights-agency-urges-white-men-to-report-discrimination/article_6026fc17-ba43-52f4-98bc-f22f3c675724.html

NPR ILLINOIS
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly demonize, denigrate, and condemn Trump
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-12-17/with-costs-a-growing-worry-for-americans-trump-seeks-to-defend-his-economic-record

NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY
— North Park University Invites Dreamers to Apply for TheDream.US Scholarship. DD: Did you get any scholarships? I did not. My critics/opponents have always used that against me.
https://www.northpark.edu/stories/north-park-university-invites-dreamers-to-apply-for-thedream-us-scholarship/

DUCKWORTH
— Duckworth-Led Provisions to Protect Rock Island Arsenal. DD: During the first 6 months of 1989, I worked for GAO at the Rock Island Arsenal on an audit of DOD’s 1990 ammunition budget request. SEE: https://www.gao.gov/assets/150/148194.pdf
https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/news/press-releases/duckworth-led-provisions-to-protect-rock-island-arsenal-support-illinois-quantum-technology-research-and-safeguard-care-for-veterans-passes-congress-awaits-presidents-signature
(FROM THE ARTICLE: By Constructing a Child Development Center at Rock Island Arsenal: The bill authorizes $50 million in Major Construction funds for a new addition to the Child Development Center at Rock Island Arsenal and to consolidate the existing facilities and make upgrades to meet DoD guidelines and safety requirements, ensuring that eligible families at Rock Island Arsenal have a safe, modern facility for childcare.)

CAPITOL FAX
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2025/12/18/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-440/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Pritzker disputes Trump claims, says Illinois GOP backs president ‘100%’
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_594bb86c-7336-490e-936f-3e3c69b17fc0.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/pritzker-disputes-trump-claims-says-160400287.html

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Mamdani says free buses means fewer assaults over ‘fare collection’
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3926075/mamdani-free-buses-fewer-assaults-fare-collection/

NEW YORK POST
— Mamdani appointee made vile antisemitic comments in unearthed social media posts
https://nypost.com/2025/12/18/us-news/zohran-mamdani-appointee-catherine-almonte-da-costa-made-vile-antisemitic-comments-in-unearthed-social-media-posts/
— NYC Council pushes bill to create Zohran Mamdani’s $1B ‘safety’ agency that would pull cops off some 911 calls
https://nypost.com/2025/12/18/us-news/nyc-council-pushes-bill-to-create-zohran-mamdanis-1b-safety-agency-that-will-pull-cops-off-some-911-calls/

BREITBART
— ‘It’s Open Season’: Antisemitic Attacks in NYC Highlight Broader Threat, ‘This is Mamdani’s NY’
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/12/18/its-open-season-antisemitic-attacks-in-nyc-highlight-broader-threat-this-is-mamdanis-ny/
— Inflation Unexpectedly Tumbles To 2.7%, Much Better Than Expected, Core Inflation Falls to Lowest Since Early 2021
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2025/12/18/inflation-unexpectedly-tumbles-to-2-7-much-better-than-expected/

DAILY SIGNAL
— EEOC Urges White Males to Report Discrimination—And Promptly. DD: In Diersen v. GAO, the courts ruled that discrimination against older White males was not only legal, but that it is what Congress wanted.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/12/18/eeoc-urges-white-males-report-discrimination-promptly/amp/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: White males who have faced discrimination should file a federal complaint, the head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says. In a video posted on social media Thursday, EEOC Acting Chairwoman Andrea Lucas advised potential victims of discrimination to file complaints in a timely manner. “Are you a white male who has experienced discrimination at work based on your race or sex?” Lucas said. “You may have a claim to recover money under federal civil rights laws.” The Trump administration has opposed diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in the government, and terminated DEI federal grants. A person has a deadline of 180 days from the alleged discrimination to make a complaint, according to the EEOC. “Contact the EOC as soon as possible. Time limits are typically strict for filing a claim,” Lucas continued. “The EOC is the federal agency charged with enforcing federal antidiscrimination law against businesses and other private sector employers.” “The EOC is committed to identifying, attacking, and eliminating all forms of race and sex discrimination, including against white male applicants, and employees,” Lucas clarified. The EEOC website says the 180-day deadline can be extended up to 300 days if a state or local agency enforces a law that prohibits employment discrimination on the same basis, and would have to first hear the case. Although the EEOC has frequently taken up discrimination cases on behalf of minority groups, earlier this year the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that someone who belongs to a “majority group” can sue for discrimination, in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services. That case involved a straight woman who alleged she was passed over for employment due to her sexual identity, but the “majority group” principle would likely apply for a white male. During his first term, President Donald Trump appointed Lucas—a former labor and litigation lawyer at the firm of Gibson Dunn—to the EEOC, and the Senate confirmed her in 2020. After Trump returned for a second term in January, he designated her as the acting chair of commission. [Lucas is not related to The Daily Signal reporter who wrote this news story.] Lucas has not been confirmed by the Senate as chair. But, as previously noted in The Daily Signal, as acting chair she forced major law firms to stop using DEI to discriminate based on race.  She further ordered the EEOC to be evenhanded in its enforcement priorities. Lucas made it easier for employees to report DEI discrimination and made it a priority to protect Americans from religious discrimination. This is move is a Trump administration “stunt,” said Markus Batchelor, national political director at People For the American Way, a liberal activist group. “Stunts like this demonstrate the lengths Trump is willing to go to dismantle institutions meant to do good and make them tools that once again unbalance the scales in favor of privilege and white supremacy,” Batchelor told The Grio. “A call for ‘color-blind, merit-based’ employment falls flat from a White House that is overwhelmingly white, wealthy, and unqualified to govern.”)

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

NEW YORK TIMES
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote more foreign truck drivers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/business/trump-immigrants-trucks.html

WASHINGTON POST
— Trump’s unconvincing argument on affordability. Hyperbole is not a plan. DD: What did you do to help you afford things? To help me afford cars, college expenses, real estate, etc., I took bad jobs that my peers would never stoop to take. I a) did yard work 1962-1964. b) delivered newspapers 1962-1966, c) washed dishes 1964-1966, d) cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966, e) delivered mail 1966-1969, f) worked on an automotive assembly line in 1970, g) sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971, h) pumped more gasoline 1971-1972, i) collected delinquent federal taxes 1971-1980, and j) audited federal agencies 1980-1997. I earned a) a job-related bachelor’s degree in 1970, b) job-related master’s degrees in 1976, 1980, and 1997, c) job-related professional certifications in 1979, 1981, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997, and a job-related professional license in 1981. I was able to do the aforesaid even though I was not viewed as being college material. Neither of my parents attended college. My father was only the first of my ancestors to earn a high school diploma. My mother never attended high school. I have never been able to run because I have a bone disease. My eyesight has never been correctable to 20/20. I have always had partial red/green color blindness. My ACT score was only 24. I only just barely made it into the upper 20% of my high school class. According to my critics/opponents, I have always been stupid. They stress that I got no scholarships or student loans and that had to work my way through college. One could argue that if I could do the aforesaid with the limitations that I had, just about anyone could do what I did academically and professionally.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/18/trump-speech-tariffs-economy-checks/
— How the end of extra Affordable Care Act subsidies could affect you.  DD: Are/were your healthcare insurance premiums subsidized? Ever since I became a part-time postal employee when was 18 in 1966, my critics/opponents have been furious that the federal government has paid 72% of my healthcare insurance premiums. They have been even more furious ever since I got married when I was 29 and the federal government started paying 72% of my wife’s healthcare insurance premiums. That 72% subsidy is a major reason why people despise/hate federal employees, federal retirees, and their spouses. That 72% subsidy helped me withstand tremendous efforts by my Democrat superiors in the federal government to waste my career and to get rid of me.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/12/18/affordable-care-act-subsidies-expire/

FORTUNE
— Mamdani gets 74,000 resumes in sign of New York City’s job-market misery
https://fortune.com/2025/12/17/mamdani-gets-74000-resumes-in-sign-of-new-york-citys-job-market-misery/

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

GUARDIAN
— FCC chair suggests agency is not independent amid fears of Trump power-grab. Brendan Carr’s declaration raises concerns amid Trump efforts to exert greater control over independent agencies. DD: GAO is not an independent agency. Congress funds it. It works for Congress.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/dec/17/trump-fcc-brendan-carr

December 18, 2025

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— DD: Democrat leaders say Trump hits Biden and old grievances, touts ‘our country is back’ in address
https://abc7chicago.com/post/trump-address-nation-1st-year-office-2026-agenda/18296354/

NBC5
— DD: Democrat leaders say Trump gives partisan address insisting economy is stronger than many voters feel
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/trump-white-house-live-address-agenda/3865053/

FOX 32
— Video gambling costs. DD: I led the successful effort to stop video gambling in Wheaton in 2009.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/fmc-phn1jqxq2h0d645s

DAILY HERALD
— FRONT PAGE WITH THREE PHOTOS: Senate hopefuls Kelly, Krishnamoorthi, Stratton target Trump, talk affordability at first debate. DD: If I was still the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois chairman and an Illinois Center Right Coalition officer, those organizations would still be hosting candidate debates. What did you do to help you afford things? To help me afford cars, college expenses, real estate, etc., I took bad jobs that my peers would never stoop to take. I a) did yard work 1962-1964. b) delivered newspapers 1962-1966, c) washed dishes 1964-1966, d) cleaned golf shoes, chipped slag, and pumped gasoline in 1966, e) delivered mail 1966-1969, f) worked on an automotive assembly line in 1970, g) sold tires, automotive services, and major appliances 1970-1971, h) pumped more gasoline 1971-1972, i) collected delinquent federal taxes 1971-1980, and j) audited federal agencies 1980-1997. I earned a) a job-related bachelor’s degree in 1970, b) job-related master’s degrees in 1976, 1980, and 1997, c) job-related professional certifications in 1979, 1981, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997, and a job-related professional license in 1981. I was able to do the aforesaid even though I was not viewed as being college material. Neither of my parents attended college. My father was only the first of my ancestors to earn a high school diploma. My mother never attended high school. I have never been able to run because I have a bone disease. My eyesight has never been correctable to 20/20. I have always had partial red/green color blindness. My ACT score was only 24. I only just barely made it into the upper 20% of my high school class. According to my critics/opponents, I have always been stupid. They stress that I got no scholarships or student loans and that had to work my way through college. One could argue that if I could do the aforesaid with the limitations that I had, just about anyone could do what I did academically and professionally.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251217/nation-and-world-politics/senate-hopefuls-kelly-krishnamoorthi-stratton-target-trump-talk-affordability-at-first-debate/

RIVER BENDER
— DD: Pritzker ever-increasingly demonizes, denigrates, and condemns Trump.
https://www.riverbender.com/news/details/gov-pritzker-in-primetime-address-donald-trump-ignores-reality-skyrocketing-costs-89192.cfm?

