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Cold Comfort

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We made it through another Christmas without too much anxiety.  Donald managed to eat most of the Christmas pudding with his attacks on Hillary, giving Fox little time to trot its usual stories of how Christmas was hijacked by the politically correct police.  We were treated to the great news that Bristol Palin gave birth to Sailor Grace.  This is her second child out of wedlock, although some think it is her third.

While we react to the "disgust" of Donald Trump and wonder if Bristol still considers herself a virgin in the eyes of the Lord, spiteful legislators managed to slip in visa restrictions on Iranian nationals into an omnibus visa bill, which Obama signed.  This has Iran screaming foul in regard to the nuclear deal they signed with the US and other countries earlier this year.  John Kerry tried to smooth things over by saying the President can bypass the law for high-ranking officials, but the whole purpose of this deal was to open Iran up to the West.  The new law also affects anyone traveling to Iran, as they could be denied access to the US if their passports carry an Iranian visa stamp.

You get the feeling that the Republicans are learning how to use Trump to their advantage.  As long as he continues to hog up the media limelight with his outrageous statements, they can slip all kinds of noxious measures through Congress and few will be the wiser for it.  It seems that Obama's earlier executive decisions are coming back to haunt him, as Congress erects one road block after another, making his last year in the White House that much more difficult to traverse.

I'm sure the President is planning his counter measures.  There is no doubt he will veto the Republicans' umpteenth attempt to repeal Obamacare, but it seems that Obama has found a strong adversary in Marco Rubio, who is bound and determined to dismantle the Affordable Care Act piece by piece.  This is some Christmas present, as an estimated 12 million persons are now enrolled in the health insurance exchanges.  Unfortunately, this is the kind of spite we have come to expect from the Republicans.

It's not just repealing health care and imposing greater visa restrictions.  Republicans at the  local, state and federal level have gone out of their way to make this season unbearable for a great number of persons.  It makes Scrooge look like a benevolent saint by comparison.  For a political party that believes so fervently in Christmas there seems to be little Christian charity, openly ignoring the Vatican's Call for Mercy this year.  Instead, all we will get this year is cold comfort from conservatives.


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