Announcing: cocktails for these political times

This is a food and travel blog, and with the exception of this plea to donate to your favorite artistic endeavors, I have avoided sharing my political opinions thus far since the apocalypse slowly began. But whether you voted for Hillary or Trump, you've got to admit our shiny new President is breaking a lot of the valuable china right now, and our elected officials are either rendered powerless or too dumbstruck to act. Well, you don't have to admit that, but if you don't see it, please tell me what particular brand of powerful mind-numbing drugs you are taking, because I would very much like in on that. And also, goodbye and thank you for following this blog until today (I'm assuming).

Because drinking has definitely increased at my house and many of my friends' houses since inauguration day, I have decided to start a new Thursday night series called "Cocktails for These Political Times". Every week until the madness ends, I will touch upon some of the spectacular shittiness of the week with links to helpful resources for fighting back, and will dedicate a cocktail to someone on The Hill who really needs it. I hope this series doesn't run for very long, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to start getting a whole lot more creative with gin this year.

This week's biggest disappointments as an American include:
the appointment of Betsy DeVos as the country's last Secretary of Education, the appointment of KKK-loving Jeff Sessions to the incredibly important position of Attorney General, and poor Senator Elizabeth Warren's silencing by the Republicans for trying to read a letter by Coretta Scott King during the Dem's filibuster (a letter which, by the way, was then read by four different male senators without punishment).

While it's over for this round of fights, there are so many coming up, including

• the decision about whether to protect national parks
• a battle over the next Supreme Court judge
• the sanctity of NATO

So, I invite you to watch these issues closely, contact your representative (maybe we can wear them down if we annoy them with our pesky opinions enough?) and read this article on making necessary political harassment a daily part of your schedule.

This cocktail goes to Senator Warren, whose treatment by Republicans reminds us that it sucks to be a woman senator at all, let alone a (gasp) liberal one. Liz, I don't know if you drink, but Imma have an extra one of these for you. Every damn day.

The Monkey Wrench

Serves 1, but honey, just double it if you want...

2 ounces light rum
4 ounces grapefruit juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Maraschino cherry, to garnish

In an ice filled old-fashioned glass, combine the light rum, grapefruit juice and Angostura bitters.
Garnish with the maraschino cherry, and serve.

Goes with: the salty tears of your enemies. Also salt and vinegar chips.