NPR ILLINOIS
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly side with Venezuela against America.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-12-17/venezuelas-government-says-trumps-move-to-block-tankers-is-an-outrageous-threat

CHALKBEAT CHICAGO
— Illinois quietly changes scholarship for teachers of color amid lawsuit, threats from federal government. DD: Did you get any scholarships? I did not. My critics/opponents have always that against me.
https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025/12/17/illinois-teacher-diversity-scholarship-changes/

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

CENTER SQUARE ILLINOIS
— Illinois tops nation for public sector union political spending
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/article_2c1888f3-fb69-4c90-a9db-4ce54dc1804b.html

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

NEW YORK POST
— Trump tells America: ‘I’m fixing’ Biden’s mess in chart-filled primetime address
https://nypost.com/2025/12/17/us-news/trump-tells-america-im-fixing-bidens-mess-in-chart-filled-primetime-address/
— House crushes Dems’ attempt to rein in Trump’s military campaign against Venezuela, ‘illegitimate Maduro Regime’
https://nypost.com/2025/12/17/world-news/house-dems-force-vote-to-rein-in-trump-on-venezuela-as-white-house-ramps-up-pressure-on-maduro/
— Chicago-based cash-strapped ‘woke’ Wall Street watchdog braces for Trump administration crackdown on ‘political’ nonprofits
https://nypost.com/2025/12/17/business/woke-private-equity-watchdog-braces-for-trump-administration-crackdown-on-political-nonprofits-sources/

AMAC
— How DEI Is Destroying the American Family
https://amac.us/newsline/politics/how-dei-is-destroying-the-american-family/

BREITBART
— DHS Rips ‘Sanctuary’ Democrats Who Protected Deadly Migrant Trucker
https://www.breitbart.com/immigration/2025/12/17/dhs-rips-sanctuary-democrats-who-protected-deadly-migrant-trucker/

CAMPUS REFORM
— 5 public colleges that rebranded DEI offices in 2025. Here are five public colleges that seemingly attempted to pass DEI off of as something else this year.
https://www.campusreform.org/article/5-public-colleges-rebranded-dei-offices-2025/29114
— Six GOP-led states push sweeping bans on public funding for DEI programs
https://www.campusreform.org/article/six-gop-led-states-push-sweeping-bans-public-funding-dei-programs/29155

DAILY SIGNAL
— ‘PROGRESSIVE POLITICAL MACHINE’: America’s 4 Largest Unions Fund Politics Using Members’ Dues

https://www.dailysignal.com

DAILY WIRE
— Renewing The American Merit Ideal. If you want a happier human society, meritocracy is the way. DD: According to my critics/opponents, a) they are successful because of meritocracy and b) I owe my successes to my benefitting from discrimination against those who are minority, female, younger, veteran, unmarried, LGBTQ, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, noncitizen, etc.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/renewing-the-american-merit-ideal

EPOCH TIMES
— Trump Highlights Measures to Drive Down Costs in Prime-Time Address. The president said his administration ‘inherited a mess’ and is fixing the economy with a series of policy decisions.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-highlights-measures-to-drive-down-costs-in-prime-time-address-5959737
— Trump Announces $1,776 ‘Warrior Dividends’ to Military Members. The president said the checks are ‘already on the way’ to members of the military.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-announces-1776-warrior-dividends-to-military-members-5959745

FEDERALIST
— Large School Systems See Plummeting Foreign-Language Students Thanks To Immigration Enforcement. DD: What percent of students in America are noncitizens?
https://thefederalist.com/2025/12/18/large-school-systems-see-plummeting-foreign-language-students-thanks-to-immigration-enforcement/

FOX BUSINESS
— ‘I INHERITED A MESS’: Trump UNLEASHES explosive economic victory speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-_3-KBibJw

FOX NEWS
— Trump speech sparks optimism as ‘gangbuster’ economy forecasted for 2026. Newt Gingrich joins commentators in expressing economic confidence after president’s address.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/trump-speech-sparks-optimism-gangbuster-economy-forecasted-2026
— Trump touts bringing country back from ‘brink of ruin.’  Trump unveiled new ‘Warrior Dividend’ checks that will be sent to US troops by Christmas.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-touts-bringing-country-back-from-brink-ruin
— Trump gives service members special Christmas gift: ‘Warrior dividend.’  ‘And the checks are already on the way,’ Trump said.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/military-troops-get-special-christmas-gift-president-says-warrior-dividend
— Netflix cancels gay military series the Pentagon called ‘woke garbage’
https://www.foxnews.com/media/netflix-cancels-gay-military-series-pentagon-called-woke-garbage.print

PJ MEDIA
— Trump’s Speech: Panic Is What the Left Wants to See
https://pjmedia.com/david-manney/2025/12/18/trumps-speech-panic-is-what-the-left-want-to-see-n4947223
— House Passes Act to Screen Unaccompanied Minors Despite Major Dem Opposition
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/12/17/house-passes-act-to-screen-unaccompanied-minors-despite-major-dem-opposition-n4947178
— Want Proof That Dems Love Illegal Alien Criminals? Here Are Three Examples.
https://pjmedia.com/catherinesalgado/2025/12/17/want-proof-that-dems-love-illegal-alien-criminals-here-are-three-examples-n4947183

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

THE HILL
— DD: Democrats and RINOs had no problem when Biden used his powers.
https://thehill.com/homenews/5654358-most-in-new-poll-say-trump-use-of-presidential-power-goes-too-far/
— Democratic socialism gets a trial run on Broadway with Mamdani
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/5651845-democratic-socialism-big-apple/

REUTERS
— US House defeats bids to rein in Trump Venezuela campaign. DD: Democrats and RINOs had no problem when Biden used his powers.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-defeats-bids-rein-trump-venezuela-campaign-2025-12-17/

CBS NEWS
— DD: The Democrat Party platform ever-increasingly promotes more and more and more homelessness. Under the Democrats, Illinois, your county, your township, your municipality, and school district will house more and more and more homeless.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/washington-dc-homeless-health-care-costs/

NEW YORK TIMES
— Full Transcript of President Trump’s Speech on the Economy. The president sharply attacked his predecessor while insisting that his own record contained nothing but victories.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/us/politics/trump-speech-transcript-economy.html
— Trump Finds That Retribution Isn’t Always So Easy. DD: Of course, according to my critics/opponents, all the adverse actions that they took against me were justified. I should write about my critics/opponents, the adverse actions that they took against me, and why those adverse actions were not justified.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/us/politics/trump-retribution-revenge.html
— Law Schools See a Decline In Students Of Color. DD: My IRS employee handbook encouraged me to take graduate evening courses in business, accounting, and law.  While I took graduate evening courses in business 1972-1976 and accounting 1976-1980, a big reason why I did not take courses in law was that the tuition and books would not be tax deductible.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/us/law-school-black-student-enrollment.html

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Karl Rove: Alarm Bells Ring, Are You Listening? Between his rallies and online ranting, Trump is setting up a nasty midterm loss.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/alarm-bells-ring-are-you-listening-8a1b62f8
— Phil Gramm and John Early: The Biggest Fraud in Welfare. The government gives tens of thousands of dollars in benefits to the poor, which it doesn’t count as income.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-biggest-fraud-in-welfare-c325638d
— The A’s at Yale Are Inevitable. ‘When nearly everyone admitted is excellent, excellence becomes common. That isn’t the end of meritocracy—it is what meritocracy looks like at the top.’ DD: According to my critics/opponents, a) they are successful because of meritocracy and b) I owe my successes to my benefitting from discrimination against those who are minority, female, younger, veteran, unmarried, LGBTQ, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, noncitizen, etc.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-as-at-yale-are-inevitable-grade-inflation-evaluations-6e91beca

CITY JOURNAL
— Does Poverty Cause Crime? DD: What are the demographics of those who commit crimes?
https://www.city-journal.org/article/new-york-city-poverty-violent-crime

APOLLO ACADEMY
— US Demographics Are Changing. Although the US population continues to grow each year, the number of families with children under 18 reached a peak of around 37 million in 2007 and has declined to approximately 33 million in 2024, see chart below. This reflects demographic changes such as lower birth rates and aging of the population, even as overall population growth continues. DD: America is doomed if this trend is not reversed.
https://www.apolloacademy.com/us-demographics-are-changing/

JD SUPRA
— SCOTUS Will Expand President’s Power to Fire Members of Independent Agencies, Setting Stage for Workplace Regulation Shake-Up. DD: Because federal courts ruled that my Democrat GAO superiors had the power to force me to retire, that is, that they had the power to fire me, Trump has the power to fire any federal employee he wants to.
https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/predictions-scotus-will-expand-4998321/

LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly blame Republicans for all problems that those who are the following have: liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, unmarried, LGBTQ, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and/or are citizens of foreign countries.
https://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/college-admissions-and-equity-research-brief/

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

DAILY MAIL
— Bovino gets in VERY public spat with city mayor as he gives him rude awakening
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15393519/Trump-border-patrol-boss-public-spat.html

SOCIALIST PARTY
— The system is rigged for the rich – Fight for socialist change! DD: My critics/opponents promote socialism. According to them, I owe all my income and all my assets to my benefitting from a) working for the socialist federal government and b) capitalist discrimination against those who have less money than I have and are minority, female, younger, unmarried, LGBTQ, veteran, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America as long as mine have, and/or are citizens of foreign countries.
https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/146385/17-12-2025/the-system-is-rigged-for-the-rich-fight-for-socialist-change/

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
— DD: Non-Whites ever-increasingly blame Whites for the problems that non-Whites have.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2025/12/why-systematic-racism-has-a-lot-to-do-with-migration-and-asylum-systems/

December 17, 2025 Evening Edition

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— Apparent arrest made by federal agents in Chicago area amid concerns of Bovino’s return
https://abc7chicago.com/post/border-patrol-chicago-today-little-village-business-concerned-amid-immigration-arrests-greg-bovino-returns-area/18295179/
— Communities on edge amid apparent immigration-related arrests, Bovino’s return to Chicago area
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7dtqITqHlY
— Trump writes partisan plaques for predecessors in his newly installed Presidential Walk of Fame
https://abc7chicago.com/post/trump-writes-partisan-plaques-predecessors-newly-installed-presidential-walk-fame/18295678/

NBC5
— Judge blocks ICE from requiring members of Congress to provide prior notice before detention center visits
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-blocks-ice-congress-prior-notice-detention-center-visits/
— House passes GOP health care bill without ACA extension
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/house-health-care-vote-republicans-congress/

CBS2
— Bovino and agents return to Chicago area
https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/video/border-patrol-cmdr-gregory-bovino-and-agents-return-to-chicago-area/

WGN9
— Border Patrol Commander Bovino back in Chicago
https://wgntv.com/news/operation-midway-blitz/border-patrol-commander-greg-bovino-back-in-chicago/

FOX32
— Evanston mayor Biss confronts Border Patrol chief amid rising immigration fears
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/evanston-mayor-confronts-border-patrol-chief-amid-rising-immigration-fears
— Bovino ramps up immigration raids in Chicago
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/fmc-j23iafl6hbu6nunz
— Chicago groups vow resistance as Border Patrol chief, agents return to area
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-groups-vow-resistance-border-patrol-chief-agents-return
— Chicago vote-by-mail applications open for 2026 primary election
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/chicago-vote-by-mail-applications-open-2026-primary-election

WTTW
— Biss Confronts Bovino as Immigration Enforcement Continues
https://news.wttw.com/2025/12/17/evanston-mayor-daniel-biss-confronts-border-patrol-chief-greg-bovino-immigration
— 4 Republicans Defy Speaker Johnson to Force House Vote on Extending ACA Subsidies
https://news.wttw.com/2025/12/17/4-republicans-defy-speaker-johnson-force-house-vote-extending-aca-subsidies

WBEZ
— Bovino’s Border Patrol caravan hits Chicago area for second day, making arrests in Evanston. Bovino had a tense standoff with Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss after federal agents arrested a man at a gas station Wednesday. Later, agents broke out the window of a pickup truck to detain two men outside of a Home Depot.
https://www.wbez.org/immigration/2025/12/17/chicago-immigration-ice-border-patrol-bovino-president-donald-trump-deport-midway-blitz

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— Bovino praises police assistance in immigration enforcement as CPD denies support
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/bovino-praises-local-police-assistance-in-immigration-enforcement-argues-with-evanston-mayor-daniel-biss/
— Bovino in Evanston
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_lQWyqU0Xs
— Trump keeping 300 Illinois National Guard troops federalized until April despite no missions
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/illinois-national-guard-federalized-april/
— Illinois Republicans in Congress urge President Donald Trump not to pardon ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/gop-illinois-congress-madigan-pardon-trump/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Bovino’s Border Patrol caravan hits Chicago area for second day, making arrests in Evanston. Bovino had a tense standoff with Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss after federal agents arrested a man at a gas station on Wednesday. Later, agents broke out the window of a pickup truck to detain two men outside of a Home Depot.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/12/17/chicago-immigration-ice-border-patrol-bovino-president-donald-trump-deport-midway-blitz
— Illinois Republicans tell President Trump to reject Michael Madigan pardon request. U.S. Reps. Darin LaHood, Mary Miller and Mike Bost, staunch Trump allies, penned the request on Tuesday.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/michael-madigan/2025/12/17/illinois-republican-congress-members-president-trump-michael-madigan-pardon-request

CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly fight deportation of their illegals.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics/border-patrol-returns-haunt-chicago-economy-holidays

EVANSTON NOW
— Immigration raids return to Evanston
https://evanstonnow.com/immigration-raids-return-to-evanston/

ALTON TELEGRAPH
— Trump writes partisan plaques for predecessors in his newly installed Presidential Walk of Fame
https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/trump-s-white-house-adds-partisan-plaques-to-21248405.php

WAND TV
— Sen. Mark Kelly calls Pentagon investigation into his remarks a move to chill military dissent. DD: My Democrat superiors in the federal government chilled my dissent big time. I ever-increasingly dissented their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, and age discrimination. They ever-increasingly wasted my career, took more and bigger adverse actions against me, and then forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997.
https://www.wandtv.com/news/national/sen-mark-kelly-calls-pentagon-investigation-into-his-remarks-a-move-to-chill-military-dissent/article_dbddfc77-3bfc-5fa7-834f-9f52554bf9b4.html

