Blue 812 News Issue 48 - November 30

Nov 30, 2025

I don’t know about you, but American Feast Day is one of my favorite holidays! I host and cook almost everything from scratch, so I wasn’t paying attention to the news. Then for the beginning of the winter holiday shopping season, my algorithm was inundated with the randomest items (kitchen sink stoppers? freeze-dried ramen toppings? lactose-intolerance pill holders?), so I had to unplug some more.

Here’s the pile of garbage know as news that’s piled up:

On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he may punish Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) for his participation in the viral video with other Democratic congresspeople reminding service members they should not obey unlawful orders. Hegseth ordered Navy Secretary John Phelan to review Kelly’s comments and report back to him by Dec. 10. Kelly is a retired Navy captain and former astronaut.

On Tuesday, all six lawmakers revealed the FBI is seeking to question them. In addition to Kelly, the other Democrats are: Reps. Jason Crow (CO), a former Army officer; Chrissy Houlahan (PA), a former Air Force captain; Chris Deluzio (PA), a former Navy lieutenant who served in Iraq; Maggie Goodlander (NH), who served in the Navy reserves; and Sen. Elissa Slotkin (MI), who worked at the CIA.

Slotkin said the FBI outreach was from the agency’s counterterrorism division. “No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution,” the four House members said in a joint statement. The FBI declined to comment on the investigation.

While Kelly can technically be court-martialed given his retiree status, there’s no precedent for going after a sitting senator in this way. The issue could eventually be resolved in the courts. Additionally, lawmakers are entitled to constitutionally protected speech under Article I of the Constitution, so there are major separation of powers questions at play here.

It’s worth pointing out that Hegseth’s public comments may politically only help Kelly, a possible 2028 presidential candidate. But like the other five Democrats being targeted by Trump, the political benefits come with a cost. They’re now facing escalating death threats. Slotkin, for example, now has a Capitol Police detail.

US coins once said ‘Mind your Business’ instead of ‘In God We Trust'. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Trump’s hand‑picked “peace envoy” apparently moonlights as a Kremlin life coach. Steve Witkoff, a luxury real estate developer with zero foreign policy experience, was caught on a leaked Oct. 14 call that was obtained by Bloomberg with Kremlin fixer Yuri Ushakov. Instead of representing U.S. interests, Witkoff sounded like Russia’s hype man—coaching Ushakov on how to flatter Trump, suggesting they frame concessions as “wins,” and even dangling Ukrainian territory like it was a condo deal. The transcript shows Witkoff advising Russia to emphasize Trump’s “legacy” and to pitch the plan as a way to end the war quickly, regardless of Kyiv’s consent.

Russian officials claim the leak was meant to derail peace talks, while simultaneously denying and admitting parts of it.

Trump, when pressed, brushed it off as “standard negotiation,” which is a bold way of saying “my envoy freelances for Moscow now.” Russia claimed the leak was sabotage meant to derail peace talks, while Ukraine was left fuming that their sovereignty was being treated like a bargaining chip. Allies in Europe are alarmed, critics at home are calling it proof that Trump’s diplomacy tilts toward Moscow, and Witkoff has gone from obscure developer to the poster child for “real estate geopolitics.”

Currently, top Trump administration officials are meeting Ukrainian negotiators in Florida, pushing to broker an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and setting the stage for key talks planned this week in Moscow with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with Witkoff and Jared Kushner, were expected to sit down with a Ukrainian delegation to further hash out the details of a proposed peace framework — talks that come at a sensitive moment for Ukraine as it continues to push back against Russian forces that invaded the country in 2022.

Upset about the Trump appeasement “peace” plan? Use these two links: Appeasement is not Peace and Contact - the White House and/or call The White House during office hours (202) 456-1111.

In a move that ignores the public input and bipartisan resistance, the House leadership has officially reversed course with Speaker Huston calling the House to convene on Monday, December 1st, to consider legislative business, including the mid-decade congressional redistricting map with House hearings expected on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shockingly, he claims they already have the votes—even though legislators and the public have not yet seen the bill language or the maps!

Senator leader Bray and other state senators have been vocally opposed to President Donald Trump’s push to redraw the Hoosier State map to help eliminate Indiana’s two House Democrats, Reps. André Carson and Frank Mrvan. Just last week, Sen. Greg Walker (R-Columbus), already a vocal redistricting critic, said he turned down an invitation to visit the Oval Office and is accusing the White House of violating federal law in its push to pressure Indiana Republicans. Walker said “There is no way that [Trump] should have time to have a conversation with me about Indiana mapmaking when that’s not his business, for starters. But secondly, doesn’t he have anything better to do? I can make a big list of things that are more important for him to focus on.”

