It is common for people who have an alcoholic in the family to dread the holidays.

They try to imagine the joy and celebration, but in their heart they know what’s really coming is just the next episode of drunkenness.

The United States is like that alcoholic family member, for whom every circumstance is an excuse to hit the bottle. Except, with the US, the bottle is violence.

Barack Obama addresses the nation this evening. He will respond to the attack in San Bernardino that is now being characterized as an act of terror, and linked to ISIS.