WIFR
— Trump will sign executive order to reclassify marijuana, loosen federal restrictions. DD: Pot is poison. I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton in 2019.
https://www.wifr.com/2025/12/17/trump-will-sign-executive-order-reclassify-marijuana-loosen-federal-restrictions/

CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Woman sues IRS to have pets classified as dependents
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/woman-sues-irs-to-have-pets-classified-as-dependents/amp/

CITIES 92.9
— Amid continued enforcement, Pritzker tells ICE protesters: ‘Do as you have’
https://www.cities929.com/2025/12/17/watch-amid-continued-enforcement-pritzker-tells-ice-protesters-do-as-you-have/

BLOCK CLUB CHICAGO
— Bovino Leads Caravan Through Chicago Before Clashing With Evanston Mayor. Wednesday marked Bovino’s second day back on the job in the Chicago area after he left in November.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/12/17/bovino-leads-caravan-through-chicago-and-suburbs-clashes-with-evanston-mayor/

DURBIN
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly charge Trump with abusing his powers. The courts in Diersen v. GAO ruled that my Democrat GAO superiors had the power to force me to retire, that is, to fire me, when I was 49 years old in 1997 because I had been an active member in a class action lawsuit since I was 40 in 1988 that charged them with reversed discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation.
https://www.durbin.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/durbin-highlights-the-senates-responsibility-to-hold-the-executive-branch-accountable-amid-president-trumps-abuses-of-powers

CHALKBEAT
— Illinois quietly changes scholarship for teachers of color amid lawsuit, threats from federal government
https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025/12/17/illinois-teacher-diversity-scholarship-changes/

CAPITOL FAX
— Afternoon roundup
https://capitolfax.com/2025/12/17/isabel%e2%80%99s-afternoon-roundup-438/
— Bovino: ‘We’re here for the taxpayer’
https://capitolfax.com/2025/12/17/bovino-were-here-for-the-taxpayer/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Biss Calls for Repeal of Second Amendment
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/17/biss-calls-for-repeal-of-second-amendment/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Trump owes America — and the Reiner family — an apology
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/17/donald-trump-owes-america-reiner-family-apology/
— Trump wounds MAGA brand with inhuman rant on Rob Reiner. Polls show once-fierce supporters are bailing in droves.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/17/trump-wounds-maga-brand-inhuman-rant-rob-reiner/

NEW YORK POST
— Trump rips predecessors Biden, Obama and Bush with new plaques on ‘Presidential Walk of Fame’
https://nypost.com/2025/12/17/us-news/trump-rips-predecessors-biden-obama-and-bush-with-new-plaques-on-presidential-walk-of-fame/

COLLEGE FIX
— Illinois amends ‘minority teachers’ scholarship to end federal lawsuit
https://www.thecollegefix.com/illinois-amends-minority-teachers-scholarship-to-end-federal-lawsuit/

FOX NEWS
— Protesters CONFRONT federal immigration agents in Chicago. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino details street arrests of illegal immigrants in Chicago as residents protest immigration agents.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6386612177112
— ICE chief fires back at ‘100% false’ sanctuary city ‘harassment’ claims. Todd Lyons says sanctuary cities force agents into communities by releasing convicted criminals.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/ice-chief-fires-back-sanctuary-city-harassment-claims-100-false

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

PBS
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly blame Trump for everything that is bad.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/americans-are-more-dissatisfied-with-trumps-handling-of-the-economy-than-ever-poll-shows

WORKERS WORLD
— Young workers reject capitalism’s dead-end future. DD: Under socialism, everyone is a government employee. Ever since I became a government employee when I was 18 years old in 1966, my critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that if I had been a private sector employee, I never would have had the career successes that I had. They have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted a) that career advancement in government is much easier than it is in the private sector, but nevertheless, I never earned more than $153, 151/year in today’s dollars notwithstanding the fact that I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. In my defense, my Democrat superiors in the federal government wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, and/or veteran. How successful in the private sector would someone with my qualifications have been?
https://www.workers.org/2025/12/89607/

December 17, 2025

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

NBC5
— Illinois toll hikes one step closer to reality after Pritzker signs transit funding bill. Under the proposed increase, tolls for passenger vehicles would rise $0.45, while semi drivers would be subjected to a greater hike.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/illinois-toll-hikes-one-step-closer-to-reality-after-pritzker-signs-transit-funding-bill/3864698/

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— After vandals wreck anti-ICE Nativity scene, Evanston church gets creative. Lake Street Church removes the figure of the Virgin Mary wearing a gas mask, which was smashed by vandals, from the display. In its place, church staff put up a sign stating that Mary is being detained by immigration agents. DD: How strongly have Democrats taken over your church?
https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/12/16/lake-street-church-evanston-nativity-scene-vandalism

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG PICTURE: Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and agents return to Chicago in show of force across city and suburbs.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/16/border-patrol-activity-cicero-chicago/
— DD: How strongly have Democrats taken over your church?
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/opinion-las-posadas-holiday-christmas/

DAILY HERALD
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG PICTURE: DD: Democrat leaders make it ever-increasingly clear that they will never stop a) flooding America with their illegals and b) fighting their deportation. Democrat leaders have declared a Second Civil War on Republicans. Illegals are soldiers in the Democrat Army.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251207/news/the-u-s-citizens-getting-caught-in-trumps-immigration-crackdown/

CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Darin LaHood urges Trump to deny Mike Madigan’s plea for a pardon
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/lahood-urges-trump-reject-madigan-pardon/
—  DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly push more pot. Pot is poison.
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/national/trump-admin-could-reclassify-marijuana-would-that-make-it-legal-nationwide/amp/

25 NEWS NOW
— Police dispose of jars of ‘free weed’ that was left near school as holiday gift
https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/12/17/police-dispose-jars-free-weed-that-was-left-near-school-holiday-gift/

WCIA
— Pritzker, Anti-Defamation League call out rising antisemitism across Illinois. DD: What percent of those who come to America are antisemites?
https://www.wcia.com/news/sangamon-county/pritzker-anti-defamation-league-call-out-rising-antisemitism-across-illinois/

CHALKBEAT CHICAGO
— A college degree is most ‘promising path’ to a good job in Illinois
https://www.chalkbeat.org/chicago/2025/12/16/illinois-research-identifies-most-promising-pathways-to-good-jobs/

POLITICO ILLINOIS
— Border patrol returns, tensions rise
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2025/12/17/border-patrol-returns-tensions-rise-00694628
(FROM THE NEWSLETTER: MADIGAN MOVES: Illinois Republican Congress members have written a letter to President Donald Trump urging him to reject former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s request for a presidential pardon. “Granting clemency in this case would not only reward a lifetime of unethical behavior but also embolden other public officials to exploit their offices for personal gain,” wrote Congress members Darin LaHood (IL-16), Mary Miller (IL-15) and Mike Bost (IL-12). Their letter is here.)

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/12/17/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-650/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Trump declares Venezuelan government a ‘terrorist’ organization; orders oil tanker blockade
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/16/trump-orders-blockade-sanctioned-oil-tankers-venezuela-ramping/
— Trump administration urged to review Netflix’s LGBT content for kids as part of merger deal
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/16/concerned-women-america-netflix-childrens-shows-41-lgbtq-content/
— Netflix and the near-complete woke Hollywood takeover. Filmmaking’s future depends on studio independence.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/16/netflix-near-complete-woke-hollywood-takeover/

ALABAMA
— College scholarship in honor of Charlie Kirk created at University of Alabama. DD: Who leads Turning Point USA in Illinois, your county, your township, your municipality, and your school district? Your attitude toward Kirk and toward his assassination say more about you than anything that you can say about yourself.
https://www.al.com/news/2025/12/college-scholarship-in-honor-of-charlie-kirk-created-at-university-of-alabama.html

AMAC
— Deport Illegal Aliens – Laws Require It
https://amac.us/newsline/national-security/deport-illegal-aliens-laws-require-it/

BLAZE
— ‘Enough white guys already’: The war on white men because of DEI in the working world exposed in damning report. DD: According to Democrat and RINO leaders, if Whites and males do better at something than minorities and females, it is because Whites and males benefitted from discrimination against minorities and females.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/damning-report-highlights-the-systematic-erasure-of-white-men-from-various-industries

BREITBART
— Cotton Introduces Bills Enforcing Strict Asylum Seeker Standards, Ending In-State Tuition for Illegal Migrants
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/12/16/exclusive-sen-tom-cotton-introduces-bills-enforcing-strict-asylum-seeker-standards-ending-in-state-tuition-for-illegal-migrants/amp/
— Private sector job growth has shifted to native-born Americans rather than foreigners, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer celebrated on Tuesday. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2025/12/16/labor-secretary-lori-chavez-deremer-private-sector-job-growth-going-to-native-born-americans/

CAMPUS REFORM
— 5 times universities gave scholarships and resources to illegal aliens in 2025. Campus Reform uncovered multiple examples of colleges providing scholarships, legal services, and other resources to illegal alien students even as American students faced rising costs.
https://www.campusreform.org/article/5-times-universities-gave-scholarships-resources-illegal-aliens-2025/29082

CHRISTIAN POST
— How critical theory paved the way for Nick Fuentes
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/how-critical-theory-paved-the-way-for-nick-fuentes.html

COLLEGE FIX
— Anti-Turning Point USA professor used class time to plot disruption
https://www.thecollegefix.com/anti-turning-point-usa-professor-used-class-time-to-plot-disruption-report/

CREATORS SYNDICATE
— The Left Hijacked the US Education System. It’s Time to Take It Back.
https://www.creators.com/read/ken-buck/12/25/the-left-hijacked-the-us-education-system-its-time-to-take-it-back

DAILY CALLER
— New York Voters Warm To Mamdani, His Socialist Policies
https://dailycaller.com/2025/12/16/zohran-mamdani-favorability-policies-siena-poll/

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
— Justice Department Sues the Virgin Islands Police Department for Unconstitutional Practices Resulting in Effective Denials of Gun Permits. DD: When will Democrats officially announce that they will abolish the Second Amendment, confiscate all firearms and ammunition from Republicans, and get rid of Republicans once and for all?
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-virgin-islands-police-department-unconstitutional-practices

FOX BUSINESS
— White House AI czar blasts blue states for inserting ‘woke ideology’ into artificial intelligence. David Sacks targets Colorado’s algorithmic discrimination law as Trump administration moves to cut AI regulations. DD: Democrat and RINO employers use AI a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/white-house-ai-czar-blasts-blue-states-inserting-woke-ideology-artificial-intelligence

FOX NEWS
— Vance tells blue state they ‘might try hiring Americans before suing over Trump’s visa fee explosion. Oregon leads 18 states challenging Trump’s $100K H-1B visa fee as unlawful. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/vance-tells-blue-state-might-try-hiring-americans-before-suing-over-trumps-visa-fee-explosion
— Border Patrol commander returns to Chicago as agents deploy pepper balls in immigrant neighborhood. Gregory Bovino’s appearance draws protests in Little Village neighborhood as Operation Midway Blitz escalates. DD: Democrat leaders make it ever-increasingly clear that they will never stop a) flooding America with their illegals and b) fighting their deportation. Democrat leaders have declared a Second Civil War on Republicans. Illegals are soldiers in the Democrat Army.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/border-patrol-commander-returns-chicago-agents-deploy-pepper-balls-immigrant-neighborhood.amp

NEWSMAX
— Democrat Control Leads to Socialism
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/markwayne-mullin-gavin-newsom-democrats/2025/12/16/id/1238618/
— Bill Would Bar In-State Tuition for Noncitizens
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/tom-cotton-immigration-college-tuition/2025/12/16/id/1238584/

NUMBERS USA
— Twenty Years Ago Today: House Passed Bipartisan Immigration Reduction and Enforcement Legislation
https://www.numbersusa.com/blog/twenty-years-ago-today-house-passed-bipartisan-immigration-reduction-and-enforcement-legislation/

