21 November—Three days ago I predicted that King Ned Lamont and his equally irresponsible eager-to-please-and-spend Connecticut General Assembly would do whatever was necessary to come up with the scratch to thank the right people for keeping them in office. In truth, it didn’t take a clairvoyant.

So King Ned and his equally unworthy satraps, seneschals, and gauleiters have (predictably) colluded to do whatever is necessary to give the heroes Ned created by (royal) executive fiat their thousand-dollar payoffs. The giveaway is supposed to be a full grand again. It’s a done deal that’s guaranteed to be endorsed by the CGA’s bicameral Democrat majority after Thanksgiving.

You’ll recall that, due to underestimating, overbooking, and general incompetence, the thousand-dollar hero rewards were going to have to be reduced by over three-fourths, to less than $250. From what I’ve been able to glean, the payoff fund is now to be increased threefold. That would still leave the heroes undercompensated—to $750?— contrary to Ned’s thousand-dollar promise. So what kind of fiscal legerdemain will Ned and his confederates resort to in order to honor his promise and get the account to balance?

On the subject of heroes, Cleve Fuessenich, Litchfield’s long-term indefatigable moderator and volunteer, is brave and foolhardy enough to allow his real name to appear in The Monitor. So here goes:

I applaud you for the humility constantly evident in all the non-judgemental opinions expressed in The Litchfield Monitor. Your today’s [19 November’s] apology to the long-suffering and ill-used Donald Trump mirrors exactly how I feel. Please continue to entreat him and his followers to forgive us for our wayward trespasses.

You’re welcome to make a fool of yourself by quoting anything I say.

Your faithful reader,

Cleve Fuessenich

[Editor’s note: Besides being brave and foolhardy, Cleve spells “non-judgemental” the way it should be spelled.]