Jeffrey Epstein
Fig. 1. “Donald Trump with his future wife Melania Knauss, Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in February 2000.” Photograph credited to Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images, February 2000,[1] fair use.
Khadeeja Safdar and David Benoit, “Epstein’s Private Calendar Reveals Prominent Names, Including CIA Chief, Goldman’s Top Lawyer,” Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/jeffrey-epstein-calendar-cia-director-goldman-sachs-noam-chomsky-c9f6a3ff
Gilead
White Christian nationalism
Fig. 1. In terms of geographic area, Pennsylvania is very much a white Christian nationalist kind of place. Photograph by author, January 5, 2023.
Conservatism for now comes in just two slightly different variations. There is Trumpism with [Donald] Trump, and there is Trumpism without him.[2]
We should more properly speak of white Christian nationalism than Trumpism; the former is far more likely to survive Donald Trump’s possible death or disability (think—okay, hope—incarceration).
Benjamin Wallace-Wells, “Tucker Carlson and the Right,” New Yorker, April 30, 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/05/08/tucker-carlson-and-the-right
Banking
Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Credit Suisse, 2023
Fig. 1. “The monument sign in front of the parking lot of the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters at 3003 West Tasman Drive, Santa Clara, California.” Photograph by Minh Nguyen, March 13, 2023, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
By Friday [April 28] morning, it was clear to everybody involved that First Republic had no option other than a government takeover, the people said. First Republic’s stock closed Friday down another 43 percent and continued falling in extended trading.[3]
As near as I can tell, that “everybody involved” means at least the bank, its advisors, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The Federal Reserve would be next[4] on my list to be included.
Lauren Hirsch, Maureen Farrell, and Jeanna Smialek, “Regulators Prepare to Seize and Sell First Republic,” New York Times, April 30, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/business/first-republic-seizure-fdic.html
- [1]Martin Pengelly, “‘She say anything about me?’ Trump raised Ghislaine Maxwell link with aides,” Guardian, October 4, 2022, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/04/trump-ghislaine-maxwell-epstein-maggie-haberman-book-confidence-man↩
- [2]Benjamin Wallace-Wells, “Tucker Carlson and the Right,” New Yorker, April 30, 2023, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/05/08/tucker-carlson-and-the-right↩
- [3]Lauren Hirsch, Maureen Farrell, and Jeanna Smialek, “Regulators Prepare to Seize and Sell First Republic,” New York Times, April 30, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/business/first-republic-seizure-fdic.html↩
- [4]Lauren Hirsch, Maureen Farrell, and Jeanna Smialek, “Regulators Prepare to Seize and Sell First Republic,” New York Times, April 30, 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/business/first-republic-seizure-fdic.html↩