Today we engage in a broad and deep retrospective of the year in politics. I go through about a dozen political themes and trends that emerged from this year and will reverberate even more headed into 2026. The upshot is that we’re suffering all of the liabilities of Republicans being in charge but none of the benefits — at least not ones that will endure in the long run. I also review Trump’s speech last night and explain how it is gaslighting us on prosperity and security at home and peace abroad, when none of those things are true. The voters know it.  At the end, I explain how the AI data center grift is completely insolvent, that it only exists because of government, and how it is crowding out more effective resources. Finally, if we don’t change course, our future is Australia. 

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