The weather is turning cold for this year's Christmas week across the country. It was so cold recently in Chicago, St. Louis and Atlanta that 150 murders had to be delayed.
In Washington, First Lady Melania Trump invited guests to the White House to see her Christmas lights, which took her days to hang. We were reminded of Hillary Clinton's efficiency back when she was first lady; the lights just mysteriously hung themselves.
What do you give President Trump, a man who has everything: low unemployment, a roaring economy and no additional wars? If you are House Democrats, you give him two articles of impeachment for Christmas: "abuse of power" and "obstruction of Congress." To be fair, to "obstruct Congress" representatives would have to have been doing something in the first place to actually obstruct them from doing it. But these are their rules and their conclusions. And likely their funeral.
The best way not to have to see or buy gifts for family members is to have talked politics at Thanksgiving. As divided as things are now, more and more Americans are saving money with this tactic. It's not a bad idea for those of us who think there is already too much pressure on families at Christmas.
Unlike Thanksgiving and New Year's, times when we can gather and talk about things we appreciate, Christmas has become too commercial. If you do not surprise your spouse with a Lexus with a bow on it, you should feel bad.
I blame Madison Avenue advertising for much of our angst. We were in New York for Thanksgiving, where The New York Times will run ads for a $30,000 Cartier watch juxtaposed with an article about starvation in Syria. The difference between Hugo Boss and Hugo Chavez is lost on the liberal Times.
Christmas has become a pressure-packed ritual of buying for our family and friends in return for them buying for us in equal measure - it misses the intent. When did bringing myrrh and frankincense morph into buying Xboxes and drones for bratty kids? The Harts happily went to drawing names in our family for only one gift. I recommend it.
Having grandkids now in a Kardashian world makes me have to re-think things. Kylie Jenner has a makeup line that is all the rage. Girls ages 6 to 10 are buying her skincare products. In Buckhead, an 8-year-old girl bought Kylie Jenner moisturizer that promised to make you look 10 years younger, and she disappeared.
Keeping politics out of family holidays is never easy, but if you do not take yourself or your political beliefs too seriously, it becomes easier. I do well in this space by never bringing up politics in a social setting unless the other person does. We live in a 49% to 51% world, so you have an even chance of making someone mad by asserting your political views. And you might lose a friend.
Try this joke to test your family: What is the difference among Tiger Woods, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, Harvey Weinstein and Santa? Answer: Santa stopped at three ho's. If you can all laugh at that one, maybe you can smile and have a nice Christmas together.
I personally do not mind a multicultural holiday season. The best time I have is celebrating Passover with my Jewish friends. Jews eat Chinese food, drive German cars and live in Mediterranean houses. They seem to like me being a part of their holiday, because they say Hanukkah cannot be celebrated without a lot of crackers present.
I did have a nice experience last Christmas. I went to a local restaurant, Shades, and saw a nice family at a table together with their heads bowed in prayer. It turned out all seven were on their cell phones, but it felt good anyway.
We will spend more than $1 trillion on Christmas gifts this year. We are too focused on the material and not on the spirit of the season. Thank goodness we have Joe "Plugs" Biden around to keep us focused on the real meaning of Christmas: the birth of Santa Claus.
Ron HartContact Ron Hart, a syndicated op-ed humorist and award-winning author, at Ron@RonaldHart.com.