Trump scrapes the barrel

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Rankin’ Bass

Arthur J. Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass might not get the shine of a Santa Claus or a Jesus of Nazareth, but they’re part of the firmament of the holiday season.

Their classic specials are practically synonymous with Christmas movies. Imagine Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (shouting “She thinks I’m cute!” through a clogged nose, if you’d like). Think on Frosty the Snowman’s strange first words of “Happy Birthday!” Better yet, just try to picture an abominable snowman. Chances are you’re imagining the work of Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment.

The smash-hits during their impressive run ‘60s and ‘70s stop-motion Yuletide celebrations are undeniable, but they struck out often while swinging for the fences. Many people can recreate “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” from memory. Far fewer could tell you what happens in “Jack Frost” or “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year.”

Now, there’s no accounting for taste. And that goes double for anything first encountered in childhood. I love “Year Without A Santa Claus,” even if it’s a bit of slog that leaves you waiting for the Miser brothers any time they aren’t on screen. I myself realized that people will go to bat for anything sufficiently peppermint-flavored when I first encountered fans of Will Ferrell’s “Elf.”

Allowing for nostalgia, I’m sure that “Pinocchio’s Christmas” and “The Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold” have their defenders. But hold them up to the genuine article and it’s obvious you’re looking at the scraps.

It’s hard to shake that dreggy feeling when the snow-covered credits roll and I’m back to watching the antics of President Donald Trump. Clearly shaken by MAGA’s revolt over Epstein Files, his latest efforts at lib-owning and nicknaming just don’t have the juice. The man has reshaped the way Americans speak (many such cases, Make X Y Again, etc.), but lately he can’t seem to craft a put-down that sticks around.

The plaques Trump hung this week under his series of White House presidential portraits are bound to offend some moderates’ outdated sense of presidential decorum. Chuck Schumer’s imaginary friends, Joe & Eileen, are probably fuming in his mythical Long Island as we speak.

But no one can really be mad at Trump using his own gilded Hall of Fame to score a few dunks. The autopen portrait was funny. A plaque calling that autopen the worst president in history is a hat on a hat. It’s scraping the outrage barrel. To paraphrase the season’s most-famous siblings, it’s too much.

What do you think? Is Trump dying out there? Will he ever have the juice again? And while we’re here, are there any holiday classics that you muddle through somehow? Click the speech bubble icon and sound off in the comments.

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