Free Republic

So long eggnog, shrimp cocktail and pet-shaped sugar cookies. It’s been a less merry holiday scene at the White House this year under COVID-19′s shadow. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have replaced the packed parties and overflowing buffet tables of the past with food-free open houses, face masks and testing for the unvaccinated. Beyond the impact on Biden’s first Christmas in office, the virus and its variants largely put the kibosh on the entire White House social scene for 2021, starting with an inauguration that positioned flags in place of people on the National Mall. “I think...

Schadenfreude. There, I’ve said it. Better yet, written it. You have no idea how good this feels. It’s been ages since I first slipped this polysyllabic German noun into a column. “What is this ?” my editor yelped. “Schadenfreude?” I asked innocently. “It means taking pleasure in someone else’s misery.” “Why don’t you just say that then?” he demanded. “ I did. In German. We have no word for it.” “This isn’t a German newspaper. You have enough trouble with English. Stick to the language you know best.” “Muy bien,” I muttered and replaced s chadenfreude with a long, awkward...