FRIDAY 'ROUND-THE-HORN.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot?

For this final week of 2021, I have only one freebie to offer from my premium newsletter Roy Edroso Breaks It Down, but it’s a good one: A New York Times Cletus Safari on Let’s Go Brandon Guy. Since I wrote it I see the LGB guy, the unfortunately named Jared Schmeck, has floated running for office, which absolutely tracks, as does his making the announcement that he will “pray about [running and] see what God has for me” on the radio show of “Christian broadcaster Todd Starnes”; there’s nothing more Modern Christian than building a public career off saying a disguised swear to the President. 

(You could be getting this kind of material on a daily basis -- 5x a week! Just like a newspaper! -- with a subscription. It’s super-cheap -- $7/mo., $70/yr. -- and from now through Monday I’ll make it even cheaper for you with this 10% off deal if you sign up via https://edroso.substack.com/newyear. If you want to sample the material first, here’s a good guide.)

OK, that’s enough hard sell! I certainly don’t want to turn into something like Matt Walsh, who’s pushing his own creepy trans-hate children’s book (!) Johnny the Walrus by calling it his “literary treasure,” “magnum opus,” “masterpiece” etc. (and, a quick Google search reveals, by promoting bulk sales to wingnut orgs and pulling the old boo-hoo-they-cancelcultured me bit). Lord knows the rightwing grift is easy and profitable, as Glenn Greenwald and Matt Tabbi have apparently learned, but I’m drawing near enough to St. Peter’s Gate that I have to think about how I’ll explain myself and I don’t want something like that among my ledger entries. 

End-of-year is a quiet time even in wingnuttery, but spare a thought for the pushers of this story at once-proud National Review:

EXCLUSIVE: AOC Spotted in Miami Beach as NYC Reports Record Covid Cases

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was spotted dining in Miami Beach, Fla., on Thursday, according to a tip received by National Review, on the same day that her native New York City reported a record number of Covid-19 cases.

This is also being pushed by trolls with a hashtag. The punchline is that while AOC’s presence in Florida is verified, that of its Governor Ron DeSantis is not -- as COVID infections spike in the Sunshine State, he hasn’t been heard from for more than a week, and his press shop is circulating old photos of him and claiming they're from yesterday. I keep saying it, but it keeps proving true: With conservatives, every accusation is a confession. 

With that I bid you a Happy New Year. I hope however you celebrate it doesn’t make you sick (though a hangover is acceptable). I’ve been changing up my holiday songs but I’m sticking another year with the Loudon Wainwright III one up top, because I love it even with the smooth jazz arrangement and because it so speaks to our place and time:

Last year was a fiasco

A real disaster, so full of sorrow

This year will be a great year

I just can’t wait, dear, until tomorrow

Keep a few fingers twined in the kite-strings of hope, friends; in the cold and dark keep the embers alive. See you next year.