I’ve been venting my spleen in these pages weekly for about 8 years now.  Many of my musings have been on the topic of how the America we grew up in turned into the Woke, amoral, lawless insane asylum that it has become.  My father’s father came here from Italy.  He didn’t have an education.  He never had it easy, and he never made a lot of money.  But he used to say that this country was the greatest, because here anything was possible.  He wouldn’t recognize it today.  There’s a lot I could say on this subject.  A couple of weeks ago I read something from a greater mind and a better writer than myself, and I wanted to share it with you.  The author is historian Victor Davis Hanson, and his piece is entitled The Coup We Never Knew.

Did someone or something seize control of the United States?  What happened to the U.S. border?  Where did it go? Who erased it?  Why and how did 5 million people enter our country illegally?  Did Congress secretly repeal our immigration laws?  Did President Joe Biden issue an executive order allowing foreign nationals to walk across the border and reside in the United States as they pleased?  Since when did money not have to be paid back?  Who insisted that the more dollars the federal government printed, the more prosperity would follow?  When did America embrace zero interest? Why do we believe $30 trillion in debt is no big deal?  When did clean-burning, cheap, and abundant natural gas become the equivalent of dirty coal?  How did prized natural gas that had granted America’s wishes of energy self-sufficiency, reduced pollution, and inexpensive electricity become almost overnight a pariah fuel whose extraction was a war against nature? Which lawmakers, which laws, and which votes of the people declared natural gas development and pipelines near criminal?  Was it not against federal law to swarm the homes of Supreme Court justices, to picket and to intimidate their households in efforts to affect their rulings?  How then with impunity did bullies surround the homes of Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas – furious over a court decision on abortion?  How could these mobs so easily throng our justices’ homes, with placards declaring   “Off with their d–s”?  Since when did Americans create a government Ministry of Truth?  And on whose orders did the FBI contact private news organizations to censor stories it did not like and writers whom it feared?  How did we wake up one morning to new customs of impeaching a president over a phone call?     Of the speaker of the House tearing up the State of the Union address on national television?  Of barring congressional members from serving on their assigned congressional committees?  When did we assume the FBI had the right to subvert the campaign of a candidate it disliked?  Was it legal suddenly for one presidential candidate to hire a foreign ex-spy to subvert the campaign of her rival?  Was some state or federal law passed that allowed biological males to compete in female sports?  Did Congress enact such a law?  Did the Supreme Court guarantee that biological male students could shower in gym locker rooms with biological women?  Were women ever asked to redefine the very sports they had championed?  When did the government pass a law depriving Americans of their freedom during a pandemic?  In America can health officials simply cancel rental contracts or declare loan payments in suspension?  How could it become illegal for mom-and-pop stores to sell flowers or shoes during quarantine but not so for Walmart or Target?  Since when did the people decide that 70 percent of voters would not cast their ballots on Election Day?  Was this revolutionary change the subject of a national debate, a heated congressional session, or the votes of dozens of state legislatures?  What happened to Election Night returns?  Did the fact that Americans created more electronic ballots and computerized tallies make it take so much longer to tabulate the votes? When did the nation abruptly decide that theft is not a crime, and assault is not a felony?  How can thieves walk out with bags of stolen goods, without the wrath of angry shoppers, much less fear of the law?  Was there ever a national debate about the terrifying flight from Afghanistan?  Who planned it and why?  What happened to the once-trusted FBI?  Why almost overnight did its directors decide to mislead Congress, to deceive judges with concocted tales from fake dossiers and with doctored writs?  Did Congress pass a law that our federal leaders in the FBI or CIA could lie with impunity under oath? Who redefined our military and with whose consent?  Who proclaimed that our chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff could call his Chinese Communist counterpart to warn him that America’s president was supposedly unstable?  Was it always true that retired generals routinely labeled their commander-in-chief as a near Nazi, a Mussolini, an adherent of the tools of Auschwitz?  Were Americans ever asked whether their universities could discriminate against their sons and daughters based on their race?  How did it become physically dangerous to speak the truth on campus?  Whose idea was it to reboot racial segregation and bias as “theme houses,” “safe spaces,” and “diversity”?  How did that happen in America? How did a virus cancel the Constitution?  Did the lockdowns rob us of our sanity?  Or was it the woke hysteria that ignited our collective madness?  We are beginning to wake up from a nightmare of a country we no longer recognize, and from a coup, we never knew.

