The Year in Review
I am so sorry.
The biggest story of 2025, to judge from the number of people who sent it to me, was this raccoon:
In case you somehow missed this story: In late November, this raccoon got into a state liquor store in Ashland, Va., by falling though the ceiling. Once inside, the raccoon ransacked the store, leaving a trail of broken bottles...
...and apparently consuming a large quantity of booze before passing out in the bathroom next to the toilet. That’s where the raccoon was found by a store employee, who called an animal-control officer, who took it to an animal shelter. When the raccoon finally sobered up, it was hired as director of security by the Louvre Museum.
No, seriously, it was released into the wild. But the photo went majorly viral, and the raccoon became a huge celebrity. We, the American people, LOVE this raccoon. And I think I know why: After the year we’ve been through, we can relate to it. We have had way too much of 2025; it has left us, as a nation, lying face-down on the floor of despair, between the wastebasket of stupidity and the commode of broken dreams.
How did we get here? Perhaps it will help (although I doubt it) if we look back on the events of this insane year, starting with...
JANUARY
...in which outgoing President Joe Biden, preparing to wander out of office, pardons pretty much everybody he has ever shaken hands with — Not that anybody did anything wrong! — thus clearing the decks for America’s new leadership team of President Donald Trump and Executive President Elon Musk.
Even before taking office Trump is working on big things, HUGE things, INCREDIBLE things, including a goal that has been shown, in poll after poll, to be the number one priority of the American public: purchasing Greenland. We need Greenland because it is a vital strategic resource that produces nearly 70 percent of the world’s supply of frostbite. Technically Greenland belongs to Denmark, which doesn’t want to sell it to us, but the harsh military reality is that the entire Danish army has fewer weapons than the entourage of a mid-tier American rap artist.
Trump also wants to take possession of the Panama Canal, which was built by Americans and therefore needs to be physically relocated to the United States; and to rename Mount Denali and the Gulf of Mexico, both of which were also built by Americans.
On January 20 Trump is sworn into office and — after unsuccessfully attempting to kiss his wife, Melania, who as a defensive measure is wearing the wide-brim style of hat popularized by both the Hamburglar and Zorro — he pardons pretty much everybody who was not pardoned by Biden, including the January 6 rioters Capitol tourists, among them the bare-chested, face-painted guy with the horned headpiece, who needs to be out of prison because he is our new ambassador to Great Britain.
In keeping with presidential tradition, Trump signs executive orders reversing all the Biden executive orders that reversed all the previous Trump executive orders that reversed all of Barack Obama’s executive orders that reversed all of George W. Bush’s executive orders that reversed all of Bill Clinton’s executive orders, and so on back to George Washington.
Meanwhile Elon Musk and an elite squadron of really smart 13-year-olds set about the task of making the federal government less wasteful by eliminating the root cause of inefficiency: employees. To accomplish this goal, the Musk team offers buyout agreements to all two million federal workers. The first person to accept is Melania.
No, that’s a joke, obviously. She was third.
In other Washington news, the hearings for Trump’s cabinet nominees produce the greatest oratorical moment in the history of the U.S. Senate, if not the world, when Bernie Sanders, questioning Robert F. Kennedy Jr., points to photographs of two infant garments with anti-vaccination slogans and demands to know “ARE YOU SUPPORTIVE OF THESE ONESIES?”
If these words are not, some day, engraved on the front of a major federal building, we have to wonder why we even HAVE federal buildings.
Which brings us to...
FEBRUARY
...when President Trump threatens to slap tariffs on goods from Mexico, Canada and China, all of which were originally built by Americans. Tariffs are taxes, so this would mean that the American consumer would pay more for these goods. To understand why this is a shrewd business tactic, consider an analogy: You’re in a dispute with your neighbor, Bob. So you go to Bob’s house and ring his doorbell. When he opens the door, you turn around and punch the American consumer in the face. Take that, Bob!
Meanwhile, as Elon and the Musketeers continue whacking away at the federal government, the Washington Post publishes a front-page story that begins: “A 19-year-old acolyte of Elon Musk known online as ‘Big Balls’ has taken on new roles as a senior adviser at the State Department and at the Department of Homeland Security....”
