READER FAVORITE: Apple AirPods Pro 2 Wireless Earbuds, Active Noise Cancellation. #CommissionEarned

MERRY CHRISTMAS:

FROM ME, A CHRISTMAS THANK YOU TO, WELL, YOU.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Merry Christmas! “I will continue to do a “Best Of” rerun of a classic Morning Briefing post on holidays and the day after holidays, but with a twist. I’ll be recording video greetings for each one. These won’t be behind the paywall. Still, I would encourage everyone to join us over there. This doesn’t apply to those Monday Post Office holidays that I barely know are happening.”

HOME ALONE, EXPLAINED: “One fan theory posits that Peter McCallister is involved with organized crime. Under this theory, the McCallister home was specifically targeted as some sort of vendetta, and Kevin’s brutal violence against the burglars is the product of an upbringing exposed to criminal activity. The Times could not rule out this theory.”

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM 328 CHAUNCEY STREET, APARTMENT 3B:

At the end of THE HONEYMOONERS Christmas episode, the cast surprised the audience by breaking character and wishing the viewers at home a Merry Christmas. (1955) 🎄 A first in television history. pic.twitter.com/GtlVyz5Vza

— Todd Spence (@Todd_Spence) December 23, 2025

MERRY CHRISTMAS:

JOHN LUCAS: “Did you know that I saved Bob Hope’s life 54 years ago in Vietnam, on Christmas Day 1970? And, I might add, Ann Margret’s, too. This is the story. And like all good war stories, it starts out with ‘This is no s**t. . . .'”

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS MORNING OPEN THREAD: What was under your tree?

MONROE CROSSED THE DELAWARE WITH WASHNGTON: Don Surber provides a wealth of fascinating detail about Gen. George Washington’s daring surprise attack on Christmas against the Hessians at Trenton.

Among those with Washington in that hugely significant operation was another future president, James Monroe, who was severely wounded and very nearly died but for the effective treatment of one Dr. Riker.

MERRY CHRISTMAS:

BUY YOURSELF A GIFT:Rechargeable Hand Warmers 2 Pack. #CommissionEarned

COVID FOUR YEARS AGO: Jill breaks White House rules to go maskless as Joe is accused of staging bizarre dancing nurses show at the White House to distract from his catastrophic failure to order enough COVID test kits.

President Joe Biden was slammed on Thursday for holding Christmas festivities at the White House this week, complete with nurses singing ‘We Need a Little Christmas’ and a maskless First Lady, as critics claimed the event was ‘tone deaf’ and meant to distract from the president’s COVID policy failures.

The White House invited the famous Northwell Health’s Nurse Choir to perform at this year’s ‘Spirit of the Season’ TV special Tuesday night, and many were quick to point out the poor visuals of happy nurses singing amid the current Omicron surge.

The performance also featured some singers without masks, as well as a maskless Jill Biden off to the side, despite the White House’s indoor mask mandate in place.

To add to the schizophrenia, just a few days before the dancing TikTok nurses appeared with “Dr.” Jill,” the Biden Politburo was telling the rest of America — just in time for Christmas — that the Winter of Death was at hand:

MERRY CHRISTMAS:

HEH, INDEED: Trump tells children ‘coal is beautiful and clean’ while on Santa watch.

Donald Trump told children that coal is “beautiful and clean” as he asked young callers about what presents they wanted from Father Christmas this year.

The US president marked Christmas Eve by quizzing children on their wishlists, while promising to not let a “bad Santa” infiltrate the country and even suggesting that a stocking full of coal may not be so bad.

Mr Trump and Melania, the first lady, spoke to children from Mar-a-Lago in the tradition of talking to youngsters who have called the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad), which tracks Santa’s progress around the globe.

Asked by an eight-year-old girl in Kansas what she would like Santa to bring, the answer came back: “Uh, not coal.”

“You mean clean, beautiful coal?,” Mr Trump replied, echoing a favoured campaign slogan he has long used when promising to revive domestic coal production.

“I had to do that, I’m sorry,” the president added, laughing.

It certainly beats the programming that blue state parents and teachers have been doing to kids for years: How to talk to children about their anxiety over climate change. But beyond the lack of environmental doomsday talk, will anyone in the DNC-MSM mention that after four years of Biden needing cue cards and cheat sheets just to simulate conversations with his party’s operatives with bylines, we once again have a president who can talk without a script?

He stopped doing anything unscripted after this great troll on Christmas Eve, 2021. 😂https://t.co/gLoy58KiJ3

— bird cheat (@birdcheat) December 25, 2025

AS LONG AS YOU HAVE THEIR EMAIL ADDRESS, THERE’S STILL TIME FOR LAST MINUTE GIFTS: On sale, 99c each:  So Little and So Light.

Bowl of Red.

Lights Out and Cry

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE REYNOLDS/SMITH HOUSEHOLD!

AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, AREN’T WE ALL?  The night I was Mr Scrooge.

PROFITABLY:  How Activists and Dark Money Are Pushing to Criminalize Climate Change.

SHE’S ALSO REPORTEDLY IN NEGOTIATIONS FOR ENDORSEMENT A BRAND OF KNEE PADS:  Harris Suggests Mocking Her Laugh Is Sexist, As She Gives Young Women Dating Advice.

I WAS AUTHORITATIVELY ADVISED THE DEMS HAD WON THE LAST SHUTDOWN:   Progressive Dems Don’t Seem Eager for Another Government Shutdown…for Now.

THE LEFT IS VIOLENCE INCARNATE. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN:  Mass Casualty Attack Averted.

ALL THE RAGE… AND INSANITY:  Intersectionality is all the Rage – Just Ask “Turtle Island Liberation Front”.

ON STILTS AND WEARING A FUNNY HAT, AT THAT:  Stupid Stupid Stupid.

NEWS FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE:  Boston Mayor: Somalis are Lifting the City Up, Setting Example for Rest of the Country.