TOWNHALL
— The November Jobs Numbers Are Here, and It’s Good News for American Workers. Since September the private sector has gained 121,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the government has lost 168,000 jobs. DD: Ever since I became a government employee when I was 18 years old in 1966, my critics/opponents have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted that if I had been a private sector employee, I never would have had the career successes that I had. They have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted a) that career advancement in government is much easier than it is in the private sector, but nevertheless, I never earned more than $153, 151/year in today’s dollars notwithstanding the fact that I earned a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. In my defense, my Democrat superiors in the federal government wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, and/or veteran
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/amy-curtis/2025/12/16/jobs-numbers-n2667959

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CNN
— Trump condemns antisemitism after Bondi Beach shooting. DD: What percent of those who come to America are antisemites?
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/16/politics/video/donald-trump-bondi-beach-antisemitism-condemn-vrtc-digvid

ABC NEWS
— Maryland to consider slavery reparations after Gov. Wes Moore’s veto is overridden. DD: In my defense, I have always stressed that while all my ancestors immigrated during the 1840s and 1850s, they always lived in northeast Illinois.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/maryland-slavery-reparations-after-gov-wes-moores-veto-128464864

CBS NEWS
— As food insecurity rises in Georgia, a Stone Mountain pet pantry struggles to keep up with growing demand
https://www.cbsnews.com/atlanta/news/as-food-insecurity-rises-in-georgia-a-stone-mountain-pet-pantry-struggles-to-keep-up-with-growing-demand/

ABC SAN FRANCISCO
— Dozens of protesters arrested after chaining themselves in front of San Francisco ICE building. SF’s ICE building cancels appointments; 44 protesters arrested after chaining themselves to entrances. DD: Democrat leaders make it ever-increasingly clear that they will never stop a) flooding America with their illegals and b) fighting their deportation. Democrat leaders have declared a Second Civil War on Republicans. Illegals are soldiers in the Democrat Army.
https://abc7news.com/post/dozens-protesters-faith-communities-block-entrances-san-francisco-ice-building/18292234/

NEW YORK TIMES
— Johnson Rules Out House Vote to Extend Health Insurance Subsidies. DD: Are/were your healthcare insurance premiums subsidized? Ever since I became a part-time postal employee when was 18 in 1966, my critics/opponents have been furious that the federal government has paid 72% of my healthcare insurance premiums. They have been even more furious ever since I got married when I was 29 and the federal government started paying 72% of my wife’s healthcare insurance premiums. That 72% subsidy is a major reason why people despise/hate federal employees, federal retirees, and their spouses. That 72% subsidy helped me withstand tremendous efforts by my Democrat superiors in the federal government to waste my career and to get rid of me.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/us/politics/obamacare-subsidies-house.html
— New Yorkers Back Mamdani’s Push for Free Child Care. DD: My Democrat GAO superiors ever-increasingly decried the cost of raising their children. They ever-increasingly punished me for my and my wife giving up trying to have children without trying IVF, our not adopting, and our not becoming foster parents. According to them, if we had children, I would not have been able a) to pass the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979, b) to earn a master’s degree in accounting in 1980, c) to pass the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981, and d) to become a licensed CPA in 1981.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/nyregion/mamdani-child-care-poll.html
— DD: To give preference to one demographic is to discriminate against another demographic. To get more votes from those who are the following, Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly give them more preference: minority, female, younger, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and/or are noncitizens. That is, Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly discriminate against those who are White, male, older, Protestant, German American, have ancestors who have been in America for a long time, and/or are citizens of America.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/opinion/young-white-men-discrimination.html
— Our Kids Are the Least Flourishing Generation We Know Of. DD: What motivated you when you were young? Did you have the American Dream? I did. That motivated me to earn a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. But if I was young today, because of my bad demographics, I would not have that motivation because of ever-increasing discrimination against those who share my demographics.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-jonathan-haidt.html

LOS ANGELES TIMES
— Texas launches plan to open Turning Point USA chapters in every high school. DD: Who leads Turning Point USA in Illinois, your county, your township, your municipality, and your school district?
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-12-16/texas-launches-plan-to-open-turning-point-usa-chapters-in-every-high-school

MIAMI TIMES
— Without affirmative action, elite colleges are prioritizing economic diversity in admissions. DD: Because Black and Hispanic parents have lower incomes than White parents, colleges use income as a proxy for race.
https://www.miamitimesonline.com/education/without-affirmative-action-elite-colleges-are-prioritizing-economic-diversity-in-admissions/article_9e22ccca-396d-4d8d-82e7-2c6d42613a47.html

USA TODAY
— Mamdani’s NYC win sparks secession talk by Staten Island Republicans
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/17/mamdani-nyc-staten-island-republicans-secession/87340414007/
— Agents are right to file lawsuit against FBI. DD: Because federal courts ruled that my Democrat GAO superiors had the power to force me to retire, that is, that they had the power to fire me, Trump has the power to fire any federal employee he wants to.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/12/11/fbi-agents-fired-kneeling-first-amendment-lawsuit/87691940007/

FORBES
— DHS Tells Churches To ‘Get A Grip’ As Nativity Scenes Used To Protest ICE. DD: How strongly have Democrats taken over your church?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2025/12/16/dhs-tells-churches-to-get-a-grip-as-nativity-scenes-used-to-protest-ice/

FAST COMPANY
— DD: If you would ask my Democrat GAO superiors what their greatest successes were, they would include their forcing me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997 and giving my job and my preferred corner office to my Black subordinate who had less work experience than I had, who had less education than I had, who had one professional certification while I had six, and who had no professional license like the one I had.
https://www.fastcompany.com/91460876/how-trumps-anti-dei-policies-are-hurting-black-workers

ENTREPRENEUR
— McDonald’s CEO Warns That His Career Advice May ‘Hurt Your Feelings.’ In a new Instagram video, Kempczinski urged professionals to take full responsibility for their careers instead of waiting for someone else to give them an opportunity. Kempczinski’s message frames career growth as a personal responsibility, not a passive undertaking. DD: None of my Democrat Post Office superiors urged me to earn a job-related bachelor’s degree. None of my Democrat Firestone Store, IRS, and GAO superiors urged me to earn job-related master’s degrees, job-related professional certifications, or a job-related professional license. In fact, they discouraged me from doing the aforesaid big time. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, younger, and/or veteran. I should write about that.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/mcdonalds-ceo-this-career-advice-may-hurt-your-feelings/500931

PROPLE
— DD: How strongly have Democrats taken over your church?
https://people.com/why-churches-taking-stand-anti-ice-nativity-scenes-11864296

UNITED METHODIST NEWS
— In a Nativity scene at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus are depicted being held in a detention center, as a protest of how immigrants are being treated in the United States. DD: How strongly have Democrats taken over your church?
https://www.umnews.org/en/news/nativity-scenes-art-spotlight-immigration

INSIDE HIGHER EDUCATION
— Turning Point USA’s Student Membership Keeps Growing. DD: Who leads Turning Point USA in Illinois, your county, your township, your municipality, and your school district?
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/12/17/turning-points-student-membership-keeps-growing

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

ECONOMIC TIMES
— Vance: “Try hiring Americans as states challenge Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee.” DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/jd-vance-says-try-hiring-americans-as-states-challenge-trump-s-100-000-h-1b-visa-fee/ar-AA1SjoUN

PRESS GAZETTE
— Top 50 news websites in the US in November: Ten newsbrands down by over 40% in a year.  DD: The mainstream news media is ever-increasingly nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Democrat Party.
https://pressgazette.co.uk/media-audience-and-business-data/media_metrics/most-popular-websites-news-us-monthly-3/

December 16, 2025

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Hundreds of Chicagoans contribute campaign money in hotly contested mayoral election . . . in New York City?  The Nov. 4 general election between New York mayoral candidates Mamdani, Cuomo and Sliwa drew interest from across the country, including Illinois, where more than 800 people contributed over $70,000 to candidate campaign funds. Mamdani won the race on a progressive platform that’s drawn comparisons to Brandon. DD: Mamdani is not progressive, he is socialist.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/12/16/illinois-chicago-campaign-contributions-new-york-mayor-candidates-zohran-mamdani-andrew-cuomo-curtis-sliwa
— DePaul University lays off 114 staff members. The Lincoln Park-based school said it’s facing financial headwinds due to a significant drop in enrollment among international graduate students, an increased demand for financial aid and the rising costs of benefits.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2025/12/15/depaul-university-layoff-cuts-chicago-lincoln-park

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— DD: Democrat leaders use vandalism of Evanston Church Nativity scene to promote more hatred against Republicans.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/nativity-smashed-mary-evanston-church/
— What the mayor can do to address the rise of anti-Jewish crime in Chicago. DD: Democrats run Chicago. Chicago residents are overwhelmingly Democrat. Enough said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/16/opinion-antisemitism-chicago-solutions/

DAILY HERALD
— Kane County officials: Police can’t enforce new law banning civil immigration arrests at courthouses
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251215/news/kane-county-officials-police-cant-enforce-new-law-banning-civil-immigration-arrests-at-courthouses/
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH PHOTOS: The mainstream news media is ever-increasingly nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Democrat Party.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251215/nation-and-world-politics/another-blue-wave-napervilles-lauren-underwood-working-to-make-it-happen-while-republican-fights/

WGN9
— Local ‘Worst of the Worst’ list includes serious crimes, also traffic and weed offenses
https://wgntv.com/news/wgn-investigates/local-worst-of-the-worst-list-includes-serious-crimes-also-traffic-and-weed-offenses/

FOX32
— Illinois invests $2M to strengthen fight against homelessness. DD: The Democrat Party platform promotes homelessness.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/video/1756794

CENTRAL ILLINOIS PROUD
— Illinois Republicans look for SAFE-T Act changes after Governors comment
https://www.centralillinoisproud.com/news/local-news/safe-t-act-pre-trial-release-concerns/

FOX ILLINOIS
— Trump again says he is considering reclassifying marijuana as less dangerous drug. ‘So we are looking at that very strongly,’ Trump said. DD: Pot is poison. I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton in 2019.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/trump-again-says-he-considering-reclassifying-marijuana-less-dangerous-drug

WAND TV
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly fight getting rid of SNAP fraud.
https://www.wandtv.com/news/national/trump-administration-says-it-needs-to-fight-snap-fraud-but-the-extent-of-the-problem/article_8ec03628-6e2b-5bd1-9050-d73bcc9eeb89.html

WCIA
— IDPH releases first-ever report on alcohol use in Illinois. Nearly 23 percent of Illinois high schoolers reported consuming at least one alcoholic beverage in the past 30 days. DD: If I had been a drinker or a pot smoker, a) S.S. Kresge would not have hired me to wash dishes, b) my ACT score would have been lower, c) I would not have made it into the upper 20% of my class, and d) UIC would not have accepted me.
https://www.wcia.com/news/health-news/idph-releases-first-ever-report-on-alcohol-use-in-illinois/

NPR ILLINOIS
— Springfield receives $2 million to address homelessness. DD: The Democrat Party platform promotes homelessness.
https://www.nprillinois.org/springfield-il/2025-12-15/springfield-receives-2-million-to-address-homelessness

INDIANA STUDENT DAILY
— Indiana University Turning Point USA membership increases significantly after Kirk assassination. DD: Who heads Turning Point USA in Illinois, in your county, in your township, in your municipality, and in your school district? If I had been active in Republican politics when I was in high school, the Democrats who ran the Post Office would not have hired me in 1966. If I had been active in Republican politics while I attended UIC and NIU, the Democrats who ran IRS would not have hired me in 1971. If I had been active in Republican politics while I took graduate courses at Loyola and DePaul, the Democrats who ran GAO would not have hired me in 1980.
https://www.idsnews.com/article/2025/12/charlie-kirk-turning-point-indiana-university-iu-news

POLITICO ILLINOIS
— Pritzker slams Trump’s rhetoric on Reiner
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2025/12/16/pritzker-slams-trumps-rhetoric-on-reiner-00692394

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/2025/12/16/isabel%e2%80%99s-morning-briefing-649/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

GOPUSA ILLINOIS
— QUESTION: What motivates mainstream news media owners, leaders, employees, and advertisers? ANSWER: Electing and reelecting Democrat candidates and defeating Republican candidates. I base that mainly on my serving as the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000. Since 2004, GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters have included links to more than 530,000 articles. – Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com

ILLINOIS REVIEW
— Questions Swirl as GOP Candidate Gabby Shanahan Hands Out Policy Awards to GOP Legislators While Taking Party Cash
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2025/12/questions-swirl-as-gop-candidate-gabby-shanahan-hands-out-policy-awards-to-gop-legislators-while-taking-party-cash.html
— Illinois Republican grassroots activists are voicing growing frustration – not just with State Rep. Norine Hammond’s latest staged photo-op, but now with Aaron Del Mar’s response that many believe let her off the hook.
https://www.illinoisreview.com/illinoisreview/2025/12/grassroots-furious-after-del-mar-plays-nice-following-hammond-photo-op-controversy.html

