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?