-Playing fast and loose—that’s how I see many Republicans in Congress. Irresponsible, immature, uncaring pretenders.

-Wow, Georgia. Holy shit. Machine-like precision from Bennett. Totally relentless.

65-7!

Usually, teams run up the score so they can make a statement and turn heads in the run-up to the play-offs. This was just pure in-your-face smackdown in the final game of the season. What could be interesting is if somehow the same teams face each other again at the end of next season. Memories can be long among athletes, especially football players.

-Top 10 Best Places to Live in the U.S.? Top 10 Best anything? Not for long.

-Precipitation amounts that are 400%-600% above normal, and what are the chances we’ll hear that all this rain (and snow in the mountains) is nice—well, apart from the damage and heartache it’s causing—but it’s not really putting a dent in the drought? Too much too quick, they’ll probably say.

California can’t win for losing. Remember when it used to be the place to be? Seems much less so, anymore. Just a yearly cycle of natural disasters for a while now. A welcomed development would be news of the Hollywood sign eroded loose from its moorings, as reservoirs and the underground water table are recharged.

I happened to catch a bit of the interview Anderson Cooper did with Prince Harry (Does he have a last name? Is he a Prince anymore?).

Despite the bully pulpit he had for the interview, Harry did make a good point about the British media. Or is it tabloid media? Is there a distinction to be made there, or is news coverage in Great Britain all thrown into one pot?

In any event, British media are relentless, for sure, but at times terribly boorish, trying to “get a rise’ and elicit anger, a ruthless pursuit of the lurid, bottom-of-the-barrel cheap, trivial, and salacious. The line of questioning often seems sophomoric and overly personal.

There’s the inherent uselessness and breathless coverage of the royal family and its constant sappy drama, but this mindset and nature of questioning seems to seep into stories one might think would have more real-world impact and consequence. With some exceptions, it seems like they don’t know how to ask good questions. It’s only slightly more weighty and informative than the 30-second sideline updates and brief halftime questioning of head coaches that we suffer during NFL broadcasts.

First of all, are the documents recently discovered by, apparently, one or more of Biden’s lawyers, and dating back to when Biden was VP, of any real significance? And… why now? Why all of a sudden do these emerge? Is the timing suspect, is there any connection with the recent changeover to a Republican majority in the House? Or is it mere coincidence? What the hell is this all about?

Second, what is wrong with Ron DeSantis and the state of Florida? Jair Bolsonaro just happens to find a place to hide out near Disney World? One has to figure that both DeSantis and Donald Trump have known about this and not only condone it but probably had something to do with making it happen.

Come to Florida, the land of sun and sand and washed up, low life autocrats! Vagrants of a different stripe.

Bolsonaro supporters look to be taking a page out of the Trump playbook. Trump probably takes this as a compliment. Putin violates a supposed “Christmas cease-fire.” Water, water everywhere in California. Too bad they couldn’t hold on to some of it. Elsewhere, there’s hardly a snow pack worth shoveling, except in Buffalo.

New normals all over the blue marble, and the universe is indifferent.

Sorry to harp on this, but what do people think the next two years are going to look like on the political landscape? With a waffling, entitled weakling wielding the gavel, and Republicans in somewhat tenuous control of the House, how are people placing their bets with regard to what gets done? Or should I say with regard to what is lost.

What goes away, what gets axed or weakened or compromised? Are Republicans actually going to show a willingness to work with Democrats on meaningful legislation, or will it be all about taking things away, a cold-hearted, frightening crusade to undo what many consider progress, with the passage of the infrastructure bill and other items?

Will Republicans prove they are simply hell-bent on revenge, pouring energy and time into vendettas and fruitless investigations of “wrongdoing” by Hunter Biden and President Biden and the January 6 Committee?

What the hell is their agenda, anyway? What do they stand for? Because at first glance and on closer inspection, it seems all they want is the power. They are intoxicated and blinded by it, many sounding like they want to disown Trump yet still behaving like him, and in the end having no vision, no sense of purpose beyond wanting to possess mere bragging rights.

When I think of the Republican Party, all I can muster is a heavy sigh and strong feelings of revulsion, of “not this again.” They have nothing to offer us, America. Not a thing, at least in this current iteration of the Party. It’ll be all nonsense and grievance and tragedy all the time.

It’s exhausting and infuriating. Already.

Now we get to suffer Kevin McCarthy playing Speaker, with a gavel in his hand, along with Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Green and Paul Gosar and Lauren Boebert and… ugh… George Santos? Is that his real name? These pretenders are sworn-in members of Congress now, and they’re in charge of the House divided. Let’s see if anything survives unscathed and unbroken.

Buckle up, buttercups, because this is gonna be a bumpy ride. We’re all gonna get to see what passes as “leadership” and “accomplishment.” And what it looks like to get co-opted by a vocal minority.

The fifteenth time is the charm. Kevin McCarthy gets what he wants, but at a steep price, the implications of which will play out in the coming months.

So now the Republicans can commence their scorched earth retribution campaign and waste time and legislative energy pursuing their scatterbrained, vengeful agenda. Yea.

Two more years of drama and bullshit, coming up. Makes you wanna cry.

If one were to ponder for any length of time the stockpiles of armaments countries are sitting on, one could grow furious fairly quickly.

Billion-dollar stealth bombers, millions for one fighter jet, millions more for all manner of offensive and defensive weaponry, stockpiles of nuclear weapons, “tactical” and otherwise. Besides being gaudy, it says something about priorities and the inherent distrust among nations. We have so little faith in one another that, over the course of time, we rationalize spending trillions of dollars on raw materials for stuff that sits, just in case.

Meanwhile, much that could benefit people and improve lives limps along, underfunded or ignored or dependent on Go Fund Me pages, or the largesse of donors.

So, sort of like North Korea, with a few more revenue streams and a slightly smaller dose of paranoia.

Kevin McCarthy really is the wiener many have been saying he is. The longer the struggle to pick a Speaker goes on, the more he seems like Donald Trump—doubling down, blindly pursuing something he feels is, somehow, rightfully his, all the while damaging his credibility and laying the groundwork for further decay and loss of faith in the ability to govern.

The concessions he’s having to make are more than likely going to resurface and rear their ugly heads and make for more fodder for those who feel that America is being flushed down the toilet by people who don’t have a clue, who don’t care about traditions or safeguards or rule of law.

I wonder how long it’ll be before someone writes a tell-all book describing the current wranglings and deal making going on behind closed doors. To paraphrase Ned Ryerson, it’d be a doozy.

Damar Hamlin has been assessed as “neurologically intact” and scribbled something like, “Who won the game?” when he regained consciousness. I guess by now he might have some sense for what has unfolded since. The game has been declared a “no contest” by the NFL and apparently won’t be played. Wow.

I wonder how the players get their mojo back. It might make one wonder how much they were affected by what happened—if they’re a bit shaken, or if it’s in the past and they’re ready to beat up on each other again.

Probably won’t slow down the NFL at all. They won’t miss a beat. So to speak.