Every question asked by Mr. Hanson deserves to be answered by the people who seek to lead us.  When Donald Trump said “Make America Great Again,” people like Andrew Cuomo told us “it was never that great.”  So how about we just make America America again?  Not White America, or Black America, or Gay America, or Straight America, or Woke Amerika (not a typo), but simply the America that fed the world, protected the world, and was the envy of the world.  Not an America bent on joining the Third World as some sort of perverted penance, but the America that welcomed my grandfather, and millions like him, and invited them to become part of the finest nation on Earth.

A crisis always brings out the best, and the worst, in people.  When tragedy strikes, some people come together and rise to the occasion, indicating there may be some hope for humanity.  Others run true to form, and use the tragedy to amplify their agendas and biases.  Such is the case with the  Damar Hamlin story.  Hamlin is a 24 year old defensive back for the Buffalo Bills.  Until January 2, like many people, I’d never heard of him.  Then fate intervened.  A player for the Cincinnati Bengals caught a pass.  Hamlin came in for the tackle.  The two made contact on what appeared to be a totally routine NFL play.  Hamlin stood up, then immediately collapsed to the field, bringing the game to an abrupt halt with 5:58 remaining in the first quarter.  Players surrounded Hamlin and medical personnel went to work on him.  Minutes ticked by while television commentators speculated on what was happening and what would happen next.  When Hamlin was removed to a hospital, and the teams left the field, the situation was transformed from football game into news event.  That transformation moved the event, formerly of interest only to football fans, into the realm of the jackals, whores and opportunists of the Lamsestream Media.  As I said at the opening, a crisis always exposes the good, the bad, and the ugly.  And that’s what we got.  When the teams left the field, nobody was sure what was happening.  It was a nearly unprecedented event.  And as in war, the first reports inevitably are wrong.  The TV commentator reported that the teams had been given 5 minutes to regroup before the game would resume.  The NFL immediately denied that, but some blasted the league for insensitivity.  After about an hour, it was announced that the game would not resume.  The NFL cancelled the game thereafter.  What wasn’t known at the time the game was suspended was that Damar Hamlin had suffered cardiac arrests, and was revived by the medical team.  He went to the hospital unconscious, and in critical condition.  Under those circumstances, neither team was willing to resume the game, and of course, they made the right decision.  But having devolved from a football game into a scandal, the bad and the ugly immediately went to work.  There were calls for the head of whoever told the teams to resume the game.  Nobody had, but that didn’t matter.  Some of the most repugnant comments came from that noted group of football analysts, the witches of The View.  Joy Behar blasted conservatives and heterosexual men for  supporting “tackle football.” (Is there any other kind?)  “45% of Americans think that tackle football is appropriate.  Heterosexual men voted the most support for kids doing football.  And conservatives were more likely to support youth tackle football.  Just saying.”  Then, exposing her ignorance and innate racism, Behar suggested people play golf or tennis instead of football.  Right.  All the poor black guys playing football should just go to their country clubs for a round of golf.  And if only 45% support “tackle football,” why does the NFL generate $18 billion a year in revenue and why have 30 of the top 31 all-time highest rated TV broadcasts been NFL “tackle football?”  The only thing Joy Behar and football have in common is that her skin could be used to make the ball.  Not to be outdone, that other irritant named Joy, Joy Reid, chimed in, describing the incident as, “yet another tragic reminder of the inherent violence of the sport and the humanity of the young men who put their health and safety on the line for the NFL’s modern day gladiator spectacle.”  If football was slow and completely safe, nobody would watch it.  And by the way Joy, some of us never questioned the humanity of the players. As for “gladiator spectacle,” the gladiators were slaves forced to fight to the death.  NFL players assume the risks for an average salary of $2.7 million, more than 50 times what the average firefighter gets for doing his inherently dangerous job.  Of course, race had to be injected into the debate.  A Scientific American article claimed that the NFL’s violence disproportionately affects Black men.  As scientists, the authors might have noticed that, as more than 60% of the players are Black, it’s not surprising that most injuries are suffered by Black players.  The article claimed that through the process of “racial stacking” coaches racially segregate by playing position and put Black athletes at a higher risk.  Citing Damar Hamlin’s injury, the article claimed that Black men’s athletic labor sustains this brutal system.”  Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy was quick to respond.  “As a black man and former NFL player I can say this article is absolutely ridiculous.”  A commentator for The Daily Beast argued that, the fact it took an hour to suspend the game proved that the NFL doesn’t care about Black players.  This, of course, is nonsense.  As noted above, during that first hour after the injury, nobody was sure what was happening, and since this is only the second time in 52 years that something like this happened, there was no protocol for what to do when a player’s heart stops.  In 1971, when 28 year old (White) player, Chuck Hughes, died on the field, they took him away and the game went on.  But enough bad and ugly.  We also got some good.  Damar Hamlin rapidly improved, and as this is written, he’s at home in Buffalo.  Damar’s first question upon regaining consciousness put the lie to the notion that pro football players are no more than thralls forced to labor for a  brutal spectacle.  The first thing Damar wanted to know was, “Did we win?” That Hamlin was more concerned about his team and his teammates than himself showed his character and his spirit.  While so many NFL players engage in self-aggrandizing stunts, Damar exhibited an “Old School” attitude that put me in mind of Vince Lombardi’s favorite motto.   Damar Hamlin embodies that sentiment.  It’s a testament to his devotion to his Christian faith and his commitment to his family, who were at his bedside when he regained consciousness.  Damar attended Pittsburgh’s Central Catholic High School, and although he could have gone anywhere, played college ball at Pitt.  He explained why, “Staying close to my family and then having my little brother around so I could be a role model for him.”  And sometimes tragedy motivates good deeds.  Damar was trying to raise $25,000 for gifts for underprivileged kids.  At last report, his “Go Fund Me” site had received $8 million.  And the response from the NFL has been uplifting.  Last weekend, all the teams wore apparel supporting Damar. The NFL players and team staffs, understand the risks inherent in pro football, and they closed ranks to pay homage to one of their own.  They are the only people qualified to decide how the game should be played.  But perhaps Theodore Roosevelt said it best: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”  Amen.  Let’s all keep Damar Hamlin in our thoughts and prayers, and hope that this extraordinary young man makes a full recovery.

