Zero
- Mike Dickey
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
"It is the life of the crystal, the architect of the flake, the fire of the frost, the soul of the sunbeam. This crisp winter air is full of it."
We began this morning at zero degrees, the coldest day so far of this winter of 2025-26. The ice crystals on the window are delicate, mysterious works of art.
Sometimes I'm glad I'm a history major rather than some science person--better to treat these experiences as magic than to unpack them into component parts and processes.
Peg's guest list for her first annual Corning New Year's Eve Party continues to grow. I'll invite a few more folks today. All a reminder that our center of gravity and social circle seem to have drifted north.
This is a big part of what's been missing these five years since the pandemic--we haven't tended to our Florida ties as we should, and haven't developed any new roots in this very old place. It's getting to be that time; actually has been for awhile.
The news this morning was, as has been the case throughout this annus horribilis, simply awful. The Rs have begun to justify murder at sea, some of their talking heads gleefully proclaiming that they hope the victims suffer and bleed out after losing a limb. Besides being despicable, all this bloodlust shows how utterly ignorant they are about fighting and killing. As Peg likes to say, come smell the blood and the shit and hear the screams, then come back and tell me how great killing is.
One guy who knows all this firsthand is the cartoon villain admiral who ordered the strikes. He knows better, which makes his role all the more repellant.
Meanwhile, the Supremes have again used the shadow docket to overrule a district court that had at least temporarily stopped Texas Republicans from rigging that state's congressional map based on race. The Federalist Six have betrayed their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution, but I'm not sure what charges that might bring if and when there's ever a reckoning for their actions. It does sort of take the wind out of one's sails if there had been any hope that the midterms will sweep this organized crime operation that is the Republican Party out of elected office.
Once you realize you may be looking at Nuremburg style justice, there's no way you let go of the mechanisms that might land you in the gaol.
There's more, of course. They released the National Security Strategy of the United States, and it's a stunningly xenophobic, pro-Putin, racist screed posing as policymaking. You should give it a read.
And if you voted for all this, you are to blame. We can't be friends unless you repent and don the hair shirt of contrition for being the generation that lost this wonderful republic. But there is no shame, no accountability, no sense of responsibility to anything but the satisfaction of one's desires, all of which have been distorted by what we see and hear these days.
Ooo-weeee. That was quite a screed, Donk. Time to go back to working on billable stuff and outlines for next week's final exams.
If you're interested in any of the above-referenced parade of horribles, they're all discussed on this morning's Lawyers, Guns & Money blog. You can find it here.