Lorraine Evanoff's Blog
June 24, 2025
What Could Go Wrong?
It is now clear that the Republican party is trying to turn our democracy into a one-party system modeled after Putin’s Russia, where citizens have no rights, no choice, and must obey or face prison or death. Seriously, hyperbole is dead.
Trump and the billionaire-owned GOP are incrementally eroding our expectations and thus our quality of life. They believe the poor and working class have too many conveniences like Wi-Fi, food, education, infrastructure, safety from dangerous products and chemicals. They want America deregulated so they can dump cheap products on us for profits.
Vladimir Putin secretly raked in millions from a popular cheap he branded. Trump Corporation, run by his tawdry children, uses the same business model of underhanded deals plus bait-and-switch advertising, just like Trump’s campaign promises. The “no wars” America First candidate is now a war monger. It’s amateur hour by design.
We recognize the patterns of deception. Breaking news is designed to distract from real news. Trump’s pro-Kremlin propaganda advisor, Darren Beattie, probably has a slew of outrage inducing actions lined up to distract from Trump’s disastrous military parade, the assassinations of Democratic representatives, and the craven Republican Budget Reconciliation Bill.
Trump’s polls are tanking, so he starts a war in the Middle East. How original, [eyeroll]. It seems like an amateur-hour panic move. By initiating an unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation with no Congressional approval, Trump alone owns this disaster. Also, the Iran nuclear plants are a huge money machine for Putin and his oligarchs. What could go wrong?
It’s jarring and exhausting, which is the point. But this chaos is unsustainable, even for MAGA. As I’ve been saying for years, and now validated by Russia expert Michael McFaul, Americans are NOT Russians. We expect a functioning democracy, not autocratic chaos.
Remember when Texas Governor Greg Abbott was defiant against Biden’s deployment of Federal Troops to secure the border with Mexico, even after SCOTUS ordered removal deadly razor wire? The tables have turned, our Governors are fighting back, and Trump’s ICE raids and hijacking of the National Guard did NOTHING to deter our NO KINGS protests.
I’ve attended almost every protest since February 2017 and 2018, all by myself, with no protection except my smile. The June 14th No Kings turnout broke those earlier records. And guess what happened after the 2018 protests. Democrats took back the House and the Senate and Trump was impeached TWICE. If you’re worried about Republican interference in our Midterm Elections, protests are our best defense. The next protests are July 4th and July 17th.
June 23, 2025
IPPY Gold Medal Award
“In the fourth novel of the series, refreshingly, Louise Moscow handles the changes that come at a certain age, while unraveling a murder mystery, and resolving the shady background of her father.”
~ Amazon Review
Coming off the award-winning successes of her first three Louise Moscow spy thrillers, FOLIAGE, PINOT NOIR, and DEVIL’S LEDGER, author Lorraine Evanoff’s new novel, WALKING THE CAT, has won top prize for the 2nd most prestigious book award, according to BookBub:
IPPY Awards: Gold Medal – Best Mystery/Thriller!
SYNOPSIS: Pivoting gracefully from international finance to international fashion, Evanoff takes readers on a sartorial thrill-ride through the streets of Paris and into the high-stakes world of haute couture.
Former CIA operative Louise Moscow has received an all-access pass to Paris Fashion Week from an old friend, (and fellow former spy). When a beautiful American photographer is murdered, Louise must use her spy skills to clear her friend’s name.
But in the worlds of espionage and fashion, nothing is what it seems…
Chicago native Lorraine Evanoff received her bachelor’s in French from DePaul University, while working as a model/actress with world-renowned agent Marie P. Anderson of Elite Model Management. Lorraine moved to Paris for seven years, first working as a model/actress, and then became an award-winning film producer. She returned to the U.S. and transitioned to finance executive, first in Silicon Valley during the dot-com era, then full circle back to Hollywood, notably as CFO of National Lampoon.
June 21, 2025
Book Excellence Award
I received a 2025 Book Excellence Award! It is incredibly exciting to announce that I have been recognized as a Book Excellence Award Winner for my fourth novel, Walking the Cat in the Thriller Category.
