Good Day, Gnuville! I hope you all had a pleasant Thanksgiving. 🥧🧡🍗
I’d like to open with this nice discussion about Thanksgiving by Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman.
Something that really caught my interest and which made me appreciate Thanksgiving even more was that the two historians talked about what both Washington and Lincoln called on the country to give thanks for: this unique country of government by the people. I love that perspective. Maybe you will enjoy it, too:
🫏 💙 Democrats Being Great 💙 🫏
🚨 Today is Election Day for the race for TN-7! Aftyn Behn has shocked the TN GOP by closing in on the Republican candidate to within 2 points. The seat was won by the current Rep. in 2024 by more than 20 points! Maybe this Democratic woman won’t be able to pull off the victory today, but if she comes within less than 20 points in this heavily gerrymandered red district, it’s a big win for Democrats and for her. (But, Newsies, Aftyn just might pull this off! 🤞)
‘Bananas!’ CNN analyst stunned as race tightens in deep red state, Nicole Charky-Chami, Raw Story, December 1, 2025.
Political analyst David Chalian told CNN that Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn has focused on affordability in the tight race in Tennessee's seventh congressional district, which could show major shifts in the historically Republican-led state.
"Listen, the fact that we are even talking about this race is bananas, right?" Chalian said. "Donald Trump won the district a year ago by 22 percentage points. But we're talking about it because not just this district. We've seen in all the special elections for the House this year, significant Democratic overperformance; now it would have to be turbocharged, and it would be a political earthquake if she ends up the winner in this ruby red district. But, you know, she's taking a 22-point district and getting both sides to spend millions of dollars to say, 'Hey, this is actually competitive.' That shows you the political climate that we're in right now."✂️
Van Epps and Behn are vying for the seat left vacant by Rep. Mark Green, a Republican, that could ultimately flip a House seat. Polling was showing the race is now much closer than expected in a district Trump won convincingly in each of his three campaigns
Aftyn Behn’s rise challenges Tennessee’s GOP establishment, Russell Payne, Salon, December 1, 2025.
In 2024, Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from Congress earlier this year, won the district by 22 points. As of this morning, Behn is within 2 points of Matt Van Epps, the Republican nominee for the seat, according to a survey from Wednesday.
Behn’s run also pushes back against what has become conventional wisdom in many Democratic circles: that Democrats need to chase centrist voters even harder by running more conservative candidates, in the mold of the former senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, who switched from a Democrat to an independent at the end of his career.
Behn’s success in the district, which encompasses much of Nashville and a large swath of central Tennessee, has been built on a progressive platform focused on improving the material conditions of the working class while refusing corporate PAC and special interest donations.
Sen. Mark Kelly… for President?
In attacking Mark Kelly, Trump is elevating a 2028 contender, Jason Kyle Howard, Salon, December 1, 2025.
By virtue of the Pentagon investigation, as well as rumors of his presidential ambitions, Kelly has received the lion’s share of attention. That’s bad news for Republicans and constitutes a major error on the part of Trump, whose actions have had unintended consequences: He has elevated Kelly as a potential 2028 rival, if not for himself then for his MAGA successor, whether that ends up being Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald Trump Jr. — who’s in second place behind Vance according to a recent poll — or even Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who recently announced her retirement from Congress.
Like any politician worth their salt, Kelly is taking advantage of the increased attention from Trump’s attacks. Over the past 10 days, the senator has been on a media blitz. With the notable exception of Fox News, he has chalked up appearances on every major network and cable news channel. ✂️
In interview after interview, Kelly denounced Trump’s comments and underscored his reason for making the video. “We’re concerned because of this president, with this secretary of defense, that we could have a significant problem,” he told Welker. “I’m not gonna be intimidated. I’m not gonna be bullied. Especially by people like Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth.”
