Washington at the holidays: Where is the good cheer?

If you were gathering news yesterday you wouldn't have needed a very large sack to take away what you found at the President's "get outta town" news conference.

You knew he wasn't in for an easy ride when the first question was, "Was this your worst year?"

He sidestepped a direct answer. He said this was a time of year to reflect, and thought he would have some better ideas after some sleep and sun.

Congress had an even worse year than the president, but ended on an appropriate note -- a long and loud debate over the rules.

Democratic Leader Harry Reid was hospitalized for exhaustion. He's fine now, but as the brief bipartisanship generated by the budget bill evaporated, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham said, "If this is Kumbaya, I'd hate to see truly dysfunctional."

Maybe they'll have some better ideas, too, after some sleep and sun.

Surveying the mess that Washington left behind, the Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan said the word of the year was "botched."

I thought it was "selfie." Which reminds me, the news wasn't all bad. Anthony Weiner's political comeback went nowhere, and at last report the social media seemed to be trending AGAINST using cell phones to talk on airplanes.

Now that is news to make you feel downright warm and fuzzy.