The Last Day of 2018
Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Sorry about the long publishing delay. My "publish" button had a hangover or something, and I was unaware it had taken the day off till a reader wrote wondering if I had a hangover. Of course not. I'm Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: I'm too mean to get a hangover.
Michael Grynbaum of the New York Times: Eleven "journalists — ranging from familiar faces like Martha Raddatz of ABC to behind-the-scenes editors like Karen Toulon of Bloomberg News -- will share the Times Square limelight, part of an effort by organizers to recognize the erosion of press freedoms at home and abroad. The journalists will be tasked Monday with pressing the crystal button that initiates the minute-long descent of the New Year's Eve Ball, a prime moment on a night that attracts tens of millions of viewers. Among the scheduled attendees is Karen Attiah, who edited the Washington Post columns of Jamal Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident and American resident who was murdered in Turkey this year by Saudi agents. [Lester] Holt of NBC, Alisyn Camerota of CNN, Vladimir Duthiers of CBS and Jon Scott, a weekend anchor on Fox News, are also expected to appear.... Tim Tompkins, the president of the Times Square Alliance, has sought in recent years to leverage the ball drop's worldwide audience to promote ivic causes."
*****
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Astead Herndon & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat and a sharp critic of big banks and unregulated capitalism, entered the 2020 race for president on Monday, becoming the first major candidate in what is likely to be a long and crowded primary marked by ideological and generational divisions in a Democratic Party desperate to beat President Trump. In an 8:30 a.m. email to supporters on New Year's Eve -- 13 months before the first votes will be cast in the Iowa caucuses -- Ms. Warren said she was forming an exploratory committee, which allows her to raise money and fill key staff positions before a formal kickoff of her presidential bid." ...
Trump Pretends He's at Work. POTUS tweeted earlier that he's in the Oval Office. Per pool, as off 11 am there was no Marine guard outside the West Wing lobby, which there is when POTUS is in the Oval. -- Maggie Haberman, in a tweet
Happy New Year, Vlad! Hope You Liked Your Xmas Gifts! Heather Hurlburt of New York: "For the record, I still don't believe [Trump's] helter-skelter policies are being devised and run from Russia.... But the fact is, we're ending the year with an arms control treaty that Moscow disliked on its way out and thousands of American troops set to leave places Moscow didn't want them to be. Meanwhile, ever-more Russian troops are on the Ukrainian border and Moscow still holds Ukrainian sailors it snatched in the Strait of Kerch last month. Institutions that sustain U.S. values are weaker, while Putin's claim to being a regional and global decider via his undemocratic methods is stronger. We may never know the whole truth about Trump's relationship with Russia. But this all raises an interesting question: to paraphrase Ronald Reagan (who pursued nuclear disarmament even as he prosecuted the Cold War relentlessly), is Putin better off than he was two years ago?"
Because He's Trump. Wil Cruz of ABC News: "... Donald Trump defended his promise to build a solid border wall along the U.S.-Mexico early Monday, one day after outgoing chief of staff John Kelly said in an interview that erecting a concrete wall along the entire border was already off the table. The president tweeted Monday morning that the concrete wall was 'NEVER ABANDONED.' 'Some areas will be all concrete but the experts at Border Patrol prefer a Wall that is see through (thereby making it possible to see what is happening on both sides). Makes sense to me!' he tweeted.... Trump blamed the media in the tweet, even though Sunday's news cycle reported on Kelly's comments. In an interview published in the Los Angeles Times Sunday [linked here yesterday], Kelly, who will be leaving post this week, gave a wide-ranging account of the some of the president's policies, including immigration and the border wall. 'To be honest, it's not a wall,' Kelly he told the paper.... '... We left a solid concrete wall early on in the administration,' he said, 'when we asked people what they needed and where they needed it.'"
Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "A United States citizen has been detained in Moscow on espionage charges, Russia's domestic security agency announced in a brief statement on Monday. The statement said that an American identified as Paul Whelan had been taken into custody on Friday on suspicion of spying. The statement implied that he had been caught red-handed, saying that the arrest had occurred 'during an act of espionage.'... The arrest comes during an extended period of tension in relations between Moscow and Washington.... A Russian citizen, Maria Butina, 30, pleaded guilty this month in Federal District Court in Washington to a single charge of conspiring to act as a foreign agent.... The Russian government, while strenuously denying that Ms. Butina is a Russian agent, has organized a social media campaign to win her release. While there is no apparent connection between her case and Mr. Whelan's, in the past, Russian authorities have arrested foreigners with an eye toward trading prisoners with other countries."