😃 Da Guv meets with Da Pope
My governor visited Pope Leo XlV last month and this interview where he tells NBC Chicago about it is a delight:
😫 💔 Republicans in Disarray 💔🫣
⚓️ The felon is the biggest drag on the party (of course)
CNN Data Guru Breaks Down ‘Disaster’ Trump Poll, Vic Verbalaitis, Daily Beast, December 1, 2025.
The latest Gallup poll shows Trump’s job approval rating at 36 percent—its lowest ever since his first term nadir of 34 percent, which occurred immediately following the January 6 Capitol riots.
“Look at this, in January, Donald Trump’s net approval rating: not too bad, not too great. It was at minus one point, right within the margin of error, breaking even,“ Enten said on CNN News Central, speaking with anchor Sara Sidner. “But look at this now, negative 24 points. Way, way down!”✂️
Currently on The New York Times’ polling aggregator, Trump’s average disapproval rating is 55 percent, and every tracked pollster predicts that Democrats will recapture control of Congress in the 2026 midterms.
Even Trump’s “favorite pollster,” the conservative McLaughlin and Associates, warned that Republicans are rapidly losing support from independent voters.
😵💫 And he’s not on the ball
Confused Trump, 79, Instantly Forgets He Just Refused to Comment, Will Neal, Daily Beast, December 1, 2025.
President Donald Trump declined to answer a question from a reporter—only to instantly forget and then confirm exactly what she’d just asked him.
During the flight back to D.C. from his Mar-a-Lago holiday stay on Sunday, a reporter asked Trump aboard Air Force One: “The New York Times reported you spoke with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Did you?”
“I don’t want to comment on it,” he said before adding, without pause: “The answer is yes.”
'Dead giveaway': Trump revives rumors on cognitive health by blurting out 'brain' denial, Travis Gettys, Raw Story, December 1, 2025.
The felon’s MRI result, probably.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz challenged the 79-year-old president to release findings from the MRI test after Trump slurred him as "ret*rded," and Trump doubled down on the ableist slur when asked for comment Sunday evening aboard Air Force One, and then a reporter asked for specifics about that exam.
“What part of your body was the MRI looking at?” the reporter asked
I have no idea, it was just an MRI- what part of the body?" Trump fired back. "It wasn’t the brain because I took a cognitive test and I aced it — I got perfect part, which you would be incapable of doing! Goodnight, everybody. You, too!”✂️
"If Trump denies they did a MRI of his brain, then it sounds like they did a MRI of his brain," opined Bluesky user Zobear.
"90% probability MRI was on his brain," posted the Angry Staffer account. "Trump also says it’s ok to release it. Journalists, do your thing."
"If you had an MRI and didn’t know what it was taken for, it definitely was the brain," agreed Bluesky user bd-nola.
Staffers rattled by increasing focus on 47’s age
Something that has irked many Democrats for awhile is the way that the media never stopped harping on Joe Biden’s age (and implied infirmity) while seeming to portray the mango menace as almost youthfully energetic. I am here to tell you that is not really true anymore. Stories about 47’s age and mysterious health screenings are multiplying daily, and the Republican handlers, sycophants and assorted fluffers are getting frantic over it.
Leavitt Loses It at Trump’s Shrinking Schedule Being Exposed, Laura Esposito, Daily Beast, December 1, 2025.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt flew into a rage against The New York Times while doing damage control over 79-year-old President Donald Trump’s diminishing schedule.
On Nov. 15, the Times reported that the president has scaled back his official appearances by 39 percent—from 1,688 during the first 10 months of his first term to 1,029 this year. Their analysis found that Trump now starts his days far later than he did in his first term, with official events typically beginning after midday rather than at 10:30 a.m.✂️
As the Times also noted, Trump and his team often deflect questions about his age by criticizing former President Joe Biden, who at 82 was the oldest president in U.S. history and whose cognitive decline aides worked to obscure. Trump, however, will surpass that record when he finishes his term at 82.✂️
The Times’ investigation comes after months of Daily Beast reporting on the president’s diminished state. It also comes as Trump faces intensifying scrutiny over his fitness for office, particularly after multiple incidents where he has appeared to nod off during public appearances.
