Dani Smart

The True Enemy Within: Impunity and the Epstein Class We are told, almost daily, that the danger is outside the gates.

This isn’t partisan. It’s structural. At the Feb 12 House Judiciary hearing, AG Pam Bondi showed that the real divide isn’t left vs. right. It’s the public vs. a protected class that lives and profits above the law. open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

Sit, stay, walk by... and go say hi Snapshots from a therapy dog journey

A rescue dog. A hospital hallway. Doors that weren’t on the list.

This episode of Random Egg is about what therapy dogs really do — and what they teach us about showing up for people on their worst days, without words and without needing to fix a thing.
open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

Greenland, Extraction, and the Unraveling of the American Brand Floating a meme of Greenland cloaked in an American flag—and continuing to circulate rhetoric about “taking” the country—is far more than a harmless joke or manufactured distraction.

This is from a piece I wrote yesterday. Treating the resources and territory of a foreign country as if they were ours to claim is the exact opposite of what defined American foreign policy of the past seventy years. We have to pay attention.

danismart.substack.com/p/greenland-...

¡Viva Venezuela! — But at What Cost? How Celebration Masks Legal, Political, and Strategic Dangers

Fireworks and viral cheers don’t make military action lawful—or wise. From oil myths to international law to hard lessons from Iraq, Libya, and Chile, this piece looks past the memes to the power, resources, and decisions that follow after the cheering stops. danismart.substack.com/p/viva-venez...

The Manger and the Wall As a née-Episcopal-married-Catholic, I join my fellow Christians each Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

We weep for the refugee baby in the manger, then walk out the church doors and check our phones—scrolling past headlines about modern families fleeing the same violence. At what point did the Gospel stop being a way of life and start being just local folklore? open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

The Hidden Mortgage Killer: How Healthcare Costs Are Eating the American Dream The debate over universal healthcare has fallen into a political chasm—one that has effectively denied the United States a genuine bipartisan solution.

America’s healthcare debate is stuck in a moral vs. fiscal responsibility standoff—and it’s costing us far more than better health. Universal healthcare isn’t radical—it’s economic common sense. Fixing healthcare may be the key to fixing the middle class. open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

Iraq and Venezuela: How Manufactured Threats Pave the Road to War How Fear, Fentanyl, and Oil is Leading the U.S. Down a Dangerous Path

The echoes of Iraq are happening again in Venezuela. 20-years and the same playbook: manufactured threat, the rhetoric of “liberation” hiding who really profits, fentanyl a "WMD," Venezuela’s oil the ultimate prize. A war would cost lives & trillions of $$.
danismart.substack.com/p/iraq-and-v...

‘Christian Nation’? The Myth Driving Fear and Division From memes to policy, cultural memory clashes with the Constitution in today’s politics.

Can you still say “Merry Christmas”? Spoiler: yes. But the debate over Christian nationalism shows how a holiday greeting serves as a political flashpoint. Is the U.S. a Christian nation? I'd argue, that's it's not.
danismart.substack.com/p/christian-...

The Stroll Past Atrocity: What 1945's Indifference Teaches Us About Today's U.S. Detention Camps The haunting image of a boy walking past Belsen’s dead finds its chilling parallel in state-funded cruelty and the high cost of looking away.

12/4/2025, Amnesty International released a report titled “USA: Torture and Enforced Disappearances in the Sunshine State: Human Rights Violations at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ and Krome in Florida.” This article is about the report's eerie echoes from history.
danismart.substack.com/p/the-stroll...

“America First” vs. Global Reality: The $12 Billion Farm Bailout Policy Creates the Crisis and Taxpayers Are Funding the Damage

The administration promised "America First," but their own policies created the farm crisis. Now, taxpayers are footing the bill to bail out for an industry hurt by tariffs, labor cuts, and foreign aid to competitors which has fueled this self-inflicted storm. open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

Why We Need to Rethink the Social Security Cap — Without Pretending It’s a Magic Wand A look at why the Social Security cap deserves a rethink—and how we can fix it without breaking the system.

Is removing the Social Security cap on income over $176,100 the magic bullet to preserve the program that millions of Americans depend on in their retirement? open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

Why Do We Fund Education for Soldiers but Not for Public Servants? The Strange Double Standard: Why America Only Extends Educational Investment to Military Forms of Public Service.

Why do we fully fund education for military recruits but cap the degrees needed to staff our hospitals, schools, and clinics? The DoED’s new loan policy reveals a double standard we’ve been conditioned to accept—and it’s hurting essential professions. open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

Democracy at a Crossroad: The U.S., Ukraine, and the Inflection Point For a brief moment in 2022, America felt united.