Matthew Dessem of Slate: "Comedian Louis C.K., who admitted to repeatedly exposing himself and masturbating in front of unwilling women in Nov. of 2017, said at the time he was going to 'step back and take a long time to listen.' Less than a year later, he returned to the stage at the Comedy Cellar to perform an unannounced set.... Bootleg audio from one of his shows -- it's labeled as being from Long Island comedy club Governor's on Dec. 16 -- has been uploaded to YouTube.... And what he's been up to, judging from the material, is bemoaning the money he lost, fuming over young people and political correctness, and writing some really killer jokes about the respective penis sizes of various ethnic groups. It's not just that it's not funny: it's positively sickening."
*****
Quint Forgey of Politico: "... Donald Trump's demand for billions of dollars to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border amounts to a 'ransom note' for taxpayers being held 'hostage' by the partial government shutdown, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said Sunday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... What Is a Wall? Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: It used to be a 30-foot-high concrete barricade (which would of course create a Mexican cottage industry producing 35-foot ladders). Trump is still calling it a wall sometimes but also a "slat fence" or "whatever." Once he even called it "great border security." Kellyanne Conway on CNN Sunday called it a four-letter word and "a silly semantic argument." John Kelly told the L.A. Times the wall "is not a wall." (Story linked below.) Obviously, they're all going for weasel definitions to give Trump a fake "win" in his battle for a wall. Then Sunday afternoon, Lindsey Graham completed the farce. He said the wall is a metaphor. Trump said last week he intended to visit the wall before his State of the Union address. Should be interesting. Visiting a metaphor. ...
... AND we must remember that we can't trust Trump, when it's time to get out his big fat Sharpie, not to change his mind about what the meaning of the word "wall" is. Zeke Miller of the AP: "In August 2015 during his presidential campaign, Trump made his expectations for the border explicitly clear, as he parried criticism from rival Jeb Bush.... 'Jeb Bush just talked about my border proposal to build a "fence,"' he tweeted. 'It's not a fence, Jeb, it's a WALL, and there's a BIG difference!' Trump suggested as much again in a tweet on Sunday: 'President and Mrs. Obama built/has a ten foot Wall around their D.C. mansion/compound. I agree, totally necessary for their safety and security. The U.S. needs the same thing, slightly larger version!'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's the new "perimeter barrier" the Obamas "has" around their D.C. house. Is it a wall or a fence? You decide. (I just learned in searching for this photo that Trumpbots were very upset about the Obamas' "hypocrisy" in securing their in light of the fact that Obama did not want to build a wall around the U.S.):
Jason Easley of Politics USA: "Kellyanne Conway criticized incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for being in Hawaii during the government shutdown, while Conway was in Florida apparently for Trump's New Year's Eve party.... It doesn't matter where Nancy Pelosi is spending her time, because Pelosi is not the Speaker of the House yet. It would be Paul Ryan's responsibility to bring the House back into session and end the government shutdown before January 3rd."
