On Christmas Day, author and politician Marianne Williamson announced her candidacy for chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Williamson is perhaps best known for her two long-shot Democratic presidential candidacies in 2020 and 2024. However, she’s also been the leader of the Church of Today, an author of self-help books and was Oprah Winfrey’s “spiritual advisor,” according to Vox.

Williamson announced her run for DNC chair on her Substack newsletter, where she urged members of the DNC to sign a petition backing her.

READ MORE: More Than a Quarter of Democrats Are Undecided in 2024 Presidential Race: Poll

“President Trump has ushered in an age of political theatre – a collective adrenaline rush that has enabled him to not only move masses of people into his camp but also masses of people away from ours. It does not serve us to underestimate the historic nature of what he has achieved,” she wrote.

“In fact, it’s important that we recognize the psychological and emotional dimensions of Trump’s appeal. We need to understand it to create the energy to counter it. MAGA is a distinctly 21^st century political movement and it will not be defeated by a 20^th century tool kit,” Williamson continued.

She argues that her two presidential runs allowed her to speak with many different communities of voters across the United States. She says she’s “witnessed up close the fraying bonds of affection between the party and the working people,” and says it’s time to create “a new party.”

Her vision of the Democratic party is “A party that listens more, and makes people feel that their thoughts and feelings are as important as their wallets,” with an emphasis on serving the working class.

Williamson is progressive, with a platform calling for free college and preschool, “medicare for all,” and $100 billion to be paid in reparations for slavery. However, she has not proven popular in elections, typically receiving between 2-3% in primaries.

She can be a polarizing figure. While her progressive polices have earned her fans, critics have slammed her views on health care. She’s previously said vaccinations and antidepressants “can literally kill people,” according to Vox. In one of her books, she said “sickness is an illusion and does not exist” and called cancer and AIDS “physical manifestations of a psychic scream.”

But while Williamson has a friendly, new-age sort of public persona—the sort of person who urges people watching the 2020 Democratic debates to do yoga instead of playing a drinking game—there are reports of her being difficult to work for. Former staffers on her 2020 presidential campaign said she was prone to “foaming, spitting, uncontrollable rage,” according to Politico. She has denied these allegations, saying those who speak out against her are “trying to score points with the political establishment by smearing me.”

Image by Gage Skidmore, used via Creative Commons license.

New Jersey has become the third state, with Illinois and Michigan, to stop schools and public libraries from banning books.

Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed the Freedom to Read Act earlier this month on December 9, at the Princeton Public Library. The act keeps age-appropriate books available to students at public schools and libraries.

“The Freedom to Read Act cements New Jersey’s role on the forefront of preventing book bans and protecting the intellectual freedom of our educators and students. Across the nation, we have seen attempts to suppress and censor the stories and experiences of others. I’m proud to amplify the voices of our past and present, as there is no better way for our children to prepare for the future than to read freely,” Murphy said.

READ MORE: Tim Walz Mocks Anti-LGBTQ Book Bans During HRC Speech

The law also protects librarians from being sued in criminal or civil court. This is in clear contrast to laws in other states like Idaho, where libraries that allow young patrons to check out a book deemed inappropriate are given a mandatory $250 fine. Idaho’s law also allows libraries and individual librarians to be sued, with no cap on the amount of damages that can be awarded.

The New Jersey law will make school boards and libraries establish curation policies and set up a review system to address concerns over individual materials. That said, books cannot be banned because of an author’s identity or background, or their personal or political views. Banning books based on the offensiveness of content is not allowed either, unless it’s developmentally inappropriate.

For example, while one could—and should!—ban a preschooler from checking out a collection of Tom of Finland artwork because it’s clearly for adults, they’re free to get And Tango Makes Three, the children’s book about gay penguins.

“The freedom to read and to freely access information is an essential part of a quality education and a core component of our democracy,” New Jersey Senate President Nick Scutari said. “This law will help New Jersey libraries guard against politically-inspired censorship and protect librarians from harassment for simply doing their job.”

This is another departure from other states’ bans, which are often written so vaguely to leave librarians in a lurch. The Idaho law officially bans “obscene materials” but defines it very broadly. “Homosexuality” is included in the definition of “obscene materials,” without clarifying if it means queer characters in a book or explicit sex. To avoid prosecution by an overzealous activist, one Idaho library even prohibits anyone under 18 from entering the adult section without their parent or guardian signing a form on every visit. Another small library had to go adults-only.

While three states have prohibited banning books, the Associated Press reports that over 15 states have introduced bills this year that would punish librarians for “inappropriate” books being given to patrons.

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On Tuesday, Denmark earmarked $1.5 billion in defense spending for Greenland after incoming President Donald Trump again made overtures to buy the autonomous territory.

The exact amount of defense funding for Greenland is not known, but the BBC reports that Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced it as in the “double digit million” amount of krone, which would place the minimum U.S. dollar equivalent at $1.5 billion.

The money is likely to be used to increase the amount of military personnel at Arctic Command and one of the country’s airports, the BBC reported, as well as to purchase two ships, two long-range drones and two dog sled teams.

Poulsen said the deal had been pre-planned, and the timing of Trump’s comments was merely “irony.”

READ MORE: Donald Trump Isn’t the First President to Try to Buy Greenland

Trump has suggested that the U.S. should purchase Greenland, an autonomous territory owned by Denmark. It was an occasional topic during his first term as well, though most thought the president was joking, at least initially.

Trump’s current interest was first declared on Sunday when he announced Ken Howery will be the U.S. ambassador to Denmark. He declared that “the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity” in the announcement.

On Monday evening, RNC Chair Michael Whatley discussed with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade the potential price of such a deal, according to Mediaite.

“Well, I think from a national security perspective, as he said, certainly [it’s] a place that is very rich in minerals and is, uh, you know, geopolitically important for him,” Whatley said. “And it’s a conversation that we wanna have with Denmark about being able to use the resources up there.”

“Yeah, it’s gonna cost about $1.5 trillion, but it probably will pay off,” Kilmeade responded.

While Kilmeade has placed a price tag on Greenland, it is unlikely Denmark would agree to sell. Denmark has repeatedly declined offers to buy the territory. Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede invoked the country’s desire for independence in shutting down Trump’s overtures.

“Greenland is ours. We are not for sale and will never be for sale. We must not lose our long struggle for freedom,” Egede said Monday, according to Reuters.

Greenland passed a law in 2009 which gave the territory more power to self-govern. Part of that law includes a provision for independence if the citizens vote for it. However, Greenland currently gets a block grant from Denmark that makes up one-quarter of the territory’s gross domestic product. If Greenland were to become fully independent, it would lose that money.

While citizens of the territory are in favor of independence, according to polling, just not at the expense of a drop in the standard of  living. In response to this, those fighting for independence have worked to diversify Greenland’s economy.

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