1. It’s Wednesday, February 8, 2017. It’s the birthday of composers John Williams and Joe Raposo.

On a personal note, it’s the birthday of my cousin, David Detrio. The best word I can use to describe him is kind. He was my defender and pal when I was a kid, and I always thrilled to see him.

He died in 1968 at the age of 20 of Hodgkin’s lymphoma – and one thing I’ve thought over the years is that the survival rate for the disease has improved over the years.

Yes, that’s a tribute to brilliant and dedicated scientists. But I always think David’s hand is involved somehow. Because he was so thoughtful that he couldn’t imagine other people suffering the way he did.

2. Here’s this week’s weather in greater New York:

It started with the coldest temperatures of the winter so far. Which isn’t saying much, since it’s been consistently above freezing.

We had a day full of rain yesterday. Today, it’s clearing and temperatures are rising to the upper 50s.

After midnight, we’re getting up to a foot of snow.

I’ve been alive for almost 63 years. And maybe my memory’s getting a little foggy in my advancing age.

But I don’t remember weather changing as rapidly or radically as it seems to do now.

In winter, it’s generally warmer and we have these crazy changes. In summer, thunderstorms seem more violent and frequent. And every month seems to set a temperature record.

And I don’t think it’s just here in New York. There are extremes throughout the country and the rest of the world.

No, I’m not a scientist. But when idiots, including the eaf who occupies the Oval Office, calls climate change a hoax, I wonder if they live in the real world.

Because while I appreciate that scientists concur, climate change seems as obvious as day. All it takes to understand it is living through it.

3. If there’s a 22nd century United States of America – and with the Trump regime, there’s no guaranty we’ll get there – I expect Mitch McConnell to be one of the more reviled names of the early 21st century.

Last night, in a stunt aimed at enhancing his lapdog status in the White House, McConnell invoked a Senate rule to stop Elizabeth Warren from speaking against Jeff Sessions’ nomination for Attorney General.

Because Sessions is a sitting senator, any criticism of him deemed personal is a violation. Warren read from a letter written in 1986 by Coretta Scott King urging the Senate to block Sessions’ nomination to a federal judgeship, citing instances of his racism.

McConnell led his Republican sheep to a resolution that blocked Warren from taking part in the debate.

As we get further along in this Trumpocracy – and even though there’s only 11 days to go, I’m still hoping he’ll get frustrated with this and break William Henry Harrison’s record for the shortest presidency – his backers seem more determined to stop people from complaining.

Trump and the Republicans have done nothing – absolutely nothing – to reach to the people on the other side. Which, by the way, outnumber them – on Election Day, the number was 2,864,974.

By not doing so, it’s amazing that they’re surprised by the opposition. It’s unprecedented for a new administration, and disturbing. Elections are supposed to bring the country together. This one is tearing it apart.

McConnell’s power play symbolizes the Republicans’ frustration that almost all of the 65,844,610 who voted for Hillary Clinton aren’t falling into place. Despite the fact that they are not represented proportionally in the White House or Congress.

Let’s face facts. Those of us sickened by Trump, his henchmen and the pliant Republicans are going to lose more battles than we win – the Betsy DeVos fight is a prime example.

That doesn’t mean we stop. It means we keep going. We’re changing the climate, and we need to make it as clear as the weather.