Not so fast

 "I believe we have it in us to be better than we have been.  I believe we have it in us to be better than we are.  I believe we can rediscover our common humanity if we just look for it.  There are all kinds of things we knew and loved once that we've forgotten.  There are better parts of ourselves that have lain dormant for far too long.  Rediscovery can be as exciting as discovery was in the first place," wrote Charles P. Pierce a few days ago in an uncharacteristic burst of seasonal joy.  I refuse to argue with the landlord of the shebeen where I have passed so many happy hours, but I'm guessing he hadn't seen this:

Rep. Debbie Dingell shared a voicemail with the CNN audience that went, "You ought to get the fuck off the planet, you fucking foul bitch.  They ought to fucking try you for treason, bitch...I hope your family dies in front of you.  I pray to God, if you've got any children, they die in your face."  [Emphasis added.]  Her fellow Michigander Rep. Fred Upton is getting similar wishes since voting for the bipartisan infrastructure bill:  "I hope your fucking family dies.  I hope everybody in your fucking staff dies, you fucking piece of fucking shit.  Traitor!"  Upton is a Republican.  Presumably these are just some of the "Christian values" that M.T. Greene wants to "restore."  I'd say they're permanently branded on this country, like racism.  "Once you're in that Trump hate tunnel, you kind of don't escape it," Rep. Dingell observed.  

You better watch out, you better not lie, Donald -- Alex Jones has issued a warning.   "This is an emergency Christmas Day warning to President [sic] Trump.  You are either completely ignorant about the so-called vaccine gene therapy that you helped ram through with Operation Warp Speed or you are one of the most evil men who has ever lived."  Come on, Alex, it's Christmas!  Why not both?  Are you missing Erika?  Calm down, have some colloidal silver and chill.  Between Jones's threats and the booing of Trumpanzees, the orange one is enduring his very own Golgotha.  No, I am not smirking, I have Bell's Palsy.

The Omicron flavor of covid is picking up speed, but all sorts of new therapies are coming to the rescue and it seems to be, in general, less virulent than it was a year ago.  All of this may not matter, though:  Our old nemesis H5N1 bird flu is back, killing thousands of migratory birds in Israel and leading to the cull of domestic birds as well.  Israel has been aggressive in limiting foreign visitors and promoting a fourth dose of covid vaccine, but try closing your borders to cranes.

Of course home schooling is an alternative for parents who worry about exposing their children to Omicron, bird flu and critical race theory.  One resource is the new School of the West, which originates in Arizona.  That's not exactly what its headmaster means by "west," though.  Brant Danger, a/k/a Brant Williams, is selling the idea of "the White Race known as Westernkind" and why it's a gift to be born into it.  The curriculum also covers Holocaust denial, the evils of feminism, how to respond to "anti-White propaganda" and the "science" of racial difference.  Danger/Williams is cagey about his identity, but it looks like he used to teach in a school whose students were mainly Native American; that's where he learned that their tribal lands are dirty and badly maintained because they just don't care about the earth.  Yeah, sounds like indigenous people.

"Heavy, heavy prayers" are being sought for Doug Kuzma, yet another victim of the smoke-machine anthrax at the Dallas ReAwaken America jamboree.  (I have no time to explain it again.)  He's well stocked with ivermectin but still on a vent.  How could that be?  

Dreaming of a Spite Christmas, the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles recommended clemency for two dozen felons and then withdrew them all because one was the late George Floyd.  They mumbled something about "procedural issues."  It can't matter to Mr. Floyd, who was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, but the others would probably like to have their civil rights restored, maybe qualify for government programs, better jobs...Y'all have a happy new year, OK?  Here's a link to Beto For Texas.

I almost feel pity for Musclebound Marge, Screwy Louie, Mad Mad and Boom-boom Boebert vying to outdo one another in batshittery.  So it's with a slightly heavy heart that I warn them -- keep an eye on Nevada.  Noah Malgeri is running for Congress on a platform of We Should Hang Mark Milley Live On C-SPAN.  Oh captain, my captain, that is totally not what C-SPAN does.  They ask politicians about their summer reading (Bell's Palsy again), they cover without comment the posturing of committee members, they let you watch people walk into the White House Correspondents dinner, but they have never covered an execution.  Fox News, on the other hand, would sneak Peter Doocy in with a camera under his pants like Cagney in Picture Snatcher.  And now my heart is lighter.