The Christmas letter as political manifesto

Over the last couple of decades the "Christmas letter" has become a common phenomenon. Tucked in with the Christmas card, the Christmas letter provides an update on what has gone on with the writer's family during the previous year.

But, this year there has been a new development. Christmas letters have now become just one more vehicle for liberals to signal their opposition to Trump and their own virtue. (I didn't notice it last year. Perhaps, people were still in a state of shock.) A couple of samples from the letters we received this year:

"A drumbeat of maddening politics and accountability (or lack thereof) has made for a troubling year." [This letter was placed in the mouth of the family dog, apparently, a registered Democrat of typical intelligence.]

"[Dad] does the lion's share of resistance advocacy with the local Indivisible chapter -- resisting and replacing bad policy and bad apples." [I half expected a solicitation for a donation to Pocahontas' campaign.]

I always wonder why the letter writer assumed that the injection of his liberal political views into his Christmas message would not be offensive to me. Was he blithely assuming that, since, after all, I am a friend or relative of his, I must be a virtuous, intelligent liberal myself? Or was he aware that I despise liberals and was he trying, in the Christmas spirit, to perform an act of kindness and gently nudge me away from my troglodytic ways? Or did he not care whether his comments would be offensive, and was he putting me on notice that if I did not change my ways ("grow," in the liberal parlance), that my company was no longer desired? One thing I am always sure of is that the writer's confidence that his own political views are right is unshakeable and that he believes it an act of principled resistance, nay, a moral imperative, that he make his views known to me (a kind of public profession of his faith), even if it means sullying his Christmas greeting with politics.

At any rate, in a season when all mankind used to try to ignore their differences, come together in a spirit of peace and goodwill, and raise their eyes to a higher plane, liberals have found one more avenue, the Christmas letter, for sharpening divisions.

Mike Flynn's crime

So, according to the statement of the offense, Mike Flynn's crime is that he told the FBI that he had not asked the Russian ambassador not to retaliate against Obama's sanctions against Russia, when, in fact, he had asked.

Obviously, Flynn should never have lied to the FBI. But, if he did, the whole story would seem to undermine the claim that there was collusion between the Trump team and the Russians rather than support it. For, if there was collusion between the Trump team and the Russians, then, presumably the Trump team gave the Russians something in return for sabotaging Hillary. But, Flynn wasn't giving the Russians anything, but instead was asking them to do the Trump team a favor, namely, not to escalate the situation. And wasn't it good for the US if the Russians didn't escalate the situation? And, in fact, the statement of charge makes clear that the Russians decided not to escalate the situation as a result of the call. And wasn't the making of such a request from a senior official of the incoming Trump team an appropriate part of his duties?

If the lie is all Mueller has, I don't see the big deal.