Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 11/19

[SVPete]

Some Celebrities Are Finally Getting That We Don't Care What They Think

https://pjmedia.com/stephen-kruiser/2025/11/18/some-celebrities-are-finally-getting-that-we-dont-care-what-they-think-n4946086

Dem politicians love to cavort with celebrities. It's easier than campaigning or having coherent policy ideas, after all. As the 2016 presidential campaign wound down to its final few days, Donald Trump was tirelessly traversing the swing states. He wrapped it all up in Michigan at around three in the morning on election day. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, attended a Beyoncé concert in Philadelphia that was being thrown in her honor. Granny Maojackets then rested up for a couple of days for what she was sure was going to be a historic, landslide victory for her.

At this point it should be noted that Hillary would have carried the metropolitan Philadelphia area even without Queen B's help.

Bless their dark, secular hearts, Dems and celebs have been sticking with this playbook despite the diminishing returns since the Obama years. We all remember the Kamala fever that actors, actresses, and musicians had — or at least pretended to have — last year. It turned out that getting Robert DeNiro to yell at clouds and repeatedly call Trump a fascist was, once again, not a winning formula.
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We are now seeing some cracks in the Dem/Celeb Wall of Ego-Driven Pomposity when it comes to political opinions. Some likeable and talented actors are in "Yeah, maybe let's not," mode now. This is from a column that Sarah wrote earlier in the month:

... Thornton was on ManningCast last week — that's Peyton and Eli's "Monday Night Football" show — and I was impressed with how down-to-earth he was. He didn't act inauthentic or like he just wanted to promote himself or gain attention. He just sounded like a regular guy talking about football. 

That endeared him to me, but something he said while appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast recently made me like him even more. He told Hollywood to stop preaching their political messages at awards shows. Like the rest of us, he's over it.

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Jennifer Lawrence, on the other hand, has never had any filter when it comes to holding forth with opinions, political or otherwise. Here's something from a recent article in The Free Press:

“During the first Trump administration, I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off,” Lawrence said. “But as we’ve learned, election after election, celebrities do not make a difference whatsoever on who people vote for. ...

Dear celebs, shut up and tell stories.

[DLR Pyro]

Dear celebs, shut up and tell stories.

Ricky Gervais said it best:

So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world

[SVPete]

Here’s the Epstein Email Hakeem Jeffries REALLY Doesn’t Want You to See

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/11/19/heres-the-epstein-email-hakeem-jeffries-doesnt-want-you-to-see-n4946169

The Democrat Party’s house of cards just took a fresh round of demolition, courtesy of the latest Jeffrey Epstein revelations. Last week, Democrats released a few select and doctored Epstein emails, hoping to destroy Trump. Then the GOP released over 20,000, and suddenly, one Democrat after another found themselves wrapped up in the Epstein fallout.

This list so far includes Larry Summers, Bill Clinton’s treasury secretary and director of Obama’s National Economic Council; Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett; and Kathryn Ruemmler, White House counsel under Obama. Now, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has found himself in the middle.

This week, House Oversight Chairman James Comer dropped a bombshell that Jeffries probably hoped would never see daylight.

Emails show Epstein was not simply on the fringes of the party; he was on the radar of the Democrat establishment, even after his 2008 conviction. In 2013, a Democratic consulting firm reached out to Epstein, hoping to secure his attendance at a Jeffries campaign fundraiser. The same batch of emails reveals it was more than a blanket invitation. Reaching out to secure Epstein's presence at a Democratic fundraising event to power their “House majority” push stands in stark contrast to their high-minded rhetoric.

“Another email shows Democrat fundraisers invited Epstein to an event or to meet privately with Hakeem Jeffries as part of their 2013 effort to win a majority,” House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said on the House floor Tuesday. “So Hakeem Jeffries’ campaign solicited money from Jeffrey Epstein. That’s what we found in the last document batch.”

My emphasis. The release of the 20K emails looks to have been FAFO 1.0, and FAFO 2.0 is in progress.

[SVPete]

Panera lost diners by cutting portions and staff. It’s reversing course to win them back

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/18/panera-bread-turnaround-plan.html

When Panera Bread began shrinking its sandwiches and skimping on salads, it started shedding customers.

Now, to win them back, the chain plans to reinvest in the business and undo many of those same cost-cutting measures, it said Tuesday.

Once the No. 1 fast-casual brand in the U.S., Panera has dipped to No. 3, ceding the top spots to Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panda Express. Last year, its sales fell 5% to $6.1 billion, according to Technomic estimates. For years, the chain’s traffic has been shrinking, according to CEO Paul Carbone, who took the reins earlier this year. Controversy after the chain’s foray into energy drinks didn’t help matters, either.

