"Marjorie Taylor Greene Says She Plans to Resign in January."

The NYT reports: "Her announcement came days after President Trump branded her a 'traitor' for breaking with him and helping compel the Justice Department to release its files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender. Ms. Greene, who was elected in 2020 and positioned herself as a die-hard Trump supporter until a series of recent ruptures with the president on a variety of issues, made the abrupt announcement in a video and statement she posted online, filmed from her home in Georgia, her Christmas tree on display behind her."

This is another one of the "certain topics" I was talking about yesterday in "I feel as though unseen readers are leaning on me to write about certain topics that I see out there." Today's news is easy to absorb, and now I don't have to react to what the NYT has been pushing at me for the last few days in things like "The Three G.O.P. Women Who Broke Trump’s Grip on Congress" and "Marjorie Taylor Greene Was Not on Our Bingo Card." 

In the "Bingo Card" conversation, Frank Bruni said to Bret Stephens:

"From the start, everyone recognized that the purpose of Texas’s redistricting effort was Republican political advantage."

"The district court erred by inferring bad faith and racial intent because the Texas Legislature’s map did not (through some hypothetical means) transform the only Democratic district in Austin — an exceptionally Democratic city — into a Republican stronghold."

Wrote Texas Solicitor General William Peterson, quoted in "Alito lets Texas reinstate gerrymandered House map that could give GOP 5 more seats/Alito’s move allowing Texas officials to continue to prepare for primary elections under the new map came just after the state asked the Supreme Court for an urgent ruling" (Politico).

This is one of the "certain topics" I was talking about yesterday in "I feel as though unseen readers are leaning on me to write about certain topics that I see out there." Today is a new day, with Alito's stay of the lower court's order. But if you want to engage with the very lengthy and emotional lower court opinions, I recommend the discussion on the podcast "Advisory Opinions," here. Excerpt: 

Sunrise — 6:38, 6:49, 7:02.

Write about whatever you like in the comments.

Trump and Mamdani, together at last.

Question 1 (to Trump): You called him a communist! Question 2 (to Mamdani): You called him a fascist!

Trump: "And I've been called much worse than a despot, so it's not — it's not that insulting."

Later, Mamdani is pressured again: "Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?" And Trump breaks in: "That's okay, you can just say it. It's easier than explaining."

Trump and Mamdani displayed their unity: They're both practical and they both want what's good for New York. The press kept confronting them with the way they've insulted each other, but neither man took the bait. They were stunningly relaxed and friendly and entirely able to slough off each other's political remarks.

"We need policies in place that make it possible for people to live with their family and then move next door and stay with generations of families their entire life. You should be able to do that in a functioning and thriving society."

Said Matt Walsh, on this new Daily Wire podcast, which is good from the beginning but I'm going to jump you ahead to something that sheds light on the subject of families and geography.

Walsh was responding to Ben Shapiro's idea that young men should move away from their home town if that's what it takes to succeed economically:

I'm giving you written transcript even though Walsh's manner of speaking does not transcribe well:

"I can kind of understand why Machiavellian Republicans would spew conspiracy theories.... What I don’t understand is why some Democrats are hopping on this bandwagon."

Writes David Brooks, in "The Epstein Story? Count Me Out." (NYT).

They may believe that the Epstein file release will somehow hurt Trump. But they are undermining public trust and sowing public cynicism in ways that make the entire progressive project impossible. They are contributing to a public atmosphere in which right-wing populism naturally thrives. 

I have been especially startled to see Ro Khanna, a House Democrat and one of the most impressive politicians in America, use the phrase “the Epstein class” in his public statements.

"I think that I should contribute money to Jasmine Crockett and then let everybody know that she also took money from Jeffrey Epstein."

Said Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, cracking an excellent joke, after Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) "boasted on the House floor this week that she was 'gonna expose it all' after her discovery that 'somebody named Jeffrey Epstein' donated to the campaign of former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY)."

From "Dr. Jeffrey Epstein – the Long Island neurosurgeon Jasmine Crockett confused with notorious pedophile – floats epic revenge he could exact on the congresswoman" (NY Post).

"In her rant, the Texas Democrat strongly implied that the Manhasset doctor’s April and August 2020 contributions to Zeldin, who is now head of the Environmental Protection Agency, were actually from the convicted pedophile – despite the fact that the $1,000 donations were made months after the disgraced financier died in a Manhattan jail cell."

"'I find it very difficult to convey how horrific it was... It was suffocating, wind so powerful that you had to sit down and curl into a ball...'"

"'... and turn your back to it so it didn’t knock you down the mountain. I couldn’t breathe with the ice and snow blowing so much in my face and then attempting to go up a very steep climb. It was just too many things at once.' They were two miles from their base camp and the large group of trekkers decided the safest thing to do was continue climbing for another mile or so in the hope of reaching a refuge. They would later discover it had been shut because park rangers had left to cast their mandatory votes in a presidential election the day before...."

From "Patagonia blizzard survivor: Our holiday turned into a ‘horror film’/A friend of the British woman who died while hiking in Chile said that park rangers had abandoned a refuge without telling them" (London Times).

"Men in power do not carry briefcases. Why should women?"

"Forgoing a bag simply telegraphs the impression that you have someone else to do the lifting for you. As Karla Welch, a stylist who worked with Ms. Harris at the beginning of her term, said: 'They all have bags. It’s just an aide carrying it.'"

Writes Vanessa Friedman, in "The Most Impactful Political Handbag Since Mrs. Thatcher’s/Sanae Takaichi, the new prime minister of Japan, makes a statement about work — with style" (NYT).

I jump to the middle of articles when I skim, and when I got to "a stylist who worked with Ms. Harris," I thought Who is Harris? 

