Tea and Vitriol

  Christmas 2021 is over and the year is quickly winding down. The next holiday some people will be looking forward to is New Year's Eve, which is amateur night for drinkers out and about town, and New Year's Day, with football games, parades and the farce of the inauguration of Rochester's latest mayor. I am not nostalgic about the old year or even hopeful about the new one. Why should I, or anyone else, be? Rochester is, and remains, in a state of chaos owing to a lack of political leadership and the moral turpitude of the elected officials and their hangers-on who supposedly govern this city. 2021 saw the resignation of cop-hating Lovely Warren as Mayor of Rochester to avoid being convicted of felonious criminal charges. She walked away with a slap on the wrist, her license to practice law and her pension intact, her ability to run for political office unaffected and her continued control of the majority of Rochester's Democratic political committees could make that

 Short reigns among the ruling elite are not unknown in history. They are unusual, to be sure, making such rulers mere footnotes in history. Having briefly achieved ultimate power, whether in hereditary monarchies or in elective offices in republics, they didn't really have the time to make a reputation for themselves, good or bad. The "might have beens" or "what ifs" can tantalize the historian or political scientist, but ultimately can only lead to an airy void.  And such short-term rulers become the subjects of all sorts of trivia games and television game shows that have been so popular over the years. Take, for instance, King John I of France and Navarre. He was the posthumous son of King Louis X of France and, as such, was born king. He lived only five days. He reigned but never ruled. He was succeeded by his uncle, Philip V. Possibly the shortest reign in history was that of Louis XIX of France, though he was never enumerated or recognized as such. He was

  Well, I'm back in Rochester. God alone knows why. I spent two of the last three months visiting my mother-in-law in Germany. Anyone who knows her can tell you it wasn't a vacation. But that isn't the issue here. While I was there, some friends and new acquaintances were curious about the United States in general and my hometown in particular. They have been familiar with my less than glowing reports about Rochester and were really surprised about what I had to say about our city. I encouraged them to Google anything that they really wanted to know about Rochester. They did and were shocked. They couldn't believe that I would choose to live in such a violent dangerous city, complete with a scandalous mayor, ex police chief and a more incompetent and uncaring than usual city council. Even more shocking and amusing to them was the violence in our schools, the dangers faced by teachers and students alike from feral urban humanoids there and the terminal assholism exhibite