Molly O'Toole of the Los Angeles Times: "In [a] phone interview Friday, [outgoing White House chief-of-staff John] Kelly defended his rocky tenure, arguing that it is best measured by what the president did not do when Kelly was at his side. It was only after Kelly's departure was confirmed Dec. 8, for example, that Trump abruptly announced the pullout of all U.S. troops from Syria and half the 14,000 troops from Afghanistan, two moves that Kelly had opposed. Kelly's supporters say he stepped in to block or divert the president on dozens of matters large and small. They credit him, in part, for persuading Trump not to pull U.S. forces out of South Korea, or withdraw from NATO, as he had threatened.... Trump sometimes pressed his advisors on the limits of his authority under the law, often asking Kelly, '"Why can't we do it this way?"' But Trump never ordered him to do anything illegal, Kelly stressed, 'because we wouldn't have.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "A few months ago, a senior Trump administration official wrote a controversial anonymous op-ed in the New York Times that said forces within the administration were working to rein in President Trump's potentially damaging whims. And in a recent interview [with the LA Times], Trump's departing chief of staff basically confirms it.... Kelly defended those serving Trump as delivering him the right information, even if it might be disregarded.... This is ... a person who was involved in those decisions covering his backside and basically saying, 'We tried to tell him!' Kelly also distanced himself from the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border, blaming then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions for a zero-tolerance border policy.... It's worth noting that Kelly himself floated just such a policy in a 2017 interview with CNN. He also defended it as chief of staff, while emphasizing he hoped it would only be temporary.... Kelly again suggested Trump's border wall demands were less-than-serious. 'To be honest, it's not a wall,' he said, noting the barriers were only part of the proposal. Previously, Kelly drew Trump's ire by telling congressional Democrats that Trump had 'evolved' on the wall and was not 'fully informed' when he made it a campaign issue.... The idea that Kelly regards his biggest success as standing in Trump's way is a pretty strong indictment of Trump as a person and of his presidency." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Roey Hadar of ABC News: "The former top commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, retired four-star Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, criticized ... Donald Trump's behavior and handling of the presidency, saying the commander-in-chief is dishonest and immoral.... 'If we want to be governed by someone we wouldn't do a business deal with because their -- their background is so shady, if we're willing to do that, then that's in conflict with who I think we are. And so I think it's necessary at those times to take a stand.'... McChrystal said he would not take a job in the Trump administration if he were asked." McChrystal said he disagreed with Trump's pullout of Syria & "the president's leaked guidance" on a major troop pullout in Afghanistan. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Feliciz Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) said Sunday that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell is 'doing a good job' and rejected the notion that President Trump could fire him..., in the strongest statement yet from a Republican against any moves by the president to oust the central bank chief. Trump most likely does not have the authority to remove Powell, experts say. Yet amid the markets' recent volatility, the president has repeatedly sought to blame Powell and asked advisers whether he has the power to fire him, two people familiar with the exchanges told The Washington Post. In an interview on CBS News's 'Face the Nation,' Shelby described the Federal Reserve as 'the bedrock of our financial system' and said it is 'set up to be independent.' 'I don't believe blaming the Federal Reserve for this or that ... helps matters,' Shelby said. 'The president cannot fire the chairman of the Federal Reserve, except for cause....' Shelby chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and previously led the Senate Banking Committee, which is responsible for holding confirmation hearings for Fed nominees." (Also linked yesterday.)
Kevin Liptak & Devan Cole of CNN: "Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says ... Donald Trump now understands what is at stake in Syria and has agreed to slowing, for now, his plans to immediately withdraw all US troops from Syria. 'After discussions with the President and (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph) Dunford, I never felt better about where we are headed. I think we're slowing things down in a smart way,' the South Carolina Republican said, adding later: 'I think we're in a pause situation where we are reevaluating what's the best way to achieve the President's objective of having people pay more and do more.' Graham said during the President's trip to Iraq, commanders on the ground informed Trump that ISIS is not 'completely destroyed,' which he said was an 'eye-opening' experience for the commander in chief.... Earlier in the day, Graham said that withdrawing US troops from Syria could directly result in the deaths of Kurdish people there." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Not sure why Trump's advisors like Generals Mattis & Dunford couldn't open Trump's eyes right here in the USA. As George Packer, in the piece linked below, notes, "Everyone, even the Trump mouthpieces on Fox News, knows that the Islamic State isn't 'defeated.'" But for some reason, Trump had talk to "commanders on the ground" in Iraq to have his "eyes opened." You'll never convince me the moon isn't made of green cheese unless NASA beams me up there. Anyway, does this mean that Lindsey is the new "adult in the room"? Heaven help us. ...
... George Packer of the Atlantic: "Nothing in the presidency of Donald Trump combines tragedy and farce so perfectly as his decision to withdraw the 2,000 American troops in Syria. 'We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,' he tweeted on the morning of December 19. The claim was false on its face. The Islamic State has lost most of its territory, but it retains thousands of fighters in the desert where the Euphrates River crosses from Syria to Iraq. Those fighters could be more dangerous as insurgents and terrorists than as the territorial army of a self-proclaimed caliphate.... The most that Americans have tried to achieve in Syria is to mitigate the worst to deter Bashar al-Assad from gassing his own people, to stabilize areas occupied by the Syrian Democratic Forces, to counteract Russian and Iranian influence, to keep the Islamic State on the run, to prevent Turkey from slaughtering the Kurds. Those goals suggested an American presence, however small, without end."
