No matter how much verbiage is uttered, or ink spilled, Trump still has 27 days in office.

He is trying to do as much damage as he can, in part by not doing anything. He has refused to sign the Covid relief bill and the defense bill. He has pardoned a rogue’s gallery of criminals and cronies. Next up will probably be members of his immediate family. And then… himself? How is that possible, and what does it say about him… well, that hasn’t already been said? How is this slow-moving disaster going to end? AND HOW CAN SO MANY STILL BE ON BOARD WITH HIM?

The lesson not learned here is one practically everyone else learns in Little League: you can’t win ‘em all. You friggin’ baby.

So, what to make of Trump’s insistence on increasing the stimulus check amount?

Don’t make much of it. He’s certainly not doing it out of the goodness of his heart. He’s angling for something more sinister, just stalling for time, being his normal empty, ugly self.

And still he has millions eating out of his hand.

The looming reality appears to be that we are moving toward an end game that will not include a peaceful transfer of power. Trump and his flotilla of airheads and Nazi wannabes are not only hatching a plan to disrupt the Electoral College proceedings on Jan. 6. They’re also mobilizing an increasingly agitated Base who are itching for that worst-case scenario where they dust off the AR-15s and foment a second Civil War. They have always been ready to go there.

Unless there’s a miracle in the wings, it looks like we may be in for even more pain and suffering than we’ve already endured over the last nine months/four years.

How much of this is real, though? And how much is being made unnecessarily worse by incessant and incendiary media coverage?

Donald Trump is scared shitless. He knows what awaits him when he can no longer cower behind the Resolute Desk. He can pardon himself if he wants, but that is an act of futility, considering what awaits him in the SDNY. And who pardons themselves in the first place?

He is digging in, lashing out, and clearly not of sound mind. It’s ugly now, even uglier than it has been, and it’s going to get worse. You get the feeling that there might be a mortifying, though not unsurprising ending to all of this. He may literally have to be dragged out, or worse. Or better, depending on one’s perspective. Maybe he won’t survive this. Hopefully the country can.

His looney tunes army is mobilizing, causing trouble in Oregon, hinting at violence and unrest in other places, including D.C. on Inauguration Day. One could surmise that the volcano may soon blow. It raises the question: When are the good guys gonna step in and put a stop to this? Are they even out there?

People can be as gullible as they seem. I wonder if they still consider Trump a hero. And if they do, why? What is there about him that hints at anything honorable? Why would anyone take their marching orders from somebody who is so obviously self-involved and desperate? He’s listening to people who are suggesting martial law as a way to address the “grievous wrong” of losing an election by 7 million votes. And, in a relative way, it wasn’t any closer in the Electoral College.

We have been preparing for this unfortunate sequence of events, knowingly or not, since the son of a bitch took office. For various reasons, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to just about everyone.

Most of the inner circle are as rotten as we feared. They made it all the way to the seat of power, and now it looks like they’re ok with taking the country down on their way out the door.

These are evil, uncaring people clawing at the cliff’s edge, trying to hold on. Someone needs to step on their fingers.

How is it possible to have a $100K income and just be squeaking by?

There’s something askew there.

What would happen if the media just ignored Trump and his insistence on overturning the election results? I guess we need the watchdogs to keep him honest.

Honest. That’s funny.

I don’t give even one sixty-fourth of a shit that Pete Buttigieg will be the first LGBTQ person to hold a Cabinet post. Yes, it’s significant at this point in time, but I’m yearning for the day when the real news, as regards Mr. Buttigieg or anyone else, is simply that a person who is eminently gifted and capable has been named to a Cabinet post.

End of what would be a refreshingly boring story.

“Positivity defeats the virus.”

So goes the thinking among substantial numbers in Mitchell, SD. And not only there. All over the country.

These same “patriots” think their faith will save them, that eating certain foods will offer protection against Covid-19, even as the positivity rate has recently soared to 49% for a time.

There is no getting through to some. They know what they believe, or believe what they’ve been told, and apparently nothing whatsoever is going to convince them otherwise. Wearing a mask is unpatriotic, an unspeakable affront to their freedom as Americans. Someone told them this. And they believe it. Even after their friends and family and neighbors are lowered into the ground.

Lots of reasons to feel numb these days.

Joe Biden’s confirmation by the Electoral College made front page news. A sign of these times, since normally this would garner cursory coverage a bit further back, say in Section D. Not this year, when Donald F. Trump keeps whining about the unfairness and how he really hasn’t lost the election (just ask the bookies!).

Mr. Biden is going to have his hands full, because the nut jobs on the right seem reluctant to let this go. Sounds like they’re on a mission from God. And everyone knows that God’s work often involves firearms, threats of harm, and other totally rational behavior.

The annual Lexus Christmas commercials have been thrust upon us. They really are lame, not to mention rage-inducing. Who the hell drops $40K on a vehicle and thinks this makes for a nice, or appropriate, Christmas gift? I guess there might be a few who can afford to do such a thing.

The same with the GMC commercial that ups the ante with some guy living in his trophy house with his trophy wife, who buys a decked-out SUV and a truck. His and hers. Maybe there’s some sort of tongue-in-cheek hyperbole happening there, or a twisted guilt trip? “The watches are great, honey, but let me show you how much I love you (and let’s not forget me).”

The whole genre seems even more tone deaf than normal this year. Relentless, offensive commercialism, entitlement, and sickening excess. Presented unapologetically, with smiles. As something people just do for the special someones in their lives.

SNL connected with a left hook this past Saturday.