For a brief moment in 2022, Americans stood united in support of Ukraine, a democracy under attack. Today, the conversation has fractured and many are now cheering for Vladimir Putin—a literal Communist—while dismissing the democratic nation he’s invading. open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

The recent Congressional resolution (H. CON. RES. 58) "denouncing the horrors of socialism" has created a dangerous ideological trap. Before we allow popular social safety nets (like Medicare and childcare) to be dismantled, we need clarity. open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

The Big Ugly Bill and the Threat to Post-Graduate Education You may have seen the memes floating around: “A list of degrees the Department of Education will reclassify and no longer consider professional degrees…” Some even include a list of twelve degrees and...

I’ve seen the memes—the dramatic lists claiming the DoEd is “eliminating” entire professions. They’re not accurate, but the truth behind them is actually more concerning. open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

The Epstein Files Fiasco: Administration Closes Probe, Declares Innocence, Then Orders New Investigation The Unraveling Hypocrisy of the DOJ and the Call for Unvarnished Truth

There was an investigation in the previous administration. The current administration killed it in January and then officially declared there was "nothing to prosecute." So may questions...
open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

What the Epstein Files Reveal About Power, Money, and Manufactured Division How a global network of money, leverage, and distraction keeps the powerful protected and the public divided.

The Epstein files are making the rounds again and the conversation is still stuck in Left vs. Right. Most Americans genuinely don’t care whose name shows up. They just want the truth. This really isn't about politics at all. It’s about money and control.
open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

Have you ever wondered what it's like to feed 100+ elite musicians, crew, and volunteers on the road? I did—four meals a day, from before sunrise to after midnight, chasing a Drum Corps across the country. Chaos, calzones, and the mysterious “Fourth Meal” included.
open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

Americans pay more than any other wealthy nation for healthcare—and get worse outcomes. The ACA was meant to stabilize insurance companies, not improve access or health. Here’s the reality of a system where profit, not patients, drives care. It's time for a change.
open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

The Boy Who Wouldn’t Break — and the Democracies That Might danismart.substack.com/p/the-boy-wh...

The Boy Who Wouldn’t Break — and the Democracies That Might Hungary once inspired the world with a revolution for freedom. Today, that same country stands as a warning — proof that democracy doesn’t collapse in a bang, but in a quiet shuffle of paperwork and p...

I didn’t mean to find Péter Mansfeld. But once I did, I couldn’t stop thinking about what his story says about Hungary today—and about us.
My latest op-ed is live: open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

Crisis Point: The Declaration of Independence as a Modern-Day Indictment In an era dominated by political debates centered on the U.S. Constitution—its clauses, amendments, and checks and balances—it is easy to forget the foundational text that necessitated its creation. T...

With so many political debates centered on the U.S. Constitution, it is easy to forget The Declaration of Independence. The Declaration's list of complaints resonates not just as history, but as an urgent, modern-day indictment. danismart.substack.com/p/crisis-poi...

The Citizenship Document Requirement and Voter Disenfranchisement Immediate call to action

This is a good time to review the myths around Voter ID laws that would disenfranchise millions of voters. Please share.

danismart.substack.com/p/the-citize...

America's Healthcare Crisis: Unraveling the ACA's Past to Forge a Healthier Future Summary: The ACA’s Bipartisan Roots, Present Challenges, and Path Forward

In this article I discuss the surprising bi-partisan history of the ACA, dispel common myths, and share some ideas about how we can move forward open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

Thank you for writing!! Your insight, perspective, and words are greatly appreciated.

The Cost of Trump’s Politicization of the Military They’ve crossed one line after another since January - and we must not become numb to the mounting damage to our military and national security.

Important words to hear, understand, and act on.
open.substack.com/pub/petebutt...

Quid Pro Quo? New Qatari Military Base in Idaho Follows Trillions in Trade and Personal Deals A Quick Overview

So much to unpack…
open.substack.com/pub/danismar...

The Citizenship Document Requirement and Voter Disenfranchisement Immediate call to action

The U.S. Elections Assistance Commission (EAC) is taking public comment until Oct 20, 2025 regarding requiring all voters to provide documentation of citizenship to register to vote. Non-citizen voting is vanishingly rare & millions stand to be disenfranchised.
danismart.substack.com/p/the-citize...

President vs. Precedent: The Unenforceable Order on Flag Burning and the Limits of Executive Power Why U.S. Law Protects Symbolic Protest and Bars Executive Policing

In short: Burning the U.S. flag as a form of political protest is not illegal, the President cannot create new laws or penalties, and the military is barred from making domestic arrests. open.substack.com/pub/danismar...