Out of thousands of books that were entered into the Book Excellence Awards competition, my book was selected for its high quality writing, design and overall market appeal.
SYNOPSIS: Pivoting gracefully from international finance to international fashion, Evanoff takes readers on a sartorial thrill-ride through the streets of Paris and into the high-stakes world of haute couture.
Former CIA operative Louise Moscow has received an all-access pass to Paris Fashion Week from an old friend, (and fellow former spy). When a beautiful American photographer is murdered, Louise must use her spy skills to clear her friend’s name. But in the worlds of espionage and fashion, nothing is what it seems…
To view my complete award listing, you can visit: Book Excellence Awards.
The book was released in November 2024.
Perfect for fans of Erik Larson, Jack Slater, and Agatha Christie,
You can get a copy for yourself on Amazon.
June 11, 2025
TACO Tyranny?
By now, we’ve all heard of the new Wall Street term, TACO Trade, for “Trump Always Chickens Out” on tariffs and his other disastrous economic policies. We also all know Trump has been itching to do his own Putin style unprovoked attack on a sovereign state.
Apparently, Trump found a target closer to home to invade, the sovereign state of California. It also appears that Trump’s big birthday parade was always going to be a Putinesque display military force in Washington D.C. We also all knew this day would come.
Personally, I incorrectly assumed the attempted implementation of Project 2025 was going to be more like Project 2029 or 2033, since it seemed unthinkable Trump would ever get another shot at the presidency. And I mistakenly thought Trump wouldn’t try to use the Insurrection Act until closer to the midterm elections.
But it turned out that Republicans got Musk and the media to sway with the 2024 elections and then went “all gas, no brakes” head-on toward Martial Law. This style of Accelerationist Politics goes against traditional democracy, environmentalism, protectionism and other ideologies. Trump and the Freedom Caucus have been forcing disastrous economic policy, corruption, and unconstitutional assaults on Americans from Day 1 of this administration.
The Republican Party’s end game is to install a right-wing regime indefinitely through the reshaping the U.S. government by any means necessary, as explicitly laid out in Project 2025. Trump, congressional Republicans, and the conservative SCOTUS are all complicit in the mafia state, lying, stealing, cheating, threats, bribes, and executive immunity.
But Trump’s attack of Los Angeles by provoking residents with illegal ICE raids to spark protests, then getting Republicans and the media to deceitfully focus on small acts of violence to make it look like riots, has revealed something. Our side is also “all gas, no brakes” AGAINST this attack.
As a Los Angeles resident who has been to every downtown (always peaceful) protest since February 2017, the fierce response to Trump’s unconstitutional attack has energized me. The LA protests continue, but also, huge protests in other cities in support of Los Angeles are springing up. Governor Newsom, Mayor Bass, and democratic congress members have been defiant. Glendale ended its agreement with ICE to detain immigrants. And reporters like Lawrence O’Donnell are fearlessly speaking out.
We remain undaunted. So you bet your ass I will be at the June 14th DTLA protests. This is our moment of truth. The ultimate game of chicken. Will this be TACO Tyranny? Will Trump blink first? Will we crash head on, and nobody wins? Or will democracy prevail?
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS If You Are Stopped By ICE
June 3, 2025
Caught In Their Own Web
Just like Elon Musk lost control of the Twitter AI tool Grok, after decades of the massive Republican misinformation machine falsely assaulting Democrats and our institutions, it finally may have turned on itself. This past week brought endless MAGA self-owns, own-goals, circular firing squads, and Russian Roulette.
First, during the swearing-in ceremony of Jeannine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney of Washington DC, CNBC reporter Megan Casella asked Trump about his Wall Street nickname, TACO. “Trump Always Chickens Out” was coined May 2nd in the Financial Times by columnist Robert Armstrong. But it wasn’t until three weeks later that the term “TACO Trade” went viral because the nickname, TACO, humiliated Trump. Then, after two huge court rulings against his tariffs, Trump began attacking the very Federalist Society leader, Leonard Leo, whose corrupt SCOTUS helped get him “re-elected.”
