The cotton pickin' wind for Christmas 2024

The Williams family celebrates Christmas in late 1950s. Your blog host is the little tyke. God bless the memory of my parents Ralph and Martha Williams. We were in St. Paul where Dad was the music man for the U of M-St. Paul School of Agriculture. Those were especially blessed years for me. We had wonderful neighbors like the Woodwards. We got our groceries at Applebaum's. Our campus in Morris was still the West Central School of Agriculture, on its last legs.

 

Nighttime has arrived for this Christmas Day of 2024. A dreary last few days as the wind howls and the sky is overcast. Deeper snow would actually be nice if it was crisp, dry snow. Plus, if we were to get a string of days with blue sky and negligible wind. The wind can really blot out any other weather factors. The earliest settlers in these parts were shocked by how strong the wind could be. You nod your head at that. 

Where I live on Northridge Drive is susceptible to the northwest wind which howls down across the incline of farm land to the north of us. People talk about our harsh winters of the late 1960s. That was before the trees and windbreaks were very well developed in my neighborhood. It probably was not good for our house to have such huge snowdrifts develop right next to it. 

We certainly don't have that kind of snow accumulation problem now. And last year we had the famous "snowless" winter. Nice, I suppose, but if it's a harbinger of climate change problems? And we'll have an incoming president who thinks we should buck the rest of the world when it comes to confronting climate change? If the effects of climate change get worse and the U.S. is seen as an outlier in terms of not dealing with it, might we incur some wrath? If the survival of Planet Earth is at stake? 

Of more immediacy, what about the wrath we might incur if the new president follows up on his threats for the U.S. to acquire, presumably by force if necessary, places like Greenland, Panama and even Canada! The latter shocks me: Canada. Would DJT have the U.S. follow the pattern of Germany in the late 1930s? Really it sounds like that is the intent. 

So can we the American people stop him? We'd have to persuade our Republican lawmakers to start breaking away from DJT. And since so many of them show a cultish sort of fealty - even going to the NYC courthouse dressed like Trump (with his favorite tie) - well what's in the offing, really? Can this be overcome? 

We have set a horrible example here in western Minnesota by electing Michelle Fischbach. I take no joy in bashing Ms. Fischbach because after all it's Christmas. But look at what a cotton pickin' blind sycophant she is. Cannot be enlightened on anything. 

We know what the attitude of the Democrats is going to be. So all eyes are on the Republicans. Can they be awakened from their stupor? Why couldn't the very reasonable border compromise bill be passed? The one with Rep. Lankford as an engineer along with conservative Democrat Krysten Sinema? (I know my old Sun Tribune co-worker Howard Moser would have been fascinated to learn that Sinema of Arizona was "the first openly bisexual member of the Senate!") 

More inflation is coming if Trump is serious about his proposals, and if he can lead Republicans along on a leash. It would be like the law of gravity: more inflation. Are you ready? And what if Trump takes over the Federal Reserve? Do you realize how catastrophic that would be? 

"Scrooge McDuck"

And look at his recent insistence on eliminating the debt ceiling. He would want to do that why? Well to give massive new tax cuts for billionaires and all "Scrooge McDucks" so that the debt would swell. The common citizens be damned. 

If you all don't care about these things on Christmas 2024, there is nothing more I can do for you. DJT wanted to nominate Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Look at the tawdry-beyond-words report about Gaetz that just came out. On the day before Christmas Eve. Compare the tone of that to what Ronald Reagan or his wife Nancy would have said to Americans on the threshold of Christmas. 

I will take the Reagan style. But who am I? But a grain of sand on a vast beach. Or as I am more fond of saying: "Mongo just pawn in game of life." (That's from the movie "Blazing Saddles.") 

We must try to be optimistic in spite of all that is going on. 

The Gaetz report inspires my newest post on my companion blog "Morris of Course." I invite you to read with the link below. Thanks and Merry Christmas, really, even to all the MAGA people. And to that they'd probably give me the middle finger.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2024/12/republicans-hate-pornhub-but-they-sure.html 

 

Addendum: It's too cotton pickin' windy for me to even turn on my Christmas lights in the front yard tonight. The strings of lights hang in some places. One residence in my neighborhood takes the prize for lights and other such stuff, and I'm afraid it is not me! My old friend Jim Greenwaldt once advised "don't try to keep up with the House family." That's who lives in the former Rambow residence now. Or you might say the former Ahern residence. The original resident was Olga Flaten. Our neighborhood has its merits.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com