The Commentariat -- January 1, 2021

Kate Sullivan of CNN: "On Joe Biden's first day as President, his White House will issue a memo to halt or delay midnight regulations and actions taken by the Trump administration that will not have taken effect by Inauguration Day, Biden transition spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday. Psaki noted that issuing a regulatory freeze is standard practice for an incoming administration, 'but this freeze will apply not only to regulations but also guidance documents -- documents that can have enormous consequences on the lives of the American people.' The memo will take effect after noon ET on January 20, Psaki said, after Biden is inaugurated. The memo is part of a broader push the Biden transition team has previewed to immediately undo several of outgoing ... Donald Trump's policies." (Also linked yesterday.)

Mike Allen of Axios: "To set the tone for his inauguration the next day, President-elect Biden will lead a memorial to remember and honor lives lost to COVID-19, with church-bell ringings and light shows across the country on Tue., Jan. 19, at 5:30 p.m. ET. The Presidential Inauguration Committee is announcing Thursday morning that a D.C. ceremony, led by Biden, will feature lights around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool -- the first time lighting around the Reflecting Pool has memorialized American lives lost."

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "... logistical problems in clinics across the country have put the campaign to vaccinate the United States against Covid-19 far behind schedule in its third week, raising fears about how quickly the country will be able to tame the epidemic." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Rich Get Richer & the Poor Get Poorer. Hamza Shaban & Heather Long of the Washington Post: "The U.S. stock market ended 2020 at all-time highs, enriching the wealthy and capping off a soaring comeback despite a deadly pandemic that has killed more than 340,000 Americans and left millions jobless and hungry. The S&P 500-stock index, the most widely watched gauge, is finishing the year up more than 16 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 7.25 percent and 43.6 percent, respectively. The Dow and S&P 500 finished at record levels despite the public health and economic crises. Wall Street's resurgence has been fueled by the largest federal government stimulus ever, historic support from the Federal Reserve and optimism about how quickly the economy is likely to bounce back next year as coronavirus vaccines become widely distributed. Investors have largely ignored the pain on Main Street, including pronounced unemployment, overrun hospitals and battered small businesses. On the eve of the new year, nearly 20 million people remained on unemployment, a jobs crisis worse than during the Great Recession."

Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time unexpectedly fell last week, marking its second straight decline. Initial jobless claims declined by 19,000 to 787,000 in the week ended Dec. 26, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected initial jobless claims to rise to 828,000. The previous week's total for initial claims was upwardly revised by 3,000 to 806,000. Continuing claims, which include those who have received unemployment benefits for at least two straight weeks, fell by 103,000 to 5.219 million for the week of Dec. 19. Data on continuing claims runs on a one-week lag to the initial claims numbers." (Also linked yesterday.)

Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) announced Thursday that he will quarantine after being exposed to someone infected with COVID-19, taking him off the campaign trail just days before his crucial Senate runoff.... While Perdue and his wife tested negative for COVID-19 Thursday, they will still quarantine based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and their doctor's recommendation." (Also linked yesterday.) More on Perdue linked below.

Rachel Janfaza of CNN: "Florida Congresswoman-elect María Elvira Salazar said Thursday that she has tested positive for Covid-19 and will be unable to attend the congressional swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol on Sunday. Salazar, a Republican, said on Twitter she was admitted to a local hospital with heart arrhythmia, commonly known as an irregular heartbeat, on December 23, before being tested for Covid-19. That test came back positive, she said." (Also linked yesterday.)

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished. Coral Murphy of USA Today: "Distilleries across the U.S. received a surprise fee from the Food and Drug Administration after using their facilities to make hand sanitizer amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 cases began surging in March, distilleries started making hand sanitizer by switching their alcohol production to antiseptic, undrinkable alcohol and giving away bottles to members of their communities. The efforts rose after the country faced a shortage in hand sanitizer.... The CARES Act ... established these facilities must pay user fees under the over the counter monograph drug user fee program.... [Late] Thursday, however, the Department of Health and Human Services appeared to have struck down the FDA fees. 'Small businesses who stepped up to fight COVID-19 should be applauded by their government, not taxed for doing so,' HHS chief of staff Brian Harrison said in a statement posted on Twitter. 'I'm pleased to announce we have directed FDA to cease enforcement of these arbitrary, surprise user fees,' he said. 'Happy New Year, distilleries, and cheers to you for helping keep us safe!'"