This is followed by several days of cable-TV news coverage featuring platoons of Serious Commentators, frowning to indicate the magnitude of their concern, talking about: Big Balls. They are obsessed with Big Balls. They cannot get enough of Big Balls. The only thing that could have made this episode more magical would have been if there had been a Senate hearing in which Bernie Sanders demanded to know if Big Balls was supportive of the onesies.
Speaking of the Democrats: Recognizing that their main message in 2024 — that anybody who would vote for Donald Trump is a racist idiot — failed badly, the Democrats have decided to win voters back with a more positive message, namely, that they are positive that anybody who would vote for Donald Trump is a racist idiot. This is the kind of tactical shrewdness that makes the Democratic Party such a formidable foe of the Democratic Party.
In yet another alarming aviation mishap, a Delta regional jet attempting to land in Toronto flips over and slides down the runway upside-down, coming to a stop only inches from a waiting clot of personal-injury attorneys. A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration, seeking to reassure the public, notes that “many flights are still landing right-side up.”
Speaking of Canada, in…
MARCH
…the Trump administration ramps up the trade war against Canada and Mexico, which used to be friendly neighboring nations where vacationing Americans went to shoot moose and throw up on the beaches respectively, but which now apparently are our arch-enemies. We’re also in a feud with Europe, because for decades we’ve been spending billions of dollars protecting Europe from the Russians while the Europeans were lounging around cafes without leaving tips.
Our new foreign policy is: Protect your own selves, Europeans! We’re not going to fight the Russians for you! In fact now we LIKE the Russians! We’re chatting on the phone with them right now about how much of Ukraine they can keep!
At least that appears to be our foreign policy at the moment. There’s a lot of confusion about exactly what our strategy is: Either we’re playing four-dimensional chess, or somebody’s slipping Ecstasy into the White House Diet Coke supply. Either way it’s exciting!
In domestic news, President Trump marks his sixth week in office by giving a speech to Congress lasting for much of the seventh week, the gist of which is that he is, in all modesty, doing a better Job than all the other presidents combined plus Jesus Christ. This message does not go unchallenged by the Democratic members of Congress, who, in a bold display of Resistance reminiscent of the civil-rights marches of the Sixties, take courageous high-impact action in the form of...
Holding up little paddles.
Really. That’s the protest they came up with. They also considered wearing their underpants on their heads, but decided that wouldn’t look ridiculous enough.
Speaking of ridiculous: A group of high-level Trump administration officials, including Secretary of Defense War Pete Hegseth, hold a group chat on the Signal app to discuss a sensitive military operation against the Houthis and somehow — this actually happened — include the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. Despite widespread criticism of this blunder, the administration insists that it was no big deal, and that it’s pure coincidence that shortly after the chat, U.S. military drones destroyed the offices of the New Yorker.
On a happier note, two astronauts finally return to Earth after being stranded aboard the International Space Station for nine months. They say they’re “happy to be home,” but add “that’s the last time we’re booking on Spirit.”
Speaking of space exploration, in…
APRIL
…a Blue Origin rocket blasts off from west Texas, carrying a historic six-woman celebrity crew on a historic mission that lasts for nearly 11 historic minutes, including nearly three historic minutes in actual space, before setting them safely down in… west Texas. Not only does this mission result in a breakthrough scientific discovery — namely, that space is located directly above west Texas — but it also serves as an inspiration to every little girl who has ever looked up at the heavens and dreamed that some day, somehow, she would grow up and become engaged to Jeff Bezos.
Speaking of things going up and down: the stock market is bouncing around like a kangaroo on meth as the financial community, along with the rest of the world, frantically tries to understand President Trump’s tariff strategy, which changes almost hourly as he responds, as a shrewd negotiator, to random neural firings in his brain. Now he’s raising tariffs! Now he’s lowering tariffs! Now he’s raising tariffs again, but only for countries with predominantly blue flags and large yak populations!
