welcome back, brightness!

Winter solstice returned to our neck of the woods at 8:28 a.m. today, and even though it was still dark here, I have never been happier to see the return of the light.  As I write this, Trump’s cabinet members are humiliating themselves with toadying comments about his “exquisite” leadership, as the House GOP scrambles for enough votes to avoid a government shutdown tomorrow.  That would be less than exquisite.

While we await the consequences of the tax restructuring, I’m appreciating the Christmas gifts the Donny has so generously given us.  His hearty endorsement of Roy Moore, heartily withdrawn after Moore lost, helped the Democrats gain a seat in the Senate.  In the long game, that’s probably more valuable than the spectacle of  Moore roaming the Mall and the malls of the Beltway.  He’ll have to settle for the food courts of Alabama, except in Gadsden.

If the Judge had been created by the writers of Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels would likely reject him as too unbelievable:  “C’mon, folks.  A 30-year-old sexual predator who says he didn’t ‘generally’ date teenagers?  Get real.  Write another Coneheads.”

And then there’s the kerfuffle at the U.N.  I understand why Trump thought it would help to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  He needs to keep feeding his base as the heat of the Russia investigation builds.  But, maybe from the mistaken belief that his tax bill success meant unlimited political capital, he blusters into the U.N. via Nikki Haley.

Haley is of double value to him as a woman and a person of colour.  She’s his favourite because she’s ballsier than he is.  Opposing a non-binding resolution to condemn Trump’s policy change, she told the U.N. “the U.S. will remember the day when it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very right of exercising our right as a sovereign nation”.

She added some threats about withdrawal of U.S. aid in the speech, which dripped with so much victimhood it could have been written by Omarosa.  Undaunted and unappreciative, the Assembly voted 128-9 for the resolution.  Canada and Mexico abstained.  I know it’s because they’re deep in negotiations about NAFTA, but I’m disappointed in Prime Minister Trudeau.

Those countries joining the U.S. included Guatamala, Honduras and five South Pacific powerhouses, including Nauru and Palua.  Europe and the Middle East said “no thanks”.

And the bestest gift is the GOP opposition to the Russia investigation, which is getting so shrill that only dogs will be able to hear it soon.  Trump Jr. is seeing conspiracies, Sean Hannity is so upset he looks like he’s about to wet himself and Ohio Representative Jim Jordan advanced an argument on CNN that really should be Googled.

On Fox News he was relatively restrained and measured, but on CNN he talked as if he’d just had a case of Red Bulls.  Jake Tapper struggled heroically to help Jordan sort it out, but he babbled like a speed freak, barely breathing.  The stink of desperation from the GOP on this matter can be smelled here in B.C.

So, thank you, President Trump.  I couldn’t possibly give back as much as you’ve given me, but I would like you to have this song, sung to the tune of “Jesus Loves the Little Children”.  It doesn’t have any shelf life left to it, anyway.

“Roy Moore loves the little children,

All the little girlies at the mall,

Under eighteen, must be white,

They are fair game in his sight,

Judge Moore loves them

An that takes a lot of gall.”