Santa’s 2025 Gift List for Media Players Naughty and Nice
Happy Holidays from MLRC
MLRC executive director dons his Santa cap and distributes gifts to the year's biggest newsmakers.
To Brendan Carr : A DVD of The Godfather, so he can perfect the tough-guy act with guidance from the masters.
To Gavin Newsom: Enough hair gel to withstand the head winds of a long presidential campaign.
To Congressional Enablers: Copies of the new book about Robert McNamara, highlighting McNamara‘s regret that he never stood up to President Lyndon Johnson to tell him the Vietnam War was un-winnable, and nonetheless kept supporting his wrongheaded policies.
To Karoline Leavitt: A truth serum.
To Bari Weiss: A desk placard inscribed “Good Night, and Good Luck” to remind her of Edward R Murrow’s legacy of integrity at CBS News.
To Donald Trump: An audiotape of the Constitution, so since he doesn’t read, he still can learn about separation of powers, and the responsibilities of the legislative and judicial branches, before SCOTUS explains it to him.
To Ryan Lizza and Olivia Nuzzi: A bottle of red and a quiet corner to talk it out far from the madding internet crowd.
To CBS / ABC: Approval of whatever they want by the FCC for the rest of time.
To FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez : Continued courage to match her convictions, and our thanks for joining MLRC’s VA Conference.
To Bob Costas and Sally Jenkins: Box seats for the disgusting Ultimate Fighting Championships to be held in the former Rose Garden.
To Donald Trump: A Hulk Hogan outfit so he can wrestle at the event.
To Stephen Colbert: A shiny, visible new platform.
To the AP: Its atlas of the Americas highlighting the Gulf of Mexico and the re-named White River running through Washington, DC, since why name the river for Native Americans?
To Taylor Swift: A new boyfriend who, unlike Travis, is likely to make the NFL playoffs.
To Donald Trump: A US Attorney hired for her legal expertise, not for her willingness to do the president’s bidding.
To Defense Department Reporters: A secret underground passage into the Pentagon.
To Internet Users Under 18: A Trump mask, the only foolproof workaround for age-verification software in 2025.
To Karoline Leavitt: A recording of the King and I‘s “Getting to Know You,” so she can recognize all the president’s supporting newbies in the White House press corps.
To Jimmy Kimmel: Continued high ratings, due to the controversy stoked by the President.
To The Des Moines Register: the ability of pre-election polls to accurately give the results of the coming elections.
To Donald Trump: A mirror reflecting a piggy
To the Baseball Hall of Fame: A tape of the last 3 innings of Game 7 of this year’s World Series, maybe the most bizarre and exciting playoff game ever.
To defenders of First Amendment and a free press: A hallucination, that the past year really didn’t happen.
To my wife Annie: heartfelt thanks for supporting and helping me throughout this challenging year.
And, finally, I wish our loyal readers and members a very happy and healthy new year, with high hopes that ’26 will be a better year than the last.