Next, Chris Cillizza whined on his podcast and published a 1,000-word grievance about a small sign Scotch-taped to his Tesla, getting himself excoriated on the Internet. Jake Tapper forced his Biden-hit-job book down the throats of Americans for weeks. The result was a 25% drop in viewership of his CNN show and dismal sales of his book, 53,737 units, compared to 1.1 million units of Bob Woodward’s “Fear: Trump in the White house” sold in the first week.
Not to be outdone, when a town hall crowd shouted, “People will die!” from cuts to Medicaid benefits, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst replied, “Well, we all are going to die.” Yep, Ms. Ernst, just like your political career. After bashing Trump’s budget bill, Elon Musk was fired from DOGE, got a black eye, and his dream of taking over NASA was shot down. RFK Jr. punched himself in the eye using AI to write an error-filled MAHA report, resulting in an investigation. Also, Senate Republicans may have handed Democrats a way to stop Trump’s corrupt budget reconciliation bill after using a risky procedural maneuver.
Yes, the right wing corruption, destruction, and intimidation continues. Most recently, Trump’s SEC asked the DOJ to drop charges against a crypto criminal. Trump signed a deal to give J.D. Vance and Musk’s mentor Peter Thiel’s spy company Palantir access to create a master database of Americans. The Department of Homeland Security and ICE are out of control. And, in Poland, conservatives held the presidency, in a continued threat to Europe.
But Trump and DOGE are complete disasters. A new poll from the reputable AtlasIntel shows Trump’s lowest approval rating of this term. The pro-Trump National Sheriff’s Association is calling out the DHS. And Ukraine successfully executed a sneak attack on Russia.
Republican overreach makes them vulnerable, and like Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, we must work together and focus the message on their weaknesses.
May 26, 2025
It’s The Apprentice All Over Again
“It’s now clear Kristi Noem has wanted to a be reality TV celebrity all along, hence the excessive Real Housewives-style cosmetic procedures, hair extensions, and bizarre costumed photo ops. I saw her Homeland Security video at Fort Lauderdale airport security, and she has not a sincere muscle in her face, zero talent, or natural charisma.”
Published On Palmer Report May 25, 2025
It’s hard to keep up with the Republican destruction of the United States as they use shock and awe tactics against their own citizens. Independent news is forced to write articles that are basically lists to keep track of the latest GOP atrocities, and good news for Democrats, because mainstream media refuses to report reality. Speaking of reality, American “Reality TV” has nothing to do with reality.
Take The Apprentice, a show that re-branded a failed New York mob boss as an expert in good business leaders. Trump then proceeded to turn the whole country into a bad reality TV show, sadistically pitting people and parties against each other to ramp up the conflict. And voyeuristic Americans eat up this contrived cheap entertainment as though it were legitimate.
In another fake reality TV show, Duck Dynasty, the Robertson family, a bunch of wealthy college-educated anti-gay conservative Christians dressed up like rugged survivalists fighting “liberal Hollywood.” Each episode was a manufactured situation, their characters carefully developed through editing and staging, making them appear to be good Christians persecuted by mainstream media.
So, it should come as no surprise that Trump’s Department of Homeland Security is considering partnering with those same producers in a new reality TV show, starring DHS Secretary, cosplaying puppy killer Kristi Noem. The show would likely also depict the villains as the victims, forcing innocent immigrants to compete for U.S. Citizenship, and sending the losers back to the violent countries they escaped.
It’s now clear Kristi Noem has wanted to a be reality TV celebrity all along, hence the excessive Real Housewives-style cosmetic procedures, hair extensions, and bizarre costumed photo ops. I saw her Homeland Security video at Fort Lauderdale airport security, and she has not a sincere muscle in her face, zero talent, or natural charisma.