Nowadays, so many things that we know for certain turn out to be not so certain after all.  In the Fall, we knew for certain that Republicans were going to sweep the mid-term elections, and that a Red Wave would wash over the nation, giving Republicans the House of Representatives and the Senate.  We now know that the Red Wave wasn’t even a ripple.  We lost the Senate outright 51-49.  The only upside of this occurrence is that Kamala Harris now has absolutely nothing to do.  Republicans managed to flip the House, winning 222 seats to 213 Democrat.  Well, right now 212 Democrats, as one Virginia Democrat died right after his reelection.  January 3 was the first day for the newly elected 118th Congress.  The first order of business for this, as for every new Congress was the election of a Speaker of the House.  The office of Speaker of the House is required by the Constitution, which provides that “the House of Representatives shall chuse its Speaker and other officers.” (Yes, that’s how they spelled “choose” in those days)  The office originated in the British House of Commons during the 14th century.  Until the 17th century (King Charles I), the speaker elected by the House of Commons represented that body before the monarch but also served as the monarch’s representative in the Commons.  After Charles I, who was later beheaded, sparking a Civil War, British Speakers serve primarily as non-political parliamentary officers.  The U.S. Speaker has parliamentary duties as well, but also is second in the line of presidential succession, after the Vice President.  No Speaker has succeeded to the presidency by virtue of that office, and only one former Speaker, James Polk, has ever been elected president.  The Speaker doesn’t have to be a member of the House of Representatives.  Theoretically, anyone could be elected Speaker, even Donald Trump, who has gotten one vote this week.  Realistically, the election of a Speaker who is not in the House is about as likely as the election of a new Pope who’s not a Cardinal.  Anyhow, last year we knew for certain that the new Speaker was going to be California Representative Kevin McCarthy.  But not so fast.  Trouble is brewing in the Republican caucus, more specifically, in the Freedom Caucus, whose conservative members have let it be known that they’re tired of being lied to and overlooked by the RINOs who want to continue business as usual.  I guess McCarthy just didn’t take the Freedom Caucus threat seriously, because it came as no surprise.  From 10 to 20 Republicans have been saying for some time that they will not vote for McCarthy unless he makes commitments on conservative policies on such things as balancing the budget, tax reform and oversight investigations on little things like the Biden Crime Family.  Many people, including me, thought that the differences would be quickly resolved, and that Kevin McCarthy would be elected Speaker.  That hasn’t been the case.  As this is written, there have been 11 Speaker votes, and an 11th is expected today.  McCarthy has been unable to get the votes needed to be elected.  In the 11 ballots, McCarthy has received no more than 203 votes, his vote total then dropping to 200.  Conservatives have nominated Byron Donalds of Florida, but he has gotten no more than 20 votes.  Democrats have voted every time 212 votes for Hakeem Jeffries.  No surprise there.  If Democrats know one thing it’s the value of Party discipline.  We are told that negotiations are ongoing, but there’s been little movement.  Indeed, the opposition is getting more strident.  On January 5, Chief Embarrassment to the Country, Corrupt Demented Imbecile Joe Biden, called the situation, “an embarrassment to the country.”  He should know.  How long can this go on?  The longest election for Speaker took more than two months and 133 ballots before Nathaniel P. Banks of Massachusetts was elected Speaker on February 2, 1856.  The Civil War began soon thereafter.  Let’s hope that’s not an omen.  The 1923 election went to 9 ballots before a winner emerged.  And what effect does a stalemate have?  Here’s the answer given by MSNBC –  Until a Speaker is chosen, the House can’t swear in its members and can’t vote on legislation, or work on investigations.  Right.  MSNBC can’t wait for House Republicans investigate the Biden Crime Family, Sam Bankman-Fried’s gift of $40 million stolen dollars to Democrats, and the FBI’s interference in our elections.  The reality is, they’ll get there, eventually.  And they don’t need to pass legislation right away, as they voted a $1.7 trillion boondoggle bill in December, precisely to keep the incoming House from cutting the budget.  Trust me.  Every day the Congress does nothing, it’s one more day that they don’t steal your freedom.  But what’s the endgame?  The Republican NK’s, that’s what they call the “Never Kevin” faction, are taking flak from Republicans of all stripes, including Newt Gingrich, who aptly points out that 10% of the caucus should not be permitted to dictate to the other 90%.  The NK’s do have valid complaints, and I hope they are trying to work toward a resolution.  Reportedly, there was a major concession on Thursday, in which McCarthy pledged that his political PAC, Club For Growth, would not contribute money to candidates in open seat Republican primaries in safe Republican districts.  This would permit more conservatives to win primaries without the Establishment Republicans putting their thumbs on the scale.  Is Kevin McCarthy the ideal candidate for Speaker?  No.  Would I be happy with a Byron Donalds, or a Jim Jordan?  Absolutely.  But McCarthy is as good as it’s going to get.  The Democrats are lurking with their 212 votes, and have offered to support “a Unity Speaker,” so long as they get some Committee Chairmanships and other concessions.  They have no right to such an outrage.  For all the talk of the “razor thin” Republican majority, with 222 seats, does anyone remember how many Democrats were in the last Congress?  222.  Did they agree to share power?  Don’t think so.  There’s also talk from liberal outlets that, “even if elected, McCarthy will be the weakest Speaker in recent times.”  McCarthy needs 217 votes to win.  Anyone remember how many votes Nancy Pelosi got in January 2021?  216.  Did anybody say she was weak?  Just sit tight.  This will be resolved, in favor of McCarthy or some other Republican, and life will go on.

