A brief moment of levity came today as we are all down with the flu - my spouse found old episodes of the Price is Right available to stream and put it on for my 9yo, explaining that this is what mom and dad and most other people our age had to watch on sick days - because we didn’t get to choose what was on TV. She is entranced.
Sarah, I'm wondering what your version of "everything is ACTUALLY falling apart" would look like. I currently feel like many MANY things are falling apart in both the micro and macro but if "falling apart" means total anarchy in the streets...
Trump reminds me of Harry Potter's shitty cousin Dudley Dursley waking up on his birthday and whining he doesn't have enough presents... and Republicans are the parents who kiss his ass and give him everything with no consequences, thereby reinforcing his shitty behavior.
After this Venezuela strike and the insane rhetoric about Greenland, Colombia, Mexico. And nothing is done to stop him?! I don't know, guys. I'm losing faith. What do we even stand for anymore? I feel like politics and economics have manipulated us beyond repair. Our ability to spread information faster and farther is only making it that much easier for them to manipulate us... and now AI?! I'm so exhausted.
I’m so upset about Venezuela for many reasons, not least our bloody history of involvement in Latin America. But here is the administration- and many Americans - celebrating Maduro’s downfall while his still-intact regime is violently cracking down on Venezuelan society. The people have gained nothing! Maduro is gone but it’s business as usual with the repression but evidently with the support of the US behind it. They’re now moving onto Greenland - Rubio is headed there next week according to The Guardian. As long as they control Venezuela’s oil, they really don’t give a damn about the people.
FYI, I got into a daily Emergen-C habit some years back (treating it a bit like a daily vitamin) and after a year or so I started doing a lot of falling. My MD ran blood tests and found I was at a toxically high level of Vitamin B6, which causes peripheral neuropathy.
Happy New Year Pantsuit Politics cast and crew. Year 11, let's gooooo!
The best part of that Ezra Klein episode was the moment where Ezra stopped and reminded everyone that it's insane to judge a policy by how much less bad its effects were than predicted. Shouldn't policy be good? The tariffs have accomplished none of the stated goals. None! Prices still high, deficit still bad, America still one among many in global trade. As for why the tariffs weren't as bad as predicted, I buy three reasons: companies had the heads up and bought extra stock to ride out the tariffs until Trump came to his senses, Trump did back off the worst tariff proposals he had, and yes the global economy is more resilient than we realized.
I think we are going to wake up in 30 years to find a world where many more countries have nuclear weapons, and it will be this president's fault. Everything he does in foreign affairs is a reminder to the unarmed world that having a nuke is the only path to respect. For a long time, American leadership acted as a backstop, but American leadership is no longer reliable. The world can no longer count on a few thousand voters in a few states to not do the stupidest thing possible.
Hi Lou, just backing up your last paragraph as a US American living in Denmark. I think 2025 will be remembered as the year where Europe realized that the U.S. is no longer a reliable ally. Regardless of what comes next, that trust has been broken and it will take a long time to rebuild again.
I was surprised to hear Sarah say she bought a bunch of stuff at target. I feel like I'm maybe being judgy or coming across as virtual signaling, but I thought she and I were more value aligned. You advertise quince and pieces that last and you give a shit about so much, I guess I assumes you wouldn't buy from a store that doesn't care about minorities.
Whew...coming in hot. I bought some housewares which is pretty out of the ordinary for me. I was influenced for sure but let me just say I think about my individual consumption through the lens of my values but not corporations. With some VERY rare distinctions (Patagonia comes to mind) I don't think corporations have values. Their purpose is to make money. Now, do I think some corporations actively cause harm and do I try to limit my interactions with them? Sure but I wouldn't put Target in that category. Target supported minority-businesses b/c it served their bottom line and the brand they were building at the time. When it didn't they stopped. Just like basically every corporation out there. Does that make sense?
I appreciate the talk about vaccines and the comments here about it. I'm a first time mom due in April and I feel lucky enough that if for some reason I had to pay out of pocket for vaccines I could. But I also work in healthcare tech and I think the insurance companies know it's better for their bottom line to cover vaccines than to have to pay for treatment. I went and downloaded old vaccine schedules from 2024 just in case, but I bet when I ask my ob about it she will have opinions lol. It's still not fun to have to second guess this stuff
As a military spouse I have a lot of intersections here. Because we have tricare, we don’t have to worry about copays, premiums, or deductibles. But also because we have tricare, we’re seen on base and the federal vaccine nonsense has already trickled down in a bad way. I can’t get my 15 month old her second COVID shot (or presumably any future COVID shots) because the base clinic just didn’t order any this fall and no one at a civilian pharmacy will vaccinate under 3 years old. My husband and I were both able to get ours in town but now I’m a bit worried about other vaccine availability at the pediatrician. Luckily at 15 months she’s had all the major ones, but it’s such a strange predicament to be in and one key problem with federal vaccine guidance changes that I’m sure non-military families aren’t aware of. Even if our pediatrician recommended the COVID vaccine, I’m not sure how we’d get it for our toddler. I almost switched our insurance type at open season so we could see civilians for her, but the local healthcare system is so overburdened (and is so often screwed over by Tricare) that I couldn’t find a pediatrician that could or would take her as a patient!
