Looking both ways

         2021 has been a wild ride.   Personally, I had 2 major surgeries to my right shoulder and left knee.  I'm still recovering from both and it promises to be a slow process which will drag into the middle of the new year.   As I am finding out, old muscles, tendons and bones don't heal as fast at 69 as they did at 21!   The same could be said of our country after a year of relentless attacks on our democracy.

     Cheeto Benito and his merry band of nihilist enablers in Congress and many states did their best to overthrow the free and fair election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in November.  We will endure at least one more chance for an authoritarian takeover of the White House on January 6, when both houses of congress meet to certify the electoral vote.   While there is no chance of that happening, the effort will continue to weaken many American's faith in our system of government.   Cynical opportunists like Missouri senator Josh Hawley will cheerfully contribute to the chaos in an effort to emerge as the spiritual successor to tRump.

     Climate change continues apace with another withering year of wildfires on the west coast and major hurricanes and soaking rainstorms in the east.   Our denial of human induced changes will cause more weather related catastrophes in coming years.

      The pandemic that has ravaged the country and killed nearly 350.000 people since March has exposed the problems that can occur when you elect an ignorant narcissist to the most powerful office in the world.   It didn't have to be this bad, but tRump seems to have taken incompetence to a new level as Covid 19 claims more than 3000 people every day.

     I have been reminded by my beautiful daughters I am rapidly becoming a grumpy old man as i continue to rail against the political and climate situations.   I plead guilty on many occasions, but when I see my grandchildren I am usually moved to a more optimistic position.   Their cheerful interactions with the world give me hope the next generation will make more head way against the problems facing us than my generation was able to. 

      I wish everyone reading this a happy, healthy New Year and a renewed zest for life on this beautiful world.

America's Handicap

         It looks like another beautiful day for golfing in south Florida today.  You may be sure America's biggest handicap will be on one of his courses today, cheating his way around another 18 at our expense.

        Having played golf for over 30 years, I have met and played with literally hundreds of friends and strangers.  Rarely, if ever did I see overt cheating on the course.  Sure, there was an occasional whiff at a ball that was not counted as a stroke and a graciously conceded putt which extended beyond the "circle of friendship".  But the gross forms of cheating, such as sabotaging an opponent's ball or drastically improving your own lie were and continue to be nonexistent, much like voter fraud.

      tRump sees everything through the prism of his own behavior, therefore every opponent, whether on the golf course, the boardroom or the electoral process is out to cheat him.   So it has come to this, one more attempt to subvert a free and fair election.  Let us hope this is the last gasp on the 18th green of a failed human being who can't play a game which requires honesty without cheating.

The coming of consensus

        Now that beltway journalists have circulated the emerging consensus among Republicans and certain conservative Democrats that it is time to embrace deficit reduction, it is off to the races.

         Free trade, open borders and "entitlement reform" will be the GOP's weapons of choice as it faces the Biden administration's more people oriented policies.   The infamous Paygo policy of paying for every program by either raising taxes or reducing other spending will once again become the vogue among otherwise smart Democrats.    The fact Republicans spent the last 4 years ignoring deficit concerns while their party controlled the White House is barely mentioned by the mainstream media.  

        Even in the event of both Warnock and Ossoff  both winning the Georgia runoff elections and delivering us from Mitch McConnell's tender mercies, there is an appetite in Congress to continue policies which benefit the rich and by extension hurt the poor.   It is up to ordinary citizens to let our congresscritters know they will pay a price for boosting that agenda.

Tinpot bravado

        After the suffering among the unemployed had ramped up and it looked as if the Georgia runoffs were tilting Democratic, tRump finally signed the Covid relief bill yesterday.

        According to the media take, he was under intense pressure from Republicans to give Perdue and Loeffler something to tout on the campaign trail in Georgia.   I rather think someone whispered in his ear that whatever legacy he expected his presidency* to leave behind, vetoing relief for  Americans who were literally down t their last dollar would not burnish it.   So, like a petulant child who is threatened with no dinner unless the mess is picked up, Cheetolini buckled under pressure.

The mixed Christmas messages

        Once again, adherents of the many Christian sects around the world will welcome the commemoration of the birth of Jesus and celebrate his life and teachings.   Love one another, including the least among us is probably a good capsule summary of the gospels and yet most professed Christians fail even that test.