Notice that the Daily Beast often includes 47’s age in headlines… the WH is feeling the pressure because these questions about his age and health are becoming more insistent.
💪🏼 There are resistors everywhere, including within the badministration
FBI Agents in Coup to Oust Keystone Kash and ‘Clown’ Bongino, Sarah Ewell-Wice, Daily Beast, December 1, 2025.
The 115-page report was put together by a group of active-duty and retired agents and analysts for the House and Senate Judiciary Committees as a “pulse check” on the first six months of Patel’s tenure in the top job.
The blistering assessment slammed the FBI under Patel’s leadership as “dismal”, “all f---ed up,” and a “rudderless ship,” and concluded the director is “in over his head.”
It also included a bruising observation that Bongino is “something of a clown.”
The report, first leaked to the New York Post, spread like wildfire with a series of damaging headlines across numerous publications and has sparked debate over whether the inexperienced FBI director is hurting rather than helping the Trump administration and the president.
⚖️ Appeals court disqualifies Trump’s N.J. prosecutor pick Alina Habba, rejecting DOJ challenge, Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, December 1, 2025.
KEY POINTS
- Alina Habba, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, remains disqualified, a U.S. appeals court ruled.
- The unanimous decision upheld a prior ruling from a lower federal court that Habba was unlawfully appointed.
- Habba was Trump’s former personal lawyer and a key figure in multiple civil cases against the president, including those brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James and writer E. Jean Carroll.
🥙 🍻 To Your Good Health 🥂 🥗
Do you like pie? How about Pecan Pie? Here’s a yummy recipe from Atlanta! And it uses less fat and calories but is (supposed to be) just as delicious as traditional pecan pie. I like pecan pie so I am going to try it out. Still looking for a good recipe that uses maple syrup instead of corn syrup though!
🥧 Buttermilk makes pecan pie less sweet but just as delicious, Virginia Willis, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, November 15, 2025.
Traditional pecan pie has a sugary, gooey center, with both fans who love it and foes who consider it too cloying. This buttermilk pecan pie recipe uses a lightly sweetened, spiced custard base made with low-fat buttermilk, eggs and all-purpose flour. If you like a traditional pecan pie, you’ll love this version. The lighter combination allows the rich flavor of the pecans to shine and reduces the fat and calories.
Buttermilk Pecan Pie
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the pie crust, divided
1 recipe for a single unbaked pie crust or one premade pie crust, thawed if frozen
3 large eggs
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
½ cup low-fat buttermilk
½ cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
¼ cup cane syrup or dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of fine sea salt
2 cups pecan halves
Method:
Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare pie crust and keep in refrigerator until ready to fill.
In a medium bowl, In a medium bowl, combine 1 tablespoon flour, eggs, butter, buttermilk, brown sugar, cane syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Whisk until well-combined. Stir in pecans.
Remove the pie crust from the refrigerator and add the filling to the crust. Bake the pie until the custard is set and the pecans are golden brown, about 45 minutes.
Transfer the pie to a rack and let cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Slice with a serrated knife and serve. Cover and store leftovers at room temperature for up to two days or in the refrigerator for up to four days.
🍹 Make mulled-wine sangria for a cosy and crowd-pleasing holiday cocktail, Dhivya Subramanian, CBC, November 27, 2025.
Ingredients
2 cups fresh blackberries, divided, plus more to serve
⅓ cup water
1 (750 ml) bottle dry red wine
¼ cup maple syrup
1 cup orange juice
Seeds from 1 small vanilla bean (or ½ tsp vanilla bean paste)
2 rosemary sprigs
4 or 5 whole black peppercorns, lightly crushed
Zest of 1 orange
1 orange, thinly sliced into rounds
1 orange or blood orange, thinly sliced into rounds and cut into quarters
To serve:
Ice
Sparkling water (optional)
Preparation
Mash 1 cup blackberries in a small bowl until completely crushed, add water and stir, then strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a Dutch oven. (Alternatively, add 1 cup of blackberry purée.)
