Bah, humbug!

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Believe it or not, A Christmas Carol was written in only six weeks, but the author was none other than a 31 year-old guy named Charles Dickens. The novella was first published on December 19, 1843, and the story of Ebenezer Scrooge being visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner along with Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-To-Come was an instant best-seller.

We all remember how Scrooge, badly treated everybody he came into contact with, but was frightened by the ghostly Spirits into changing his mean-spirited and greedy ways to finally become a generous citizen. Seeing all the mean-spirited and greedy actions that certain people in power display today, we should wonder how Charles Dickens would update and adapt those ghostly Spirits to present times. For instance, the world’s most powerful political figure, US President Donald Trump, uses very rude and crass behaviour with so many people he encounters. He takes pleasure in belittling reporters, and anyone having a different opinion from his own. He openly shows a nasty mean streak and is very greedy to increase personal wealth – characteristics identical to Ebenezer Scrooge.

An updated Charles Dickens could easily disturb Mr. Trump’s sleep with some unworldly visitors, too; having the Spirit of Christmas Past visit Jeffrey Epstein. The Epstein Files have haunted Mr. Trump since he promised to release them during his election campaign, yet he’s flip-flopped time and again.

After that scary trip into the murky past, Mr. Trump and the Spirit of Christmas Present would visit Venezuela where he seems to be planning Regime Change, under the guise of sinking fishing boats supposedly carrying illicit drugs. The Spirit would remind him of US military misadventures in Vietnam, Iraq and Libya, to work up a sweat on his satin sheets.

Finally, due to heavy-handed misbehaviour and many broken promises on inflation, affordability, etc, the Spirit of Christmas Yet-To-Come would foresee MAGA supporters desert him in 2026 mid-term elections, resulting in Congress being controlled by Democrats. Followed by another Impeachment conviction in the House of Representatives and a Senate Trial. Will Mr. Trump decide to change his mean-spirited and greedy ways as Ebenezer Scrooge did, or will he just ignore the Spirits’ warnings with a loud and boorish : “Bah, Humbug”.

Wishing all in the newsroom and all your readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year...¡Feliz Navidad, un año próspero y felicidad!

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada