Everybody is doing their annual wrap-ups, cataloging the ups and downs of 2025, celebrating the rise of the resistance, predicting success in the midterms in November, trashing Trump and MAGA.
The same age as you, but an immigrant whose Mum (WAAF) and Dad (Sandhurst) fought against fascists in WW 2, and have been having the same thoughts. I hope to be around to see the end of this regime and then some, but my hopes aren’t high. I’m mostly avoiding the year end reviews even by the good guys, since the grabbing at liberal straws gets monotonous. Anyway… happy New Year - been reading you since the early Voice days. Hang in there.
Me too Tony, I arrived here January 2, 1960, having grown up in England in the 30's and 40's, spending most of the 50's in South Africa and Rhodesia.
Lucian painted a grim picture of the state of this nation but unfortunately a true picture. Yes, there have been problems through the years, various ups and downs, but this is worse than anything I have witnessed before.
What is most frightening is the number of Americans who still support Trump; people I know personally who I thought were reasonable rational people.
Notice how his supporters in the media always refer to him as "the president" wheras everyone else just say "Trump" each showing either undeserved respect or no respect at all. But his supporters really do respect him which is astonishing to me. They play down his obnvious many many character flaws as hin "Just being Trump." So therein lies the danger, not just Trump and his lackeys but an unhealthy number of citizens who still support him, especially the GOP legislators Federal and State, and conservative political fanatics that predominate the Supreme Court.
I too, hope to live long enough to see not only the end of this regime, but a return to some kind of normalcy - a return to sanity.
Me three, Robert and Tony! Born just before WWII began in Cheshire, my father served in RAF in North Africa and Italy. I came to the States in 1966 (from South Africa, where my family lived for a few years). That was the era of the great society and the promise of so much! By contrast. this has been the most horrifying year since I set foot on American soil (Honolulu). As my voyages around the sun add up (87 and counting), I am determined to stick around until he’s gone for good. Thanks, Lucien, for the daily blasts!!
Haha, love it Janet, We three should get together to celebrate the end of the Trump regime and the election of the good guys, I'll only be 96 so will spin you around the dance floor :) (Not you, Tomy, just Janet :)
The talking heads of the liberals speak to Trumps ratings tanking. "Only 36% approve of Trump!!!" they crow. I am like WTF? 1 out of 3 people STILL think Trump is the bees knees? That disconnect is just depressing. How can that many Americans be that gullible (stupid)? Trumps approval should be 10%.
Agree with all of this, truly an Annus horribilis. Almost impossible to stay sane and optimistic with all the horror Trump and the MAGAs have inflicted upon us. Not sure we’ll ever recover, but thanks to Lucian for writing, reading and keeping up with this shitshow.
You know what's funny? I am afraid. I'm afraid every day. But my partner died in October. The house is quiet and music playing on the speaker is painful. So the house is quiet.
Anyway, I still think the only solution is people on the street. I'm going to the street. Have nothing to lose and everything to gain for my grands and their grands . Those of you who have too much to lose, encourage your boomer parents to be the touchstone on the streets.
I share your fear of what’s ahead. I’ve been without the love of my life for 3+ years. Although he suffered from dementia for 8+ before. He was always at home and mostly the generous, kind and happy man I’d married 54years before. I try to keep as busy as I possibly can and around people as much as I can. I AM the Boomer parent/grandparent and “take to the streets” and implore every government representative I have to listen to us all. Sucks that we’re still having to do this. I will stay on lather, rinse, repeat for as long as I can even if it only helps me. No “woe is me” here!
So sorry for your loss, Still Learning—a world away from the rest of this stuff. Preparing to sail alone around the earth, Sir Francis Chichester recorded a large supply of tapes. At sea, he found they intensified his loneliness too much to play.
I agree with you. - we need to be in the streets, not just a couple of times a year but every day for those of us that can. I also think a general strike would be great - money and power are their biggest goals - if we shout down the money machine it will hit them where it hurts! At the minimum buy local and small business.
May I add one word to your well-put outrage? In honor of (very partial list) Leonard Bernstein, Barbara Streisand, Philip Roth, Albert Einstein, Sandy Koufax, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Sammy Davis Jr. and May Britt (they converted), Elizabeth Taylor (so did she), Paul Krugman, Noam Chomsky, Jules Feiffer, George Gershwin, Lou Reed, and lotsa others, could we make it "annus tuchus horribilis?"
Lucian, I am so grateful that my parents aren’t alive to witness the disintegration of the country they so loved. They each came from their tyrannical nations seeking peace and acceptance. They prospered here as many other immigrants from all over the world, did also. We didn’t get the nickname “the melting pot” for nothing. i will tell you what really irks me and that is now knowing that extremists in my tribe (Jewish) are filthy dirty and I’d like to fuck them up! Is that crazy talk? Maybe so. I have definitely had it with these men who think they know anything better than us so I only wish a pox on them.
In the meantime, rain or shine, I am out in the streets protesting every Saturday. It’s important to me to be a small part of the change. My best to you and Tracy for this New Year.
My parents too, part of the Greatest Generation. My mom passed in March 2016, at a time when Hillary Clinton, who she admired and supported, was doing well in the polls and primaries. She would have been aghast at what has transpired since then. I am actually glad she has not been here to see it because I know how it would have all been so traumatic for her.
Not only your tribe Marlene. Many of us belong to many tribes from whom we feel completely estranged. (And…I would like to see them ALL get their fucking due as well.)
No arguments. You and I are pretty much the same age, and probably remember things as they were in 1950-70. My *GOD*, what a change., little by little, and then, quite suddenly, hugely accelerated. How the Hell do we get *OUT* of this mess⁉️
Lucian and Steve Schmidt are helping to maintain my sanity. I don't know what is wrong with everybody, especially relatives that grew up with the same experiences I had and somehow thought it was better to vote for this moronic, racist, transgressive charlatan than to accept a Democrat. I feel unending shame for this lying criminal representing the USA in my name, yet so many Americans think nothing of it. The sheer stupidity and dishonesty on display with his every public appearance is mind boggling, it's beyond unhinged yet it is tolerated and seemingly accepted by the most privileged, the most powerful people in this society?
I thank God that I live in Mexico with sane people who have far less money than Americans yet are happier and more grounded with fewer complaints. Back in 2017 I asked a Mexican gentleman why they didn't hate Americans after we elected a man who constantly slandered them with vicious and racist rhetoric. He said that they have had a long history of bad presidents and therefore they don't take them too seriously, there is some wisdom for you! So I choose to disassociate myself from a people that are willing to tolerate this hateful malevolence. We haven't actually been back in the USA in trump's second term other than a few hours changing planes at LAX. My plan is to boycott his term entirely.
If only someone would cut all trump news out of my daily reading like Edward Everett Hale's classic tale "The Man Without a Country", to paraphrase, "Damn trump! I wish I may never hear of trump again"!
I declared in the years of Trump I that I would pay good money for a newscast that would never show his image, never broadcast his god-awful voice, never mention his name. I just gave up watching TV news instead; it's not worth a hill of beans anymore anyway.
Lucian, thank you for being a sane voice in the wilderness. You are right. Let's not dispair. We have work to do. A lot of work to do. I believe in America, that magic word "America" that means freedom, justice and opportunity to people around the world. And I believe in the American people. Let's start the new year in a fighting mood - a fight to restore America. Thank you Lucian for being there.
You always manage to bring a little humor to the destruction that our leader is inflicting on us. Stay well and I look forward to reading your newsletter in 2026!!
Perfect headline. The only thing that I would say is that the November election was a positive moment in a terrible year. Whether it was Virginia Democrats flipping 13 seats from red to blue, or, in NYC, Zohran Mamdani defeating Andrew Cuomo and the billionaires and general bad faith actors aligned with Cuomo, that was a good night. I agree with everything else you wrote.
Bravo, Maestro. Putin's Frankenstein roams the land in a lather, grunting encouragement to hopped-up fools who have had enough of feeling like stunards and will burn it all to the ground if given a chance. Better no world than one in which they have to follow directions (health, climate, coexistence) in order to thrive.
I’m glad you feel like we have a chance, Lucian, because if we become certain we don’t…then we won’t.
I am struggling to hold on, as well, but I truly believe we outnumber them. It’s just that they have DJT running with their banner, and he’s SUCH a Giant Floating Head! Like OZ, booming over the chambers of our government, he seems so much larger than life, and able to accomplish magical feats of massive hubris! But it’s phony. A sham. A chaos agent to sway marks, and to hold the cult together. Pretty scary, how they’re using him.
Still, we DO outnumber them. We need to be wary of feckless old-guard voices, and we need strong, viable people running for office in 2026, as well as a new champion to head our ticket in the next presidential election. These things are doable.
BELIEVE. And hold on. And stay in it for the long run. That’s the challenge for us now.
We do outnumber them but they have loud voices to spread their lies. We will win but we need strong and loud voices to counter the lies and disinformation. When will our leaders come forth before it is too late.
Not impossible, but we know The Donald believes he is entitled to anything he can get his hands on … to him, possession is nine tenths of the law, as we used to say many years ago.So, yeah, we need to be ever vigilant and active in furtherance of a fair election, or he and his ilk will scheme to take it. Scary times. Not impossible…just hard. So, we dont give up, as long as we still have a shot at getting this job done.
Putin and Musk helped put Trump in office, byt they played on the weaknesses of the left, one if which was the entitlement that the DNC felt toward Hillary. Bernie should have been our candidate then, and Trump would have been the buffoon candidate everyone thought he was, and he’d have lost. Yes, they’d have tried to demonize Bernie as a socialist, but he knows how to cope with that. He is one damned smart guy (I have met him, and know people, like my father, who know him personally), and he would have had a great shot at winning the White House. I am so sorry Hillary ever ran, and sorryBiden did not pass the baton earlier. Let’s do better this time! Let’s put someone exciting and viable on our tickets!
Ok. We’re now through 5 years of this putrid idiot. 3 more years and he’s out - one way or another. For a lot bad shit we’re dealing with we seem to be hanging tough.
I read through these comments and I can’t help but feel we’re all together on this. Our country, our livelihood, our grandchildren, our gift to the future. My family fought in the big wars. I have Purple Hearts for my Uncle in WW1, another uncle’s service awards from WW2 in the pacific. And my dear father who documented the Nazi Medical Trials in Nuremberg.
Lucian, ain’t no fucking way I’m giving up! Happy New Year everyone. 2026 is going to be our year.
The same age as you, but an immigrant whose Mum (WAAF) and Dad (Sandhurst) fought against fascists in WW 2, and have been having the same thoughts. I hope to be around to see the end of this regime and then some, but my hopes aren’t high. I’m mostly avoiding the year end reviews even by the good guys, since the grabbing at liberal straws gets monotonous. Anyway… happy New Year - been reading you since the early Voice days. Hang in there.
Me too Tony, I arrived here January 2, 1960, having grown up in England in the 30's and 40's, spending most of the 50's in South Africa and Rhodesia.
Lucian painted a grim picture of the state of this nation but unfortunately a true picture. Yes, there have been problems through the years, various ups and downs, but this is worse than anything I have witnessed before.
What is most frightening is the number of Americans who still support Trump; people I know personally who I thought were reasonable rational people.
Notice how his supporters in the media always refer to him as "the president" wheras everyone else just say "Trump" each showing either undeserved respect or no respect at all. But his supporters really do respect him which is astonishing to me. They play down his obnvious many many character flaws as hin "Just being Trump." So therein lies the danger, not just Trump and his lackeys but an unhealthy number of citizens who still support him, especially the GOP legislators Federal and State, and conservative political fanatics that predominate the Supreme Court.
I too, hope to live long enough to see not only the end of this regime, but a return to some kind of normalcy - a return to sanity.
Me three, Robert and Tony! Born just before WWII began in Cheshire, my father served in RAF in North Africa and Italy. I came to the States in 1966 (from South Africa, where my family lived for a few years). That was the era of the great society and the promise of so much! By contrast. this has been the most horrifying year since I set foot on American soil (Honolulu). As my voyages around the sun add up (87 and counting), I am determined to stick around until he’s gone for good. Thanks, Lucien, for the daily blasts!!
Haha, love it Janet, We three should get together to celebrate the end of the Trump regime and the election of the good guys, I'll only be 96 so will spin you around the dance floor :) (Not you, Tomy, just Janet :)
Am a bit behind you Janet, but will add to my determination to your determination to see the bastard GONE!
The talking heads of the liberals speak to Trumps ratings tanking. "Only 36% approve of Trump!!!" they crow. I am like WTF? 1 out of 3 people STILL think Trump is the bees knees? That disconnect is just depressing. How can that many Americans be that gullible (stupid)? Trumps approval should be 10%.
Even 30% support of Drumpf is way too much. How can they? I know supposedly rational and educated people who are believers. How can they?
They expect to benefit somehow. They ignore that the operation of the government is much less personalized than the fund-raising.
Agree with all of this, truly an Annus horribilis. Almost impossible to stay sane and optimistic with all the horror Trump and the MAGAs have inflicted upon us. Not sure we’ll ever recover, but thanks to Lucian for writing, reading and keeping up with this shitshow.
You know what's funny? I am afraid. I'm afraid every day. But my partner died in October. The house is quiet and music playing on the speaker is painful. So the house is quiet.
Anyway, I still think the only solution is people on the street. I'm going to the street. Have nothing to lose and everything to gain for my grands and their grands . Those of you who have too much to lose, encourage your boomer parents to be the touchstone on the streets.
I share your fear of what’s ahead. I’ve been without the love of my life for 3+ years. Although he suffered from dementia for 8+ before. He was always at home and mostly the generous, kind and happy man I’d married 54years before. I try to keep as busy as I possibly can and around people as much as I can. I AM the Boomer parent/grandparent and “take to the streets” and implore every government representative I have to listen to us all. Sucks that we’re still having to do this. I will stay on lather, rinse, repeat for as long as I can even if it only helps me. No “woe is me” here!
So sorry for your loss, Still Learning—a world away from the rest of this stuff. Preparing to sail alone around the earth, Sir Francis Chichester recorded a large supply of tapes. At sea, he found they intensified his loneliness too much to play.
So sorry for your loss.
I agree with you. - we need to be in the streets, not just a couple of times a year but every day for those of us that can. I also think a general strike would be great - money and power are their biggest goals - if we shout down the money machine it will hit them where it hurts! At the minimum buy local and small business.
.
May I add one word to your well-put outrage? In honor of (very partial list) Leonard Bernstein, Barbara Streisand, Philip Roth, Albert Einstein, Sandy Koufax, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Sammy Davis Jr. and May Britt (they converted), Elizabeth Taylor (so did she), Paul Krugman, Noam Chomsky, Jules Feiffer, George Gershwin, Lou Reed, and lotsa others, could we make it "annus tuchus horribilis?"
Lucian, I am so grateful that my parents aren’t alive to witness the disintegration of the country they so loved. They each came from their tyrannical nations seeking peace and acceptance. They prospered here as many other immigrants from all over the world, did also. We didn’t get the nickname “the melting pot” for nothing. i will tell you what really irks me and that is now knowing that extremists in my tribe (Jewish) are filthy dirty and I’d like to fuck them up! Is that crazy talk? Maybe so. I have definitely had it with these men who think they know anything better than us so I only wish a pox on them.
