1). “BREAKING: Trump’s New Year Moment Goes Off the Rails | John Mearsheimer”, Jan 01, 2026, Anon, Prof John MearsheimerTalks published by the MeidasTouch Network, duration of video 29:28, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
2). “BREAKING: Trump Goes After Boebert — Epstein Files Change the Stakes | John Mearsheimer”, Dec 31, 2025, Anon, Prof John MearsheimerTalks published by the MeidasTouch Network, duration of video 33:53, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
3). “BREAKING: Trump, Epstein, and the Breakdown of Order in Washington | John Mearsheimer”, Dec 31, 2025, Anon, Prof John MearsheimerTalks published by the MeidasTouch Network, duration of video 20:13, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
4). “Trump vetoes bipartisan bill to provide clean water to rural Southeastern Colorado”, Dec 30, 2025, Caitlyn Kim, Shanna Lewis, & Chuck Murphy, KRCC, at < https://www.cpr.org/2025/12/
~~ recommended by desmond morista ~~
Introduction: Item 1)., “BREAKING: Trump’s New Year Moment ….”, Item 2).; “BREAKING: Trump Goes After Boebert ….”; and Item 3)., “BREAKING: Trump, Epstein, ….”; all address to some degree the way in which the political and socioeconomic system of the U.S. has deteriorated to a Banana Republic level. A little remarked on event, Trump's veto of his second term as president was issued to stop the construction of a drinking water supply pipeline to an area of Southeast Colorado. This was a law passed by an overwhelming majority of both the House and Senate; but the 3 podcasts all point out that the real reason for this action was to discipline Lauren Bobert, a right-wing firebrand member of the U.S. House, in whose district the affected area lies. The reason why the podcasts think this was done was because Bobert had supported the effort to reveal the Epstein Files. As the 3 Podcasts point out, this is a naked exercise of power that has been rarely, if ever, seen in domestic U.S. politics.
Item 4)., “Trump vetoes bipartisan bill ….”, notes the widespread support for the project and the 70 year history of working to try to realize the project and allow local communities to stop using ground water contaminated with radioactive materials. The article notes that Trump said: “Enough is enough,” Trump said in a veto message to Congress. “My administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies. Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the nation.” (Emphasis added)
I want to note that all the podcast sites, posted by Prof John MearsheimerTalks published by the MeidasTouch Network, include this disclaimer: “This channel provides analytical commentary based on publicly available information and Prof. Mearsheimer's published works. Views expressed are interpretations of realist theory, not personal opinions or policy prescriptions. Not affiliated with Prof. John Mearsheimer.”
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1). “BREAKING: Trump’s New Year Moment Goes Off the Rails | John Mearsheimer”, Jan 01, 2026, Anon, Prof John MearsheimerTalks published by the MeidasTouch Network, duration of video 29:28, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
(NB note - the following youtube is "no longer available". Apologies for that)
2). “BREAKING: Trump Goes After Boebert — Epstein Files Change the Stakes | John Mearsheimer”, Dec 31, 2025, Anon, Prof John MearsheimerTalks published by the MeidasTouch Network, duration of video 33:53, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
3). “BREAKING: Trump, Epstein, and the Breakdown of Order in Washington | John Mearsheimer”, Dec 31, 2025, Anon, Prof John MearsheimerTalks published by the MeidasTouch Network, duration of video 20:13, at < https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Trump vetoes bipartisan bill to provide clean water to rural Colorado
Updated at 3:56 a.m.
A plan to help local communities pay their share of the long-sought Arkansas River Valley conduit passed Congress with strong bipartisan support, but has still come up one vital signature short of becoming a reality.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday vetoed the “Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act” despite its sponsorship by fellow Republicans and the significant benefits it would provide to southeastern Colorado, where his support runs deep. The conduit, which broke ground in 2023, will provide clean water for farming, factories and households. The bill would have given local communities 100 years to pay back no-interest federal loans for their share of the project.
“Enough is enough,” Trump said in a veto message to Congress. “My administration is committed to preventing American taxpayers from funding expensive and unreliable policies. Ending the massive cost of taxpayer handouts and restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the nation.”
That’s not how everyone sees it.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would cost the federal government less than a half million dollars. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation calls the conduit a “major infrastructure project that, upon completion, will provide reliable municipal and industrial water to 39 communities in southeast Colorado.”
The project would also provide badly needed jobs for the area.
“This isn’t a frivolous project,” Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District Senior Policy and Issues Manager Chris Woodka said. “It's a project that meets federally mandated standards for water quality to ensure that 50,000 people are drinking clean, not carcinogenic, water.”
Woodka said the water district is working with the congressional delegation to figure out next steps, and won’t give up on the project.
The bill passed via voice vote in the House and unanimous consent in the Senate. That huge Congressional support for the project would seem to make the veto ripe for an override, but that would require testing the will of Republican leaders in both chambers to allow a vote and take on their party’s leader. Such a challenge to Trump is no sure thing.
Legislation authorizing and funding completion of the project is perhaps the most impactful bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert during her time in Congress. And while she didn’t raise the specter of a veto override in a statement Wednesday night, she nonetheless was not shy about expressing her displeasure with the president.
"President Trump decided to veto a completely non-controversial, bipartisan bill that passed both the House and Senate unanimously,” Boebert said. “If this administration wants to make its legacy blocking projects that deliver water to rural Americans; that's on them."
Boebert also questioned the president’s motives for the veto, suggesting it might be retribution because she helped ensure a vote on releasing the Epstein files.
“I sincerely hope this veto has nothing to do with political retaliation for calling out corruption and demanding accountability. Americans deserve leadership that puts people over politics.”
GOP Rep. Jeff Hurd was a co-sponsor of the House version of the bill, while Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper introduced it in the Senate.
Democrats in Colorado’s delegation were also quick to label the veto an act of reprisal, with Bennet posting on X, “This isn’t governing. It’s a revenge tour.”
Hickenlooper added on X that, “Congress should swiftly overturn this veto.”
The project has been on the drawing board since the 1960s. It was designed to eventually stop groundwater withdrawals in the area, which can produce water tainted with radioactivity.
The 130-mile conduit would bring water from Pueblo Reservoir to Bent, Kiowa, Crowley, Otero, Prowers and Pueblo counties. The original legislation required the state and communities to fund 100 percent of the cost, but President Barack Obama and Congress opened the door to federal funding in 2009.
“The vetoed legislation did not authorize new construction spending or expand the federal government’s original commitment,” Hurd said in his statement about the veto. “More than $200 million has already been invested, alongside significant state and local contributions. Further delay risks stranding taxpayer dollars and leaving communities without a viable path to meeting drinking water standards.”
Groundbreaking on part of the project actually took place in 2023, but it was always known that federal legislation would likely be needed to complete the entire conduit.
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