From the heart:

For my last "non-Christmasy" post for a couple days (barring an unimaginable tragedy),

a disturbing thought has slithered its way into my noggin.

What day would be the most inappropriate, would cause the most grief and outrage, would sow the most chaos if some stomach-churning Trump fiat was to be announced?

Christmas Day.

Let's pray that the love of this season will defeat the hate of the crazies.

A fear that I have: some of us still remember that "social contract" thing.

You know, that implicit agreement we make when we forego our own right to directly pursue justice and to punish those who do harm to us and our fellow citizens.

Our part of the agreement? We pay taxes, obey the law and refrain from acts of "vengeance" against the crooks, murderers and traitors among us.

Your part of the agreement? You are supposed to protect us from the bad guys and impose APPROPRIATE PUNISHMENT on them when they offend our laws.

The petulant man-baby has just pardoned a veritable smorgasbord of bad guys, ranging from white collar thieves to political fixers and goons to cold-blooded mass-murderers. So, now they are free to walk among us.

Our prisons are full of people whose "wrongs" we, the people, consider far less offensive, far less bad, far less harmful to our society than what Trump's list of loyal ass-kissers and murderers did.

I fear that some misguided indignant person may decide to take one of these thugs for a ride and "leave the gun---bring the cannoli!"

Let's turn over every rock these people have ever stepped on and find a legal way to re-balance the scales.

How many of Trump's appointments could survive the "moral" requirements of most

local school boards? You know---those bastions of decency and ethical behavior.

Across the land, intelligent people are sitting in front of their TV screens---some, like me

sipping a double---who have "TILT" flashing in both eyes.

We can no longer list the Trump crimes.

We can no longer list the Trump outrages.

We are no longer capable of discussing Trump without spewing a cascade of profanities.

We can no longer convincingly insist we would not pay good money for 5 minutes alone in a locked room with this arrogant and disgusting sonofabitch.

I would go on, but I need another Jameson's .

To the GOP officials NOW calling Trump a "petulant child throwing a tantrum" I ask:

---(Imagine this being growled out of of the corner of my mouth while I am wearing my best "Eastwood eyes" )--- Just what do you know now that every other American with enough sense to piss down wind did not know five years ago?

About this "stimulus bill": if a person is drowning 50 feet from shore and you throw them a 25 foot

rope, you may have "done something", but you have not helped them survive.

On this. I agree with Bernie: "Shame!"

Sorry to smack you in the face, but we have 29 more days of rule by a lunatic.

This is not "normal".

This is not "right".

This is not "OK".

Stay awake.

Can I post a reminder?

IMHO, the most common mistake we make in considering what Trump does and says---and which generates the most stress---is that we try to MAKE SENSE out of it. We look for some REASON, some PLAN, some GOAL.

Trump is insane. He has no concept of any of the terms I just typed in all caps.

I am torn between just two alternative "policy statements" for the Trump regime: "Whatever!" or "Shit Happens!"

Ok, no more putting it off! Can we have an appreciation thread for Judi Lynn?

I will admit up front that I do not truly understand a whole lot of the material in her posts, but I am able to comprehend some of it and I often come away just a little more "educated" for having read her post. With her wide-ranging scientific articles, she stretches my mind, shows me new perspectives and sometimes astounds me.

THANK YOU!