In the meantime, rain or shine, I am out in the streets protesting every Saturday. It’s important to me to be a small part of the change. My best to you and Tracy for this New Year.
My parents too, part of the Greatest Generation. My mom passed in March 2016, at a time when Hillary Clinton, who she admired and supported, was doing well in the polls and primaries. She would have been aghast at what has transpired since then. I am actually glad she has not been here to see it because I know how it would have all been so traumatic for her.
You know, Charles, Hillary did break the ceiling but it was stolen from her. So for Trump & Co. and for Putin, what goes around comes around…
Yep. The sooner the better.
Not only your tribe Marlene. Many of us belong to many tribes from whom we feel completely estranged. (And…I would like to see them ALL get their fucking due as well.)
AMEN, Sista!
Right on Marlene; the next 11 months will control it all! Let’s go get ‘em!
I’m with you Marlene. I’m sure it’s understood.
I too want to fuck them up - the child rapists and nazis of all religions
No arguments. You and I are pretty much the same age, and probably remember things as they were in 1950-70. My *GOD*, what a change., little by little, and then, quite suddenly, hugely accelerated. How the Hell do we get *OUT* of this mess⁉️
Lucian and Steve Schmidt are helping to maintain my sanity. I don't know what is wrong with everybody, especially relatives that grew up with the same experiences I had and somehow thought it was better to vote for this moronic, racist, transgressive charlatan than to accept a Democrat. I feel unending shame for this lying criminal representing the USA in my name, yet so many Americans think nothing of it. The sheer stupidity and dishonesty on display with his every public appearance is mind boggling, it's beyond unhinged yet it is tolerated and seemingly accepted by the most privileged, the most powerful people in this society?
I thank God that I live in Mexico with sane people who have far less money than Americans yet are happier and more grounded with fewer complaints. Back in 2017 I asked a Mexican gentleman why they didn't hate Americans after we elected a man who constantly slandered them with vicious and racist rhetoric. He said that they have had a long history of bad presidents and therefore they don't take them too seriously, there is some wisdom for you! So I choose to disassociate myself from a people that are willing to tolerate this hateful malevolence. We haven't actually been back in the USA in trump's second term other than a few hours changing planes at LAX. My plan is to boycott his term entirely.
If only someone would cut all trump news out of my daily reading like Edward Everett Hale's classic tale "The Man Without a Country", to paraphrase, "Damn trump! I wish I may never hear of trump again"!
Feliz año nuevo desde Rancho Sueño Azul, BCS
I declared in the years of Trump I that I would pay good money for a newscast that would never show his image, never broadcast his god-awful voice, never mention his name. I just gave up watching TV news instead; it's not worth a hill of beans anymore anyway.
Three cheers to you. I also have several friends living in Mexico. Their lives seem so uncomplicated.
¡Feliz y prospero año nuevo!
Lucian, thank you for being a sane voice in the wilderness. You are right. Let's not dispair. We have work to do. A lot of work to do. I believe in America, that magic word "America" that means freedom, justice and opportunity to people around the world. And I believe in the American people. Let's start the new year in a fighting mood - a fight to restore America. Thank you Lucian for being there.
I’m so very with you on every thought, until next year my friend, Slainte!
Damn right Lucian; the only cavalry riding over the hill to rescue Democracy is us!!!
You always manage to bring a little humor to the destruction that our leader is inflicting on us. Stay well and I look forward to reading your newsletter in 2026!!
Perfect headline. The only thing that I would say is that the November election was a positive moment in a terrible year. Whether it was Virginia Democrats flipping 13 seats from red to blue, or, in NYC, Zohran Mamdani defeating Andrew Cuomo and the billionaires and general bad faith actors aligned with Cuomo, that was a good night. I agree with everything else you wrote.