It’s obvious to anyone with a brain and two eyes that our southern border situation is out of control.  All the news this week has been about the the expected end of Title 42 restrictions on the entry of aliens.  Democrats want to end the restrictions.  Republicans want to extend the restrictions.  There’s lots of yelling, bitching, name-calling and lawsuits.  But just what is the big deal about Title 42?  Federal laws are contained in the United States Code.  The U.S. Code is broken down into sections (Titles) that cover different areas of the law.  For instance, federal crimes are contained in Title 18.  Title 42 deals with public health.  Title 42 became a concern at the border with the advent of the Wuhan plague.  It gives the federal government the ability to take emergency action to keep communicable diseases out of the country.  One way to achieve this goal is to deny entry to illegal aliens (a/k/a migrants) who show up at the southern border.  The Trump Administration adopted the Title 42 provision to control illegal border crossings during the Wuhan crisis.  It made sense.  After all, the Wuhan has killed 1.1 million people in the U.S., and another 1.7 million in Latin America.  Of course, Trump was castigated for invoking Title 42.  NBC News described the Trump Administration’s use of Title 42 as follows, “Trump invoked the law when the coronavirus pandemic broke out, ostensibly to prevent the spread of Covid, but mostly to drum out migrants more quickly and without having to consider them for asylum.  The Biden administration has continued to expel migrants from the country under the law.  More than 2 million people have been expelled since Trump put it into effect.”  Don’t you just love a fair report?  And how screwed up in the head are the people on the Left?  The people who label Trump’s exclusion of illegal aliens during a pandemic as racist, are the same people who locked American citizens in their homes, and banned them from attending church services.  That said, NBC isn’t totally wrong about there being an ulterior motive for invoking Title 42.  More about that later.  The news this week has been what will happen if Title 42 restrictions are ended.  Corrupt Demented Imbecile Joe Biden has declared the pandemic over, so logically, the Title 42 restrictions should end as well.  However, logic has nothing to do with our present situation.  Critics warn that, should Title 42 end, there will be a flood of illegals crossing the border.  The pertinent question, however is, how can things get any worse?  In the last 3 months alone, border agents have encountered 617,000 aliens crossing the border.  An additional 204,000 are considered “got aways,” aliens who got into the country without being “processed” by border agents.  That’s about 7,000 a day, or 2.5 million a year.  And it’s not a new development.  These multitudes have been coming across the border since Biden was elected.  The area around El Paso, Texas is hardest hit.  The Biden Administration has responded by building a tent structure more than 100 yards long, to accommodate 1,000 “migrants.”