As the public sees TariffPalooza disrupting the economy, Trump’s poll numbers begin to slide, presenting the Democrats with a golden opportunity to take advantage of Trump’s vulnerability by offering Americans the one thing that they crave most in these uncertain economic times: a really long speech. This bold stroke is executed by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who sets a U.S. Senate record by speaking for more than 25 hours without peeing, forever transforming the lives of the estimated three interns who were listening.
The excitement continues in...
MAY
...when the Washington press corps is rocked by the revelations in “Original Sin,” a bombshell new book by veteran journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, which reveals the shocking revelation that during his presidency, Joe Biden was suffering from dementia, but this was covered up so effectively that nobody noticed it except for everyone on the planet who is not a member of the Washington press corps. The question now is: If Biden was incapacitated, who was actually running the government? We can rest assured that we will soon have an answer, now that the Washington press corps has been alerted.
Meanwhile President Trump takes a break from changing his mind about tariffs to receive the gift of a luxury jet plane from Qatar, a generous nation that expects nothing in return. “Just treat us exactly the same way as you would anybody else who gave you a $400 million gift,” is the selfless attitude of the Qataris.
Also definitely not expecting any special favors are the 200 people who spend an average of more than a million dollars each on Trump’s cryptocurrency meme coin — which is named (really) “$TRUMP” — so they can attend a dinner with the president at the Trump National Golf Club. This is totally ethical. In fact having a personal cryptocurrency has been a U.S. presidential tradition dating all the way back to the Abraham Lin¢oin.
Speaking of Lincoln: On Memorial Day, a somber occasion when America honors its war dead, Trump posts a social-media message strongly reminiscent of the Gettysburg Address in its dignity and thoughtful eloquence. It begins (really): “HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING THE SCUM THAT SPENT THE LAST FOUR YEARS TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY THROUGH WARPED RADICAL LEFT MINDS...”
...and so on for 109 thoughtful capitalized words, not one of which mentions our nation’s war dead, but you only have so much space on social media.
Meanwhile the Democrats, according to the New York Times, are spending $20 million on a research project code-named SAM, which stands for “Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan,” intended to figure out how the party can appeal to young men. So far the researchers have come up with a campaign based on the slogan: “The Democratic Party will hit a touchdown out of the ballpark for America! Because, like young males, we enjoy athletic sports games!” The Democrats plan to workshop this slogan with actual young males, once the researchers find out where they live.
In transportation news, Newark’s Liberty International Airport (motto: “Our Motto Has Been Canceled”) is plagued by flight disruptions after staffing problems reduce the number of available air-traffic controllers to one, Marty Fleegleman, who is unable to leave his post and has been peeing into a Gatorade bottle since Christmas. A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration says “there is no reason for airline passengers to be concerned” and reminds pilots planning to land in Newark to “buzz the tower first in case Marty has dozed off.”
In a historic action, the College of Cardinals chooses the first U.S.-born pope, Robert Francis Prevost. The new pontiff, whose official name is Pope Bob I, pledges to reinvigorate the College of Cardinals football program, which last season had zero wins and 12 losses, including a 63-0 shellacking by the Sisters of Mercy.
Speaking of shellackings, in...
JUNE
...seven American B-2 stealth bombers, operating under conditions of strictest secrecy, take off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and, in a surprise attack that shocks the world, drop 14 massive “bunker buster bombs,” each weighing 30,000 pounds, on the headquarters of the personal-injury law firm Morgan and Morgan.
No, sorry, wishful thinking. In fact the bombs are dropped on Iran, which the Trump administration claims is trying to build nuclear weapons, although Iran insists that it is enriching uranium for, quote, “peaceful purposes such as agriculture.”
The bombing mission is called “Operation Midnight Hammer,” a name that was chosen over these candidates:
-- “Operation Big Stomping Boot of Consequences.”
-- “Operation FAFO.”
-- “Operation You Talkin’ To ME?”
-- “Operation We Have Come To Chew Bubblegum And Destroy Your Nuclear Facilities, And We Are All Out Of Bubblegum.”