       Meanwhile, perhaps the most glaring example of how perverted Christ's message has become in the 21st century, Donald J. tRump, illustrated how not to honor the savior's legacy.   By pardoning murderers, crooks, thieves and liars, many of whom committed the crimes in service to tRump, he made fools of those who beleived in him.   It seems no crime, including the murders of innocent men, women and even children is beneath the pardon power.

      Those of us who have managed to survive the past 4 years will look back on this era as perhaps the blackest in our history.   However, for at least the next 24 hours I will wish for peace on earth among men of  good will.   Merry Christmas!

The tip of the iceberg

       Agent Orange struck again yesterday.  Amidst a blizzard of pardons granted to convicted murderers, congressional felons and Mueller investigation targets, tRump let us know exactly how far he is willing to go when it comes to use of the presidential pardon power.   

       I guess the next marker will be using the power for personal gain.   If you can pony up enough money, will Cheetolini spring you from the slammer?   I guess we will find out during the next 27 days.  It will probably be worse than anything I can imagine.

Welcome to the Endemic

       Health care officials are carefully parsing their responses to questions regarding the new variant of Covid 19 that was recently discovered in the UK.  Of course, in light of the rollout of vaccines for the original strain, reporters were dancing around the question instead of asking directly if a new vaccine will be necessary.

       The economic and psychic fallout from an admission we don't have control of the coronavirus would be so devastating I guess it is understandable everyone is tip toeing around the 500 pound gorilla in the room.   The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have given us hope of returning to a "normal" world where masks and social distancing will be a nasty memory of a world turned upside down.  Mutating viruses are not part of that world, or are they?

What's really important

        Something as simple as baked goods can let us know the holiday season is upon us.   My eldest daughter gave us a sample of her prodigious baking output and I was transported to an earlier Christmas season.  Then the middle child brought over some samples of her attempt to recreate my mother and grandmother's apricot bar cookies and I knew the holiday season was upon us.  

       Regardless of the political situation, the pandemic and the economy, it is time for all of us to link arms, figuratively, of course and celebrate another Christmas.   It will be a holiday unlike any other in my experience, but as always, we will make the best of it and conjure a joyous yuletide out of the wreckage of 2020.   As always, the children of the family will make it a memorable time for all of us.  God bless us every one!

Christmas is coming, isn't it?

      We are a week away from our celebration of the winter solstice.   As a matter of fact, the solstice occurs on the 21st this year and as always, Christmas is the 25th, but what is 4 days among friends.

       I've probably said this in other holiday seasons, but in this pandemic year, it really does feel as if Christmas is passing us by.   I know the celebration of the birth of a brown baby during a Roman census  over 2000 years ago has devolved into an imitation Saturnalia of excess despite Christianity's best efforts to keep our focus on its own brand of religion.   I have happily joined in the American version of the holiday ever since I received the Santa Claus indoctrination as a  toddler.   Somehow, the magic isn't there this year.  At least, so far.

35 days and counting

       Most of us who prize rationality and facts are counting down the days until the tRump administration is in the rear view mirror.   I'm sure we will continue to be inundated by stories of official perfidy such as the moles placed in the CDC who called for the government to cease trying to limit the spread of the coronavirus and allow as many people as possible to be infected.    The reason for this policy was the supposed development of "herd immunity" in the general population.  The casualty figure of up to a million deaths or more in such a scenario seemed not to bother these amoral a-holes.

     As more and more such stories surface, I hope we will have a "truth and reconciliation" commission to fully investigate the wrongdoing and crimes committed against America and its people during the last 4 years.   Cheetolini and his henchmen need to account for them all.

Christmas cards during a pandemic

       As usual, the Divine Mrs. M and I have put off the annual Christmas card extravaganza until last night when it all seemed to come together in a rush.   We started the tradition of sending photo cards of our daughters and a brief letter outlining our activities over the past year in the early years of our marriage.   Most of the cards went to older relatives on both sides of the family.  We thought it was a handy way to stay in touch with many people we rarely saw.   It proved to be a hit with the target audience.  Many people said they looked forward to our annual picture of the girls and the missive that accompanied it.

      Fast forward to 2020.   Most of our cards are going to contemporaries or younger relatives.   We now include pictures of ourselves, and the annual letter seems to take up more and more space.   Who knew the activities of a couple of grumpy seniors and their offspring could run to a page and a half.  More importantly, who cares.

      One of the problems with traditions is they take over your life at a certain point.   As with everything else in this life, there are pluses and minuses with every interaction.  On balance, I think this minor holiday card and photo show has given us far more than we supposed it would when we started.   I hope in my curmudgeonly way we will continue for at least a few more years.

A new beginning or SOS

     The media seemed hell bent on making the first vaccinations for the coronavirus a three day extravaganza.   From the FDA approval for emergency use to the breathless coverage of the trucks leaving the Pfizer plant to the jab into a nurse's arm, you would think there was no other news in the world.

      It was a milestone for sure.   It took less than a year to roll out the first vaccine and it should be celebrated.    However, we have a long dark winter ahead and premature celebrations will only push the ultimate death toll higher as even those who have been heeding public health messaging may relax their vigilance for the holidays.   

     The tRump administration bungled every aspect of fighting the pandemic except for pushing the vaccine development, although they had nothing to do with Pfizer and Moderna's efforts, Cheetolini is still trying to take credit for his laughable association with the scientists who actually developed the medicine.  Now, in a final show of incompetence, after the initial distribution there has been little or no planning for the full roll out of immunizing the general population.   Good luck to the Biden administration as they inherit yet another tRump disaster. 

Voting for the Right people

        The electoral system continues to grind on.  Today state electors will meet to certify Joe Biden did indeed win the presidency.  This follows the state certification of election results on Friday.  Meanwhile, on Earth 2, Republicans, including my own representative continue to deny the obvious in an attempt to subvert the results of a free and fair election.   It would seem in the eyes of members of the GOP, Democrats can never win the presidency because they do not represent the right people.

The beat goes on

       In a continuing saga, Republicans filed yet another lawsuit with the Supreme Court, asking the justices to set aside the voters wishes in 4 states.   This would have the effect of handing the presidency to Cheatolini.

      To be sure, this lawsuit is a joke, and even the 3 tRump appointees on the Court could not in good conscience support it.   But the very idea of such a suit being pursued after all 50 states have certified the victory of Joe Biden in the presidential election is horrifying at best.   It seems Republicans can now not acknowledge an electoral win by any party but their own.   In the face of overwhelming evidence the election was free and fair, nearly 80% of self identified members of the GOP feel the election was stolen.

      Of course, once Biden is inaugurated, many of these naysayers will come to accept the Democrat's victory.   However, a hard core of tRump supporters will go to their graves saying the election was stolen.  The lasting damage the 45th president* has done to our democracy is the legacy he will drag to his final resting place.

A few good men and women

        Putting the last few weeks in perspective requires acknowledging the men and women throughout the country who put their nation above their party and made sure the national election was free and fair.  Unlike the spineless Republican weasels in Congress and many state legislatures, the officials in charge of the elections, Democrats and Republicans alike refused the threats and entreaties of the would be tyrant in the Oval Office.   Maybe it is because these offices are typically an end in themselves rather than a steppingstone to higher ambitions.  Maybe the sanctity of elections mean something to those in places of trust.   Whatever the reasons, we owe them a debt of gratitude for keeping the American experiment going for another election cycle.

Our Bonkers Polity

        The absolute Bizzaro quality of our political discourse was on display yesterday as the once and future presidents spoke to the nation yesterday regarding the roll out of Pfizer's version of a Covid 19 vaccine.   tRump took full credit for the proprietary vaccine developed with no input from the federal government and breezily predicted again we have "rounded the corner" regardless of 287,000 deaths we have endured and the hundreds of thousands more that are likely before a significant number of our fellows are vaccinated.

      Meanwhile, in Wilmington, Delaware, the president elect spoke to the difficulties we will experience in the coming winter months.  He asked everyone to mask up for the first 100 days of the administration to help bend the curve and pledged 100 million shots in the first 100 days.   Biden did not sugar coat the pandemic and requested  everyone's help while empathizing with those who have lost loved ones to the disease.

      This is the stark contrast we are seeing in real time.   

Republicans want you to suffer

      If you are poor, black, brown or otherwise non white, Republicans want you to suffer in the wake of Joe Biden's election.   Mitch MCConnell and his caucus have decided there will be little or no pandemic relief for America unless corporations are protected from liability for their failure to protect workers during the crisis.   