And to circle back to smallpox and the military, covid spreads really easily on a submarine… but the active duty service members are seen at the same clinic and have to go to an outside pharmacy and return with paperwork to have it covered if they want the covid shot. My how times have changed.
Thanks for taking your time thinking about the Venezuela situation. There are so many moving parts, and I get annoyed when people think there are pat answers.
Here are two podcasts that helped me understand the situation better:
I, too, took a break from the news over the holidays, which made the invasion? of Venezuela feel even more like a punch in the gut. I feel that cognitive dissonance of going about my day after listening to the news brief and reading about the news. And today, remembering and reading about January 6, then making an appointment to tint my eyebrows!?!
I was really struck by Beth's question - what do we, the American people, care about? What do we want for our country and the world? Our 250th birthday seems like an excellent time to do some reflecting and figuring that out. You're right that it's unlikely to happen on a large enough scale without some real leadership. But we can start with ourselves, our families, and talk to people in our communities, that's my intention anyway.
I really appreciate you all for providing a thoughtful framework and giving us a space to process and reflect alone and as a cabinet.
So if one country can decide that they can be law enforcers in another country, does that mean Canada can come arrest Trump for being a criminal?? I’m joking (sort of). Sigh.
A brief moment of levity came today as we are all down with the flu - my spouse found old episodes of the Price is Right available to stream and put it on for my 9yo, explaining that this is what mom and dad and most other people our age had to watch on sick days - because we didn’t get to choose what was on TV. She is entranced.
Has anyone else read Thomas Friedman's piece in the NYT on Venezuelan oil? He makes some good points about how it's really about the oil & not the people. This has been born out by the administration shafting the opposition & propping up Maduro's regime. Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/opinion/venezuela-trump-oil-democracy.html?unlocked_article_code=1.C1A.kOVu.qMLnPTYWPLId&smid=url-share
Sarah, I'm wondering what your version of "everything is ACTUALLY falling apart" would look like. I currently feel like many MANY things are falling apart in both the micro and macro but if "falling apart" means total anarchy in the streets...
Soooo if flu vaccines become scarce or hard to get, is it possible to go up to Canada and get it? Just planning for the future 😂
Trump reminds me of Harry Potter's shitty cousin Dudley Dursley waking up on his birthday and whining he doesn't have enough presents... and Republicans are the parents who kiss his ass and give him everything with no consequences, thereby reinforcing his shitty behavior.
After this Venezuela strike and the insane rhetoric about Greenland, Colombia, Mexico. And nothing is done to stop him?! I don't know, guys. I'm losing faith. What do we even stand for anymore? I feel like politics and economics have manipulated us beyond repair. Our ability to spread information faster and farther is only making it that much easier for them to manipulate us... and now AI?! I'm so exhausted.
I’m so upset about Venezuela for many reasons, not least our bloody history of involvement in Latin America. But here is the administration- and many Americans - celebrating Maduro’s downfall while his still-intact regime is violently cracking down on Venezuelan society. The people have gained nothing! Maduro is gone but it’s business as usual with the repression but evidently with the support of the US behind it. They’re now moving onto Greenland - Rubio is headed there next week according to The Guardian. As long as they control Venezuela’s oil, they really don’t give a damn about the people.
FYI, I got into a daily Emergen-C habit some years back (treating it a bit like a daily vitamin) and after a year or so I started doing a lot of falling. My MD ran blood tests and found I was at a toxically high level of Vitamin B6, which causes peripheral neuropathy.
!!! thanks for sharing
As a fellow Enneagram 1, I am OBSESSED with Sarah's aggressively Enneagram 1 word of the year.
🤣🤣🤣
Happy New Year Pantsuit Politics cast and crew. Year 11, let's gooooo!
The best part of that Ezra Klein episode was the moment where Ezra stopped and reminded everyone that it's insane to judge a policy by how much less bad its effects were than predicted. Shouldn't policy be good? The tariffs have accomplished none of the stated goals. None! Prices still high, deficit still bad, America still one among many in global trade. As for why the tariffs weren't as bad as predicted, I buy three reasons: companies had the heads up and bought extra stock to ride out the tariffs until Trump came to his senses, Trump did back off the worst tariff proposals he had, and yes the global economy is more resilient than we realized.