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

NEW YORK POST
— Top Zohran Mamdani fundraiser celebrated anti-NYPD slurs, said US should be ‘punished for its sins.’  DD: Immigrants to America ever-increasingly stress that their hands are clean, that is, that their ancestors were not responsible for slavery in America. I have always stressed that while all my ancestors immigrated during the 1840s and 1850s, they have always lived in northeast Illinois.
https://nypost.com/2025/12/15/us-news/top-zohran-mamdani-fundraiser-celebrated-anti-nypd-slurs-said-us-should-be-punished-for-its-sins/

BREITBART
— Machado: “Hundreds Of Thousands” Will Return To Venezuela Once Maduro Goes. DD: If/when Republicans regain control of Illinois, how many Republicans will return to Illinois?
https://www.breitbart.com/latin-america/2025/12/15/maria-corina-machado-says-hundreds-of-thousands-venezuelans-will-return-home-once-maduro-goes/amp/

CAMPUS REFORM
— 5 times higher ed pushed socialism in 2025. DD: While I earned four college degrees, I escaped such pushes by majoring in business, accounting, and finance.
https://www.campusreform.org/article/5-times-higher-ed-pushed-socialism-2025/29080

CENTER FOR IMMIGRATION STUDIES
— The H-1B Tsunami: Why the U.S. Must Act to Protect American Jobs, Security, and Prosperity. DD: All my employers would have hired noncitizens instead of me if they could have.
https://cis.org/Siddiqui/H1B-Tsunami-Why-US-Must-Act-Protect-American-Jobs-Security-and-Prosperity
— Were Refugees Resettled under Biden Properly Vetted? A look at the process suggests potential hazards.
https://cis.org/Report/Were-Refugees-Resettled-under-Biden-Properly-Vetted

DAILY CALLER
— Left-Wing Podcaster Jennifer Welch Says With Straight Face Charlie Kirk Justified His Own Murder. DD: Your reaction to Kirk’s assignation says more about you than anything that you can say about yourself.
https://dailycaller.com/2025/12/15/left-wing-podcaster-says-with-straight-face-charlie-kirk-justified-his-own-murder/

DAILY WIRE
— Mamdani And The Expanding Army Of DEI-Trained Social Workers. For the far-left, this is about growing the ranks of credentialed supporters of DEI in public institutions, especially schools.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/mamdani-and-the-expanding-army-of-dei-trained-social-workers

FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM
— Chicago Wants Money for Lawbreaking. FAIR shows city has no standing to object to Trump’s funding cutoff.
https://www.fairus.org/press-release/misc/chicago-wants-money-lawbreaking

FOX NEWS
— AOC’s luxury spending binge in Puerto Rico reignites questions about ‘socialist’ brand: ‘Peak hypocrisy.’ DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that under socialism, everyone gets free housing, free food, free clothing, free medical care, free childcare, free transportation, free education, free everything. They ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that under socialism, you do not have to work unless you want to. More and more and more in America are falling for that.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aocs-luxury-binge-puerto-rico-reignites-questions-about-socialist-brand-peak-hypocrisy.print
— Trump admin launches ‘MerryChristmas.gov’ to roll out 12 days of federal gifts as Christmas comeback ramps up. DD: The Post Office would not have offered me a job when I was 18 years old in 1966 if it had not gotten a budget increase for the 1966 Christmas rush.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-admin-launches-merrychristmas-gov-173246390.html

TOWNHALL
— The Destructive Force Enabling Mayhem. DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly side with those who hate conservatives, hate Republicans, hate Americans, hate Whites, hate males, hate older people, hate heterosexuals, hate married people, hate non-poor people, hate Protestants, hate German Americans, and/or hate those whose ancestors have been in America longer than their ancestors have been.
https://townhall.com/columnists/jeffdavidson/2025/12/16/the-destructive-force-enabling-mayhem-n2667942
(FROM THE ARTICLE: In assessing the weekend from hell, as Islamic terrorists grabbed headlines worldwide – with Jews being slaughtered on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Jews being massacred at Brown University in Providence, and U.S. soldiers and a staff member murdered in Palmyra, Syria – what is the enabling force behind such mayhem? Spoiler Alert: It’s Leftists. As demonstrated each and every day, leftists in America – Democrats and the fakestream media which carries their water – are anti-Western civilization.)

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

THE HILL
— Fewer MAGA Republicans ‘strongly’ support Trump. DD: What makes someone a Trump supporter? Their giving money to Trump? Their attending his rallies? Their voting for candidates he endorses?
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5649278-maga-republicans-donald-trump-approval-drop/

REUTERS
— Ford takes $19.5bn hit amid electric vehicle retreat as Trump policies bite. Company to scrap several electric models and focus on gas and hybrid as US president pulls support for EVs.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/15/ford-electric-vehicles-trump

NEW YORK TIMES
— Trump Confronts a Backlash of the Reasonable
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/opinion/trump-swing-voters-approval-rating.html
— Rob Reiner Fought for Democrats, and They Loved Him Back. The Hollywood star was an unusually hands-on activist and donor, whose deep understanding of politics set him apart from other celebrities.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/us/politics/rob-reiner-democrats-politics.html

WASHINGTON POST
— MAGA leaders warn Trump the base is checking out. Will he listen? Trump’s advisers say he is preparing to hold near-weekly rallies to spend more time with the base, but he has faced criticism from within MAGA in the meantime. DD: What makes someone a member of Trump’s base? Their giving money to Trump? Their attending his rallies? Their voting for candidates he endorses?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/15/trump-base-maga-midterm-voters/
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote socialism. They ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that under socialism, everyone gets free housing, free food, free clothing, free medical care, free childcare, free transportation, free education, free everything. They ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that under socialism, you do not have to work unless you want to. More and more and more in America are falling for that.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/12/15/reckoning-over-capitalism/

NEW YORK SUN
— New ‘Animal Farm’ Adaptation Sparks Backlash Over ‘Woke’ Retelling
https://www.nysun.com/article/new-animal-farm-adaptation-sparks-backlash-over-woke-retelling

USA TODAY
— DD: The mainstream news media ever-increasingly exists to drive Trump’s approval rating down.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2025/12/14/trump-economy-inflation-affordability-hoax/87725036007/
— DD: Gun laws do reduce gun violence. The fewer people that have guns, the more emboldened that criminals are.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/12/15/australia-gun-laws-bondi-beach-shooting/87771943007/

ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION
— Effort to overhaul ‘woke’ college accreditation system raises questions about politics and power. DD: For Democrats, education exists to crank out good little Democrats.
https://www.ajc.com/education/2025/12/effort-to-overhaul-woke-college-accreditation-system-raises-questions-about-politics-and-power/

WEEK
— Trump signs executive order classifying fentanyl as a ‘weapon of mass destruction’
https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/12/15/trump-signs-executive-order-classifying-fentanyl-weapon-mass-destruction/

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Orwell Gets an Orwellian Rewrite. What is ‘Animal Farm’ without a focus on communist tyranny?
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/orwell-gets-an-orwellian-rewrite-83635dcf
— DD: Democrat and RINO leaders ever-increasingly force EVs on everyone.
https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/can-u-s-automakers-compete-with-chinese-evs-while-focusing-on-gas-guzzlers-1b10c881
— A New Journal Opinion Offering. Free Expression writers will focus on life, culture and politics. DD: Will the WSJ invite me to be one of their Free Expression writers? I am completely independent. No one pulls my strings. I have been the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-new-journal-opinion-offering-free-expression-97c5c341
— Trump Criticizes Rob Reiner After His Death. Democrats and some Republicans said the president went too far in his social-media post.
https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-rob-reiner-death-comments-4ab536d1

FORBES
— DD: Democrat and RINO employers use disparate impact a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees. According to them, when Republicans who are conservative, White, male, older, nonpoor, nonveteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time succeed, it is because they have benefitted from discrimination against those who are not aforesaid. According to my critics/opponents, because I am all of the aforesaid, a) I owe all of my successes in life to my benefitted from discrimination against those who are not the aforesaid and b) I should pay the price of Affirmative Action and DEI big time.
https://theweek.com/politics/doj-civil-rights-disparate-impact-discrimination-bondi
— Alarming Update On Student Loan Forgiveness Posted By The Education Department. DD: My critics/opponents have always stressed that I could not have gotten a student loan. My ACT score was only 24. I only just barely made it into the upper 20% of my high school class. I could not run because I had a bone disease. My eyesight could not be corrected to 20/20. I was 1-A for the Vietnam War draft. I had not demonstrated any leadership potential. Further, I was not a minority or a female.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2025/12/15/alarming-update-on-student-loan-forgiveness-posted-by-the-education-department/

FAST COMPANY
— ICE is spending millions on ads to recruit new agents. DD: I was rudely fired by my Firestone Store boss when I was 22 years old in 1971 because I had accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile. But Oldsmobile withdrew that offer saying that it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint. Because I had to have a job to help support my mother and brother, I accepted a job offer from IRS. What if the only job offer I had gotten was from ICE?
https://www.fastcompany.com/91460777/ice-is-spending-millions-on-ads-to-recruit-new-agents

MIT MANAGEMENT
— DD: Anticipate/expect that Democrat and RINO employers will ever-increasingly use AI a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.
https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/ai-reinventing-hiring-same-old-biases-heres-how-to-avoid-trap

HR GRAPEVINE
— DD: Democrat and RINO employers use budget cuts a) to not hire Republicans and b) to get rid of their Republican employees.
https://www.hrgrapevine.com/us/content/article/2025-12-15-journalists-of-color-question-recent-media-layoffs-amid-dei-purge

NPR
— DD: What is your attitude toward federal employees and federal retirees? I was a federal employee for almost 30 years and I have been a federal retiree for more than 28 years. My critics/opponents have always despised/hated federal employee and federal retirees. I should write about that. They believe that federal employees are grossly overpaid, that federal pensions are much too generous, and that their benefits are much too generous. In my defense, I would not have become a postal employee when I was 18 in 1966 if my high school friend had not asked me to join him in taking the postal employment test. I would not have become an IRS employee when I was 22 in 1971 if my Firestone Store boss had not fired me because I had accepted a job offer from Oldsmobile, an offer that Oldsmobile withdrew because it had just agreed to stop hiring Whites to settle an EEOC complaint.
https://www.npr.org/2025/12/15/nx-s1-5620842/how-a-va-social-workers-life-has-changed-since-leaving-the-job

THOMAS REDICK
— “Time for Trump’s Patriotic Reparations” is an Urgent Call for Trump to Finally Enact Reparations for Black Americans. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders promote Affirmative Action (AA) to get votes from Blacks. Since the 1960s, AA has been reparations. Since the 1960s, Democrat and RINO leaders have forced those who are the following to pay the price of AA: conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-veteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. Because I am all of the aforesaid, my Democrat superiors in the federal government forced me to pay the price of AA big time. It all culminated when I was 49 years old in 1997 when they forced me to retire and gave my job and my preferred corner office to my Black subordinate who had less work experience than I had, who had less education than I had, who had one professional certification while I had six, and who had no professional license like I had.
https://www.pr.com/press-release/955740

FROM FOREIGN SOURCES

DAILY MAIL
— Fury over family-friendly film adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm that blames capitalism and has a happy ending
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tv/article-15384471/Fury-family-friendly-film-adaptation-George-Orwells-Animal-Farm-blames-capitalism-happy-ending.html

FROM OTHER SOURCES

WORLD ATLAS
— 12 Best Places to Live in Illinois. DD: Wheaton is not one of the 12. Why is that?
https://www.worldatlas.com/cities/12-best-places-to-live-in-illinois-2025.html

AUTO GUIDE
— These 11 Classic Cars Are A Good Investment. DD: If I had more money back in 2005, I would not have sold my 1968 Dodge Charger R/T to buy a 2005 Corvette. I had far less money in 2005 because my Democrat superiors wasted my career and forced me to retire when I was 49 in 1997.
https://www.autoguide.com/auto/featured-articles/s-10-photos-of-bmw-s-futuristic-vision-neue-klasse-x-concept-44610355
(FROM THE ARTICLE: 1968–1970 Dodge Charger — $91,450  With roughly 40,000 R/Ts built and available Hemi power up to 425 hp, the second-gen Charger remains muscle-car royalty. More than half its owners today are Gen X or younger.)

