This is one Christmas that wasn’t really a Christmas for thousands of Federal Employees, and pretty much everyone else. Not having a job to go to does that to people who rely on them.

Remember when the Holiday was a much needed break from politics? Nothing happened especially on the Presidential level. Only emergencies that were large enough for Presidential intervention broke through the news on a national level. We mostly heard about local tragedies such as fires, floods, and such that could be easily ignored if you didn’t live there.

Congress was also out for the holidays, both winners and losers alike, winners celebrating, losers consoling themselves with Christmas brandy. So there was little Congressional news or actions after December 7^th or so. And if there were differences between the House and the Senate, or between the parties about items in the Federal Budget, so that it ran out of money and time, Congress would pass a routine CR (Continuing Resolution) early in December so that everybody could go home .As soon as that vote was taken, (and passage was never in doubt), everyone wished each other “Happy Holidays”, drank the spiked egg-nog and cookies passed around the hall, and promptly adjourned for about 3 weeks until New Years passed and it was time to go back to work on January 3^rd.

The losers were left free to quietly slink out of town, clearing their office and packing (and swiping) extra office supplies. Soon to be unemployed staff munching leftover turkey, updating resumes and slipping away afterward home for the holidays as soon as possible. No reason to stay in town. Winners quietly moved in their offices, while munching over leftover turkey, emptying boxes of new office supplies that replaced the previous swiped ones, putting name plates on doors, and getting new business cards.

Presidents left town to relax-usually somewhere warm and expensive. Country estates, beachfront properties, back to the old homestead to golf, ski, and swim. With recent Presidents: Obama went to Hawaii, Shrub to his ranch, Clinton to wherever he went to (I wasn’t following up that much with Big Bill in those days). Generally speaking, the Presidents left town regardless of issues otherwise. Since there was really rarely a need for Congress to be in session, Presidents mostly felt that being in Washington for the holidays was the Presidential equivalent of twiddling one’s thumbs.

Next time you saw them, they were in tropical shirts, ski wear, or sitting around the old family fireplace.

Another tradition spoiled. Narcissists must narcissist, and Trump was no exception, whining about being alone at the Whitehouse, his enemies, and everything else. That nobody wanted to spend the holiday with his whining ass, not even Melania who probably spent her holiday in another Wing, eating Christmas cookies, drinking Everclear eggnog and wondering if inheriting billions was worth all of this. Hoping for a Jackie Kennedy ending to this, where she has another life with perhaps another billionaire with more manners and heart.

So there was no downtime to relax for the nation. Christmas was another occasion where the attention was taken off him and his neediness. So all must suffer in revenge.

If opening up my site to comments wasn’t enough, I actually decided to have a couple of forums. One is Hillary Haven, a safe place to talk about Hillary free from trolls and Bernie Bros: hopefully it will be the Hillary Version of the Obama Diary. The other is Between Elections: Civics and Organizing and Voter Registrtion and the like. Both forums are going to be members only and topic based. Why did I do this????

“Lock Her Up”? While she is no doubt diusappointed in not being President, she probably is loving the fact that all the Trump Officials who chanted that phrase are in legal trouble. Projection, anyone?