All true and its why we must take back our country in 2026.
Bravo, Maestro. Putin's Frankenstein roams the land in a lather, grunting encouragement to hopped-up fools who have had enough of feeling like stunards and will burn it all to the ground if given a chance. Better no world than one in which they have to follow directions (health, climate, coexistence) in order to thrive.
"Better no world than one in which they have to follow directions (health, climate, coexistence) in order to thrive."
And you have to wonder why it doesn't hurt to be that GD stupid!
That’s a really good question 🤬🤬🤬
I haven't even read the article yet, but love the headline! --can't stop laughing, it is exactly how I feel! 😂😂😎👍
Great article and great writing. You need to read it.
I’m glad you feel like we have a chance, Lucian, because if we become certain we don’t…then we won’t.
I am struggling to hold on, as well, but I truly believe we outnumber them. It’s just that they have DJT running with their banner, and he’s SUCH a Giant Floating Head! Like OZ, booming over the chambers of our government, he seems so much larger than life, and able to accomplish magical feats of massive hubris! But it’s phony. A sham. A chaos agent to sway marks, and to hold the cult together. Pretty scary, how they’re using him.
Still, we DO outnumber them. We need to be wary of feckless old-guard voices, and we need strong, viable people running for office in 2026, as well as a new champion to head our ticket in the next presidential election. These things are doable.
BELIEVE. And hold on. And stay in it for the long run. That’s the challenge for us now.
Thank you Pat! So well said. Much appreciated in these challenging times.
We need each other… and a little trust and hope… Hang in there…
We do outnumber them but they have loud voices to spread their lies. We will win but we need strong and loud voices to counter the lies and disinformation. When will our leaders come forth before it is too late.
We DO outnumber them. And IF we are allowed to cast our votes AND IF we can verify that our votes are counted as cast, well then we have nothing to worry about. Unfortunately -- and this is my field (https://www.amazon.com/CODE-RED-Computerized-Elections-Democracy/dp/B087H83JCR/ref) -- that is one hell of a big IF.
Not impossible, but we know The Donald believes he is entitled to anything he can get his hands on … to him, possession is nine tenths of the law, as we used to say many years ago.So, yeah, we need to be ever vigilant and active in furtherance of a fair election, or he and his ilk will scheme to take it. Scary times. Not impossible…just hard. So, we dont give up, as long as we still have a shot at getting this job done.
The last election was terribly compromised. Putin and Musk put Trump into office and here we are. How can we make elections safe and honest again?
Putin and Musk helped put Trump in office, byt they played on the weaknesses of the left, one if which was the entitlement that the DNC felt toward Hillary. Bernie should have been our candidate then, and Trump would have been the buffoon candidate everyone thought he was, and he’d have lost. Yes, they’d have tried to demonize Bernie as a socialist, but he knows how to cope with that. He is one damned smart guy (I have met him, and know people, like my father, who know him personally), and he would have had a great shot at winning the White House. I am so sorry Hillary ever ran, and sorryBiden did not pass the baton earlier. Let’s do better this time! Let’s put someone exciting and viable on our tickets!
Ok. We’re now through 5 years of this putrid idiot. 3 more years and he’s out - one way or another. For a lot bad shit we’re dealing with we seem to be hanging tough.
I read through these comments and I can’t help but feel we’re all together on this. Our country, our livelihood, our grandchildren, our gift to the future. My family fought in the big wars. I have Purple Hearts for my Uncle in WW1, another uncle’s service awards from WW2 in the pacific. And my dear father who documented the Nazi Medical Trials in Nuremberg.
Lucian, ain’t no fucking way I’m giving up! Happy New Year everyone. 2026 is going to be our year.
We are all Antifa.
Yes, to your statement - “Our love of this country can save us, but we’d better get busy spreading it around.”
Blessings to you and Tracy for the new year. 🫶🏼