Peace On Earth?
Sick of the sorrow, sick of the pain; Sick of hearing again and again…
Since we passed through the Winter Solstice last week, there’s technically a small glimmer more light with every passing day. But my God, that doesn’t mean it isn’t still dark.
Expectations for a more peaceful or just world in the year that’s about to dawn may be optimistic at best; or, at worst, may be dashed at the very first turn.
Massive Russian missile and drone attacks on the Ukraine capital Kyiv ahead of today’s scheduled meeting between President Zelenskyy and Donald Trump signalled once again that Vladimir Putin likely has little interest or incentive in settling his near-four-year war against his neighbour.
As the BBC reports: “At the meeting in Florida, Zelenskyy is expected to raise security guarantees and territorial concessions for Ukraine, both of which are issues that Russia has previously been unwilling to compromise on.”
The US president, meanwhile, still insists on casting himself as the ultimate arbiter between peace and war, telling Politico “he [Zelenskyy] doesn’t have anything until I approve it.”
So, pretty much exactly how a Nobel Laureate might behave.
Others around the world may see things differently.
In his Christmas message, among pleas for peace elsewhere across the globe, Pope Leo urged the two sides to “find the courage” to end Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two.
“May the clamour of weapons cease, and may the parties involved, with the support and commitment of the international community, find the courage to engage in sincere, direct and respectful dialogue.”
Yet despite the Holy Father’s recent moves towards sanity, he should probably resign himself to becoming used to “expressing great sadness” at Putin’s rejections of his entreaties.
And, as the Russian leader maintained on Saturday, his nation “would accomplish its goals by force” if Ukraine did not settle peacefully.
See Also:
A Blood Red Carpet (From August)
The Whole World Is Watching (From March)
‘Once In A Generation Moment’ (From February)
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Protecting Who, Exactly?
Once he gets done with President Zelenskyy, Donald Trump will on Monday host Israel’s PM Benyamin Netanyahu to discuss next steps for Gaza, as it appears that a possible “relocation” of Gaza’s population, proposed by Trump earlier this year, is a non-starter.
According to The Washington Post:
“As they meet Monday for the fifth time this year, Netanyahu’s hawkishness will butt up against a U.S. president who has staked his own image and legacy on promoting peace, and Netanyahu may struggle to win Trump’s backing given how the relationship has deteriorated, according to people familiar with the thinking of the two leaders and political observers…
“In recent months, Netanyahu has often appeared to undercut Trump’s self-congratulations for making peace in the region. Israel carried out additional airstrikes on Iran after the president had declared the 12-day war with Israel over last summer, prompting an expletive-laden warning from Trump on television.”
Meanwhile on Christmas Day, a distinctly overt religious narrative in the administration’s messaging was followed by missile strikes on Nigeria, in what the president said was some kind of retaliation for attacks upon Christians in that country.
Symbolically, Trump said the strikes had been delayed for 24 hours as a “Christmas present” to his targets, apparently Islamic State-aligned militants.
The Guardian writes that:
“Parts of the US right have for years been amplifying claims that Christians are facing persecution in Nigeria. In September, the Republican senator Ted Cruz pushed for sanctions against Nigerian officials who “facilitate violence against Christians and other religious minorities, including by Islamist terrorist groups”.
“Claims that Christians face religious persecution overseas have become a major motivating force for Trump’s base – and the US president counts evangelical Christians as among his most enthusiastic supporters.”
After Thursday’s strikes, The Guardian continues, “Nigeria’s foreign ministry praised the cooperation with the US but pointedly refused to acknowledge that America’s actions had anything to do with the persecution of Christians.”
In any case, as the New York Times writes:
“The First Amendment’s establishment clause prohibits the government from establishing a religion or favoring one religion over another, while the free exercise clause protects the religious expression of all faiths.”
Like with the strikes on alleged drug boats near Venezuela, this action signals that the administration is taking unilateral power to decide who is a terrorist and how they should be dealt with.
According to The New York Times, details have emerged of how Trump aides with “overlapping agendas” drove the United States toward a militarized confrontation with Venezuela.
One of those aides, Stephen Miller, apparently told officials that “if the United States and Venezuela were at war, the Trump administration could again invoke the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law, to expedite deportations of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans the administration stripped of temporary protected status. He and Mr. Rubio had used it earlier in the year to summarily deport hundreds of Venezuelans to a notorious prison in El Salvador, only to be stopped by court rulings.”