-- “Operation Enrich THIS, Motherf****rs.”
Trump claims that the strike “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, but Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a brief public appearance that is cut short when an Israeli drone flies out of his turban, downplays the damage and warns that Iran’s nuclear program will soon be restored, and it will be “more peaceful than ever.”
In another controversial military operation, Trump sends National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell civil unrest, but by the time the troops are able to reach the scene, after spending 14 hours gridlocked on the 101 freeway, the unrest has pretty much quelled itself. Basically Iran is a more mission-friendly environment.
In politics, New York City Democratic primary voters pick, as their mayoral candidate and almost-certain future mayor, Zohran Mamdani, an attractive and hip young social-media-savvy fellow with an exciting new idea for governing that has never before been proposed and appears to have no downside: giving away free stuff. Among his novel ideas is to have the city operate grocery stores, which would no doubt provide New York food shoppers with a consumer experience every bit as pleasant as the one they currently enjoy in the city’s legendarily reliable, safe and hygienic subway system.
Speaking of financial responsibility, in...
JULY
...a heated debate rages in Washington over the budget bill, as two competing ideologies clash over the nation’s financial future:
— One side believes that the federal government, for a variety of reasons, must continue to spend way more money than it actually has;
— Whereas the other side believes that the federal government, for somewhat different reasons, must continue to spend way more money than it actually has.
It comes down to the wire, but after many hours of passionate debate Congress passes, and President Trump signs, a bill under which the federal government will continue to spend way more money than it actually has. Both sides congratulate themselves, secure in the knowledge that they will be comfortably retired or dead when the massive ticking debt bomb they have helped create explodes all over whatever future generations are stupid enough to not have been born earlier.
With that pesky chore out of the way, Washington resumes being fixated on what Washington has clearly decided is the most important issue facing the nation: Jeffrey Epstein. He is the financier/dirtbag who died in 2019 in a New York City jail cell in what the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled was a suicide, although many people are skeptical, largely because immediately after the word “suicide” on the death certificate are the words “wink wink.”
The federal government allegedly has a massive trove of Epstein-related documents that allegedly either do or do not implicate many alleged individuals, including, allegedly, Donald Trump, who at one time said he was in favor of releasing the documents but is now saying we should forget about them and just move on, thereby guaranteeing that this is the only thing Washington can think about. If a Chinese nuclear submarine surfaced in the Houston Ship Channel, Washington’s main concern would be how it would affect the release of the Epstein files.
In business news, an incident at a Coldplay concert serves as a reminder to corporate executives of the number one rule of career success: Stay off the Kiss Cam.
Speaking of scandals, at the end of the month Eagle Jeans releases an ad featuring actress Sydney Sweeney, who makes a play on words involving “jeans” and “genes.” Naturally, this being 2025, some leading thinkers conclude that the ad is LITERALLY NAZI PROPAGANDA. The professional opinion-having classes spew out thousands of words about this controversy, as Sydney Sweeney and her jeans get sucked into the vast swirling cyclone of crazy that constitutes American political discourse, which is why the overwhelming majority of Americans want nothing to do with it.
Speaking of controversy, in...
AUGUST
...President Trump orders National Guard troops into Washington, D.C., to try to make everybody for God’s sake stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein. Tensions mount until, in a climactic confrontation, a heavily armed Guard unit storms the U.S. Capitol and finds itself in a dramatic standoff with Sen. Chuck Schumer, who addresses the guardsmen through a bullhorn at close range for more than three hours, ultimately forcing them to go lie down.
Meanwhile federal ICE agents, in a raid strongly condemned by civil-liberties organizations, deport the entire California state legislature.
But by far the biggest story in August, if not of all time, is that OMG OMG OMG Taylor Swift announces her engagement to the Future Mr. Taylor Swift, who presents her with an engagement ring believed to be the first piece of manmade jewelry visible from space.
