“The United States Is No Longer a Functional Democracy” — And Trump’s America Deserves Every Inch of It

When the world stops seeing you as a democracy, maybe stop acting like a dictatorship.

Dean Blundell

America woke up today with a new global label — one normally slapped on countries with collapsing institutions, criminalized dissent, and governments that treat journalists like contagions.

Bottom of Form

The United States has officially been downgraded from “narrowed” civic space to “obstructed.”

Let that sink in.

Obstructed.
That’s the category where democracies go to die.

And here’s the part that should terrify everyone — this isn’t just an academic downgrade or a bunch of international policy nerds wagging their fingers. These civic ratings are the same tools used by governments, investors, international courts, and security alliances to figure out which countries are stable… and which ones are sliding into authoritarian rot.

For the first time in modern history, the United States is being treated as a country in structural democratic decline.

Not temporary. Not atmospheric. Structural.

And spoiler alert: that decline has one author. His name is Donald Trump.

Christmas in America

 

Who is smarter? Cats or humans?

 

Is Male Infertility Contributing to Falling Birth Rates?

Trump and Bobby Jr. messages on declining birth rates has racist undertones

By Joshua Cohen

Musk says what RFK Jr. and Trump imply

For decades, U.S. marriage rates have been on the decline while the average age at which Americans have children has risen. Alongside this, birth rates have dropped — a phenomenon the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has called a “national security threat.” Within Donald Trump’s administration’s Make America Great Again movement, pro-natalists opine that society’s existence could be at stake.

Kennedy issued a warning at a White House press briefing in October, arguing that the fertility rate is not high enough to ensure the American population remains stable. The rate dropped to a historic low in 2023 and continued to slide in 2024. The total fertility rate that year was less than 1.6 live births per woman of childbearing age. This is well below the replacement rate of 2.1, at which population size remains constant from generation to generation.

Many women are proactively choosing to have no or fewer children. But for those who do wish to get pregnant, yet struggle with infertility, President Trump has announced that he will work with a drugmaker to offer several fertility medications at a heavy discount and make it easier for employers to offer fertility benefits.

The administration has not, however, spoken publicly about specific treatments geared toward men. And until recently, the topic of male infertility was somewhat taboo, even though it plays a role in roughly half of all cases in which a woman struggles to get pregnant.

A man’s age, health, and weight can all contribute to infertility. Research suggests this is because these variables influence sperm count and testosterone levels — both of which appear to be on the decline. Kennedy has repeatedly expressed alarm about these declines, with exaggerated claims such as this, from an October press event: “Today, the average teenager in this country has 50 percent of the sperm count, 50 percent of the testosterone as a 65-year-old man."

But what role does male biology play in declining birth rates? Could addressing this help the administration meet its fertility-boosting goals? The answer, it turns out, is complicated.

Over the years, researchers have asked if sperm counts really are on the decline. More recently, one group developed what some critics now call the “sperm count decline hypothesis,” which posits that sperm counts are falling and that a low sperm count is an indicator of sub-optimal health, which could impact fertility.

Why risk illness or death, loss of income and posing a danger to others?

Fewer people are being vaccinated against respiratory diseases

Liz Szabo, MA

Although this year's flu season could be challenging, fewer adults have been vaccinated against influenza, a new study shows.

Much less than half of US adults have been immunized against any respiratory virus, according to a survey of 1,015 adults released this week by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).

Just 34% of adults have gotten a flu shot; 25% have had a COVID-19 shot; 8% have received a vaccine to prevent pneumococcal disease, caused by bacteria that can lead to pneumonia, meningitis, and sepsis; and 6% have been vaccinated against respiratory syncytial (RSV), a leading cause of hospitalization in infants and older adults.

New data from IQVIA, which provides health care statistics, show similar declines over the past year. Retail pharmacies have seen falling numbers of vaccinations for three major respiratory viruses:

• 34% decline in RSV vaccinations
• 27% drop in COVID-19 vaccinations
• 6% reduction in flu shots

PUC Considering Cuts to R.I. Energy’s Efficiency Programs

With Trump cuts, end of tax credits, why do this?

By Rob Smith / ecoRI News staff

Is it time for the state to cut its energy efficiency programs?

That’s the question state utility regulators are considering as the year draws to a close. Rhode Island Energy, the main utility company and sole administrator of the programs, says it’s time to cut the budget and “right-size” the amount of money Rhode Islanders are charged.

Environmental groups and advocates, however, including the state council on energy efficiency programs, say it’s not the time to downsize key initiatives that let Rhode Islanders use less energy and save money.