Anyway, the new Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, a woman carries her own handbag, toting it at her side in the manner of Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher. We're told: 

For Mrs. Thatcher, the handbag was a way of aligning herself with a respectable Everywoman accouterment.... Her bag was the kind of bag, British Vogue declared, carried by “a sensible, well-put-together person, reflective of an organized mind.”

The linked article sends us over to the OED to see this entry:

I feel as though unseen readers are leaning on me to write about certain topics that I see out there.

That provokes me to resistance. I've been writing this blog for almost 22 years, and the reason it works for me is that I only do what motivates me. I realize that this feeling that you're leaning on me to write about [whatever] must necessarily come from within — It's coming from inside the Althouse — but please know that if it were coming from you, I would be asking you to cut it out.

Sunrise — 6:42.

You can write about whatever you like.

"It has come to my attention that a post referencing Indigenous People's Day was published from Official Alamo social media accounts..."

"... on October 13, 2025. Given that on October 9th, President Donald J. Trump issued a proclamation declaring the second Monday of October to be Columbus Day, I have serious concerns regarding the writing, approval, and posting process of the Alamo Trust, Inc. (ATI) Communications Team in coordination with ATI leadership.... This is not the first incident that has highlighted personnel who are misaligned with the culture of The Alamo.... Specifically, the second draft of the Visitors Center & Museum (VCM) script, where a 'Land Acknowledgement' plaque was to be displayed in the lobby. Additionally, 'Freedom' was only mentioned once, 'Liberty' a mere 13 times, but 'Slavery' and 'Enslaved' were mentioned nearly 70 times. This speaks to a pattern of behavior that is completely misaligned with the priorities of my office, and the vast majority of Texans who care so deeply for our Shrine of Liberty...."

Wrote Dawn Buckingham, the Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, in a letter discussed at a WaPo article titled "Republican overseeing Alamo renovation ousted after ‘woke’ social media post/Kate Roger, a Republican, has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against state officials after a social media post and PhD dissertation led to her losing the job of overseeing a massive renovation of the Texas landmark" (gift link).

And here's what Rogers had written in her 2023 PhD dissertation: “Personally, I would love to see the Alamo become a beacon for historical reconciliation and a place that brings people together versus tearing them apart, but politically that may not be possible at this time.”

(The headline says "Roger," but the rest of the article says "Rogers," which I believe is correct.)

"There’s coffee stations, then you’ve got smoothie and juice stations. You’ve got the wine bars and the beer bars. You even have kegerators..."

"... in people’s offices, then you’ve got seltzer stations, and you’ve got the juice boxes and stuff for kids," said Wendy Trunz who "recently helped her 24-year-old niece, Noelle Mosby, organize supplies for making sparkling waters — syrups, coconut cream, flavored teas, a soda maker — on a tray in her kitchen. 'I’m just not much of an alcohol drinker,' said Ms. Mosby, who is studying Ayurvedic medicine in Asheville, N.C. 'But I do like my sugary drinks.'"

From "Coffee in the Closet, Diet Coke on Tap/Customized drink stations are appearing all over the home, from the kitchen to the bedroom" (NYT).

The article begins with a profile of a TikTok "influencer," a mother of 10, who has "a five-gallon water dispenser for hot and cold filtered water; two coffee-making stations; a wine fridge in the master bedroom for bottled water, protein drinks and her husband’s Red Bulls; a hot cocoa and toppings bar... two countertop nugget ice makers; and...

"The departments of English, classics, philosophy, world languages and Spanish and Latino studies... will be grouped into the tentatively titled School of Human Narratives and Creative Expressions."

"The psychology, linguistics, social work and religion departments will make up the School of Human Behavior and Well-Being.... Is the move, as college administrators argue, designed to get professors to collaborate more across disciplinary lines, and share administrative burdens? Or is the end of academic departments, and elected department chairs, a way to weaken the rigor that makes areas of study distinctive, making the humanities easier to shrink and ultimately push out? Adam Rzepka, an English professor who specializes in early modern literature, suspects the worst. The plan is 'insane,' he said in an interview, and is a fundamental attack on the university’s core mission: expert-led education."

From "At This College, the English Dept. Is Out. ‘Human Narratives’ Is In. At Montclair State University in New Jersey, a departmental restructuring plan is igniting concerns about the future of the humanities" (NYT).

From Rzepka's blog (at the "insane" link): "In the Trump era, we’re familiar with the idea that Stage IV capitalism has collapsed satire into reality.

"How many people have that much cash buried in tubs under their property?"

Wrote the trial judge, quoted in "Police Found $1 Million in a Tub Under a Garage. The Government Gets to Keep It. A court ruled that the hidden cash, which the police found while searching for an illegal gun in Ontario, did not lawfully belong to the man living on the property" (NYT).

On Dec. 1, 2009, the police searched a house on the outskirts of Thunder Bay, Ontario, looking for an illegal .22-caliber handgun. Instead, they found cash....

"I like cartoons and evening champagne and spending an hour looking at Instagram reels in bed. I like easy things too."

"But I’ve found, as I have grown older, the world has incrementally foisted upon me a preponderance of quick and simple easiness; it’s inescapable. What’s more, I like it! I like it too much! And reading a difficult book is not going to change that, or anything. Still, for at least a few hours a week, I have a chance to dedicate myself, among friends, toward material that requires sincere mental devotion, and I feel the satisfying kind of exhaustion. It’s fitting we began with Spinoza...."

Writes Sebastian Castillo, in "The Secret to Getting Through Big, Dense, Difficult Books/Learning is painful, pleasant and, above all, communal" (NYT).

The book club's first book was Spinoza's "Ethics." Castillo sums it up: "The book’s argument, supposedly, is that everything one needs for salvation is already at hand."