Indiana. Bill Hutchinson of ABC News: "The president and CEO of an Indiana hospital has prompted backlash for releasing what medical professionals and health care advocates described as a 'blame the victim' statement about a Black physician who died of COVID-19 after alleging she was mistreated by a doctor and nurses at his medical facility because of the color of her skin. In a press release, Indiana University Hospital president and CEO Dennis M. Murphy described Dr. Susan Moore as a 'complex patient' and said that during her stay at the IU Health North facility in Carmel, Indiana, the nursing staff treating her for coronavirus 'may have been intimidated by a knowledgeable patient who was using social media to voice her concerns and critique the care they were delivering.' Moore, 52, who operated her own family practice, died at another hospital she went to a day after being discharged from IU Health North, her 19-year-old son, Henry Muhammed, told ABC News. Before being sent home from IU Health North, Moore recorded a scathing review of her treatment and posted the video on her Facebook page, saying, 'I put forth, and I maintain, if I was white, I wouldn't have to go through that.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Wisconsin. Andrea Secedo & Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "An employee at a hospital outside Milwaukee deliberately spoiled more than 500 doses of coronavirus vaccine by removing 57 vials from a pharmacy refrigerator, hospital officials announced Wednesday, as local police said they were investigating the incident with the help of federal authorities.... Each vial has enough for 10 vaccinations but can sit at room temperature for only 12 hours.... The employee acknowledged having 'intentionally removed the vaccine from refrigeration,' the system, Aurora Health Care [of Grafton, Wis.], said in a statement late Wednesday. The employee, who has not been identified, was fired, Aurora Health said. Its statement did not address the worker's motive but said 'appropriate authorities' were promptly notified." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Todd Richmond of the AP: "Authorities arrested a suburban Milwaukee pharmacist Thursday suspected of deliberately ruining hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine by removing them from refrigeration for two nights.... Police in Grafton, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Milwaukee, said the Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist was arrested on suspicion of reckless endangerment, adulterating a prescription drug and criminal damage to property, all felonies. The pharmacist has been fired and police said in a news release that he was in jail. Police did not identify the pharmacist, saying he has not yet been formally charged. His motive remains unclear."