HOT CARS
— America’s Oldest Surviving Car That Makes The Country’s Most Reliable Cars In 2025. DD: If I was in the market for a SUV, I would consider Buick.
https://www.hotcars.com/americas-oldest-surviving-car-brand-makes-most-reliable-cars/

December 15, 2025

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— Chicago Housing Authority subject of HUD audit citing immigration and criminal activity. The CHA is one of a handful of housing authorities across the country being audited.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2025/12/15/chicago-housing-authority-hud-oig-audit-immigration-criminal-activity
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2025/12/15/meet-the-chicago-teens-raising-money-to-help-classmates-with-parents-in-immigration-detention
— UChicago, Northwestern students receive prestigious Marshall scholarship. DD: My critics/opponents have always used my having to work my way through college against me. They have always stressed that I would not have had to do that if I had gotten scholarships. They have always stressed that my ACT score was only 24 and that I only just barely made it into the upper 20% of my class.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/education/2025/12/11/uchicago-northwestern-students-receive-prestigious-marshall-scholarship

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly a) glorify and praise their illegals and b) fight their deportation.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/the-chicago-immigrant-orchestra-is-defiant-in-the-wake-of-recent-raids/
— FRONT PAGE WITH PICTURE: CPS lunchroom workers near six months without a contract: ‘No one sees us.’ DD: Which of your jobs put you out of sight? I washed dishes in the basement of the S.S. Kresge in Chicago Heights while I was a junior and senior at Crete-Monee High School 1964-1966. I worked 28 hours a week during the school years and 40 hours a week during the summer of 1965. All during that time, I worked alone for 20 hours every week. My next job was working alone cleaning golf shores at the Flossmoor County Club. But I soon had to resign because my allergies were killing me.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/15/cps-lunchroom-workers-contract-negotiations/

DAILY HERALD
— DD: FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH PICTURE: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that under socialism, everyone gets free housing, free food, free clothing, free medical care, free childcare, free transportation, free education, free everything. They ever-increasingly hint/imply/argue/shout that under socialism, you do not have to work unless you want to. More and more and more in America are falling for that.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251214/news/medical-care-is-a-human-right-st-charles-clinics-meet-the-needs-of-kane-countys-uninsured/

FOX32
— Two-thirds of Americans say government should ensure health care for all. DD: Big step toward socialism, communism, and dictatorship. America-haters ever-increasing destroy personal responsibility and blame capitalism for all problems.
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/two-thirds-americans-believe-government-should-ensure-health-care-all-poll

CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— Legal marijuana? Critics asking people to re-think the issue. DD: Pot is poison. I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton in 2019.
https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/jim-dey-legal-marijuana-critics-asking-people-to-re-think-the-issue/article_91c740f6-21e3-4738-9b42-7484b749cd3a.html
— Illinois’ abortion policy places Carbondale in a hot spot
https://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/jim-dey-illinois-abortion-policy-places-carbondale-in-a-hot-spot/article_8c21faab-ea8c-4bf2-bc3f-2c4a16805a03.html

WAND TV
— As gerrymandering battles sweep country, supporters say partisan dominance is ‘fair.’ DD: According to Democrat leaders, political jurisdictions should be gerrymandered to favor voters who have demographics that vote for Democrats. Demographics that vote for Democrats include minority, female, younger, poor, unmarried, LGBTQ, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and/or are in America illegally.
https://www.wandtv.com/news/national/as-gerrymandering-battles-sweep-country-supporters-say-partisan-dominance-is-fair/article_f074880c-f23d-5dfb-8060-2a2b6c7f381c.html

NPR ILLINOIS
— For Americans, the love for chain restaurants runs deep. DD: I became a McDonald’s fan when one of my relatives became financially successful selling eggs to McDonalds starting in 1960s.
https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-12-15/for-americans-the-love-for-chain-restaurants-runs-deep

WHEATON RECORD
— A Conversation on Trump Administration’s Handling of Immigration
https://thewheatonrecord.com/2025/12/14/a-conversation-on-trump-administrations-handling-of-immigration/
— McManis-Evans Women’s Floor Becoming a Male Dorm. DD: Wheaton College being conservative was a reason why my wife and I bought a home in Wheaton in 1978 and had one built in Wheaton in 1984.
https://thewheatonrecord.com/2025/12/14/mcmanis-evans-womens-floor-becoming-a-male-dorm/
— Three Illinois Christian Institutions Announced Closures in Recent Years
https://thewheatonrecord.com/2025/12/14/three-illinois-christian-institutions-announced-closures-in-recent-years/
— New Class Coming this Spring: “The Bible, Slavery and Liberation”
https://thewheatonrecord.com/2025/12/14/new-class-coming-this-spring-the-bible-slavery-and-liberation/

CAPITOL FAX
— Morning briefing
https://capitolfax.com/

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS
— Presumptuous Pritzker Signs Away the Lives of More Illinoisans
https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/read/2025/12/11/presumptuous-pritzker-signs-away-the-lives-of-more-illinoisans
— American “Educators” and Somali-alia
https://www.breakthrough-ideas.com/read/2025/12/10/american-educators-and-somali-alia

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Newly-Elected Democratic Party Dundee Township Supervisor Shefali Shah Acts As If She Is All-Powerful. DD: I should write about the many big adverse actions that past and present leaders of the Illinois Republican Party, DuPage County Republican Central Committee, and Milton Township Republican Organization have taken against me.
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/14/newly-elected-democratic-party-dundee-township-supervisor-shefali-shah-acts-as-if-she-is-all-powerful/
— Illinois Review Takes Down Darby Hills for Taking a Walk on Illegal Alien Vote
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/14/illinois-review-takes-down-darby-hills-for-taking-a-walk-on-illegal-alien-vote/
— Charlie Brown Christmas Available Free Saturday & Sunday on Apple+
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/14/charlie-brown-christmas-available-free-saturday-sunday-on-apple/
— Blackface in Easton, Maryland
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/14/blackface-in-easton-maryland/
— Illinois Ranks High on Lawsuit Abuse. DD: All my critics/opponents side with the defendants in the lawsuits that I have filed. I should write about those lawsuits, the defendants, their lawyers, and the big adverse actions that they have taken against me.
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/13/14853/
— U.S. Treasury Secretary Calls Out Illinois for Refusing to Stop Taxing Tips
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/12/u-s-treasury-secretary-calls-out-illinois-for-refusing-to-stop-taxing-tips/
— Bailey Attacks Pritzker on Refusing to Stop Taxing Tips in Illinois
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/12/bailey-attacks-pritzker-on-refusing-to-stop-taxing-tips-in-illinois/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Illegal immigration embraced by progressive evangelicals pushes America toward cultural suicide. Recycled ’70s Marxism isn’t real Christianity. DD: How strongly have Democrat leaders taken over your church?
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/14/illegal-immigration-embraced-progressive-evangelicals-pushes-america/

NEW YORK POST
— The woke have seized control of NYC’s ‘affordable housing’
https://nypost.com/2025/12/14/opinion/the-woke-have-seized-control-of-nycs-affordable-housing/

AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE
— Is the Indiana Redistricting Debacle the Future of MAGA?
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/is-the-indiana-redistricting-debacle-the-future-of-maga/

AMERICAN THINKER
— The Wisconsin Supreme Court takes on the Supremacy Clause. DD: Democrats ever-increasingly reject federal law. That is what the Confederates did.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/12/the_wisconsin_supreme_court_takes_on_the_supremacy_clause.html

CHRISTIAN POST
— Why the woke right is winning Gen Z: A look inside the machine
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/why-the-woke-right-is-winning-gen-z-a-look-inside-the-machine.html

COLLEGE FIX
— White professor still fighting in court, alleging ‘racially hostile’ environment at Penn State. DEI trainings gave ‘signals to white and Asian employees that they are not going to be treated equally.’ DD: While I worked for the Democrats who ran GAO for almost 18 years, I worked in an ever-increasingly hostile environment. Gingrich ever-increasingly cut the agency’s budget. My Democrat GAO superiors ever-increasingly used those cuts to waste the careers of and to get rid of their employees who were Republican, White, male, older, and/or non-veteran. That all culminated in their forcing me to retire when I was 49 years old in September of 1997.
https://www.thecollegefix.com/white-professor-still-fighting-in-court-alleging-racially-hostile-environment-at-penn-state/

DAILY SIGNAL
— Would ICE Have Deported Jesus at Christmas? AWAY WITH THE MANGER: How the Left Tries to Weaponize Christmas Against Trump. DD: How strongly have Democrat leaders taken over your church?
https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/12/14/would-ice-have-deported-jesus-christmas/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: This year, Catholics in Massachusetts are protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration policies by swapping “Away in a Manger” for “Away With the Manger.” This marks yet another instance of Trump opponents weaponizing the Christmas story to demonize immigration enforcement by claiming Jesus was a refugee and suggesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement would have arrested and deported the Christ child in the manger. The Catholic priest at St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, set up a classic nativity scene with shepherds, sheep, wise men, and … a sign reading “ICE was here” in the place where Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus would normally be. While the Catholic leadership opposed this “divisive political messaging,” the Rev. Stephen Josoma blamed the Trump administration for any division. Meanwhile, Lake Street Church of Evanston, Illinois, put baby Jesus in zip ties and an emergency blanket, and placed gas masks on the faces of Mary and Joseph. The church said this symbolizes the conditions of ICE detention facilities and the use of tear gas on “peaceful protesters, journalists, and community members advocating for immigration reform.” “The Holy Family were refugees,” the church posted on Facebook. “By witnessing this familiar story through the reality faced by migrants today, we hope to restore its radical edge, and to ask what it means to celebrate the birth of a refugee child while turning away those who follow in that child’s footsteps.” Was Jesus a Refugee? These strained analogies rest on a kernel of truth. According to Matthew 2:13-23, an angel appeared to Joseph, warning him to flee to Egypt because King Herod the Great aimed to kill Jesus. Herod ordered the slaughter of male children in Bethlehem, but Jesus survived in Egypt. God sent another angel to Joseph later, advising him to return to Israel because “those who sought the child’s life are dead.” Jesus arguably fit the definition of a refugee: someone forced to leave his or her country to escape war or persecution. However, anyone seeking to tie Jesus’ sojourn in Egypt to the plight of refugees or illegal aliens in America today will at once encounter a plethora of problems. Herod, the king who sought to kill Jesus, owed his position to the Roman Senate. Jesus fled Roman-ruled Judea to reside in Roman-ruled Egypt, and then returned to Roman-ruled Judea. Politically, Jesus’ flight to Egypt resembles a conservative family fleeing New York for Florida, or a liberal family moving from Texas to Illinois, more than it does a Somali refugee seeking asylum in the U.S. Jesus did not immigrate to Egypt and did not seek to become a citizen there. Furthermore, the Roman Empire at the time did not grant most of the population the right to vote, and it did not award government benefits to Jewish refugees in Egypt. Modern Western democratic welfare states need to regulate immigration more heavily than ancient empires did, partly because immigrants and refugees often claim benefits from the public purse, and these aliens may also seek to influence politics by voting or other means. Merely shouting, “Jesus was a refugee!” does nothing to address the serious concerns that illegal immigration poses. Caring for ‘The Least of These’ Christians should, of course, heed the Matthew 25 parable in which Jesus says God will reward us for helping “the least of these.” We should care for the sick, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, to the best of our ability. These commands to love our neighbor do not extend to using the force of the state to redistribute funds, however. Jesus calls on us to love our neighbors, not to bully our neighbors into forking over cash so the government can then serve other neighbors. That parable urges us to see Jesus in the least fortunate, and Christians are right to provide aid to those who are struggling. That doesn’t mean, however, that we must sacrifice national sovereignty or oppose the enforcement of immigration law. In our globalized world, Christians can and should help those in other countries before they seek to enter the U.S., and it would be grotesque for Christians to prioritize aid for those who violated the law to come to America over legal immigrants or the poor people who are still struggling in their own countries. Contrary to the suggestion of the Evanston church, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were not political activists. Yes, Jesus came to usher in a new kingdom—but when the Jews sought to make him a king, he refused. Jesus did not set himself up as a political leader. Rather, he and his followers urged Jews and Christians to pay their taxes and to submit to the ruling authorities, knowing that the spiritual freedom of the gospel matters far more than any political cause. Jesus knew of political movements against Roman oppression, and he did not endorse them. Jesus’ decision not to lead a political rebellion against Rome likely contributed to the Jewish leaders’ scheme to have him executed. None of this is to say that Christians cannot support political causes, but it does mean that Mary and Joseph likely would not have joined the agitators who seek to block ICE from enforcing immigration law. Perhaps more importantly, ICE would not have removed Jesus from the manger—any more than it would remove conservative New Yorkers from Florida or liberal Texans from Illinois. Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, not an excuse to demonize law enforcement. It’s high time for St. Susanna Parish to put the Christ child back in the center of the nativity scene where he belongs.)