Vladimir Soldatkin of Reuters: "... Vladimir Putin told ... Donald Trump in a New Year letter on Sunday that Moscow was ready for dialogue on a 'wide-ranging agenda', the Kremlin said following a series of failed attempts to hold a new summit.... Moscow has said one of the key issues it wanted to discuss with the United States is Washington's plans to withdraw from a Cold War era nuclear arms pact." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
A Year of Lies. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: A "fusillade of tweets [on January 2] was the start of a year of unprecedented deception during which Trump became increasingly unmoored from the truth. When 2018 began, the president had made 1,989 false and misleading claims, according to The Fact Checker's database, which tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president. By the end of the year, Trump had accumulated more than 7,600 untruths during his presidency -- averaging more than 15 erroneous claims a day during 2018, almost triple the rate from the year before.... [Presidential historian Michael] Beschloss noted that the U.S. Constitution set very few guidelines in this regard because the expectation was that the first president would be George Washington and he would set the tone for the office. 'What is it that schoolchildren are taught about George Washington? That he never told a lie,' the historian said. 'That is a bedrock expectation of a president by Americans.'"
Republican, Independent, Democrat. (Yes, this gif is from "Dumb & Dumber," but it's apt.)Dante Chinni & Sally Bronston of NBC News: "A range of surveys show more people believe [climate change] is happening and more people believe humans are responsible.... [A recent massive survey,] showed 70 percent of Americans believe 'global warming is happening' and 57 percent believe 'global warming is being caused mostly by human activities.' In a nation as divided as the United States is right now, those are remarkable numbers.... [But i]n the places where it counts, where laws and regulations are made, the feelings concerning what should be done about climate change are much more divided.... cross a range of races and ethnicities there is widespread agreement.... The one area where we still see a big disagreement is between the nation's two major political parties. Among Democrats, 71 percent say climate change is an urgent problem. That is a 42-point increase since 1999. For independent voters, 47 percent say they want action taken on climate change, a figure that is up 22 points since 1999. But ... only 15 percent [of Republicans] see a pressing need to deal with the issue. More noteworthy than the difference, however, is the stability of the Republican figure. That 15 percent mark is unchanged since the same question was asked in 1999."
Election 2018. We're So Surprised. Kendall Karson of ABC News: "Despite calls for refunds, new campaign filings show Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith kept $50,000 in donations from major companies like Walmart and Facebook in the wake of her controversial special election victory in November. The latest Federal Election Commission filing -- released amid the government shutdown at the end of last week -- showed that Republican Hyde-Smith did not issue refunds to most of the corporate donors who asked for their campaign contributions to be returned in November in the wake of her 'public hanging' comment."
Beyond the Beltway
California. Dakin Andone & Marlena Baldacci of CNN: "California's largest public utility provider could face murder or manslaughter charges if it were found responsible for causing the state's recent deadly wildfires, according to court documents filed by the state attorney general. Pacific Gas & Electric Co., or PG&E, could potentially face a range of criminal offenses if any of the wildfires broke out as a result of the utility failing to properly operate and maintain power lines, per an amicus brief filed in US District Court Friday by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.... The attorney general's office has not come to a conclusion about PG&E's responsibility for the recent fires and is not taking a position on the issue, the brief states. The brief was filed in response to a request by US District Court Judge William Alsup that officials explain what crimes PG&E might potentially have committed if it were ultimately found responsible for the wildfires.... In the blaze's aftermath, PG&E reported 'an outage' on a transmission line in the area where the blaze began, about 15 minutes before it started. The company also reported finding power equipment and a downed power pole riddled with bullet holes and a downed line with tree branches on it." ...
... Paige St. John, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "The fate of Paradise was cast long before a windstorm last month fueled the deadliest fire in California history.... A Los Angeles Times investigation found that Paradise ignored repeated warnings of the risk its residents faced, crafted no plan to evacuate the area all at once, entrusted public alerts to a system prone to fire, and did not sound citywide orders to flee even as a hail of fire rained down. Historical records show the Camp fire was typical of the catastrophic wind-driven fires responsible for California's greatest wildfire losses.... National transportation planners say the town's destruction should set a new bar for emergency planners in wildfire areas, the way Hurricane Katrina reshaped evacuation planning on the Gulf Coast. But despite vows to create statewide evacuation standards after previous deadly wildfires, California has yet to take action and evacuation planning remains a local responsibility."