The Last Days of the Mad Kaiser

Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "Throughout late summer and fall, in the heat of a re-election campaign that he would go on to lose, and in the face of mounting evidence of a surge in infections and deaths far worse than in the spring, Mr. Trump's management of the crisis == unsteady, unscientific and colored by politics all year -- was in effect reduced to a single question: What would it mean for him?... Mr. Trump's unwillingness to put aside his political self-centeredness as Americans died by the thousands each day or to embrace the steps necessary to deal with the crisis remains confounding even to some administration officials. 'Making masks a culture war issue was the dumbest thing imaginable,' one former senior adviser said." This is a longish piece with five reporters on the byline; it oulines Trump's -- and his aides' -- many missteps re: Covid-19. ~~~

~~~ Trump Says He Did a Great Job, & Everybody Is Calling to Thank Him. Amanda Macias of CNBC: "December was the deadliest month for America during the pandemic. Yet ... Donald Trump barely uttered a word about Covid-19's tragic toll. Instead, the president spent the month obsessing over unfounded claims of a stolen election, delaying relief legislation before signing it, weighing in on cable news broadcasts and lashing out at members of his own party. And, on Thursday, the last day of the month and the year, Trump tweeted a video in which he boasted about his administration's response to the pandemic.... In a recorded message released Thursday, Trump took the lion's share of the credit for the unprecedented speed in the development of vaccines calling the feat a 'medical miracle.' 'Thanks to Operation Warp Speed we developed a vaccine in just nine months, we've already begun a nationwide vaccination program, and we're sending the vaccine all over the world. The world will benefit we'll benefit, and everybody's calling to thank me,' the president said. Trump also took a moment to praise his work on the economy, saying that his administration 'built the greatest economy in the history of the world.'"

Hmm. John Kruzel of the Hill: "Vice President Pence on Thursday asked a federal judge to reject a bid by Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and other Republicans to broaden Pence's powers in a manner that would effectively allow him to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's electoral win.... In a Thursday brief to Texas-based U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump appointee, Pence said he was not a proper defendant to the suit. 'A suit to establish that the Vice President has discretion over the count, filed against the Vice President, is a walking legal contradiction,' a Department of Justice attorney representing Pence wrote in the filing. Typically, the vice president's role in presiding over the Jan. 6 meeting is a largely ceremonial one governed by an 1887 federal law known as the Electoral Count Act." ~~~

     ~~~ Maggie Haberman & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The [Justice D]epartment, acting on behalf of Mr. Pence, said that Republican lawmakers, led by Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas, could not invalidate the more than century-old law that governs the Electoral College process to expand an otherwise ceremonial role into one that has the power to reject electoral votes that were cast for Mr. Biden.... The Justice Department also made clear in its filing that it welcomed any comments from the federal judge ... that would clarify that Mr. Pence's role in the election was purely procedural. The White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, and the chief of staff, Mark Meadows, were aware the Justice Department was filing on Mr. Pence's behalf before it happened, according to two people briefed on the discussions.... The Justice Department's move to squash an 11th-hour attempt to undo Mr. Biden's victory could put it more at odds with Mr. Trump.... the department under [Acting AG Jeffrey] Rosen has taken a step that Mr. Trump may see as an overt act intended to thwart one of his allies, opening it up to possible retaliation." MB: It does seem that pence is trying to wriggle out of taking any responsibility for Trump's (and of course his own) loss in the vote-counting procedure. If so, Trump surely will dub him a traitor. ~~~

~~~ House Republicans to Vote Against Democracy, Constitution. Jake Tapper of CNN: "Two Republican members of the House of Representatives tell CNN that they expect at least 140 of their GOP colleagues in the House to vote against counting the electoral votes on January 6 when Congress is expected to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory.... Donald Trump's Republican allies have virtually zero chance of changing the result, only to delay by a few hours the inevitable affirmation of Biden as the Electoral College winner and the next president. There have been no credible allegations of any issues with voting that would have impacted the election, as affirmed by dozens of judges, governors, election officials, the Electoral College, the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the US Supreme Court. But Trump is determined to claim he didn't lose -- which he did, significantly -- and many GOP politicians either share his delusion or fear provoking his wrath -- even if that means voting to undermine democracy. Both a House member and senator are required to mount an objection when Congress counts the votes. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said Wednesday he will object, which will force lawmakers in both the House and Senate to vote on whether to accept the results of Biden's victory. Trump has been pushing for Congress to try to overturn the election result as his campaign's attempts to overturn the election through the courts have been repeatedly rejected." MB: Tapper has said on-air that a "handful" of senators are likely to join Hawley. ~~~

~~~ Jonathan Swan of Axios: "In an extraordinary conference call this morning with fellow Senate Republicans, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his Jan. 6 vote certifying Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election will be 'the most consequential I have ever cast,' according to a source on a call and two other sources briefed on the private remarks.... The conference call came in the wake of Sen. Josh Hawley defying McConnell's wishes and publicly declaring that he'll object to certifying the electoral votes in Pennsylvania and perhaps in other states as well.... A source paraphrased McConnell as saying, 'I'm finishing 36 years in the Senate and I've cast a lot of big votes.' including over war and impeachment. 'And in my view, just my view,' McConnell said, 'this is will be the most consequential I have ever cast.' 'The context was McConnell saying we're being asked to overturn the results after a guy didn't get as many electoral votes and lost by 7 million popular votes,' the source said.... His remarks to his conference are likely to escalate President Trump's anger with him for daring acknowledge Trump's defeat.... Many Republican senators are furious at Hawley for forcing them to take what Trump is setting up as the ultimate loyalty test on January 6th." ~~~

