It’s Christmas, Hanukah, winter holiday – however you observe, as 2024 phases into history, there are highlights and lowlights to remember. In past years, I opted to offer traditional candy canes and lumps of coal, a la fairy tales. In the future, those traditions may not hold. Candy canes might be banned if Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, and coal generates greenhouse gases that are bad for the environment. So, what to do? I decided to opt for tradition for one more year and let the “lumps” fall where they may.

A candy cane to Congressman Gerry Connolly (VA-11), fighting two battles: one to win election by his peers to become the ranking member of the House Government Oversight Committee. Perhaps a more crucial battle is fighting an esophageal cancer diagnosis, announced last month. In both battles, Gerry needs our support and prayers.

A lump of coal to Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont) who decried Connolly’s seniority in defeating Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the Oversight post, saying “Nobody in our districts cares about relationships in the building.” Perhaps not, but building working relationships with colleagues, including those across the aisle, is an asset to governance, something elected representatives ought to understand. 

A candy cane to local arts groups, such as Sopranessence, Nova Lights, Creative Cauldron, the Providence Players, Reunion Music Society, and many others. There is lots of local talent in the region, both for performers and their audiences. Ticket prices are reasonable, sometimes free, and the presentations are close to home.

And a candy cane to those who support the local arts groups. Ticket prices rarely cover the actual cost of putting on a performance, so arts patrons truly are “angels” who recognize that the arts must have a prominent place in our society.

A lump of coal to the House Republicans who apparently thought that shutting down the federal government just before the holidays was a good way to govern. Whatever handshake spending agreement had been reached between the Republicans and the Democrats was breached in just hours. A “skinnier” Continuing Resolution was adopted, with Democratic support, as time literally ran out. Tens of thousands of federal employees – our neighbors – would have lost pay, and the entire region would have been affected negatively by a shutdown.

A lump of coal to Elon Musk (yes, I get the irony of a lump of coal for a man whose company builds electric cars) for meddling in the budget deliberations. He may be the world’s richest billionaire and close confidante to Donald Trump, but his ham-handed efforts demonstrated that he doesn’t know much (or maybe doesn’t care) about politics and governance. Government is not business, no matter how much you want to pull the strings and make it so.

A candy cane to Fairfax County, where the plastic bag tax has generated a few million dollars for stream clean-up and environmental programs, and kept more than six million plastic bags out of the waste stream during the past couple of years. The bag tax was not designed to be a revenue generator, but as an incentive for reusable bags, not plastic ones, and it is working.

Candy canes also to the Washington Commanders football team. New owners, an award-winning rookie quarterback, and a winning season (so far) have injected new excitement and pride in the region’s professional football fans. And that’s a welcome relief from politics!

Lumps of coal to Donald Trump and JD Vance for their consistent misrepresentation of facts, regardless of the subject, and their war against women. I thought elected officials represented all of their constituents, but they’ve indicated that they represent only the people who voted for them. That leaves out about half of the country.

And finally, a candy cane to Nick Benton and staff of the Falls Church News Press for providing an outlet for local news at a time when journalism and journalists seem to be under attack from all sides. Independent newspapers like FCNP serve as a trusted community backbone for local news and information.

Whether or not you agree with my selections for candy canes and lumps of coal, I hope you have a warm and wonderful holiday season with family and