I think we are going to wake up in 30 years to find a world where many more countries have nuclear weapons, and it will be this president's fault. Everything he does in foreign affairs is a reminder to the unarmed world that having a nuke is the only path to respect. For a long time, American leadership acted as a backstop, but American leadership is no longer reliable. The world can no longer count on a few thousand voters in a few states to not do the stupidest thing possible.
Hi Lou, just backing up your last paragraph as a US American living in Denmark. I think 2025 will be remembered as the year where Europe realized that the U.S. is no longer a reliable ally. Regardless of what comes next, that trust has been broken and it will take a long time to rebuild again.
I was surprised to hear Sarah say she bought a bunch of stuff at target. I feel like I'm maybe being judgy or coming across as virtual signaling, but I thought she and I were more value aligned. You advertise quince and pieces that last and you give a shit about so much, I guess I assumes you wouldn't buy from a store that doesn't care about minorities.
Whew...coming in hot. I bought some housewares which is pretty out of the ordinary for me. I was influenced for sure but let me just say I think about my individual consumption through the lens of my values but not corporations. With some VERY rare distinctions (Patagonia comes to mind) I don't think corporations have values. Their purpose is to make money. Now, do I think some corporations actively cause harm and do I try to limit my interactions with them? Sure but I wouldn't put Target in that category. Target supported minority-businesses b/c it served their bottom line and the brand they were building at the time. When it didn't they stopped. Just like basically every corporation out there. Does that make sense?
That makes a lot of sense, as always appreciate your candor and thoughtfulness 😘
I appreciate the talk about vaccines and the comments here about it. I'm a first time mom due in April and I feel lucky enough that if for some reason I had to pay out of pocket for vaccines I could. But I also work in healthcare tech and I think the insurance companies know it's better for their bottom line to cover vaccines than to have to pay for treatment. I went and downloaded old vaccine schedules from 2024 just in case, but I bet when I ask my ob about it she will have opinions lol. It's still not fun to have to second guess this stuff
As a military spouse I have a lot of intersections here. Because we have tricare, we don’t have to worry about copays, premiums, or deductibles. But also because we have tricare, we’re seen on base and the federal vaccine nonsense has already trickled down in a bad way. I can’t get my 15 month old her second COVID shot (or presumably any future COVID shots) because the base clinic just didn’t order any this fall and no one at a civilian pharmacy will vaccinate under 3 years old. My husband and I were both able to get ours in town but now I’m a bit worried about other vaccine availability at the pediatrician. Luckily at 15 months she’s had all the major ones, but it’s such a strange predicament to be in and one key problem with federal vaccine guidance changes that I’m sure non-military families aren’t aware of. Even if our pediatrician recommended the COVID vaccine, I’m not sure how we’d get it for our toddler. I almost switched our insurance type at open season so we could see civilians for her, but the local healthcare system is so overburdened (and is so often screwed over by Tricare) that I couldn’t find a pediatrician that could or would take her as a patient!
And to circle back to smallpox and the military, covid spreads really easily on a submarine… but the active duty service members are seen at the same clinic and have to go to an outside pharmacy and return with paperwork to have it covered if they want the covid shot. My how times have changed.
Thanks for taking your time thinking about the Venezuela situation. There are so many moving parts, and I get annoyed when people think there are pat answers.
Here are two podcasts that helped me understand the situation better:
Jane Coaston interviews Juan Sebastian Gonzalez, former National Security Council Senior Director for the Western Hemisphere under the Biden administration, in this episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trump-extracts-oil-and-the-venezuelan-president/id1483692776?i=1000743785886
David French explains a lot about military law and how this action differs from other similar past actions, including Noriega and Panama in this NYT The Opinions epidose: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/opinion/trump-maduro-capture-venezuela.html
Saw this today and thought it was applicable…
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS6my60jpfc/?igsh=ZTZhY25mNzF5bzhk
I, too, took a break from the news over the holidays, which made the invasion? of Venezuela feel even more like a punch in the gut. I feel that cognitive dissonance of going about my day after listening to the news brief and reading about the news. And today, remembering and reading about January 6, then making an appointment to tint my eyebrows!?!
I was really struck by Beth's question - what do we, the American people, care about? What do we want for our country and the world? Our 250th birthday seems like an excellent time to do some reflecting and figuring that out. You're right that it's unlikely to happen on a large enough scale without some real leadership. But we can start with ourselves, our families, and talk to people in our communities, that's my intention anyway.
I really appreciate you all for providing a thoughtful framework and giving us a space to process and reflect alone and as a cabinet.
I also want to know what we’ll do about it and I’m not trying to be flippant but… what can we do?
Hope there’s a quality democratic candidate? Write letters to our representatives? I feel like I have limited options :(
So if one country can decide that they can be law enforcers in another country, does that mean Canada can come arrest Trump for being a criminal?? I’m joking (sort of). Sigh.