First, thank you, truly, to everyone who has become a paid subscriber over the past couple months. After some January 6 rioters, and the so-called “Secretary of Retribution,” showed up at the Comey hearing this week, your support isn’t just keeping this newsletter alive; it’s helping me cover security so I can keep showing up in person, where truth still needs a voice. Let’s just say, it has been an interesting few days after those interactions. But I’m not doing it alone, I’m doing it with the support of all of you. Let’s get into it.
1. Peter Thiel’s “Antichrist” Lectures
Over the past month, billionaire Peter Thiel delivered a four-part, off-the-record lecture series in San Francisco—fusing theology, Artificial Intelligence, and apocalypse for a hand-picked tech elite.
In leaked recordings obtained by The Washington Post, Thiel warned that those pushing to regulate technology, from Greta Thunberg to AI critic Eliezer Yudkowsky, are “legionnaires of the Antichrist.” He called oversight itself a satanic threat that would destroy America and usher in global tyranny.
Tied closely to the Trump-Vance White House, Thiel cast Silicon Valley’s resistance to limits as a holy war, good versus evil, led, in his words, by “one of the great Christians of our time”: himself. Yes, you read that correctly.
Hosted by Acknowledging Christ within Technology and Society (ACTS) 17 Collective, the events required secrecy pledges and drew protesters calling him the Antichrist. Between talk of “one-world government” and warnings that regulation is the devil’s work, Thiel’s gospel was clear: any check on billionaire power is heresy.
When a man with Palantir’s surveillance contracts and Trump’s ear starts preaching that innovation is divine and oversight is sin, that’s not faith, it’s a revelation of control.
🤖 The Gospel According to Peter Thiel: WaPo
2. Professor Exiled: Rutgers Scholar Flees U.S. After Death Threats
Mark Bray, a Rutgers historian who literally wrote the book on anti-fascism, fled the country this week with his family after death threats poured in. His “crime”? Teaching about anti-fascism while Trump’s DOJ moves to brand it terrorism.
Turning Point USA accused him of being “Dr. Antifa,” Fox News amplified it, and soon his address was online and threats followed, including one to kill him in front of his students.
Bray says he’s never been part of any antifa group. But in today’s America, facts don’t matter when the mob has a target. Rutgers offered him security. He chose exile instead, teaching from Spain, like something out of the 1930s.
My take: When educators have to flee for teaching history, we’re not protecting free speech, we’re prosecuting it.
🎓 Rutgers Scholar Flees U.S. After Death Threat: NY Times
3. 🤝 Pence and Rahm Preach Unity—A Throwback Worth Noticing
On C-SPAN this week, former VP Mike Pence and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel shared a surprisingly cordial interview about America’s divisions. Pence praised Emanuel’s “reasoned debate,” while Emanuel said what the GOP needs is “more Mike Pence.”
It was a throwback to another era, two veterans of opposite parties talking about decency and shared purpose. But hearing it now, in the middle of a political crackdown on dissent and truth, it raises a question: can others follow their lead?
I encourage you to watch this clip, especially the moment when Pence recalls a senator telling him, “This is a funny business we’re in.” Pence’s reply was simple: “It’s not a business. It’s a country.”
Whatever your politics, that line struck me. It’s a reminder of what public service is supposed to be, and how far we’ve drifted from it. If more leaders remembered that, maybe unity and working together for the greater good of the country wouldn’t feel so nostalgic.
4. Three Nations Said No.
Uganda said no. Eswatini said no. Ghana said no.
Three countries on another continent refused to take Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man, whom the U.S. is trying to deport again after the Trump administration illegally expelled him once already. Earlier this year, Garcia was deported under the Alien Enemies Act, a wartime statute revived to justify the expulsion of non-citizens from “enemy nations.” A federal court later ruled the deportation unlawful and ordered his return to Maryland, where he had lived and worked legally. But the administration refused to comply, branding him a gang member without credible evidence, and now it’s shopping him around the world like unwanted cargo.
These African countries saw what’s happening and wanted no part of it. While the Trump administration spins the globe looking for someone, anyone, to legitimize its cruelty, the rest of the world is saying: enough.
When other nations have to remind America what justice looks like, that tells you everything about how far we’ve fallen.
🌍 Moral global mirror, International Rejection: Politico
5. Ambassador John Bolton is next.
The former national security adviser turned Trump critic is expected to be indicted within days, just after James Comey and Letitia James.
In Washington, the question isn’t if more are coming; it’s who’s next: Bolton or Senator Adam Schiff. Think about that. This isn’t normal. And it’s not okay.
Do I feel like the sharks are circling while I’m swimming in the deep end? Absolutely.
But that doesn’t mean I’m going silent. It means standing up for truth matters more, which is why I showed up at the courthouse this week in support of James Comey. Miles Taylor and I showed up together, covering the morning live on The Jim Acosta Show. Because showing up matters.
All of it followed a Truth Social post where Trump told his attorney general to “take action.” It was meant as a private message to Pam Bondi—oops! Cat’s out of the bag.
The Department of Justice is no longer independent. This isn’t a coincidence. It’s coordination. And this is what retribution looks like in real time.
🔥 Retribution in Real Time: NBC
🌄 One Thing for Your Soul
Decades after Bob Ross taught us about “happy little trees,” his art is now helping something bigger grow.
Thirty of his original paintings, created live on The Joy of Painting, are being auctioned to support PBS and local public stations after Trump-era funding cuts gutted public broadcasting.
Ross once said, “Talent is a pursued interest.” So is kindness. And maybe that’s what this moment is really about, the quiet, steady pursuit of doing good, even when the world feels hostile to it.
I’m going to go make friends with the tree out front, the one I’ve been too busy to notice. Bob Ross had it right: sometimes the best antidote to the madness is a happy little tree. So take a breath, look up, and remember: beauty still exists, and it’s worth protecting.
Until next time,
Olivia
Olivia, you continue to astound me with your unflagging defense of those wrongly accused/indicted/outed. You, Miles Taylor, Adam Kinzinger—it’s more than courageous. One of the best things this country has are our institutions of higher learning. Now hundreds of thousands of people will flee to teach and research in other countries happy to have their minds. Suppression of all that is good seems to be the 2025 playbook that is quickly becoming 2026. We need more defenders!
I admire you Olivia. Showing up in dangerous times like you do is not just the right thing but it takes real courage. One always reflects on what one would do in times like these but here you are like so many others on the front lines. 🇨🇦