An inactive day – Christmas – Biden and Trump observe the holiday – Evening statistics
There was a dearth of news yesterday, as one might expect for the day before Christmas, and there was a dearth of personal activity as well. The weather was anything but festive, raining off and on every hour, damp and gloomy, despite being relatively warm for the season. Today was much better, albeit colder and still overcast for the most part, but the rain has stopped and on occasion the sunshine broke through. When I went out I saw a great quantity of birds in downtown Fairfax, chiefly starlings but also a large number of robins. Normally I see only one or two of them at a time but today there was a large flock of them mingling with the starlings in their hunt for food.
Christmas, as many have complained, has been distorted by the incessant commercialization, and yet something of its original intent still comes through, even in our largely secular society. Some would-be debunkers have pointed out that Christmas has its origins in the Roman Saturnalia – which incidentally was not a series of orgies, despite the popular legend to that effect, but a merry celebration in which servants and slaves got a day off and everyone feasted – a typical winter solstice holiday, in short. But what matters is not where Christmas comes from, but what the Christians have done with it. They have taken a holiday that was pleasurable but not especially important and have transformed it into something much more meaningful. The essential message of Christmas is peace and good will to all mankind – not to members of a specific group or a specific race or even a specific religion, but to everyone. It is a message that needs to be sent out periodically, and for that reason non-Christians (of which I am one) as well as Christians owe this holiday a debt of gratitude. As Dickens has said, it is “a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”
Our President and our President-Elect have celebrated Christmas, each in his characteristic manner: Biden has issued a televised message striving to offer some consolation for the COVID-related restrictions on the usual festivities at this time of year and to offer a gesture of national support. Trump has gone to Florida to play several rounds of golf. Many commentators have complained that Trump is neglecting his responsibilities by taking to the links; but for my part, I would much rather see him there than closeted with his cronies plotting to overturn the results of the election.
Yesterday’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 79,695,307; # of deaths worldwide: 1,748,243; # of cases U.S.: 19,094,251; # of deaths; U.S.: 336,870.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 80,193,932; # of deaths worldwide: 1,756,946; # of cases U.S.: 19,209,361; # of deaths; U.S.: 338,263.