Florida. You Absolutely 100 Percent Knew This Would Happen. Daniel Rivero of NPR: "Beginning Jan. 8, more than a million new people may be able to register to vote in Florida. They're convicted felons who have served their sentences and finished their parole or probation. In November, voters in the state overwhelmingly passed a ballot initiative for a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to felons in Florida, convicted murderers and sex offenders excluded. It was one of the few remaining states to automatically restrict felons' ability to vote. But the incoming governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, some state lawmakers and election officials say they need to weigh in on the amendment before any changes are made.... DeSantis, who ran against the amendment..., sent this statement: 'The Governor-elect intends for the will of the voters to be implemented but will look to the Legislature to clarify the various questions that have been raised.'... Local elections are taking place as early as Feb. 2019, in Florida and the legislature doesn't meet until March."
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Reader Comments (11)
Ole Missy Lindsay is confused.
The WHALE is a metaphor.
The WALL is a pathetic fallacy. (No, but it's a fair pun.)
X, D, Z.
Looks like Lindsey Graham has given Childe Trumpy a way out of his Syria TrumperTantrum. Information from "commanders on the ground" will be his new out, if he wants to use it. It's a little like having to go to the police station to have the duty sergeant confirm that driving 100 mph through a school zone is not legal. Duh.
Just another in the long-running game of Fatty lashing out with stupid, criminally unconsidered decisions like "Fuck Syria. We're out of there. ISIS is dead!" then having to walk them back after someone who is not completely bonkers (ie, not John Bolton) tells him that while threatening to hold his breath until he turns blue, blue being a complementary color to orange, it might not be the best look in the real world.
Then again, Graham could have walked out of that meeting and Fatty could have said "Lindsey, schmindsey; what the hell does he know?" After all, six year old brats are not known for their critical thinking skills, or consistency. Remember, a "deal" with Trump is never something you can count on. It's a little bit like making a deal with this guy, except without the great voice and the stylish get-up.
And not for nothin' but this Graham meeting indicates what a truly bad situation we're in here on Planet Trump. Here we have a senator having to visit the president* to explain something as obvious as the fact that D comes after C, not X. It really is that appalling.
To Bea McC and all those who share here:
Thank you. I am awed by the work Marie has done over the years, and she and so many others (to name a few, PD, Ak, MAG, and Ken) help me to understand and sometimes even prompt me to laugh at a Bosch triptych (avarice, envy, and sloth) that is funny only when surrounded by friends.
Jack
Piggybacking on Jack: Happy New Year a bit early! I agree that reading RC every morning makes me absolutely positive that I and my friends and family are not crazy: Foxtrump Dementiaworld is. I look forward, and a bottle of prosecco is at the ready, to the first indictment of consequence (i.e. Little Donnie Greasehead, he who, like daddy, speaks of himself in third person-- gaacchh--) and to the return of sanity someday. All the best, RCers and especially Marie, our fearless leader.
Florida planned to keep convicted felons from voting forever. A proud promoter of Jim Crow laws, Florida Judges convicted hundreds of black men on trumped up charges and then rented them out for economic gain. Slavery again.
The reaction of the new Governor shows that Florida is still home to Jim Crow. We Floridians should be ashamed to be one of the last Jim Crow States.
I'm wondering just how long governor-elect DeSantis will take to "weigh in" on the constitutional amendment allowing felons who have served their sentences to register as voters. I'm gonna go waaaaay out on a limb here and say, until some time after the next gubernatorial election is held. It's almost a cinch that had even a percentage of those million or so Floridians been allowed to vote in the most recent contest, neither DeSantis nor Rick Scott would have been elected. All the more reason to keep those darkies out of polling places.
Aren't R's supposed to be the party of strict constructionists? Did governors of the original 13 states get to "weigh in" after ratification votes were taken? I don't recall that part of US history. I'm sure DeSantis has a valid explanation for this very unconstructionist move. I'm betting it's a word beginning in R and ending in T with A-C-I-S in the middle.
