We could use truly warm Yule message

Your blog host B.W. is on Santa's lap at Dayton's Department Store, Minneapolis. Probably 1958. My No. 1 memory of this encounter: fear. Fear of this rotund gentleman in the red suit and with white beard. It probably does not show in my face. Whoever the actor was, God bless his memory. My father taught at the U of M St. Paul School of Agriculture in the 1950s. These institutions were shut down at the end of the decade. It happened here in Morris. That's how we got our U of M-Morris. My father had a long background with the University. At present our Morris campus is under pressure to move forward with numbers/performance. And if it doesn't happen? We don't want to think about that. I have gotten to know the new UMN-Morris chancellor and am encouraged. He's Michael Rodriguez. He emphasizes that he "serves at the pleasure of the president," the president of the U of M. We are being watched closely. With any luck, we'll see an end to the likes of the "queer devil worshipers" on campus.

 

Can we go back to an old-fashioned Christmas in which the simplest joy of the season can prevail? Most certainly our president Dwight Eisenhower projected this type of joy. It would seem part of the job description of presidents. Yes there are conflicts. But a preferred obligation would be to put these in the background and issue public statements designed to lift up all of us. 

Do you think this would be a heavy lift? Do you think it's asking too much? 

The many local Trump supporters know what I'm getting at here. And they'd be ready to recoil at me. They'd be reaching to use the same kind of invective - everything but the spitting - as their president. 

I am writing this in late afternoon of our Christmas of 2025. The president talks and acts like he does not wish to project real joy at all, unless you define "joy" differently than I do. The joy of condemning your perceived adversaries? Yes there are a number of people here in Stevens County who would like piling on with that. Such naive people who get "played" so easily by the flim-flam man. 

DJT on Wednesday - Christmas Eve - shared a message that ought to embarrass all the people going to their churches on that night. On this "silent night" of real peace and reverence, our national leader who after all was elected by the people, accused "radical left scum" of "doing everything possible to destroy our country." And merry Christmas to you too. 

I tend to vote Democrat at this stage of my life. It's never a slam-dunk for me. Either philosophy or political party can be guilty of excess when having too much power. But the Dems are so far from having "too much power" at present, one cannot even envision it, n'est-ce pas? 

 

Whither mid-terms? 

Sage political observers would say that "a year is an eternity in politics." And the so-called "mid-terms" are in 2026. Problem is, people will speak of the mid-terms as if it is going to be business as usual. And I pray that it will be. But heaven knows what DJT and his people have planned this time. Obviously he has been ascending toward authoritarian power. 

Two members of the Supreme Court act as though the law and Constitution be damned, just allow Trump to acquire more power. I do not intend that as exaggeration at all. Maybe a Democrat or some other non-Trump person can win the presidency in 2028. Actually that's a big "if." And that individual might have to mount a major daunting effort to expand the Supreme Court. Can you imagine the firestorm in the media every day over that? 

And will the "conservative media" keep fighting so hard? Already there are signs that these people are fighting among themselves, Megyn Kelly vs. Ben Shapiro being one example. 

The Supreme Court could prove to be the biggest example for restoring the America we once knew. 

So who sets the hopeful example at this Christmastime of 2025? It's a ray of hope from the former president Joe Biden. He should not have debated Trump. He could have won the election and then taken a very low profile. Meanwhile he'd appoint capable and honorable people all over the place to handle the reins of government. 

Jill Biden may have been very important and so what? She is a very good person. We have a bad person as president now. Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you, Joe Biden. So this is Biden's Christmas message to the nation in 2025:

 

"With our hearts full of light and love, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Getting to know our great-grandson Willie in his first year has been a blessing and a reminder of the hope we will always have for the future. Our wish for you and for our country is that we continue to seek in one another love, kindness, and compassion."

 

Dusk is setting in on this Christmas Day. The winter solstice limits daylight. We move on now to the New Year's celebrating. I am guaranteed safe as I do no traveling at these times. I had "breakfast" of donuts and coffee from Casey's this morning. Bless them for being open on Christmas Day. It's tough to get by sometimes. Older people like me want our routine. You'll understand someday.

 

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