Under Rhode Island Energy’s proposal, the budget for electric energy efficiency programs would be cut from $82 million to $62.9 million for the next calendar year, a $19 million decrease year over year. For gas, the utility company proposed trimming its budget by more than $2 million, to $33 million.

Opposed to Rhode Island Energy’s proposed cuts is the state’s Energy Efficiency Council, which declined to endorse the utility company’s proposal earlier this year. The council is instead proposing its own plan, which also contains cuts, although not as severe as Rhode Island Energy’s.

Under the council’s plan, electric energy efficiency programs would be cut to $67.7 million for next year, and on the gas side, the council proposes the same budget as 2025 — $35 million.

The state Public Utilities Commission, which has final say over the program’s budgets, has spent the past week having evidentiary hearings for the budget proposals. It’ll be up to the PUC to decide what the final budget will look like, and if it’s time to downsize the budgets.

Arrest Mark Zuckerberg for Child Endangerment

Even though Zuckerberg, if convicted, would probably get a Trump pardon

Aaron Regunberg

Should Mark Zuckerberg be handcuffed—literally—for endangering millions of children? That’s the inescapable question raised by a legal brief filed last month in a civil case against major social media companies.

The litigation, which alleges that social media platforms have been purposefully cultivating addiction among adolescents, has been working its way through the courts since 2022. 

But the details laid out in this new court filing, and reported recently by Time, contain genuinely horrifying claims about Zuckerberg’s Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. 

And they suggest that—in addition to the tort claims being pursued by the families, school districts, and state attorneys general behind this multidistrict litigation—the corporate executives responsible for these harms could and should be criminally prosecuted for child endangerment.

The brief alleges that Meta was aware that its platforms were endangering young users, including by exacerbating adolescents’ mental health issues. According to the plaintiffs, Meta frequently detected content related to eating disorders, child sexual abuse, and suicide, but refused to remove it. 

For example, one 2021 internal company survey found that more than 8 percent of respondents aged 13 to 15 had seen someone harm themself or threaten to harm themself on Instagram during the past week. The brief also makes clear that Meta fully understood the addictive nature of its products, with plaintiffs citing a message by one user-experience researcher at the company that Instagram “is a drug” and “We’re basically pushers.”

Perhaps most relevant to state child endangerment laws, the plaintiffs have alleged that Meta knew that millions of adults were using its platforms to inappropriately contact minors. According to their filing, an internal company audit found that Instagram had recommended 1.4 million potentially inappropriate adults to teenagers in a single day in 2022. 

The brief also details how Instagram’s policy was to not take action against sexual solicitation until a user had been caught engaging in the “trafficking of humans for sex” a whopping 17 times. As Instagram’s former head of safety and well-being, Vaishnavi Jayakumar, reportedly testified, “You could incur 16 violations for prostitution and sexual solicitation, and upon the 17th violation, your account would be suspended.”

The decision to expose adolescents to these threats was, according to the brief, an entirely knowing one. As plaintiffs allege, by 2019 Meta researchers were recommending that Instagram shield its young users from unwanted adult contact by making all teenage accounts private by default. 

Or HHS or Homeland Security. Maybe Vice President.

Just reading through the DOJ's new Epstein file dump....

Solving the problem of declining tourism

The Problem: Tourism to the US has dropped off dramatically under Trump:

Trump regime thinks this will help:

If that doesn't work, they'll try this:

Then there's this:

Hundreds of Sea Turtles Are Freezing in Cape Cod

Add this to climate change's tab

By Teresa Tomassoni

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

Over the last few weeks, volunteers have braved bitter winds and freezing temperatures to patrol Cape Cod’s bayside beaches at night, sweeping their flashlight beams along the last high-tide line marked with mounds of seaweed, searching for signs of life.

“That’s where you’re most likely to find a turtle,” said Mark Faherty, science coordinator at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, which runs a sea turtle rescue and research program in Cape Cod. 

Every year, from November through early January, hundreds of juvenile sea turtles strand on these beaches when water temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving them cold-stunned—a hypothermic reaction experienced by marine reptiles—and unable to swim. 

Disoriented and helpless, the animals drift until the surf deposits them on the beach, covered in algae and barnacles, so still and so camouflaged they often resemble rocks. Kemp’s ridleys—the world’s most endangered sea turtle—make up the majority, along with smaller numbers of green and loggerhead turtles.

