As the days gradually begin to lengthen and 2021 has been deposited into the annals of history, the time for the annual Rearview Awards has arrived.    

Prick of the year: Dr. Tony Fauci, a Brooklyn native no less, seems to take joy in every new COVID variant and then doubles down on the inoculation and booster express.

Greatest lie: Politicians embellish and exaggerate, but Joe Biden’s claim that his “Build Back Better” legislation “costs zero dollars” is the year’s biggest and grandest canard.   

A recent Lifeway Research poll had both promising and not so promising news. The good news was straight forward: More than 90 percent of Americans celebrates Christmas. On the flip side however, only 22 percent of those that rejoice and revel in the greatest event in all of human history could actually recall in detail what they are celebrating. Perhaps that explains why Thanksgiving is the most popular American holiday, according to another Lifeway Research survey.  Moreover, 17 percent actually claimed they could not recall anything about Christmas.

At his virtual “Summit for Democracy,” which received little news coverage and was more icing than cake, President Biden announced, “In the face of sustained and alarming challenges to democracy, universal human rights, and all around the world, democracy needs champions.”

I had to reread that statement more than once believing I had missed the punchline. 

It was no joke. 

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments recently that could overturn Roe v. Wade that in 1973 legalized abortion. It is the most meaningful challenge to the constitutionality of abortion – ever. 

Without question, the moral and civil rights issue of the 20^th century that has literally bled into the second decade of the 21^st century is abortion. In its wake, nearly 63 million American souls were sacrificed in this national scourge.

There is nothing in the Constitution that grants a right to an abortion. Provided the court overturns this most egregious decision, every state would then separately consider the issue.

Prior to joining the Biden 2020 presidential ticket, Kamala Harris was polling around 2 % – among Democrats – never making it to that first primary, so it comes as no surprise that her most recent poll numbers are even lower than President Biden’s.

Given his age and cognitive decline, if there was ever a presidential nominee who needed to select an accomplished vice president, it was Biden. Instead, we get arguably the least qualified one ever who just happens to be coupled with one of the more incompetent president’s in history. As President Barack Obama reportedly said: “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to foul things up.” 

Virginia and New Jersey’s recent elections should have been a landslide.

It wasn’t.

The Virginia governor’s race is a microcosm of our national political climate. Republican Glenn Youngkin’s 51-49 victory for governor, which the Biden campaign won by 10% last year, was an impressive turnaround in such a short period of time.

As you prepare to anchor around that Thanksgiving Day table don’t forget to throw a lifeline to the leftists of the family. 

There is no denying that we all have them. 

There’s Uncle Jack who still models those Woodstock tie-dyed tee-shirts and has that Che Guevara poster hanging in his garage, or Uncle Ed, now a fulfilled septuagenarian, who sports that unsightly rattail from under his baseball cap that he never removes. Then there’s Uncle Cosmo who refuses to relinquish that hazmat suit he wears to work, and his bride, Aunt Holly, who is never jolly except when she is showing off the ankle butterfly tattoo she got on her 60^th birthday.

Former U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill notably said, “all politics is local” and at its most fundamental is your school board. It is the only political office that a Pennsylvania state employee can actively seek. It is also the most crucial when you consider who and what the politicking directly impacts and influences – children.

Throughout our fruited plain, once routine school board meetings have devolved into a 21^st century “Gong Show” thanks to the COVID shutdown last year.

Not knowing why Veteran’s Day was on a Thursday and not part of a three-day weekend was somewhat perplexing to a recently minted government employee. There is a historic tradition why some holidays like Christmas, New Year’s Day and the 4^th of July are standalone celebrations.

Veteran’s Day is one of them.

Given its history and place on the Gregorian calendar, why couldn’t the Great War have ended in June, July, or August? It just so happens that World War I, the war to end all wars, ceased on the 11^th hour, of the 11^th day, of the 11^th month in 1918. For some it must be frustrating having a holiday in early November when the days are short, the skies overcast and the mercury doing a daily descent.

As we approach this Veteran’s Day, many who served in the nation’s armed forces are concerned about the trajectory of where our military, and thus the nation, is headed.

Polling can be a lot like fishing – it all depends on where you cast your line of questioning and who is tethered to it. Being what they are, poll numbers can take on a life of their own. When sliced and diced, multipliers can morph into dividers, and dividers can be flipped into fractions of misinterpretation and duplicity.

Polls also have a storied history of being fairly suspect.