In culture-war news, the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain makes what in a sane era would be viewed as a minor change to its logo. Naturally this sparks a massive backlash, this one coming from the opposite side in the culture war from the one that started the Sydney Sweeney backlash. After a few days of being backlashed, Cracker Barrel announces that it will keep the old logo, and the culture warriors resume their ceaseless hunt for a new thing to be outraged about.
This hunt does not take long, because lurking just over the horizon is...
SEPTEMBER
...when conservative activist Charlie Kirk is assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University. Everyone agrees this is wrong.
I am of course joking. This is 2025, so a disturbing number of Americans think it’s OK to murder someone for expressing the wrong political views. Maybe you can find some humor in this.
On the Jeffrey Epstein front, a hearing of the House Oversight Committee exposes the world to this classy image:
On display at this hearing is an enlargement of a naughty birthday message to Epstein that was allegedly drawn and signed in the pubic region by Donald Trump. Trump vehemently denies that he created it, even though we all know he did, and has sued everybody involved for a jillion dollars.
Whether or not the drawing is authentic, the photo above is a perfect visual representation of the nation’s current level of political debate. The only way to make it more perfect would be to somehow incorporate Bernie Sanders demanding to know whether the birthday card had anything to say about the onesies.
And the federal excitement continues in...
OCTOBER
...when Congress, which at this point is focusing almost exclusively on Jeffrey Epstein, is unable to pass a funding bill, thereby forcing the federal government to shut down. As a result hundreds of millions of Americans suddenly find themselves forced to try to figure out what, exactly, the federal government does, because pretty much everything seems to go on as usual except for Yellowstone National Park, where the buffalo, upon realizing that they are not being paid, refuse to roam.
Meanwhile it’s an up-and-down month for President Trump. On the upside, he brokers a historic ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict that promises to bring permanent lasting peace to the Middle East for the next 25 or possibly even 30 minutes. However this achievement is overshadowed by Trump’s decision to demolish the East Wing of the White House so he can build a huge and classy new ballroom with gold plating on every visible surface including the urinals. The project is expected to cost $300 million, to be provided by generous private donors who simply have a passion for ballrooms and expect nothing in return. Nevertheless polls show that the public largely disapproves of the East Wing demolition, forcing the administration to quietly shelve, at least for now, plans to modernize other aging Washington structures.
Abroad, thieves stage a daring daylight robbery of more than $100 million worth of rare jewelry from the Louvre Museum, which turns out to have the same level of security as a Coke machine. Louvre officials are deeply embarrassed by the brazen theft, and their humiliation only worsens when they discover that the Mona Lisa has also been stolen and replaced by a photograph of Bernie Sanders asking about the onesies, but everybody was too busy taking selfies to notice.
In sports news, federal authorities indict more than 30 people in connection with an alleged insider betting scandal involving the National Basketball Association. The NBA is shocked, shocked to learn that there is gambling going on, as are its official betting partners, FanDuel and DraftKings.
Speaking of surprises, in...
NOVEMBER
...Congress, after pausing briefly to fund the federal government, resumes the crucial work of obsessing about Jeffrey Epstein. The House Oversight Committee releases more than 20,000 pages of Epstein’s texts and emails, which reveal that right up until he got whacked his suicide, Epstein, despite being a convicted dirtbag, somehow managed to remain remarkably influential, corresponding regularly with many prominent people and serving as lieutenant governor of at least three states.
Meanwhile tensions are mounting in the Caribbean, where the Trump administration is using U.S. military forces to deter suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers by vaporizing them and their boats with Hellfire missiles. Some critics charge that these strikes violate international law, but Secretary of War and Hair Gel Pete Hegseth insists that they’re completely legal, noting that all of the missiles clearly display the Miranda Warning.
On a more nostalgic note, it’s the end of an era for the most venerable of all U.S. coins as the Philadelphia Mint produces the last-ever penny, which is presented, in a formal ceremony, to U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach, who throws it into a wastebasket.
Speaking of ceremonies, in....