It’s exhausting to have Republicans barraging us with increasingly corrupt acts, passing disastrous legislation in the dead of night, and now planning to steal all future elections. Because they tried and failed in court to steal the 2020 election, and most recently the North Carolina Supreme Court Justice seat from Allison Riggs, they snuck a provision into the House budget reconciliation bill to limit judicial oversight.
Trump also recently gutted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that he created in 2018, so that the CISA is no longer a reliable collection of secure data, forcing election professionals to make adjustments.
We need to cancel this sickening episode in U.S. history. Senate Republicans are writing their own evil budget bill, which means it would have to go back to the House for another vote. Call your representatives using this. In the midterms there are more Republican seats up for re-election than Democrats. Their actions make every Republican vulnerable. Vote them all out.
ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY, BLESS OUR HEROIC ANGELS 🌺
May 19, 2025
How Are You Holding Up?
Whether he realizes it or not, my husband is my self care guru. After over 10 years discussing renovations of our very rustic home, he finally decided to green light it. This decision came not long after the devastating November 5, 2024 outcome.
Coincidence? I think not. My husband made this decision either subconsciously or because some friend who knows us very well suggested it to keep me busy during this truly dark period in American democracy.
So, in addition to my self care practices of daily yoga and meditation, beach volleyball and other quality time with my amazing girlfriends, and my volunteer work in the service of others, I have been focused on the grueling task of packing up the house and getting rid of decades of clutter.
Another Zen master came into my life at the right moment. Floolfes appeared in our yard with kittens not long after the 2016 nightmare, becoming the focus of much of my attention starting early 2017. She’s such a fierce survivor 😻
Writing is also usually therapeutic. But it’s been two weeks since I’ve published a new Palmer Report political analysis piece, because it’s hard to write if there’s nothing hopeful to report. That’s been a challenge, but there is much to be grateful for. Pieces like these from Jessica Craven, and Scott Dworkin keep me going.
So what keeps you going?I know it’s not easy to post photos on Substack. You can’t just attach photos to the comments. But you can attach photos if you “Share” a Substack post. You don’t have to share this post if you don’t want to. I’m not looking for shares.
But I would love to see your uplifting photos and/or news. If you don’t want to share this piece with photos attached, please leave some uplifting news in the comments.
I’ll start. Today, Romania just crushed the right wing candidate, after annulling the first election due to interference from a foreign enemy. Hallelujah!
Below are my recent photos of the May 2025 Flower Moon.
Namaste 🙏🏻😻
May 3, 2025
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★★★★★ – “Just read Foliage. Great read, beautifully written, I highly recommend.” ~ Matthew J. Dowd, Chief Political Analyst, ABC News
★★★★★ – “Being a major Bond fan, I have read all of Ian Fleming’s novels. It was so refreshing and entertaining to get the female spy’s perspective. Pinot Noir is an intoxicating tale even to readers who are as sober as a monk.” ~ David Kempf, Award-Winning Author
★★★★★ – “On par with Dan Brown novels, the historical aspects of the novel are intriguing and thoughtfully included in a way that intelligently elevates the novel.” ~ Literary Titan
★★★★★ “I literally couldn’t put it down. I loved how it pulled me into the center of Paris Fashion Week (which I knew nothing about) and modern Parisian culture and life. It all felt so real and vivid. I just adored it.” ~ David K. Wilson, Best-Selling Mystery Author
May 10, 2024
Donald Trump’s Empty Chair
The trial of the century is happening right now. Think about it. A corrupt individual is on trial for interfering with the 2016 election to become President of the United States. Testimony by witnesses for the prosecution has been shocking. The witness list alone was a necessary risk, but it’s paying off.
Stormy Daniels, aka Stephanie Gregory Clifford, is an eyewitness to a key part of the case. Her story is what Trump tried to cover up to influence the outcome of the election. But there were also unwilling, even hostile key witnesses. It might seem risky to have Trump’s accountant Jeffrey McConney, or Trump fan girl Hope Hicks testify because they tend to defend Trump. However, the prosecution must put these witnesses on the stand.
