It has been a tough few years, first with COVID then an economy blasted by inflation and recession. Most Americans are hoping for a shiny present under the American Christmas tree this year. But will it be a lump of coal instead? In the spirit of Festivus, let’s air some grievances.

How do Americans feel about the current direction of the United States? Rasmussen Reports asked likely U.S. voters if the country is heading in the right or wrong direction. Only 35 percent think we are going in the right direction, compared to 60 percent who believe we are heading in the wrong direction. Americans say “bah-humbug” to those running the country, both Democrats and Republicans.

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What might Americans be concerned about as we enter the holiday season? Plenty. Rather than the 12 days of Christmas, how about the 12 days of discontent? It’s time to air some grievances, in no particular order as “all grievances matter”.

Those illegally crossing our borders can harbor myriad infectious diseases, but those who live in America must be vaccinated, boosted multiple times, wear a mask, and stay six feet away from every other human being in order to participate in society.

Foreigners who want to visit the U.S. to see their families, vacation, and spend their own money must wait years for a visa application appointment, but those crossing the border illegally receive free food, housing, clothing, healthcare, and education immediately.

Doctors and engineers who want to work in America for the benefit of America must take myriad exams, fill out endless paperwork, and wait for years for possible approval. But any illiterate, unskilled migrant or criminal can stroll into the U.S. to hurt and certainly not help America.

We cannot count the number of Americans in America for the census, but our borders are wide open for anyone in the world to enter America and be supported by the same Americans we cannot count.

Russians somehow influencing our elections is wrong, but it’s perfectly fine for Russians, Mexicans, Africans, or anyone else from anywhere else to vote in our elections.

We must pretend a man dressing as a woman is really a woman, and pretend along with him, or risk being called horrible names if we point out the obvious. Those who can’t define “a woman” celebrate a woman Supreme Court justice and eagerly await a woman president.

Friends and family have become hostile and dismissive over differing opinions about Trump, masks, vaccines, election integrity, and all things political. Those who scream the loudest for diversity and inclusion want nothing of the sort in their own lives, preferring no diversity or inclusion, eliminating those with alternative perspectives.

One must be 21 years old to buy beer or cigarettes, but one can vote at age 18, and get an abortion or have gender mutilation surgery as an early teen.

Trump tweeting that he wouldn’t attend Biden’s inauguration was an incitement to violence and sedition, on par with Hitler or the Christchurch, New Zealand shooter, according to Twitter executives, leading Twitter to ban the leader of the free world from one of the world’s largest media platform. But the Ayatollah Khamenei calling Israel “a malignant cancerous tumor…that has to be removed and eradicated” is an acceptable tweet and not worthy of tweet deletion or banning according to the same Twitter executives.

Those who have never owned slaves must pay reparations to those who never were slaves. Along the same lines, those who never attended college should pay the tuition costs of those who went to college but did not learn enough to earn enough to pay back their own loans.

Vice President Joe Biden can threaten and blackmail Ukraine with impunity but when President Donald Trump asked about it, he was impeached.

A few billion dollars to protect the Southern border of America is too expensive, but over $100 billion to protect Ukraine’s border with Russia is still not enough.

Antifa and BLM activists could gather and riot in large groups during the height of COVID-19, but children could not attend school in person.

Children dying of heart attacks is blamed on video games and considered perfectly normal. Hundred of young healthy athletes and non-athletes dropping dead suddenly is attributed to global warming. Anyone questioning this is told to shut up.

Prescription drugs taken by millions of individuals for decades with minimal if any adverse effects were going to kill us, but experimental gene therapy was deemed “safe and effective” and required for work, school, and travel, even in young children at virtually zero risk from the causative virus.

If you are vaccinated and the vaccines work as advertised, then why does it matter if the person next to you is wearing a mask or not? If I had the measles vaccine, I am not concerned whether those around me might have measles. If the vaccines don’t prevent infection, then why are they mandated?

If you are wearing a mask and masks stop viral transmission, then why does it matter if the person next to you is not wearing a mask or is unvaccinated? If the masks don’t stop viral transmission, then why were they mandated in public spaces or on airplanes?

Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested as he “orchestrated a years-long fraud”. He “built a house of cards on a foundation of deception” and created “a limitless line of credit funded by customer assets”. He also used his fund as his “personal piggy bank,” and “He hid from investors and customers that he used the funds to buy luxury condos, support political campaigns, and make private investments.”

Change “SBF” to most members of Congress, Biden cabinet officials, Clinton, Pelosi, or Biden family members, and this behavior is perfectly acceptable, and hardly grounds for indictment or arrest.

Journalists cheered when Twitter banned the New York Post for discussing the Hunter Biden laptop. But when those journalists were themselves suspended from Twitter for doxing Elon Musk’s family, putting them at danger, the caterwauling was deafening, and the Constitution was suddenly important sacrosanct and under threat.

It is indeed an upside-down world with little making sense. In the season of hope and joy, things are more chaotic than ever. While we may wish for an exciting new toy under the American Christmas tree in a few weeks, instead we receive doubletalk, lies, and a big lump of coal. Let’s hope for a Christmas miracle.

Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor, Truth Social @BrianJoondeph, and LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph.