Christmas Eve Forum
Steven L. Taylor
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Wednesday, December 24, 2025
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12 comments
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About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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BlueSky.
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“Bah! Humbug!”
Ok. I don’t celebrate Xmas. I like working half a day on the 24th and taking off the 25th. but it’s past 3:30 am and we’re still working. I’ll come in tomorrow (aka later today) and Thursday as well, and possibly the weekend, too.
On the other hand, we did get a turkey from the corporate overlords rather than a piece of pork leg like last year (both are traditional here). I still want to first dismember the cadaver and then cook it. Perhaps around May when I’ll have some free time (not kidding).
Anyway, here’s an Xmas carol from the 30th century.
Tomorrow we celebrate the idea that the God of Love, with his three superpowers – omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience – was so pissed off at the creatures he himself designed and created, that he was itching to push the button for the zoocide of homo sapiens, and the only alternative he could come up with was sending his soon to be tortured to death.
The human race fucked around, and was about to find out that when God says, ‘stop beating off,’ he means, ‘on pain of death’. Sure, he could have just shrugged it off, or maybe sent us to our room, or taken responsibility as the Creator, but once Jehovah’s blood is up there’s gonna have to be some torture and judicial execution. In this he modeled responsible parenting.
We’re celebrating a divine psychopath by going into debt to buy useless crap for our ungrateful kids. But I do like the lights.
Merry Christmas!
Kill a tree for Jesus’ birthday!
Yesterday I mentioned der Trumpenfuhrer’s announcement of shiny new Trump class battleships. Farley at LGM quotes Tom Nichols with, I think, the correct take on this:
Question for Gentiles:
Why do some of you say “tshanukah,” but none of you ever say “tshristmas”?
Merry Xmas all
From A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
If everything is national security, then nothing is.
My Christmas present has arrived. After many delays, Four Roses Single Barrel. I now have a guy in Lisbon looking out for more.
USS Neversail – the beautiful new battleship concept. Not mentioned are the power requirements (not going to be nuclear in defiance of the law from ~2006 that could be changed of course – but lead time and cost) that means it would be tethered to refueling ships. Nothing strikes fear like an aesthetic warship! Look shiny object!
https://www.csis.org/analysis/golden-fleets-battleship-will-never-sail
The Babylon Bee has a great take (it comes with gaydar and a golden Trump figurehead on the bow
https://babylonbee.com/news/check-out-these-amazing-features-on-the-new-trump-class-battleship
@Richard Gardner:
Imagine the cost and size of the bigbeautiful golden bath tub El Taco will build so he can play with it.
Maybe that’s why he really wants the Panama Canal
Well, I knew they existed, but the batshit Eyes Wide Shut interpretations and related conspiracy theories have bubbled to the surface over the last year.
The inciting incident? No surprise there, a Joe Rogan episode with Roger Avary.
The appeal of life as a hermit increases daily.