HPV vaccines provide strong protection against cervical cancer

Cancer risk reduced by 80% when kids under 16 are vaccinated

Laine Bergeson

Two new Cochrane reviews by UK researchers provide strong, consistent evidence that human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination helps prevent cervical cancer, sharply reduces high-grade precancerous lesions, and is not linked to serious adverse events, especially when administered to young people who haven’t been exposed to the virus. The findings underscore the importance of early adolescent vaccination. 

The reviews span both randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and large population-level studies, drawing on data from more than 132 million people. 

80% reduction in cervical cancer

A population-level analysis included 225 studies from 46 countries and found an 80% reduction in cervical cancer among girls vaccinated by age 16 (risk ratio [RR], 0.20). Risk reductions were smaller among those vaccinated later in adolescence or in adulthood.

The review also reported moderate-certainty evidence that vaccination lowers rates of precancerous cervical lesions and the incidence of anogenital warts.

The review also found no evidence linking HPV vaccination to widely discussed harms, including infertility, chronic fatigue syndrome (also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis), Guillain-Barre syndrome, and complex regional pain syndrome.

A separate analysis of RCTs evaluated four HPV vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO)—Cervarix, Gardasil, Gardasil-9, and Cecolin—across 60 trials including 157,414 participants. 

While the trials did not last long enough for cancers to develop, the vaccines reduced high-grade vaccine-matched precancerous cervical lesions 60% (RR, 0.40) in females ages 15 to 25 after six years. A pairwise analysis of 39 studies showed that rates of serious adverse events did not differ between the vaccine and control groups (RR, 0.99) at up to 72 months follow-up.

Merry Christmas, veterans. Trump VA to Eliminate Up to 35,000 Healthcare Jobs This Month despite chronic under-staffing

“We must expand the VA, not hollow it out.”

Jake Johnson

Before the end of the year, the Trump administration is planning to eliminate up to 35,000 healthcare jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs, a chronically understaffed agency that has already lost tens of thousands of employees to the White House’s sweeping assault on the federal workforce.

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that the targeted positions—many of which are unfilled—include doctors, nurses, and support staff. A spokesperson for the VA, led by former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), described the jobs as “mostly Covid-era roles that are no longer necessary.”

VA workers, veterans advocates, and a union representing hundreds of thousands of department employees disputed that characterization as the agency faces staff shortages across the country.

Trump Reveals Biden Lurks in White House, Raising Grocery Prices

Yes, Biden did it

Mitchell Zimmerman

At the end of his address to the nation on the economy, while fact-checkers were taking a break to avoid carpal-tunnel syndrome, President Trump revealed the real cause of the nation’s economic problems: Joe Biden never actually left the White House, and as the enemy within, has stealthily made the decisions that have caused prices to rise during Trump’s first year back in office.

“Biden is a master of disguises,” Trump explained. “Some days he pretended to be Steve Miller, countermanding my orders to deport only the worst of the worse and directing Kristi Noem to deport every farm worker she could find in order to raise the prices of groceries. Then he was Treasury Secretary Steve Bessent, urging the Fed to lower interest rates in order to overheat the economy.

“Then he was Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, an old fossil fuel guy, undermining renewable energy in order to cause electricity shortages to raise energy prices.

“One day he even snuck into the oval office while I was taking a much-needed nap. He removed the sharpie from my hand and used it to increase tariffs on everything Americans buy from overseas. He even raised coffee and banana tariffs.”

In a giant security failure, the Secret Service had failed to check whether Biden was actually on the departing helicopter when he supposedly left the White House last January. And FBI head Kash Patel admitted he still could not locate former and now-de-facto-acting President Biden. But officials concluded he had to be hiding somewhere in the East Wing, hence the desperate effort to root him out with bulldozers.

“We had to destroy the White House in order to save it,” observed President Trump during a waking moment. “Just wait until next year. Prices on everything are going to come down, and they’ll go down fast, starting on day three hundred and sixty-six.”

Mitchell Zimmerman is an attorney, longtime social activist, and author of the anti-racism thriller Mississippi Reckoning. He's also a longtime contributor to Progressive Charlestown. His writing can also be found on his Substack, Reasoning Together with Mitchell Zimmerman.

Subscriptions to Reasoning Together with Mitchell Zimmerman are free at this time. If you find my writing of value, please like, subscribe and recommend Reasoning Together to your friends. Thank you.

You may also be interested in my road-trip novel / social thriller Mississippi Reckoning. Read an excerpt. Read the Progressive Charlestown review HERE.

Silver lining