~~~ John Wagner & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) called the effort in Congress to reverse President-elect Joe Biden's electoral college victory a 'dangerous ploy,' underscoring the challenge President Trump faces in persuading even members of his own party to join it. In an open letter to constituents, Sasse wrote that there is no evidence of fraud so widespread that it could change the results and said he has urged his colleagues to reject 'a project to overturn the election.' 'All the clever arguments and rhetorical gymnastics in the world wo't change the fact that this January 6th effort is designed to disenfranchise millions of Americans simply because they voted for someone in a different party,' Sasse wrote on Facebook shortly before midnight on Wednesday.... His letter followed Wednesday's announcement by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) that he will object next week when Congress convenes to certify the electoral college vote, a move that will force a contentious floor debate that top Senate Republicans had hoped to avoid." (Also linked yesterday.)

Kevin Brueninger of CNBC: "The head of the White House budget office on Thursday refused to direct staff and resources to help with the incoming Biden administration's spending plans, in an escalating dispute over what the office's responsibilities are during the transition process. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought pushed back on accusations of obstruction raised by President-elect Joe Biden's transition team, adding that his agency will not cooperate with alleged efforts to 'dismantle' Trump administration policies.... The letter from Vought, shared publicly on his Twitter account, turns up the heat in the simmering dispute between ... Donald Trump's administration and the incoming Biden team.... Biden spokesman Andrew Bates in a statement called it 'indefensible,' in the midst of a time of economic hardship, 'to hamstring the United States government's ability to prepare a budget and efficiently deliver help to those who need it most, particularly out of explicit, declared partisanship.'" Bates makes clear Vought's letter makes no sense: he claims not to be obstructing the transition while he vows to obstruct the transition.

Brian Fung of CNN: "Microsoft said Thursday that the suspected Russian hackers behind a massive US government security breach also viewed some of the company's source code. The unauthorized access does not appear to have compromised any Microsoft ... services or customer data, the company said in a blog post. But an investigation showed that the attackers took advantage of their access to Microsoft's systems to view company code.... The disclosure highlights the broad reach of the attackers, whom investigators have described as extremely sophisticated and well-resourced. And it suggests that corporate espionage may have been as much a motive as a hunt for government secrets.... But Microsoft said its security practices begin by preemptively assuming that hackers already have access to the company's source code, and protects its services accordingly."

Matthew Choi of Politico: "The Census Bureau will miss a Dec. 31 deadline for reporting data used to determine congressional seats, the agency announced Wednesday. The delay could hinder ... Donald Trump's effort to exclude some undocumented immigrants from the figures used to apportion House seats.... It will be the first time the bureau will miss the deadline since its 1976 implementation.... Census Bureau documents released by the House Oversight Committee earlier this month show the data may not be delivered until late January -- after President-elect Joe Biden gets inaugurated. That would give the Democratic president an opening to cease Trump's efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count." (Also linked yesterday.)

