My natural inclinations lean optimistic, but doom and gloom was the theme for this year long before its dawning. And I think about this a lot. I know a lot of people do.

There’s an outright invasion — a term I don’t use lightly — passing through the wide-open southern border. Not only did a certain party fight the national security measures of the previous administration with everything they had, but the gaffe machine (with repeated and unencumbered indications of cognitive decline) who now occupies the Oval Office has ordered the DOJ to sue states such as Texas and Arizona for merely enforcing laws already on the books.

That isn’t an exaggeration. And if that isn’t treason — another term I don’t use lightly — then nothing is. In fact conjecture that Biden’s first term is just a shroud for Barack and Michelle’s third no longer seem so outlandish.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Obviously there’s a lot to process. So for now, just take a moment to appreciate a nice picture of Marilyn Monroe sitting in front of a fountain at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

After all, I cannot think of a more suitable allegory of the United States at this point than Marilyn herself.

Photo by Sam Shaw, 1957