That’s a fine gesture, but won’t help much, with more than 10,000 illegals a week crossing the Rio Grande, and even popping out of manhole covers in the city.  One wonders how things can get worse.  But the Biden Administration seems content with the situation, as it continues to exist in a dream world, pretending that the border is under control.  Biden spokes-idiot Karine Jean-Pierre has repeatedly claimed that the border is secure.  On the subject of the potential end of Title 42 restrictions, she said this week, “We are advancing our preparations to manage the border in a secure, orderly, and humane way when Title 42 eventually lifts and will continue expanding legal pathways for immigration.”  Huh?  You have to hand it to them.  No matter how dark it gets, they just keep pulling down the shades.  But an even greater inflow of illegals is expected should Title 42 restrictions end.  To that end, a federal judge in Louisiana issued a stay, preventing the restrictions from being lifted.  The Biden Administration, apparently not content with admitting only 2.5 million illegals a year, wants the stay lifted.  This week, the Supreme Court extended the stay, preventing the restrictions from being lifted, and scheduled argument on the issue in February.  Back to ulterior motives.  The Supreme Court vote was 5-4 in favor of continuing the restrictions.  Justices Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh and Barrett voted for the stay.  Justice Gorsuch joined the liberals, Sotomayor, Kagan and Brown Jackson, voting against continuing Title 42.  But the 4 Justices in the minority voted that way for different reasons.  The 3 liberal women are not judges, they’re liberal rubber stamps for whatever loony Leftist garbage the Democrats are looking to foist on the populace this week.  Justice Gorsuch voted with them based on principle, writing, “Even the federal government acknowledges that the end of the Title 42 orders will likely have disruptive consequences.  But the current border crisis is not a COVID crisis.  And courts should not be in the business of perpetuating administrative edicts designed for one emergency only because elected officials have failed to address a different emergency.  We are a court of law, not policymakers of last resort.”  Amen brother.  Justice Scalia has to be smiling down on Justice Gorsuch.  I feel like Diogenes, I’ve finally found an honest judge, or to be more accurate, I’ve found a judge, not a partisan who’s advancing some agenda.  The real problem is that our government has abdicated its authority.  Article I of the Constitution vests Congress with the duty to make immigration laws.  And indeed, past Congresses have done just that, enacting Title 8 of the U.S Code, which pertains to all issues of immigrants and immigration.  The present Congress, and its recent incarnations have abandoned their duty.  We’re told that the laws are unfair and need changing.  It that’s true, then only Congress can do it, but they won’t.  The truth is we don’t need Title 42 to control illegal border crossings.  All we need a president who is willing to enforce the provisions of Title 8.  We don’t have one.  Did you know that section 1157 of Title 8 says the president must set the number of refugees to be admitted each year?  Has Sleepy Joe done that?  Section 1182 permits the exclusion of immigrants who aren’t vaccinated, or who have mental disorders, or drug habits.  Is anyone asking those questions?  That section permits the exclusion of criminals and persons committing crimes, like prostitution and drug smuggling.  What is Biden doing to stop the influx of human traffickers and drugs like fentanyl, being sent in by the Mexican cartels?  Nothing.  And it’s not a mistake, not a failure of policy, or a case of ignorance because Biden won’t visit the border.  It’s exactly what Biden and Company want.  They could end the crisis today if they chose to, using the border wall and the provisions of Title 8, but they won’t.  Forget about Title 42 and just enforce the law.

