In Case You Missed It (v67)

Got a cuppa? Time to settle in for a review of last week's posts.

Your Sunday School included visits to the CNN State of the Union classroom by Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and incoming Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO).  Here's a bit from Kinzinger's interview, with Dana Bash sitting in for Jake Tapper.  Among other things,

Kinzinger also laments the president purposefully conflating the COVID bill and the omnibus spending bill, which is money that would have been spent "whether we had COVID or not."

But to then say that we're giving money to other countries in the COVID bill is disingenuous. And it totally conflates two different issues. But -- and it doesn't do a service to the American people to explain what's going on and how these things are different.

When it comes time to officially accept the Electoral College results, he expects "there will be a little chaos," and said "This is a scam, though." The election can't be overthrown, isn't going to be overthrown,

...And so all that's being done is, certain members of Congress, the president, et cetera, and like -- quote, unquote -- "thought leaders" on Twitter are getting retweets, they're getting followers, they're raising money on this scam. It is a scam.

It's refreshing to hear an R point that out, isn't it?

Moving to Monday, and your Extra Credit, My Favorite Republican (MFR) - Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan - was on This Week (Jon Karl hosted). Hogan appeared after That Guy From Vermont; they both were asked about the incoming administration. Here's Hogan on that, and another hot topic - the danger of the waning days of president Trump. 

I know your previous guest probably would like him to move more -- more to the left, but I've been pushing to try to keep him, you know, in a more moderate place where he's willing to reach across the aisle and work together with Republicans.

On what kinds of "damage" president Trump can do in the next three weeks or so (Karl mentioned the ridiculous pardons as one example), MFR says he "gave up guessing what he might do next." The veto of the NDAA has been troubling, he said, but the fooling around on the stimulus bill "really bothers" him.

He'll tell you how bothered he is, don't worry. 

I took a little road trip, away from politics and the news of the day, and focused on holidays and technology, two fun topics (for very different reasons). I explored the question of one of those one-named tech assistants 'taking down Christmas' in  Could Alexa Even Handle the Decorations? 

And what about the memories? 

Will she smile at each Santa as she gently puts them to bed until next year, remembering which came from where, or who, and why? 

Will she know which of the cast iron ones I got years ago in one of the first booths we visited at a massive antique show, and carried in a knapsack for hours as we wandered around a field of 1,000 dealers? Will she hear My Sweet Baboo cursing my foolishness that day?  

How could she possibly know which was the very first one he gave me, or the most recent? Whether it was from our first Christmas, or our second? The tenth? Twelfth? Does she even know this is our 18th Christmas this year? Could she actually put the decorations away without knowing our history, our Christmas history?

How do you think She'd do with yours?

I did the annual look-back to identify 2020's Top Ten posts, based your pageviews. The list included a rant or two, and some Trump in Transition posts, and even a couple posts where I offered up my middle-aged white lady perspective. But the top post of the year was an Irony Board entry, a response to Rev. Franklin Graham's ludicrous statement that God was missing from the Democratic National Convention - and that, in comparison, somehow, God is present wherever Donald Trump can be found.

I had a hard time with that. I still have a hard time with that. And I had evidence on my side, which I shared in the post.

And finally, we closed out the week with the first TGIF of the new year, one in which I tried to be positive and upbeat, as is norm when we start from scratch each January. Here's an excerpt.

Our reasons for eagerly awaiting the arrival of 2021 surely include wanting to get past the worst of the pandemic - that one's shared by just about everybody. Others? Wanting to see the end of the Trump administration, or the start of the Biden Administration. The potential end of Mitch McConnell's reign of terror. A return to normalcy. The thrill of having the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs, and the Patriots watching on TV. They are endless, the reasons one wants to see the dawn of the new year - but even in times as divisive as these, most of us will agree we're glad 2020 is over, and we're looking forward to better things in 2021. 

And just like that, you're up to date!  See you later for Sunday School.