Meanwhile the president’s territorial ambitions towards Greenland appear to have revived, seemingly casting aside that Denmark is a long-standing Nato ally (which suffered more casualties per capita in Iraq and Afghanistan than any other allied country).
And, like many things about the world beyond his own somewhat limited purview, it would be remarkable if Trump even knew this. Yet more remarkable if he was to care.
See Also:
Shoot First, Ignore Questions Later?
Joy, Tears And Vigilance (From October)
‘Everlasting Consequences’ (From June)
Nice Country You’ve Got Here (From March)
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Just The Tip
Of the iceberg, that is. Like it or not, the cloud of the Epstein files will hang over the coming months as a prurient distraction from anything remotely policy-related that the administration might need to do.
The fact that Trump posted 150 times on Christmas Day alone, among other things reflecting his frustration with how the Epstein story is distracting from the DOJ’s going after his political opponents, just shows how much it’s getting to him. Even the photographer for last week’s resonant Vanity Fair piece recounts how the Epstein story is disrupting everything in the White House.
Add to that, as Charlie Warzel writes at The Atlantic, how “the internet is awash in fake, traumatizing slop that’s being used to score points in an ongoing information war,” and you realise how dangerous it is that none of us can really be sure anymore what’s real and what’s not; our innate tendencies combined with our personal biases inevitably leading us to our worst assumptions.
See Also:
Trump Running Short Of Epstein Options (From November)
Back From The Dead (from July)
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Healthcare Clock Ticks Down
In the very real world, though, federal subsidies for the Affordable Care Act are still set to expire at the end of the month, meaning that millions of Americans – in Red and Blue states alike – will face dramatic spikes in their health care costs.
As Carl Hulse at the New York Times writes, “the inability to find a credible counter to the ACA has long bedeviled Republicans and cost them at the polls. It’s threatening to do so again next year.”
“Other than world peace, honest to God, health care is the toughest issue ever,” said Representative Jeff Van Drew, Republican of New Jersey. “It is really hard, but I think it behooves us to come up with something.”
Really? Other than world peace?
On the economy as a whole, as Politico reports, the president continues to insist that his administration is clearing up a “mess” it inherited from his predecessor.
“Still, polls show Americans are struggling. Nearly half of respondents said they find groceries, utility bills, health care, housing and transportation difficult to afford, according to The POLITICO Poll conducted last month by Public First.
“Trump’s acknowledgment that 2026 will focus on “pricing” underscores the administration’s concern that the Democrats have, for the moment, a popular message. After insisting that affordability was a Democratic “con job”, Trump over the last few weeks has repeatedly sought to reframe the issue, arguing that it was the Democrats under Biden who caused prices to increase and that he is bringing them down.”
Here, via the Washington Post, are some indicators of how the US economy may fare overall in the coming year.
“Trump has positioned his widespread tariffs as necessary to bring a “Golden Age” back to American manufacturing, a sector that has shrunk significantly since its heyday last century. White House leaders have said this process will take time and may include some short-term pain.
“While some businesses have benefited, many are struggling to deal with higher costs on imported materials and the general uncertainty of tariffs.”
We’ll see.
See Also:
Shooting The Messenger (From August)
Some Men Just Want To Watch The World Burn (From April)
Warning Signs (From March)
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Finally, thank you to anyone who has read or followed during 2025. This is the final post until the new year, so all my good wishes to you and yours as we turn our faces to a more hopeful sun. Here’s to a better 2026 for us all.
These words from Stephen Colbert recently as he received this year’s Bobby Kennedy ‘Ripples of Hope’ award are as good a way to sign off as I can think of.
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When I started this project in 2022, I truly had no idea how wildly out of whack things in the political world would become; all while sports continue to show the face of a society functioning with what passes for “normality”.
As for how all of this ends – and what might come after – I have no idea. And if anyone tells you they do, they’re simply wrong. Unpredictability at home and abroad has become the touchstone of how we have decided to govern ourselves and there will be plenty of collateral damage before the dust clears.
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During the regular season I aim to write a baseball-related post midweek and a politics wrap at weekends. As you might expect, one has been way more sane than the other.
You can find a full States of Play archive here.
I’m back to a roughly once-a-week post now throughout the off-season, when I’m hoping to feature some more Q&A write-ups and produce some new content for the site.
Let me know what you’ve enjoyed or what you haven’t? And if you think you might like to take part and talk about your memories of baseball and politics, drop me a line?
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