      This is the media narrative for the failure of the Senate to advance aid to the American people.  Of course, the real reason is to punish voters for pulling the lever for a Democrat in November.   Ever since Bill Clinton was elected, Republicans have looked on Democratic governments as illegitimate, despite the fact in most cases Dems had to clean up messes made by the GOP when it was in power.   Republicans have flat out forgotten how to govern and mainly function as a full time opposition party.  Hence, no relief for America.

It has come to this

        According to NYT columnist, Ross Douthat, upwards of 60% of registered Republicans believe the recent election of Joe Biden as president was neither free nor fair.  In fact it was a giant conspiracy to deny the president* a glorious 2nd term.

       Douthat is one of the Times designated conservatives.   As a card carrying intellectual, he is above the conspiracy theories presently being put forward by talk radio, Newsmax and other far right sources.  Even, or especially the demented rants routinely broadcast from the White House fail to move him.   However, even reasonably intelligent people of his acquaintance have confided to him their attraction to some of the stolen election rumors.

     He theorizes many intelligent conservatives (oxymoron) have been raised to dispute anything advocated for by the liberal intelligentsia.   Therefore, as insane as it seems they would prefer to believe tRump's baseless accusations rather than the media's debunking of cheating allegations.   Even the tossing of dozens of the tRump campaign's lawsuits, some with prejudice will not shake them in their beliefs.

    A second group of conspiracy theorists gravitate to the most outrageous internet sites to confirm their strongly held fantasies.  These are descendants of JFK conspiracies, 911 truthers  and Obama birth certificate conspiracies.   

    Finally there are the newly radicalized blue collar working class voters who feel the entire system is gamed against them and who have wrongly fixed on DJT as the one who can fix it all.

     These disparate parts of the Republican coalition will be with us in 2024 Douthat suggests unless we can come up with arguments tailored to each demographic's particular persuasion.  He suggest he will be making these arguments to anyone who will listen right up until tRump is nominated by the GOP in 2024.   I wish him luck.

5 

The Christmas conundrum

        Christmas and its traditions may not overshadow our multicultural society as much as Thanksgiving, but for many, if not a majority of us, the celebrations surrounding the holiday echo with even more urgency than turkey day.   How will we manage our expectations while in the clutches of the pandemic?

        I know at this point, my immediate family fully expects to gather and exchange gifts and savor a holiday meal together.   Is this wise, considering the warnings regarding Thanksgiving.   By the end of December, the health care infrastructure will surely be buckling under the wave of new hospitalizations associated with late November celebrations.  Even with the prospect of a vaccine tantalizingly close, should we risk our collective health on the 25th of December?    I know the answer, and so do most of us.  Let's hope common sense prevails.

When will it end

     More than 2700 people died of complications due to Covid 19 yesterday.   The commander in chief took to a lectern in the White House and spent 45 minutes in an unhinged rant about fraud in the last election.  He did not spare one minute to console the friends and relatives of those 2700 dead Americans.   How much longer can we put up with this?

Pardon Me

        According to some, the latest leak from DoJ regarding abuses of the president's pardoning power is merely a ploy from Bill Barr to reestablish his integrity before the lights go out in his office on January 20.    Between the release of a heavily redacted judicial brief from August ruling on lawyers' request to access information on laptops, i phones, etc. seized in a raid inspired by a bribery for pardon scheme.

     Personally, I think this is just a shiny object to keep the liberal media busy in a fruitless bid in the waning days of the tRump administration to find the one great crime which will bring the president* down.   Unfortunately, incontrovertible evidence of even the most heinous crime will barely cause a yawn among Cheetolini's supporters, so why release this information now?   Along with speculation about pardons for Jared, Ivanka, Don Jr., Eric, etc., all this does is muddy the water and probably allow other crimes to go forward with little or no publicity.

Treason, anyone

     In the death throes of his administration, it looks like tRump is descending into flirting with treason in an effort to overthrow the will of the people.   As most of the swing states which decided the election have certified Joe Biden's electoral college win, the current president has tried to suborn the republican governors of Georgia and Arizona to convince them to declare the election results in their states invalid.  

     In states controlled by Republican legislatures, Cheetolini appealed directly to party members to nullify the elections and put a slate of tRump electors into the Electoral College.   A DOJ not in thrall to the Executive would probably be investigating the president* for treason.  I guess we will have to wait for the new administration.