I
wish
I
could
write
something
positive
given
the
time
of
year.
I
really
do.
Normally
I’m
downright
cheerful
around
the
holiday
season.
This
is
often
apparent
in
my
writing;
I
can
prove
it.
Sorry,
though.
For
2025,
I
just
can’t.
We
have
a
president
who
is
a
worse
Christmas
villain
than
Ebenezer
Scrooge,
the
Grinch,
and
those
thieving
German
terrorists
from
the
original
“Die
Hard”
all
rolled
into
one.
So
I
suppose
I
am
going
to
have
to
point
out
exactly
how
un-Christmassy
Donald
Trump
really
is.
Well,
we
have
to
start
somewhere,
so
if
you’re
the
type
who
thinks
we
need
to
keep
the
“Christ”
in
“Christmas,”
first,
reevaluate
your
entire
existence.
Second,
look
at
literally
anything
Jesus
Christ
said
in
the
Bible
and
tie
yourself
into
knots
trying
to
align
that
with
anything
whatsoever
that
Trump
has
said
or
done
as
president.
Or,
ya
know,
read
the
nativity
story
about
how
Jesus
was
a
migrant
himself.
He
didn’t
wind
up
spending
his
first
night
in
that
manger
for
funsies.
You
don’t
even
have
to
go
into
the
New
Testament
though
to
find
out
that
God
is
not
down
with
being
dicks
to
people
from
other
places.
One
of
many
examples,
from
Leviticus
19:34:
“You
shall
treat
the
stranger
who
sojourns
with
you
as
the
native
among
you,
and
you
shall
love
him
as
yourself.”
Boy,
that’s
very
unambiguous!
It’s
official:
Trump’s
horrible,
dehumanizing,
untargeted
immigration
crackdown
is
not
very
Christmassy.
Well,
we
all
know
that
generosity
is
a
big
part
of
the
Christmas
spirit.
After
all,
that’s
how
Scrooge
finally
turned
it
around
after
a
lifetime
of
being
a
cheap,
miserly
bastard.
Oh,
shit,
the
DOGE
cuts
to
USAID
have
already
killed
600,000
people
as
a
result
of
preventable
infectious
diseases
and
malnutrition,
two-thirds
of
them
children,
with
millions
more
deaths
on
the
horizon
unless
funding
is
restored.
Trumpers
might
say
(even
though
it’s
not
very
Christmassy)
there
was
no
choice
but
to
cut
USAID.
Yet
this
funding
was
only
costing
an
average
U.S.
taxpayer
around
17
cents
per
day.
And
cutting
it
has
done
absolutely
nothing
to
reign
in
government
spending.
Actually,
the
national
debt
continues
to
hit
record
highs
and
has
increased
faster
under
Trump
than
at
almost
any
other
time
in
American
history.
OK,
gilding
his
own
surroundings
at
taxpayer
expense,
taking
bribes
from
foreign
Islamic
fundamentalist
regimes,
overseeing
the
investiture
of
Elon
Musk
as
the
richest
person
ever,
shamelessly
hawking
Bibles
with
his
signature
in
them
as
though
he
was
the
author,
selling
pardons,
his
stupid-looking
hats,
and
worst
of
all
influence
through
cryptocurrency
for
personal
gain
…
is
it
Opposite
Christmas
this
year
or
what?
Symbolism
is
the
least
important
thing
about
Trump’s
approach
to
Christmas
when
people
are
dying
and
suffering
and
the
integrity
of
the
United
States
is
being
auctioned
off
to
the
highest
bidder.
Still,
symbolism
matters.
His
supporters
applaud
because
he
sometimes
says
he
supports
Christians
and
throws
a
few
Christmas
trees
up
at
the
White
House
after
illegally
demolishing
the
entire
wing
where
most
of
the
Christmas
decorations
used
to
go.
But
Trump’s
reaction
to
the
murders
of
beloved
filmmaker
Rob
Reiner
(who
directed
“The
Princess
Bride”)
and
his
wife,
Michele
Singer Reiner,
the
week
before
Christmas
pretty
much
says
it
all.
Trump
blasted
the
departed
Rob
Reiner,
and
blamed
him
for
causing
his
own
brutal
murder,
which
Trump
basically
said
he
brought
on
himself
through
his
criticism
of
this
administration.
Compared
to
this,
an
Ebenezer
Scrooge
administration
would
be
a
Christmas
miracle.
With
Trump,
we
are
so
far
past
the
Scrooge
level
of
humbug,
I
don’t
think
the
ghost
of
Herman
Cain
dragging
the
chain
of
Godfather’s
Pizza
boxes
that
he
forged
in
life
could
turn
this
around
with
the
help
of
three
time-traveling
Christmas
spirits.
I
guess
try
to
find
some
Christmas
cheer
where
you
can.
Have
a
candy
cane.
Drink
a
hot
toddy.
Find
some
comfort
in
the
ones
you
love,
if
they
haven’t
been
unjustly
deported
yet.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD (affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].