22 December—As I was driving back to Litchfield from Torrington yesterday, the Christmas music I was listening to on left-wing radio was interrupted by Joe Biden. Make that President Joe Biden, long may he live if only to keep Kamala Harris out of his office. I could easily have pushed a button or two and played one of the myriad selections of great music (including pop and rock, by the way) on the CDs and USB key hidden under the car’s dashboard and center console, just waiting to be heard.

(I probably could have told the nice girl who lives under the dashboard and tells me what to do what she could do. But she never understands me, even when I tell her to do things that aren’t nasty. I could never deal with Alexa or Siri.)

But, out of my profound benevolence (rather than the spirit of Christmas) and respect for a fellow old fart, I decided to let old Joe entertain me on the drive home. I have nothing against the guy, after all. Certainly he’s a lifelong political hack who has spent almost his adult life pigging out at the public trough and accomplishing very little in the process. And he’s an abject failure at plagiarism. But at least he’s not Donald Trump. And he’s probably a nice guy. So I owe him a degree of courtesy, if not a load of respect.

I’m not sorry I listened to Joe go on about the COVID panic. I didn’t really learn anything new, except that in the very near future we’ll be able to get a half-billion home COVID tests that will be pretty useless but free. Well, taxpayers will foot the bill, of course, but the tests will be free for political purposes. Democrats are skilled at that legerdemain.

I felt sorry for old Joe as he begged his listeners to get all their shots and take tests. And his grandfatherly tone sounded genuinely solicitous but was clearly begging, not what you’d expect from a president. I appreciate and respect that, especially given his predecessor’s unceasingly narcissistic bloviating.

But didn’t it occur to Joe Biden or his handlers that his speech was a waste of airtime if only because he was preaching to the choir? Who would even be listening to him except for his base, his followers? And they’re the ones who have their shots and don’t need to be begged to get them. The ones who don’t have or aren’t planning to get their shots by now aren’t going to get them no matter who begs them. POTUS SCHMOTUS.

And Joe’s timing was perfect, because as I pushed the button to open the garage door he started taking silly questions from the press. I didn’t stay in the car to listen to them . . .