Well, tis Christmas Eve. Bacchanalia. First night of Hanukkah.
So, make merry. Even if you don't do God or Gods or Goddesses, everyone should have an excuse to make merry betimes.
And remember, in life, you can be Scrooge, or you can be Fezziwig, it's your choice.
So, Happy Holidays.
Merry Christmas !
and so on!

Best Wishes to you and yours.
- DLC

A last minute plea for the Republic.

Friends, I do not usually indulge in panic, and I'm not going to now. But I want to talk to you about a problem that threatens the very heart of our Republic. 

I am speaking about this incident of the Russian hacking of, and interference in, the late Presidential election. Here, I speak not as a partisan, but as an American. The current way in which the United States of America selects who is to be President and Vice President of the United States is complex, but it boils down to this:  The people vote to choose partisan Electors who then meet after the election in what's called The Electoral College. This body was created originally to prevent some influential demagogue -- a leader in a democracy who gains popularity by exploiting prejudice and ignorance among the common people, whipping up the passions of the crowd and shutting down reasoned deliberation -- from seizing power. It was also intended to limit the possible influence of foreign powers in American internal politics. In this instance we have both of those problems. We have Donald J Trump, the demagogue's demagogue, doing all of those things in the definition. But it's the second thing that is really important:

Time for the missing man formation, sadly.

Word has reached me of the passing of Senator John Glenn. Marine fighter pilot with 59 combat missions in the south pacific in WW2 and 63 in F-9 Panthers over Korea, with a further 27 in F-86 Sabres. In combination, between his wartime service and his years as an astronaut, Glenn was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross Six times. Perhaps one dark spot on his illustrious career was his refusal to support the concept of women astronauts, until much later in life, when he is said to have mentored the career of mission specialist Judy Resnik.  Glenn would himself return to space in 1998, when he flew on STS 95 as a payload specialist, becoming the oldest man in space at age 77.
A mostly brilliant and mostly honorable career by a man who never stopped to ask the cost, he just stepped forward with his hand up, the words "I'll go" on his lips.
We thank you, John Herschel Glenn Jr., for a lifetime of service and dedication to duty, and a spirit of American exceptionalism. Farewell, my fellow Ohioan.
My most sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Harvard Post-Election Forum

Just taking a moment to put down a few thoughts about the recent Harvard Post-Election Forum :

Recently, campaign staffers for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump met at Harvard University for a post election forum. These meetings are what usually goes on after Presidential elections, and are put on by Harvard for the benefit of their students. This year was different, however, as staffers for both sides quickly allowed the meeting to devolve into a shouting match, when such meetings are usually at least civil, if not cordial. Well, what happened is this : Trump's people just had to rub salt in the wounds. They had to. Led by Trump mouthpiece Kelly-Anne Conway, they had to crow and strut and yell the equivalent of  "take that, bitches!". (more after the jump)