In response to our current elected President’s Thanksgiving social media post, another Indiana state senator is a ‘NO.’ Trump’s Nov. 27 Truth Social post ‒ one in a series of anti-immigrant comments posted Thursday ‒ referred to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the “r-word.”

“Those of you that don’t know me or my family might not know that my daughter has Down Syndrome,” state Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, wrote on Facebook. “This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choices of words have consequences.” Bohacek, who had not previously made a public statement on redistricting, was one of 19 Republican senators who voted to reconvene in January rather than meeting on redistricting in December.

This puts immense pressure on the Indiana Senate, whose members have so far been a firm “NO.” Senate Republicans will now caucus on Monday, December 8th, to decide whether they will follow the House and take up the bill.

Join MADVoters, ACLU Indiana, Indivisible Central Indiana and others this week to take action!

Earlier this month, a video went viral of a Black woman, Mercedes Wells, writhing in active labor pain at Franciscan Health Crown Point hospital in Indiana. Wells described the hospital treating her like “less than a dog,” which tracks, since our healthcare system frequently ignores Black women’s pain. Even though her contractions were ten minutes apart and her water had broken, she was sent home without seeing a doctor, only to give birth by the side of the road eight minutes later. EIGHT.

Fortunately, someone listened to Wells. Yesterday, Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) announced the WELLS Act (Women Expansion for Learning and Labor Safety Act) to require that hospitals have discharge plans before sending a woman in labor (or with labor symptoms) home. Basically, hospitals have to account for things like “travel distance” and “reasons” before discharging a laboring woman, plus the bill – which applies to “federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, tribal health programs, emergency medical services agencies, community-based birthing centers and other facilities” – mandates racial bias training for medical professionals in the field. The bill will be formally introduced next week, when Congress is back from its 46th vacation of the year. The hospital issued a formal apology and promised new policies, so thank god that TikTok went viral.

In scuttlebutt and speculation that had me saying: wow, that boycott really must be working, local sources have confirmed that the Vigo County Area Planning Commission recently gave a favorable recommendation for the development of a Target on the east side. What exactly is planned for the site has not been publicly announced, and the property itself has not been recently sold. Gibson Development currently owns the property.

Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun said in an email to the Tribune Star “I tend to not comment on large chains coming to town unless there is a shovel in the dirt. These things can change at the drop of a pin. What I will say is that Terre Haute has made strides the last few years with housing, economic development, and tourism. We are slowly flipping the script. Companies like Target are more inclined to take a look at Terredise as a result. We are blessed to have a local businessman and entrepreneur who fights to get development, like this one, in town.”

Terre Haute Vice News published a thoughtful editorial on their Facebook page with a lively discussion.

Last week, in the latest Trump Administration gift to their fossil fuel industry backers, the Department of Interior proposed a plan that would auction off 1.27 billion acres of public waters on the California Coast, the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean for oil and gas drilling - opening many areas previously untouched by heavy industry. This plan would risk the health and well-being of millions of people who live along our coasts, and devastate countless ocean ecosystems that both humans and wildlife rely on.

The public comment period on this plan opened last week and will run through January 23rd. Let’s make sure we make our opposition known. We can submit comments against this offshore drilling plan at the Federal Register here, and find language to work from via Earthjustice here. We can also reach out to our members of Congress and tell them to join the bipartisan group speaking out against this scheme.

The Democrats on the Oversight Committee have launched a tracking system to hold the Trump Administration accountable by compiling a record of possible ICE and CBP misconduct. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, has the authority to investigate the subjects within the Committee’s legislative jurisdiction as well as “any matter” within the jurisdiction of the other standing House Committees.

From the Oversight Dems: “The Trump Administration is lying, including under oath, about possible misconduct among federal immigration enforcement activities. Oversight Democrats are demanding the Department of Homeland Security investigate each of the incidents listed in this Dashboard.”

View the misconduct and abuses documented so far, or submit a new report at bit.ly/tellonice

Nasty Women calendar | Indivisible Wabash Valley calendar |HoosiersRise calendar

Thursday, December 4th at 6pm: Terre Haute City Council meeting at City Hall

Tuesday, December 9th at 3pm: Mingle with the Mayor at Grand Traverse Pie Co. At this informal and relaxed gathering, various topics will be covered each month with opportunities to ask questions and voice concerns. Free pie and coffee will be served courtesy of Clinton Gardens.

Thursday, December 11th at 6pm: Terre Haute City Council meeting at City Hall

Trump’s time in the White House runs out in:

At 5-foot-6, Napoleon was actually slightly above average height for a Frenchman of the time. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.