Add wine, maple syrup, orange juice, vanilla bean seeds, rosemary, crushed peppercorns, orange zest and orange rounds to the Dutch oven. Set over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until just steaming, about 10 to 12 minutes — do not let it boil.
Remove from heat and let the mixture steep for 20 minutes.
Set a fine-mesh sieve over a glass measuring cup and strain out the solids. Pour the sangria into a large pitcher. Add orange triangles, reserving a few pieces for garnish, and 1 cup blackberries. Chill fully.
Serve in glasses filled with ice, reserved orange triangles and more blackberries, and top with a splash of sparkling water, if desired.
Serves 6
🤟🏼 Mental Health Break — this is surprisingly good! 😄
🐩 💙 CG’s Picks 💙 🐩
Hello Everybody! It’s me, Curlygirly! Did you have a happy Thanksgiving? I did! We had loads of company as four of my human sibs came visiting! Some of them participated in something called a “turkey trot” (but I didn’t see any turkeys!) and we all had lots of delicious food. Me and Mama waved off our last two visitors Monday morning. We are very tired, but happy!
I was so busy being a hostess dog that I didn’t have much time to find stories for you. But I managed to fetch a few cool videos.
We had snow here in Chicago over the holiday weekend! And the animals at Brookfield zoo really enjoyed it!
Here is a video about a sheepdog puppy who is learning the trade from a shepherd and his older, experienced dogs.
🐕 Here is the We Rate Dogs top 5 dogs of November. One of them was featured in a GNR last week — the one whose cat sibling gives him paw massages!
🐋 A whale of a story!
Imagine looking out your window and seeing a WHALE right by the dock near your house? Apparently, this is not the first time for these people!
That’s all I have for you for this week. Bye for now! Luv, CG 💙🐾
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ GOP goes all-in on culture war—and it's not going great, Kos, DailyKos, November 30, 2025.
⚡️ A Leaky Ship Is a Sinking Ship: Nine Examples in the Badministration, chloris creator, December 1, 2025.
⚡️ Consider this: Let’s agree to stop ‘keeping the peace’ this holiday season, Veronica Kirin, Waging Nonviolence, November 25, 2025.
⚡️ Really helpful! The playbook of every successful nonviolent struggle, Jamila Raqib, Waging Nonviolence, November 21, 2025.
⚡️ Have you signed up for Goody’s weekly newsletter yet? It is SO GOOD! Stop Forcing Holiday Cheer—Connection Comes in Many Forms, Many Ways to Belong, December 1, 2025.
⚡️🎧 What Sets Gary Stevenson Apart - And Why it matters: Barry's Economics, Barry’s Economics, YouTube, November 30, 2025.
⚡️🎧 Week 47 of the Trump Admin: Tragedy Strikes the National Guard, Airport Attire, War Crimes and More!, Daniella Mestyanek Young, Knitting Cult Lady, December 1, 2025.
⚡️🎧 Weak Trump Losing Physical and Mental Grip: Wolff | Inside Trump's Head, Daily Beast, YouTube, November 30, 2025.
⚡️🎧 Here’s a different take that made me pause and think: Weapons Herd Immunity is Keeping America Safe, Daniella Mestyanek Young, Knitting Cult Lady, YT, November 26, 2025.
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it from me and CG for another Tuesday. Remember to take good care of yourself and those you love. Eat nutritious food, get some rest and get yourself outdoors each day for at least a few minutes, if you are able. And while you are out, say “Good Morning!” to a stranger. 😃
CG and I are heading out for a stroll in snowy Chicagoland! Have a great day, Newsies!