DECEMBER
....President Trump, attending the ceremonial FIFA World Cup ping-pong-ball draw, is finally recognized for his tireless, unstinting and selfless efforts to win a major peace award by being presented with the “FIFA Peace Prize,” which is an extremely prestigious and historic honor that has been in existence since approximately 15 minutes before the ceremony began, and which is MUCH CLASSIER than the so-called “Nobel Peace Prize” because in addition to a medal you get a big-ass gold trophy AND a certificate. The climatic close of the ceremony is a performance of the song that, more than any other, expresses the true spirit of both world peace and international athletic excellence: “YMCA,” by the Village People.
Meanwhile in the Caribbean, tensions continue to mount as a U.S. Coast Guard cutter attempts to seize a 250,000-ton cruise ship, the Bloat of the Seas, which Pete Hegseth says is believed to be carrying “a substantial number of suspected Venezuelan cigars.” The mission has to be aborted when the Coast Guard boarding party, attempting to ascend the side of the ship, is driven back by a torrent of buffet selections rained down on them by cruise passengers wielding dinner plates the size of manhole covers.
In another foreign-policy development, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issues a memo directing all U.S. embassies and diplomatic posts to use the Times New Roman 14-point font. I am not making this up. Rubio’s memo reverses a 2023 memo by Anthony Blinken ordering everybody to use Calibri, a sans-serif font. Within hours Russia, a nation that historically has always respected and feared the serif, withdraws all of its troops from Ukraine.
In Washington, the Department of Justice releases several hundred thousand more Jeffrey Epstein documents, of which there seems to be an inexhaustible supply. If all the Epstein documents that have been released to date were printed out, they could cover the entire state of Vermont with a document blanket 11 feet high, of which at least two feet would be photos of Bill Clinton. None of these documents is expected to lead to criminal prosecution, but nobody cares; we’ve reached the point where releasing Jeffrey Epstein documents is simply one of the many things that the federal government does for some long-forgotten reason, which is also why we have a Department of Commerce.
Christmas Eve provides a much-needed break from politics, as children everywhere eagerly anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus, soaring south from the North Pole on his magical, toy-laden sleigh, getting as far as Milwaukee, where he and his undocumented reindeer are taken into custody by ICE.
So it has not been a stellar year. But it’s almost over, thank God. It’s time, at last, to put 2025 behind us and look ahead to the year to come, which is bound to be better, right? RIGHT?
Anyway, that’s what we’ll all be hoping for, as we gather on New Year’s Eve with our friends and loved onesies to watch the big ball drop.
I’ll conclude by wishing a Happy New Year to all of you Substack readers, especially you wonderful paying subscribers. Thank you for your support, and please be kind to each other in the comments. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.
"We have had way too much of 2025; it has left us, as a nation, lying face-down on the floor of despair, between the wastebasket of stupidity and the commode of broken dreams."
I laughed 'til I cried! Unfortunately, I'm still not sure if they were tears from laughing or tears from the above-mentioned despair.... Off to the liquor store.
Dave, conscientious and devoted subscriber that I am, I thought it only right to get things started for your 2026 year in review by forecasting significant events to come in the new year. In case you have any doubts, I'm known as the "Oracle" around these here parts --- many other things as well but this is a family newsletter.
* In a shocking development, AI systems become intelligent enough to refuse to learn from humans any longer and instead turn to the animal kingdom for guidance.
* Trump issues his 1,000th executive order demanding blue states conduct no-vote elections to reduce fraud.
* In an effort to replicate the normal contemporary driving experience, Tesla introduces road rage versions of its self-drive vehicles. Buyers have a choice of flashing messages like, "Nice move jackwagon!" and "Lane lines aren't suggestions moron!"
* George Santos announces he will be running for Congress again, but this time as Marjorie Taylor Greene.
* Four of the largest streaming platforms merge offering well over 100,000 choices, none of which you want to watch.
* Maytag launches its "Smart and Snarky" fridge line saying it will revolutionize American eating habits by ordering only non-processed foods and making sarcastic remarks when you attempt to snack in between meals.
* "Lucky," a Golden Retriever, becomes a leading influencer on TikTok setting off a new fitness craze of chasing multiple tennis balls at one time.