Keep in mind, the reason you hear attorneys object during jury trial is because only evidence and corroborating testimony is allowed to be presented. Neither the prosecution, the defense, nor witnesses are allowed to make conclusive statements. It’s all about presenting compelling evidence and witness testimony for the jury to decide beyond a reasonable doubt.
If the prosecution argues that Trump knew about the payments to Michael Cohen, for example, they need a witness to corroborate that claim. Otherwise, the defense attorney could point to the empty chair at the witness stand as a gaping hole in the story. It’s known as the “empty chair defense.” Having corroborating witnesses stops the defense from shifting blame to someone that is not in the courtroom.
In this case, the prosecution showed shocking evidence, a handwritten note by the accountant calculating the “grossing up” of the payments to Cohen to cover his income taxes. Then the corroborating witness, that same accountant Jeffrey McConney, testified that the checks and corresponding invoices were sent to Trump for his signature, AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
Stormy Daniels willingly gave detailed testimony about her sexual encounter with Trump and that she was paid off by Trump to hide the story from the public to help Trump win the 2016 election. Hope Hicks unwillingly testified that Trump admitted to covering up the story. The pay-off for the prosecution was that, as Joyce Vance explains, “Now the jury can appreciate the motivation that led to the crime and how it was motivated by the upcoming election.”
Trump knows how damaging the testimony is too. He was heard “cursing audibly” during Stormy Daniels’s testimony. Judge Merchan called a side bar to give Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche a stern warning about Trump’s “contemptuous” behavior.
It’s also worth noting that the strategy used for covering up the illegal payments was a money laundering tactic. The “creative accounting” as we call it in the business, tries to make it hard to trace where money came from and where it ended up. But any forensic accountant following the paper trail can recreate what really happened. A clumsy attempt at hiding illegal election campaign payments. Trump is finally learning that crime does not pay off.
May 5, 2024
Chilling
In the last three years I’ve written about 150 pieces for Palmer Report and he’s only rejected a handful. Here’s this week’s piece that didn’t get published. I’m not a psychologist, so please let me know if this seems plausible to you.
Look, things are going to get worse before they get better. The craven Republican party has gone all in on destroying our democracy, even working with foreign enemies to sow chaos and influence the elections. The latest is the anti-Israeli protests at universities around the country.
Not only are these college students falling for misinformation that is inciting them to protest. But some reputable experts are also falling for it, even falsely blaming Democrats for attacking protesters. It makes no sense. Republicans fully support Israel’s right-wing extremist Prime Minister Netanyahu and his brutal attacks on innocent Palestinians. So why would protestors blame Democrats?
Cooler heads like Badd Company have been calling out the right-wing agitators involved in these protests, which should help diffuse them. And, the fact that 1,200 January 6th insurrectionists have been arrested and 750 sentenced so far has had a chilling effect on MAGA enthusiasm for another attack like the one on our Capitol, especially with Biden at the helm.
But once this latest distraction fails, the Right will find other ways to sow chaos. We have to be ready for anything, from protests, to riots, to lone-wolf attacks, to hacking power grids, the internet, and other infrastructure disruptions.
Our Democratic leaders have handled the chaos with icy poise and we must do our part. Stop sharing doomsday messaging. Trump has no path to winning the election. It’s a mathematical impossibility and he knows it.
Something that strikes me as proof of this is Trump’s repeated claims that the Manhattan courtroom is freezing. And yet, no one else has complained. I believe Trump is freezing. But I think the chill is coming from within.
In my experience, during an important meeting for example, my body will go into a shivering mode. It has happened during business negotiations when I am passionate about a subject but I try to remain impassive. If I were playing poker, it would be my tell. Apparently, it’s called “Anxiety Shivers.” This shivering is Trump’s tell. He’s shivering with terror.
Democrats need to have ice in our veins. Stop whining and keep exposing Republicans for what they are: traitors to democracy. Stop giving Trump more power than he has. He’s been frozen out and he knows it.
It’s time to freeze out Trump and the entire GOP by voting BLUE on November 5th.