EPOCH TIMES
— 1 in 4 Unemployed Americans Has a Degree—The Future of White-Collar Jobs. DD: I have been unemployed since I was 49 in 1997 despite my having a job-related bachelor’s degree, three job-related master’s degrees, six job-related professional certifications, and a job-related professional license. Why is that? It is because my Democrat GAO superiors forced me to retire and because of the many additional adverse actions that they took against me before that because I complained about their political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination,  and age discrimination and because I became an active member of a class action lawsuit that charged them with the aforesaid when I was 40 in 1988.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/business/1-in-4-unemployed-americans-has-a-degree-the-future-of-white-collar-jobs-5950378
— Want a Job? Ditch the Degree and Pick Up a Trade. The future belongs to trades and hands-on skills. DD: Doctors discouraged my father from seeking a college degree because he had brittle type 1 diabetes. According to them, the stress would kill him. So he got an office job. He often decried his not having a degree. He was often passed over for promotions. He blamed his not having a degree for that, but his health problems were also a big factor. That led me to earn four degrees. A bachelor’s degree in management from NIU when I was 21 in 1970. An MBA from Loyola when I was 27. A master’s degree in accounting from DePaul when I was 31. And a master’s degree in finance from IIT when I was 48. That also led me to pass the CPA examination on first attempt when I was 30. To pass the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt when I was 32. To become a licensed CPA when I was 32. And to earn four more job-related professional certifications when I was 41, 45, 47, and 48.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/opinion/want-a-job-ditch-the-degree-and-pick-up-a-trade-5939262

FOX NEWS
— Illegal immigrant truck driver accused in fatal Washington crash released on $100,000 bond
https://www.foxnews.com/us/illegal-immigrant-truck-driver-accused-fatal-washington-crash-released-100000-bond.print

JONATHAN TURLEY
— “Hatemongers, Homophobes, Fascists, Racists, Flag-Waving Proud Racists”: Fired Radio Host Has Meltdown Over Cubs Infielder Matt Shaw Going to Kirk Funeral. DD: People’s reactions to Kirk’s assassination say a lot about them.
https://jonathanturley.org/2025/12/14/hatemongers-homophobes-fascists-racists-flag-waving-proud-racists-fired-radio-host-has-meltdown-over-cubs-infielder-matt-shaw-going-to-kirk-funeral/

LEGAL INSURRECTION
— Opposing the Hypocrisy of Woke Establishments
https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/12/opposing-the-hypocrisy-of-woke-establishments/amp/

NEWSMAX
— Party Label Drives Voters More Than Policy. DD: Democrats run the news media, education, and just about everything else in America. Democrats exist to advance the liberal/socialist Democrat Party platform and to get rid of Republicans once and for all. To vote for Democrats is to get rid of Republicans once and for all starting with Republicans who are conservative, White, male, older, non-poor, married, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. The more of the aforesaid that Republicans are, the more that they should focus on their personal defense.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/politico-poll-party/2025/12/14/id/1238288/

POST MILLENNIAL
— Illegal immigrant trucker charged in Washington fatal crash was released into US under Biden—then freed again despite ICE detainer
https://thepostmillennial.com/illegal-immigrant-trucker-charged-in-washington-fatal-crash-was-released-into-us-under-biden-then-freed-again-despite-ice-detainer

REAL CLEAR POLITICS
— The Immigration and Deportation Conundrums
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2025/12/15/the_immigration_and_deportation_conundrums_153629.amp.html

TOWNHALL
— The Weekend’s Gun Tragedies Show Why You Must Buy (Even More) Guns. DD: As Democrats gain more power, they will try to confiscate firearms and ammunition from Republicans.
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2025/12/15/the-weekends-gun-tragedies-show-why-you-must-buy-even-more-guns-n2667868

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

NEW YORK TIMES
— Without affirmative action, some colleges focus on economics. DD: Because Black and Hispanic parents have lower incomes than White parents, colleges use income as a proxy for race.
https://yorknewstimes.com/news/nation-world/education/article_5c7a93e6-cfb9-50be-a071-a40bdb92d096.html
— DD: The New York Times exists to promote more hatred against Trump.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/15/us/trump-dei-funding-deaf-blind.html

WASHINGTON POST
— Do Democrats need their own billionaire? Pritzker is betting on it. The Illinois governor has tapped his wealth to climb the political ladder, moving toward a White House run while presenting himself as a champion for everyday people. DD: Does Pritzker champion for you? If so, you must be liberal/moderate, minority, female, younger, unmarried, LGBTQ, poor, non-Protestant, non-German American, have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time, and/or are in America illegally.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/15/billionaires-pritzker-democrats-president-trump/
— DD: Because federal courts ruled that my Democrat GAO superiors had the power to force me to retire, that is, that they had the power to fire me, Trump has the power to fire any federal employee he wants to.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/12/14/supreme-court-ftc-trump-firing/

LOS ANGELES TIMES
— Higher cost, worse coverage: Affordable Care Act enrollees say expiring subsidies will hit them hard. DD: Are/were your healthcare insurance premiums subsidized? Ever since I became a part-time postal employee when was 18 in 1966, my critics/opponents have been furious that the federal government has paid 72% of my healthcare insurance premiums. They have been even more furious ever since I got married when I was 29 and the federal government started paying 72% of my wife’s healthcare insurance premiums. That 72% subsidy is a major reason why people despise/hate federal employees, federal retirees, and their spouses. That 72% subsidy helped me withstand tremendous efforts by my Democrat superiors in the federal government to waste my career and to get rid of me.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2025-12-14/higher-cost-worse-coverage-affordable-care-act-enrollees-say-expiring-subsidies-will-hit-them-hard

ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION
— Worried about paying for college? There are affordable options. DD: My critics/opponents have always used my having to work my way through college against me. They have always stressed that I would not have had to do that if I had gotten scholarships. They have always stressed that my ACT score was only 24 and that I only just barely made it into the upper 20% of my class.
https://www.ajc.com/education/2025/12/worried-about-paying-for-college-there-are-affordable-options/

USA TODAY
— Looking for a big raise or promotion in 2026? Don’t get your hopes up. DD: While I worked for the federal government for almost 30 years, my critics/opponents were ever-increasingly furious a) that the Post Office hired me in 1966, IRS in 1971, and GAO in 1980, b) that IRS promoted me in 1972, 1973, and 1974, c) that GAO promoted me in 1986, d) that I got COLAs, e) that I got step increases, f) that 72% of my and wife’s healthcare insurance premiums were subsidized, g) that I got lots of sick leave and vacation time, h) etc. According to my critics/opponents, all of the aforesaid should have been given to Democrats who were minority, female, younger, and/or veteran.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2025/12/10/raise-promotion-chances-2026/87676414007/
— Why retirees could face a financial shock from Social Security in 2026. Many retirees are struggling with their finances, and things could get worse next year if they aren’t prepared for this reality about Social Security.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/retirement/2025/12/10/financial-shock-social-security-2026/87683527007/

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Disparate-Impact Theory Is Unconstitutional. It purports to combat discrimination but in practice ends up encouraging it. DD: Democrat and RINO leaders use disparate impact to get rid of Republicans who are conservative, White, male, older, nonpoor, nonveteran, Protestant, German American, and/or have ancestors who have been in America for a long time. According to Democrat and RINO leaders, when those who are the aforesaid succeed, it is because they benefit from discrimination against those who are not aforesaid. According to my critics/opponents, because I am all of the aforesaid, a) I owe all of my successes in life to my benefitted from discrimination against those who are not the aforesaid and b) I should pay the price of Affirmative Action and DEI.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/disparate-impact-theory-is-unconstitutional-2664133d
— FRONT PAGE: The Chinese Billionaires Having Dozens of U.S.-Born Babies Via Surrogate. Videogame executive Xu Bo, said to have more than 100 children, and other elites build mega-families, testing citizenship laws and drawing on nannies, IVF and legal firms set up to help them. DD: With birthright citizenship, the future of America is ever-increasingly bleak. Ever-increasingly, citizens of foreign countries that despise/hate America and despise/hate Americans are taking over America.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/chinese-billionaires-surrogacy-pregnancy-7fdfc0c3
— Does MAHA Stand for ‘Make America High Again’?  Reclassifying marijuana flies in the face of Trump and RFK Jr.’s professed concern about health. DD: Pot is poison. I led the successful effort to stop the sale of pot in Wheaton in 2019.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/does-maha-stand-for-make-america-high-again-ff356532
— Say Goodbye to the Billable Hour. DD: While I worked for GAO for almost 18 years, I had to account for each and every hour that I worked. I had to fill out forms each and every day with the number of hours that spent working on “job codes” and then submit those forms every 2 weeks.
https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-goodbye-to-billable-hours-cba198fe

FORBES
— The CPA Shortage. DD: My passing the CPA examination on my first attempt when I was a 30-year-old IRS employee in 1979 was one of my greatest successes. But my Democrat IRS superiors ignored/dismissed/belittled it. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, younger, or veteran. My passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt and becoming a licensed CPA when I was a 32-year-old GAO employee in 1981 was one of my greatest successes. But my Democrat GAO superiors ignored/dismissed/belittled it. They would not have done that if I had been a Democrat, minority, female, younger, or veteran.
https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesfinancecouncil/2025/05/12/disruption-in-accounting-the-cpa-shortage-meets-the-rise-of-ai/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The CPA pipeline has been weakening for years. Fewer accounting majors are sitting for the CPA exam, and the industry is seeing a mass exodus of Baby Boomers without enough young professionals to replace them. According to estimates from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, around 75% of all licensed CPAs reached retirement age by 2019.

PUNCHBOWL NEWS
— Indiana flop muddies Dem redistricting push. DD: I anticipate/expect that Pritzker could say/has said that he has the power to redistrict so that no Republican will ever be elected in Illinois.
https://punchbowl.news/article/campaigns/redistricting-dems/

PROVIDER MAGAZINE
— How to Keep Up with the Jones. DD: Did your parents have trouble keeping up with the Jones? Mine sure did. My father never earned more than $50,000/year in today’s dollars. He died suddenly when he was 47 and I was 21 in 1969. My mother, who never attended high school, never worked outside of the home until after he died because of her limited earning potential. I had to work my way through college. I remember in 1958 when our neighbor to the north owned a top of the line 1958 Oldsmobile, our neighbor to the south owned a top of the line 1957 Pontiac, and we owned a bottom of the line 1951 Plymouth.
https://www.providermagazine.com/Articles/Pages/How-to-Keep-Up-with-the-Jones-to-Attract-Residents-.aspx

GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE
— DD: Democrats run the federal government. Only those federal employees who are the following have Civil Service protections: Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, disabled, LGBTQ, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/11/final-schedule-f-regulations-describe-civil-service-protections-unconstitutional-overcorrections/409616/

CAMPAIGNS AND ELECTIONS
— The ‘Do My Own Research’ Voter Has a New Research Assistant. DD: If I did not spend so much time putting GOPUSA ILLINOIS newsletters together and sending them out, I would do opposition research. I would focus on my critics/opponents who have taken the most/biggest adverse actions against me lately.
https://campaignsandelections.com/voices/the-do-my-own-research-voter-has-a-new-research-assistant/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: I spent years moderating focus groups, and I lost count of how many voters proudly said they “did their own research.” What that really meant was typing a candidate’s name into Google, glancing at ten blue links and, more often than not, closing the browser without clicking a thing. Now, voters searching for a candidate or issue are often getting a single neatly packaged answer assembled by artificial intelligence from whatever sources it finds most credible and clearly written. And if it answers their question, their “research” is done.  That’s great if your campaign is one of those sources. If not, it’s a problem.)

