Loving the boring stuff, with a bit of confusion

Maybe it’s the wassail or the eggnog or the vodka-scented candles, but I’m feeling really confused about so many these days, including…
 

1. There's nothing in the U.S. Constitution and no statute that says any one senator can block any or all military appointments. So, if the vast majority of senators objected to Tommy Tuberville’s blockade of hundreds of promotions, why did they all act like there was no way to fix the problem? And why will they do it again the next time one guy wants to block everything?
   
   
2. If Hamas is the government of Gaza and they arm, train, and pay people to fight on their behalf, why doesn’t anyone call them an Army?
   
   
3. I’m seriously confused by the folks who are nostalgic for the spring of 2020, when gasoline prices dropped below two bucks a gallon, but they aren’t wistful about the quarantines and closed schools and job losses and the million dead Americans that made those prices so wonderful. Pick a lane, people.
   
   
4. Whenever I read about record numbers of people stopped at the southern border, I have to wonder if there are record numbers of border crossers or if we’re just getting better at stopping them.
   
   
5. I used to think it was pretty lame, but I’m starting to like it when people complain about the weather or the traffic or lines to get through TSA or the miserable coaches/managers/churros at Chicago sporting venues. Turns out, all this complaining is the only common ground we have left in this country and, when it’s gone, le deluge. JK. Le deluge is already here.
   
   
6. From inflation to immigration to budget deficits and tribalism, pretty much every country on earth is grappling with the same challenges. We see the issues as local, only about us, and definitely the fault of whomever we don’t like, but that's what they think in their countries, too. Isn’t it nice to know we’re all the same, after all?
   
   
7. Speaking of similar stories, I spent a week in Poland this summer, learning a bit about their history along the way. We learned about the industrial revolution, company towns, owners versus workers, the rise of labor unions, dynasties built and squandered…it read exactly like the same periods of upheaval in the United States. Lots of parallels in the current trends, as well, although they seem to be handling things just a bit better than we are over here.
   
   
8. I need a burner phone, if only to receive all the texts I’m getting from every place I order food or buy a ticket or make a reservation; or when I’m standing next to the host stand at the restaurant and the only way they can let me know my table is ready is via text. As an added benefit, people might think a guy with two phones is very important, or at least a drug dealer.
   

Be sure to have yourself a merry little Christmas, and be sure to click here for the best present of all, a subscription to Dad Writes. No lumps of coal for you, baby.

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