Georgia Senate Race. Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: '... at an October rally in Macon with Trump[, Sen. David] Perdue did not mention specifics about his career, telling the crowd, 'I'm just a dumb business guy from right over that hill. That was followed by Trump promising to make the United States 'the manufacturing superpower of the world. And we will end our reliance on China once and for all.' Trump made no reference to the fact that Perdue, whom he called a 'very successful man,' made much of his fortune by heading Asian operations for a number of companies that relied on Chinese manufacturing of products sold in the United States.... Perdue was a top executive at some of the country's best-known consumer brands, spending years in Hong Kong and Singapore, which he used as bases to travel across Asia to take advantage of the region's lower-cost workforces." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ David Perdue, a Real-Life Simon Legree. Jessica Goodheart of Capital & Main: "Dollar General, which [Sen. David Perdue] ran between 2003 and 2007, rests on a business model of offering low-cost goods at rock-bottom prices while paying workers poorly.... The corporate dictum that wages remain at 5% of gross sales 'placed us at the bottom of a low-paying industry,' Cal Turner Jr., the son of Dollar General's founder, told ProPublica. Perdue presided over a more than 30-fold increase in the number of employee lawsuits filed against the company.... That vast increase mostly appears due to more than 2,000 wage theft cases filed in 2006 by Dollar General managers who claimed they were classified as managers only so that the company could circumvent federal law, which required hourly employees to be paid overtime when working over 40 hours in a single week.... Capital & Main has uncovered new evidence of allegedly discriminatory practices at the company while Perdue was at the helm, including those that singled out pregnant women and African Americans." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: There were plenty of poor white Republican voters in Georgia. I'm surprised that, as far as I know, Ossoff hasn't hammered Perdue for his cruelty to workers.

Way Beyond the Beltway

U.K. Reuters: "The father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday he was in the process of applying for a French passport to maintain his ties with the European Union after Brexit. Stanley Johnson, a former member of the European Parliament who voted Remain in Britain's 2016 referendum, told RTL radio he wanted to become a French citizen because of strong family links to France." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Last Day of the Worst Year

     ~~~ Marie: I replaced the original video, which went kaput. We'll see if this one lasts through the tolling of Big Ben.

~~~ Victoria Bekiempis of the Guardian: "While the crystal-encrusted New Year's Eve ball will drop in Times Square at midnight on 31 December, its descent ... will be greeted by empty streets due to Covid-19, and not hundreds of thousands of revelers. New York City authorities have announced that Times Square will not be open to the public on New Year's Eve. The party and live performances will go on, albeit virtually: Those wishing to attend can stream online, or watch on television. This dramatic shift -- New Year's Eve gatherings have taken place at the so-called Crossroads of the World since 1904 -- is not unique to Manhattan.... Some private event organizers have adapted their soirees to meet social-distancing guidelines.... At the same time, there are numerous examples of private people and businesses trying to flout restrictions. Word of planned New Year's Eve parties in Los Angeles spurred immense backlash as the area has been devastated by Covid-19.... There are numerous listings for parties across the US. Some hotel-based events are even advertising buffets." ~~~

~~~ Jenny Gross of the New York Times: "In most cities this New Year's Eve, there will be no roaring crowds, no gatherings for fireworks shows and, let's hope, no strangers kissing at midnight. But, after a year punctuated by disease, unemployment and racial unrest, people around the world, in different circumstances than usual, will still raise a glass and toast the start of 2021. Even in countries where coronavirus cases are low, like Australia, local governments have gone back and forth, making plans and then canceling them again, as they try to balance keeping people safe with allowing them to let loose after a difficult year.... The fireworks display over Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong was also canceled, along with the Lunar New Year parade in February, according to The South China Morning Post. In London, the annual fireworks along the Thames River have been canceled, but Big Ben, which has been silent while undergoing renovation, will chime at midnight.... In Rio de Janeiro, wher revelers usually wear white and flock to the beach, the authorities will block beach access to prevent crowds from gathering."

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

House Republicans to Vote Against Democracy. Jake Tapper of CNN reported on-air that at least 140 Republican House members will vote against counting Electoral College votes for Joe Biden. As Tapper point out, none of these Republicans, some from the states whose vote count they are opposing, are questioning the validity of their own victories. No link. MB: Assuming there's a print story coming on this, I'll post it.

Tal Axelrod of the Hill: "Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) announced Thursday that he will quarantine after being exposed to someone infected with COVID-19, taking him off the campaign trail just days before his crucial Senate runoff.... While Perdue and his wife tested negative for COVID-19 Thursday, they will still quarantine based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and their doctor's recommendation."

Rachel Janfaza of CNN: "Florida Congresswoman-elect María Elvira Salazar said Thursday that she has tested positive for Covid-19 and will be unable to attend the congressional swearing-in ceremony at the US Capitol on Sunday. Salazar, a Republican, said on Twitter she was admitted to a local hospital with heart arrhythmia, commonly known as an irregular heartbeat, on December 23, before being tested for Covid-19. That test came back positive, she said."

