The Mustelid Liberation Front: Small (Christmas 2025, Ten.)

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:) To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ~Luke 2:1-14

...

I address you tonight not as the President of the United States, not as the leader of a country, but as a citizen of humanity. We are faced with the very gravest of challenges. The Bible calls this day "Armageddon"; the end of all things. And yet, for the first time in the history of the planet, a species has the technology to prevent its own extinction. All of you praying with us need to know that everything that can be done to prevent this disaster is being called into service.
The human thirst for excellence, knowledge. Every step up the ladder of science, every adventurous reach into space, all of our combined modern technologies and imaginations, even the wars that we've fought have provided us the tools to wage this terrible battle. Through all the chaos that is our history, through all of the wrongs and the discord, through all of the pain and suffering, through all of our times, there is one thing that has nourished our souls, and elevated our species above its origins, and that is our courage.
Dreams of an entire planet are focused tonight on those 14 brave souls traveling into the heavens. And may we all, citizens the world over, see these events through. Godspeed, and good luck to you. ~The President of the United States, from the film Armageddon.

I saw this yesterday.

Trump, the very definition of the jet-setting New Yorker when I was a kid, telling some poor kid to "Never Leave Oklahoma."

WTF is so great about Oklahoma, exactly?

I'm being quite serious when I say this, and note I say this as a former conservative and Republican myself, the things that most repulse me about conservatism and Republican politics today are the smallness, meanness and utter joylessness thereof. Indeed, I'd argue that there's nothing else left.

Trump is modern American conservatism boiled down to the bones, the essentials, he's all a lot of these fucking people ever wanted.

But none of this is what I was taught.

Like if you can't even enjoy yourself, what's the fucking point??

25 years ago I was still with my ex-wife. We went to her parents' house for Christmas Eve dinner and spent the night there. We argued a bit over what to watch but we settled on Armageddon because her mom vetoed Die Hard (too violent, lots of kids around, and note this family was very much the essence of Y2K-era conservatism with a side of Pentecostal craziness.) We cuddled up on the couch and everybody else had their respective regular places and most of the kids were on the floor playing with various toys and/or my dogs as the mood struck, and I distinctly remember their family cat sitting on top of the bookshelf giving everybody the most baleful glare imaginable, bur in whatever way we all did, everybody had a good time. We stayed up late, slept little, got up early, opened presents and then me, her and the kid piled in my van and went to my Mom's house, opened presents, did Christmas dinner and then pretty much repeated the same process but of course at my grandparents' house everybody agreed on Die Hard because naturally they'd had Disney movies on a loop all day, cuz the kids had already had their time.

Sorry, but things seemed bigger, less judgmental, even George W. Bush let alone the then-outgoing (and thank Christ for that) Bill Clinton would have ever told a kid to live their entire life in a place like Oklahoma.

And sure, we all lived in Northern Michigan but I'd been around the world in the military. It was still good to come home, but we did not fear other peoples or places.

Six years later, I was living three hours away from 'home' and spending Christmas Eve with my roommate/ex-girlfriend (and current partner) and her then-new Idiot Boyfriend.

Neither of us had to work that night and the Idiot Boyfriend was unemployed.

We cooked steaks on the grill, fought like cats and dogs over something or other, enough that the Idiot Boyfriend was like "Hey, what am I, chopped liver?"

To which the mutual and enthusiastic reply from us was "YES!!"

That should have been a hint about some things, LOL.

At the time she preferred her steak basically incinerated and I was all about medium rare.

Honestly the main thing I remember was the Idiot Boyfriend plugged up the toilet.

It's real fun having to go out and find a place that's open and get Liquid Plumber on Christmas Eve in a place like Mount Pleasant, Michigan, let me tell you. Thankfully, K-Mart was open, we got it fixed and now it's just something to laugh about.

Anyway, we made it work, got up in the morning and opened presents, she sent the Idiot Boyfriend back to wherever he stayed at the rest of the time and we played video games most of the morning, then crashed out 'cause we both had to work at midnight.

Again, even at the height of the Bush Administration, the Global War On Terror, and all that (and keep in mind K's older brother spent that Christmas deployed in Iraq) there was joy to be found and nobody told anybody to stay home and be afraid.

But of course, conservatism was still a lot more than a bucket full of angry crabs.

There was no concept of so much of the shit that's going on today.

And maybe we need to hang onto those memories, as checkered as they may be, to resist the even angrier, more fearful future that these assholes have in mind. It has to stop somewhere, and that means we're gonna have to stop it.

Their AI Jesus For Profit Whites Only Future sucks.

Again, you either believe in freedom or you don't.

And as the season turns from Christmas to the New Year, we need to remember that

We need to turn it into action.

This Angry smallness is not the way.

And the Republican idea of the future is too small and mean. It literally doesn't include the rest of us.

Or want to.

Merry Christmas.

If you want a better outlook, we have to make it so.

Слава Україна!

[Cassian plays Nemik's audio diary]

Karis Nemik: There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy. Remember this. Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they've already enlisted in the cause. Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward. And then remember this. The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear. Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empire's authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege. Remember this. Try. ~From the Star Wars series Andor, S1.E12 "Rix Road."