Big surprise.
I see where Kellyanne Con-way is getting her funny bone in shape for 2019. "Less hula, more moolah"? Ho-ho-ho. Very funny.
How about Less Lying, More Truth?
How's that for funny?
I hope she gets her yucks in while she can. 2019 is shaping up to be a grim year for anyone with "Trump" tattooed on their ass. Let's see how long she hangs around with her funnies once (more) indictments start emptying the Blight House.
Every one of these assholes deserves perdition. But especially weasels-for-hire like Con-way. She's not a believer. She takes money to shill for these crooks and diminish the nation. And that's not even a little bit funny.
Florida and its position on convicted felons is certainly interesting. One can go back quite some years to about 1986, when there was one outstanding Florida resident whose Presidential pardon (Ronald Reagan) restored voting rights to him. Nah! He wasn't black. He wasn't locked up.
His name: George Steinbrenner. This pardon forgotten by many, (look it up)... is telling as to who stands to win in this particular lottery!
MAG,
I forgot all about Steinbrenner's felonious past and his convenient pardon by Saint Ronald. Of course it may have been different if Steinbrenner had been giving money to Democrats. As it was, he was found guilty of campaign contribution laws (and obstruction of justice). His illegal contribution was made to one Richard Milhous Nixon, the 1972 campaign. Two years later, Nixon resigned in disgrace. Steinbrenner's disgrace went on and on.
And funnily enough, Steinbrenner was a hero and role model for the Orange Monster. Trump referred to Steinbrenner as his "best friend". He learned a lot it seems, especially in felonious department.
Well, happy new year to all RC denizens.
The celebration of the new year has been in effect for several millennia. Fatty and his hateful supporters would be astounded to know that festivals of the new year were first celebrated (at least as far as we know--there could have been some Cro-Magnon whoop-de-doos that have failed to make the history books) in Mesopotamia, present day Iraq.
Like most ancient tribes, Romans finagled some sort of new years day around the beginning of March, close to the Vernal Equinox. Romans, some time around the middle of the second century CE, began celebrating on January 1st, not from any religious or agricultural basis, but purely out of political expedience. New consuls were sworn in on that date, so...
And, as always, at some point, religion takes its pound of flesh. In the early Middle Ages, at the Second Council of Tours in 567, New Years Day (January 1) was abolished. Sort of like how the church abolished things like scientific astronomy (damn that Galileo!). Anyway, they were probably pissed at all the football games and Bud Light commercials. (I know I've had just about enough of that "dilly-dilly" bullshit.)
It's instructive to recall that in 567, bishops could still be married. Bet that would have cut down on the child molestation that took root after celibacy (*wink-wink*) was insisted upon.
Anyway, by the end of the Middle Ages, western cultures were deep into the cult of Gaius Lombardus, medieval band leader. It took another few hundred years for Robbie Burns to put words to the tune of Auld Lang Syne and for Gaius to start his New Years Eve radio appearances.
But in any event, let us all join hands in front of that wonderful hearth set for us by our gentle host, Robbie's ancestor Marie, and sing together:
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
and gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak' a right gude-willie waught,
for auld lang syne.
And there's a hand my trusty friend!
And give me a hand o' thine!
And we'll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.
Not sure how we all handle the "gude-willie waught" with hands joined, but perhaps we'll figure that out by eve's end.
Love you all, my brothers and sisters! Happy 2019.
…Auld lang syne or as olde Robbie might have said: ” let’s drink to days gone by” and all that jazz! Thanks, Ak…a good and charming poetic reminder that brings to mind what is important to everyone of us in life. Friends.
This year came with an unpleasant surprise for me (healthwise), but I’ve almost forgotten my woes as I have discovered my many amazing, wonderful, caring friends and neighbors who have made me realize how fortunate I am to have them in my life. Always a fiercely independent woman who hates to impose on others (and a bit of a grump at times)…I confess, especially at this time of year to getting a wee bit teary here as I realize how valuable friendships are.
And, likewise thanks to my RC-er comrades and that mean, old Bea McCrabbie for this superb site where intelligent folks come to vent and share things political.
Happy New Year!
—MAG
P.S. nice to see Jack Mahoney is still around, have missed his input here…and in the New York Times.