December 14, 2025

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

ABC7
— House GOP unveils health care measure that does not extend ACA subsidies
https://abc7chicago.com/post/house-gop-health-care-plan-led-speaker-mike-johnson-unveiled-does-not-extend-aca-subsidies/18284008/

WGN9
— Health insurance premiums rose nearly 3x the rate of worker earnings over the past 25 years
https://wgntv.com/news/health-insurance-premiums-rose-nearly-3x-the-rate-of-worker-earnings-over-the-past-25-years/

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: 2 Illinois election board Democrats who blocked Senate President Don Harmon fines have ties to his donors
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/14/illinois-elections-board-conflicts-harmon/

DAILY HERALD
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly blame Trump for healthcare costs. Is/was your healthcare insurance premiums subsidized? Ever since I became a part-time postal employee when was 18 years old in 1966, my critics/opponents have been furious that the federal government has paid 72% of my healthcare insurance premiums. They have been even more furious ever since I got married I was 29 years old and the federal government started paying 72% of my wife’s healthcare insurance premiums. That 72% subsidy is a major reason why people despise/hate federal employees, federal retirees, and their spouses. That 72% subsidy helped me withstand tremendous efforts by my Democrat superiors in the federal government to waste my career and to get rid of me.
https://www.dailyherald.com/20251213/nation-and-world-politics/somethings-got-to-give-sticker-shock-hits-suburban-affordable-care-act-enrollees/

WHMI
— Leaked lessons from first-year University of Illinois education course show extreme left bias: ‘just so wrong’
https://www.whmi.com/news/fox/leaked-lessons-from-first-year-university-illinois-education-course-show-extreme-left-bias-just-so-wrong

FROM ILLINOIS CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Kathy Salvi Attends Party Building Meeting with the President
https://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/2025/12/13/kathy-salvi-attends-party-building-meeting-with-the-president/

JOHN KASS
— Little Mogadishu the Chicago Way
https://johnkassnews.com/the-little-mogadishu-way-the-chicago-way/

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-RIGHT SOURCES

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Bold and Blunt: Feminist wokeness is destroying masculinity
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/13/watch-bold-blunt-feminist-wokeness-destroying-masculinity/
— San Diego schools accused of woke ‘lunacy’ with lessons on 9 genders, 28 sexual orientations
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/12/san-diego-schools-accused-woke-lunacy-lessons-9-genders-28-sexual/
— Appeals court allows Planned Parenthood defunding in ‘huge’ win for Trump administration
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/dec/13/appeals-court-allows-planned-parenthood-defunding-huge-win-trump/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— IL Dem touts ‘great job’ on transit, GOP candidate Ajay Gupta laments ‘bailout’ for Chicago
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/infrastructure/3917122/illinois-transit-gop-candidate-laments-bailout-chicago/
— New York to spend $2 million providing mental health services to Afghan refugees
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/3916163/new-york-2-million-dollars-mental-health-services-afghan-refugees/

NEW YORK POST
— Erika Kirk speaks out against antisemitism, political violence, during CBS town hall with Bari Weiss
https://nypost.com/2025/12/13/media/erika-kirk-speaks-out-against-antisemitism-political-violence-during-cbs-town-hall-with-bari-weiss/

AMERICAN GREATNESS
— Big Brother Is Holding Conservative Media Back
https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/12/big-brother-is-holding-conservative-media-back/

AMERICAN THINKER
— Duffy removes dangerous illegal alien CDLs; Democrats resist
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/12/duffy_removes_dangerous_illegal_alien_cdls_democrats_resist.html
— The imperial media and its enablers
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/12/the_imperial_media_and_its_enablers.html

BREITBART
— Trump Receives Hero’s Welcome at Army-Navy Game, Participates in Coin Toss
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/12/13/watch-trump-receives-heros-welcome-at-army-navy-game-participates-in-coin-toss/
— Cannabis Stocks Surge as Trump Weighs Marijuana Rescheduling. DD: Pot is poison.
https://www.breitbart.com/health/2025/12/12/cannabis-stocks-surge-as-trump-weighs-marijuana-rescheduling/amp/
— Casten: Fraud Protections for ACA Might Hurt People Who Can’t Get Paperwork
https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2025/12/13/dem-rep-casten-fraud-protections-for-aca-might-hurt-people-who-cant-get-paperwork/
— Ramirez Initiates Impeachment Push Against Noem
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/12/13/dem-rep-delia-ramirez-initiates-impeachment-push-against-dhs-secretary-kristi-noem/
— Newsom’s California Exposed: #1 Hub for Illegal CDL Licensing — Safety Crisis Ignites Federal Fury
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/12/13/newsoms-california-exposed-1-hub-for-illegal-cdl-licensing-safety-crisis-ignites-federal-fury/amp/

COLLEGE FIX
— TPUSA denied, while Democrats Club approved, at Catholic Seton Hall University
https://www.thecollegefix.com/tpusa-denied-while-democrats-club-approved-at-catholic-seton-hall-university/

DAILY CALLER
— Gene Dodaro Stepping Down For New GAO Leader As Trump Admin Faces Probes For Withholding Funding. DD: Dodaro and Brown know full-well that GAO a) wasted my career, b) forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997, and c) replaced me with my Black subordinate who had less work experience than I had, who had less education than I had, who had one professional certification while I had six, and who had no professional license like the one I had.
https://dailycaller.com/2025/12/11/gene-dodaro-orice-williams-brown-government-accountability-office-replaced-trump-federal-fudning-probes/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The new comptroller’s leadership may be temporary, as a bipartisan group of senators are set to compile a list of potential candidates for a permanent comptroller for Trump to nominate. The acting official Orice Williams Brown is permitted to be on that list, Politico noted, as that is how Dorado wound up working as the top bureaucrat for GAO. Brown has worked there for 30 years, according to Politico. Before her current role at the GAO, she handled congressional relations for the agency. Brown will be the first Black woman to lead GAO.)

FEDERALIST
— If Time Magazine Weren’t So Corrupt, It Would Have Made Charlie Kirk Person Of The Year
https://thefederalist.com/2025/12/12/if-time-magazine-werent-so-corrupt-it-would-have-made-charlie-kirk-person-of-the-year/
— It’s Morally Righteous, Not Bigotry To Notice All Cultures Are Not Equally Good
https://thefederalist.com/2025/12/11/its-morally-righteous-not-bigotry-to-notice-all-cultures-are-not-equally-good/
— ‘Birthright Citizenship’ Is A Feudal Relic That Has No Place In America
https://thefederalist.com/2025/12/11/birthright-citizenship-is-a-feudal-relic-that-has-no-place-in-america/

FOX NEWS
— Prosecuting Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer in the social media age. Case shows how online speculation replaces traditional courthouse reporting.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/andrew-mccarthy-prosecuting-charlie-kirks-alleged-killer-social-media-age
— BROADCAST BIAS: Networks would rather slam Trump than report on massive Somali fraud. ABC, NBC and CBS dedicate majority of Somali coverage to typical attacks on Trump.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/broadcast-bias-networks-would-rather-slam-trump-than-report-massive-somali-fraud
— Minnesota’s Somali fraud scandal exposes the hidden cost of immigration. State officials cut Housing Stabilization Services after costs exploded from $3 million to $100 million.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/minnesotas-somali-fraud-scandal-exposes-hidden-cost-immigration

NATIONAL REVIEW
— Somali Welfare Use Would Be High Even Without Fraud
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/somali-welfare-use-would-be-high-even-without-fraud/

PJ MEDIA
— Half the Licenses for Truckers in New York Were Issued to Illegal Aliens
https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2025/12/13/half-the-licenses-for-truckers-in-new-york-were-issued-to-illegal-aliens-n4947019

FROM NATIONAL CENTER-LEFT SOURCES

CBS NEWS
— 7 highlights from Erika Kirk’s CBS News town hall
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/erika-kirk-cbs-news-town-hall-highlights/
— Erika Kirk talks faith and grief, fields question from last person to speak to Charlie: How to watch the CBS News town hall
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-town-hall-erika-kirk-how-to-watch/

NBC NEWS
— ‘We can’t be bullied’: How Trump and the GOP’s redistricting push in Indiana backfired. Aggressive tactics employed by Trump and his allies did not sit well with state lawmakers, who delivered a major political blow to national Republicans ahead of the midterms.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/trump-gop-redistricting-push-indiana-backfired-rcna247832

WASHINGTON POST
— DD: Democrat leaders ever-increasingly promote Omar.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/13/illhan-omar-donald-trump/
— Efforts to require Asian American history in schools after anti-Asian hate starting to pay off. Since pandemic-fueled anti-Asian hate surged in 2020, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander advocates have mobilized to make AAPI history mandatory learning.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2025/12/12/aapi-asian-american-history-public-school-education/ccd5c852-d755-11f0-a93c-a869cf73ebd6_story.html

POLITICO
— Orice Williams Brown is queued up to lead GAO. Brown will take over as acting head of GAO in a few weeks. DD: Dodaro and Brown know full-well that GAO a) wasted my career, b) forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997, and c) replaced me with my Black subordinate who had less work experience than I had, who had less education than I had, who had one professional certification while I had six, and who had no professional license like the one I had.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/12/10/congress/the-federal-governments-next-top-watchdog-is-queued-up-00685439
(FROM THE ARTICLE: When Comptroller General Gene Dodaro steps down later this month as head of the Government Accountability Office, he plans to pick the agency’s chief operating officer as his acting successor. Orice Williams Brown will replace Dodaro beginning Dec. 30, the day after his 15-year term ends at the helm of GAO, the agency confirmed Wednesday. She will be the first woman to serve in that role. The acting comptroller general will take over amid the agency’s ongoing investigations into President Donald Trump’s withholding of billions of dollars in federal cash. GAO is also under increased pressure to sue the Trump administration for impoundment and has been publicly derided this year by some top Republicans who accuse the agency of being unobjective. After Brown replaces Dodaro, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is supposed to put together a list of candidates for Trump to consider nominating for Senate confirmation to the role. The acting GAO head is allowed to be included on the roster, as Dodaro was when he served in an acting capacity prior to being confirmed in 2010. Brown has worked at GAO for more than 30 years and currently runs day-to-day management of the agency’s work helping Congress carry out its constitutional responsibilities. Before serving in her current role, she headed congressional relations for the agency.)

GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE
— Exit interview: GAO’s Gene Dodaro talks impoundments, tenure and retirement priorities. The outgoing comptroller general reflects on leading the agency through national crises, building a skilled workforce and guiding federal oversight before his term ends Dec. 29.  DD: Dodaro knows full-well that GAO a) wasted my career, b) forced me to retire when I was 49 years old in 1997, and c) replaced me with my Black subordinate who had less work experience than I had, who had less education than I had, who had one professional certification while I had six, and who had no professional license like the one I had.
https://www.govexec.com/oversight/2025/12/exit-interview-gaos-gene-dodaro-talks-impoundments-tenure-and-retirement-priorities/410114/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: In this exit interview, Dodaro discusses what it’s like to lead a workforce of “trained critics,” how to build relationships with an array of political figures and GAO’s future, particularly as it runs into conflict with the Trump administration over impoundments, which is when the executive branch delays or withholds congressionally approved funding. . .I’ve prioritized making sure we have a very robust internship program here at GAO. We usually bring in about 200 interns every year. It’s one of our main pipelines for future development of the GAO workforce. . .We have over 3,000 highly trained professionals of virtually all disciplines. Financial auditing is only about 10% of what we do. The rest of it is performance audits. We need economists. We need subject area experts in defense, healthcare, transportation, etc. We have actuaries. We have scientists. We have computer security experts, acquisition experts, so we have a wide range of subject area technical experts. . .We do work that supports over 90% of the standing committees of the Congress. There’s a wide footprint, so you have to have somebody who can manage a multidisciplinary workforce on a portfolio of work that transcends across the federal government’s activities. They have to be a person that can work with these highly trained people at GAO. . .I leave behind me a very strong workforce. The GAO workforce is among the best in the world.  I have total confidence in them, but you need somebody who can come in and understand how they carry out their activities to make continuous improvement, as I’ve tried to do over my time.

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL
— DD: According to Democrat and RINO leaders, if Whites and males do better at something than minorities and females, it is because Whites and males benefitted from discrimination against minorities and females.
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/wappp/spring-2026-seminar-fairness-and-meritocracy-work

POLITICO
— Trump’s plans to shatter the bureaucracy have a green light at the Supreme Court. Incremental wins at the court give the White House confidence to go further. DD: Democrats run the federal government. Only those federal employees who are the following have Civil Service protections: Democrats who are minority, female, younger, veteran, disabled, LGBTQ, non-Protestant, non-German American, and/or have ancestors who have not been in America for a long time.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/12/07/supreme-court-trump-firings-humphreys-executor-00679728