A Visit From The Big Guy

With sincere apologies to Clement Clark Moore

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when in the White House,
Not a creature was stealing, not even Hunter, that louse;
The stockings were hung for the pervert to sniff,
In hopes that The Big Guy would arrive in a jiff;
The Congress was full of bad liars and Reds,
And visions of Socialists danced in their heads;
Dr. Jill had decided, aww who gives a crap?
I might as well stay four more years with that sap;
When out on the lawn I heard someone mumble,
He tripped and he cursed, and then took a tumble.
I went to the window expecting the worst,
He looked like he’d fallen right out of a hearse.
He was wandering back and forth in the snow,
And he gave the impression he just didn’t know.
Then all of a sudden what should appear?
A limo and guys with those things in their ears.
And the guy who looked lost, he wasn’t too spry,
I knew in a moment it was The Big Guy.

More rapid than eagles his handlers they came,
And he mumbled, and stumbled, and called them by name;
“Now, Blinken! now, Yellen! now, Garland and Fudge!
On, Austin! on, Klain! On, Mayorkas, Buttigieg!”
The migrants are coming right through the Trump wall!
Deny it! Deny it!, Just deny all!”
Then up to the White House – the limo it flew,
With a sack full of cash, and The Big Guy too.
Then from up above came the sound of a hoof,
The senile old bastard was up on the roof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney The Big Guy came with a bound.
His gait was unsteady, like he was walking on eggs,
He was mumbling something about hairy legs.

A bundle of graft he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a swindler just opening his pack.
His eyes looked so vacant his face it was sunken,
His nose like a cherry, from something he’d drunken.
His droll little mouth was drawn up in a scowl,
The hair on his head as if combed with a towel.
He flashed an odd smile, through brilliant white teeth,
Then tried to converse with a low hanging wreath.
He had a pale face and a little round gut,
And he laughed for no reason, like some kind of nut.
He was useless and limp, a senile old fart,
I remembered his job and it gave me a start.
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
His very appearance filled me with dread;
He said something to Cornpop, then went straight to his work,
And sniffed all the stockings, like a weird jerk.
He took cash from his sack, to the stockings he went,
Then he filled all the stockings 90 percent.
Why not 100, I queried him,” Why?”
He said that the rest was for The Big Guy.
Then pulling his finger out of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
But he walked the wrong way, and the roof had a pitch,
He tripped, and he teetered, almost fell off that bitch.
But the agents corralled him, and threw him inside,
And away from the rooftop the limo did ride.
But I heard him exclaim, ere they drove out of sight,

And a very Merry Christmas from Frank on Friday