Panera’s troubles have coincided with a tough year for fast-casual restaurants. Chipotle, Sweetgreen and Cava have all cut their full-year forecasts as they see younger consumers eating out less frequently.
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But it wasn’t just salads that were affected by the cost-cutting measures.

“In some instances, we shrunk portions, so guests would walk into our cafe to buy a sandwich that has gone up significantly in price, with lower-quality ingredients, in a smaller size,” Carbone said.

We used to go to Panera every month or so, but with their smaller portions, lesser quality, combined with higher prices drove us elsewhere. The thing about customers being driven away is that in the following months or years they formed different habits. At least some former customers won't come back.

[SVPete]

US Thanksgiving Dinner Cost Drops for 3rd Year

https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/thanksgiving-dinner-cost/2025/11/19/id/1235139/

The cost of a Thanksgiving dinner for 10 will be lower for a third straight year thanks to steep discounting in turkey prices, but about half the items that grace a typical U.S. holiday table are pricier than last year, a survey out on Wednesday shows.

The American Farm Bureau Federation's annual supermarket survey of a Thanksgiving dinner estimated the cost of a holiday meal for 10 this year would be $55.18, down 5% from 2024 and the lowest since 2021.

That is still 13% higher than what the bureau's "classic meal" - featuring a 16-pound turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, sweet peas, dinner rolls, pumpkin pie and other items - cost in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic and the relief efforts arising from it helped to stoke a surge in inflation.

Trump-Haters hardest hit, .

[SVPete]

Jeffrey Epstein's Resentment Toward Donald Trump

https://townhall.com/columnists/byronyork/2025/11/18/columnistsbyronyork20251118jeffrey-epsteins-resentment-toward-donald-trump-n2666633

There's no doubt Jeffrey Epstein thought he was a very, very smart guy. "He always thought he was the smartest person in the room," said one associate. Another said Epstein "thought he was smarter than the next guy." When in 2008 Epstein pleaded guilty to procurement of a minor for prostitution, his defense asked for leniency based on his "unique intellect."

Someone with such high self-regard can become deeply disturbed if a friend or associate, or a former friend or associate, achieves more, makes more money, and rises higher up society's ladder than the person who feels he is the smartest guy in the room. Reading through Epstein's emails released by Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, one gets the impression that Epstein was troubled by the success of his former friend Donald Trump, as he watched Trump take a wildly improbable path from successful developer to television star to president of the United States. At the same time, of course, Epstein was pleading guilty to sex crimes, struggling to recover, and then finding himself charged with even more serious sex crimes. Suicide in a jail cell was in his future while Trump was in the White House.

"President Trump's long friendship with Jeffrey Epstein came to an apparent end in the mid-2000s," wrote The New York Times. "But Mr. Epstein remained intently focused on Mr. Trump for years afterward, seeking to exploit the remnants of their relationship up until his arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges in 2019." ...

"Your world does not understand how dumb [Trump] really is," Epstein wrote to former Treasury Secretary and Harvard President Lawrence Summers in May 2017, Trump's fourth month in office. When, in July 2017, former Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler wrote, "Trump is truly stupid," Epstein replied with a one-word answer: "Duh."

In an exchange with Times reporter Landon Thomas, Epstein wrote that Trump was "evil beyond belief," and that he, Epstein, had tried to warn the world about his former friend. "I told everyone from day one," Epstein wrote.

"I know how dirty Donald is," Epstein wrote to Ruemmler in August 2018. "My guess is that non-lawyers, NY biz people have no idea." Then Epstein boasted to an unknown recipient in December 2018: "I am the one able to take him down." Meanwhile, Epstein exchanged long emails with adviser Michael Wolff in which Wolff offered Epstein counsel on trying to damage Trump, blackmail Trump, and possibly run him out of office.

More of Epstein-reality Dems don't want known.

[SVPete]

Kirk’s Security Chief’s Texts Reveal Local Police Knew Key Info Before Assassination

https://www.lifezette.com/2025/11/kirks-security-chiefs-texts-reveal-local-police-knew-key-info-before-assassination-watch/

The head of security for Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk says he alerted Utah Valley University (UVU) police about rooftop access two days before Kirk was assassinated during a TPUSA event on campus. The claim was made public Monday on “The Shawn Ryan Show.”
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Brian Harpole of Integrity Security Solutions, who oversaw the security detail for the event, read what he described as text messages sent to UVU Police Chief Adam Long on Sept. 8 regarding access to the rooftop from which the alleged shooter fired.

