There a lot of things you don’t mess with in this country. Mom, the flag (communists notwithstanding), and apple pie being three. I would add in Clint Eastwood, the Marine Corps, and Christmas. If you trample on any of these things you will pay a price. You will atone for toying with the universal status quo.

As such, through sheer ineptitude and snakebit bad luck, the Biden administration, to quote Mr. Jensen of “Network”, has “meddled with the primal forces of nature” implicit in our annual calendar. The administration may be screwing up Christmas. At least the material end of it, which means a lot to the average person.

The reason for the snafu is the supply chain blockage outside of many of our ports on the West Coast. The logjam is because of, among other things, absurd Covid-19 restrictions in West Coast states. The Washington Post puts it this way. “The commercial pipeline that each year brings $1 trillion worth of toys, clothing, electronics and furniture from Asia to the United States is clogged and no one knows how to unclog it.

This month, the median cost of shipping a standard rectangular metal container from China to the West Coast of the United States hit a record $20,586, almost twice what it cost in July, which was twice what it cost in January, according to the Freightos index. Essential freight-handling equipment too often is not where it’s needed, and when it is, there aren’t enough truckers or warehouse workers to operate it.

As Americans fume, supply headaches that were viewed as temporary when the coronavirus pandemic began now are expected to last through 2022. Dozens of cargo vessels stuck at anchor off the California coast illustrate the delivery disruptions that have become the signature feature of the recovery, fueling inflation, sapping growth and calling into question the global economic model that has prevailed for three decades.”

How will this play on Christmas morning? Mom and dad will want a nifty present for each other or for the sprogs. They will order it at the right time, right about today. In previous years they would have no problem. But now, even though it was promised and paid for well within normal schedule, it may not be under the tree on Christmas morning.

How do you think that will make swing voter mom and dad feel? They will need to hold someone responsible for their disappointment, for their no show electronic equipment, K pop CD, or other manner of doodad or gadget from Asia. Who is the likely candidate, given he can’t seem to get anything right? Uh huh. You guessed it. And going into a midterm year. Ouch.

What will vicious political fate have in store for Joe Biden regarding this particular dog’s breakfast? How will it deal with him as he puts a spanner in the spokes of that late December morning? We return to Mr. Jensen, as his words could relate to Joe Biden and the normal expectation of the timely delivery of Christmas presents. “That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today! And YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and YOU… WILL… ATONE!”