“We have some correspondence with the chief of the school uh on that day, on Monday, before Charlie was killed and why this hadn’t come out and why he won’t stand up like a man and admit this, I don’t know, but he’s watching a bunch of men lose their careers and he’s okay with it,” Harpole told host Shawn Ryan.

  Utah Valley University's police chief was less than concerned or diligent about security.

[SVPete]

Jasmine Crockett Connects Lee Zeldin to Epstein, But There’s One Major Problem

https://thepopulisttimes.com/jasmine-crockett-connects-lee-zeldin-to-epstein-but-theres-one-major-problem/

Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas confronted Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin during a debate over a resolution to censure Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett, accusing him of accepting money from Jeffrey Epstein.

Crockett referenced the convicted billionaire sex offender.

Records show the donor was a different individual with the same name.

According to Federal Election Commission reports, Zeldin received a campaign contribution from Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, a physician in New York. Zeldin responded publicly after Crockett’s claim.

“Yes Crockett, a physician named Dr. Jeffrey Epstein (who is a totally different person than the other Jeffrey Epstein) donated to a prior campaign of mine,” Zeldin wrote on X.

He added, “NO FREAKIN RELATION, YOU GENIUS!”

                                                                                

It wasn't just Zeldin who was a target of Crockett's failed smear attempt:

Jasmine Crockett’s Gotcha Moment Turns Into an Epic Faceplant on House Floor

https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/11/19/jasmine-crockett-humiliates-herself-on-the-house-floor-n4946177

Crockett thought she had a gotcha moment against the GOP by pointing out that multiple Republicans had also taken money from the convicted sex offender. The only problem? She was completely wrong.

"Folks who also took money from somebody named Jeffrey Epstein, as I had my team dig in very quickly: Mitt Romney, the NRCC, Lee Zeldin, George Bush, WinRed, McCain-Palin, Rick Lazio,” she said during a debate over the resolution to censure Plaskett, certain that she had a devastating exposé. “I just wanna be clear. If this is the standard that we gonna make, just know we gonna expose it all, and just know that the FEC filings, they are available for everybody to review. This is absolutely ridiculous.”

But her attempt at a gotcha moment backfired spectacularly. The Jeffrey Epstein who donated to these Republican campaigns was Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, a New York physician who happens to share a name with the infamous billionaire sex offender. Not exactly the smoking gun Crockett imagined.
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A search of Federal Elections Commission reports yields more than 800 results for donations from individuals named Jeffrey Epstein, most of whom are clearly not the late sex trafficker. A solid clue for Crockett and her crack team of researchers would have been that some of the donations she mentioned came after Epstein’s death.

My emphasis.

Genius!!! Jasmine Crockett Embarrasses Herself with Epstein Gotcha Moment

https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/11/19/jasmine-crockett-embarrasses-herself-with-epstein-gotcha-moment-n3809070

Crockett cited Federal Election Commission filings, which actually show two different men named Jeffrey Epstein donated to Zeldin, now President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency administrator, while he represented New York in the House.

Both Jeffrey Epsteins donated to Zeldin months after the notorious man of the same name allegedly hanged himself.

Dr. Jeffrey Epstein of Manhasset, NY, donated a total of $1,000 to Zeldin in April and August 2020, according to FEC records.

The other Jeffrey Epstein, the owner of a beverage distribution company from New Brunswick, NJ, donated $600 in February 2020 — six months after the infamous Epstein died.

But that wasn't Crockett's only mistake.

Similar files show other Republicans that Crockett mentioned, including Lazio, Romney, and McCain, also received donations from a physician named Epstein.

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In any case, if you really want to talk about which politicians Epstein (the creepy perv) donated to that's a conversation I'm all for having.

While the late convicted sex offender did make a series of significant political campaign donations over the years for as much as $20,000 at a time, they appear to be to Democratic candidates and campaign committees. Many of the bigger donations were made in the 1990s.

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But there's one final mystery to consider here. Is she really this dumb and careless with the facts or is she just a shameless liar? Notice how she phrased this revelation. She didn't say it was Jeffrey Epstein, she said it was "somebody named" Jeffrey Epstein, almost as if she knew it wasn't the Jeffrey Epstein everyone had in mind. So you have to at least consider shameless liar as a strong possibility here.

It looks very possible that Crockett knew she was lying and did so to get her lie spreading in all Dem/Prog corners of the Internet.