Bill Hutchinson of ABC News: "The president and CEO of an Indiana hospital has prompted backlash for releasing what medical professionals and health care advocates described as a 'blame the victim' statement about a Black physician who died of COVID-19 after alleging she was mistreated by a doctor and nurses at his medical facility because of the color of her skin. In a press release, Indiana University Hospital president and CEO Dennis M. Murphy described Dr. Susan Moore as a 'complex patient' and said that during her stay at the IU Health North facility in Carmel, Indiana, the nursing staff treating her for coronavirus 'may have been intimidated by a knowledgeable patient who was using social media to voice her concerns and critique the care they were delivering.' Moore, 52, who operated her own family practice, died at another hospital she went to a day after being discharged from IU Health North, her 19-year-old son, Henry Muhammed, told ABC News. Before being sent home from IU Health North, Moore recorded a scathing review of her treatment and posted the video on her Facebook page, saying, 'I put forth, and I maintain, if I was white, I wouldn't have to go through that.'"

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here: "... logistical problems in clinics across the country have put the campaign to vaccinate the United States against Covid-19 far behind schedule in its third week, raising fears about how quickly the country will be able to tame the epidemic."

Fred Imbert of CNBC: "The number of people filing for unemployment benefits for the first time unexpectedly fell last week, marking its second straight decline. Initial jobless claims declined by 19,000 to 787,000 in the week ended Dec. 26, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected initial jobless claims to rise to 828,000. The previous week's total for initial claims was upwardly revised by 3,000 to 806,000. Continuing claims, which include those who have received unemployment benefits for at least two straight weeks, fell by 103,000 to 5.219 million for the week of Dec. 19. Data on continuing claims runs on a one-week lag to the initial claims numbers."

Kate Sullivan of CNN: "On Joe Biden's first day as President, his White House will issue a memo to halt or delay midnight regulations and actions taken by the Trump administration that will not have taken effect by Inauguration Day, Biden transition spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Wednesday. Psaki noted that issuing a regulatory freeze is standard practice for an incoming administration, 'but this freeze will apply not only to regulations but also guidance documents -- documents that can have enormous consequences on the lives of the American people.' The memo will take effect after noon ET on January 20, Psaki said, after Biden is inaugurated. The memo is part of a broader push the Biden transition team has previewed to immediately undo several of outgoing ... Donald Trump's policies."

Matthew Choi of Politico: "The Census Bureau will miss a Dec. 31 deadline for reporting data used to determine congressional seats, the agency announced Wednesday. The delay could hinder ... Donald Trump's effort to exclude some undocumented immigrants from the figures used to apportion House seats.... It will be the first time the bureau will miss the deadline since its 1976 implementation.... Census Bureau documents released by the House Oversight Committee earlier this month show the data may not be delivered until late January -- after President-elect Joe Biden gets inaugurated. That would give the Democratic president an opening to cease Trump's efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count."

John Wagner & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) called the effort in Congress to reverse President-elect Joe Biden's electoral college victory a 'dangerous ploy,' underscoring the challenge President Trump faces in persuading even members of his own party to join it. In an open letter to constituents, Sasse wrote that there is no evidence of fraud so widespread that it could change the results and said he has urged his colleagues to reject 'a project to overturn the election.' 'All the clever arguments and rhetorical gymnastics in the world won't change the fact that this January 6th effort is designed to disenfranchise millions of Americans simply because they voted for someone in a different party,' Sasse wrote on Facebook shortly before midnight on Wednesday.... His letter followed Wednesday's announcement by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) that he will object next week when Congress convenes to certify the electoral college vote, a move that will force a contentious floor debate that top Senate Republicans had hoped to avoid."

Georgia Senate Race. Michael Kranish of the Washington Post: '... at an October rally in Macon with Trump[, Sen. David] Perdue did not mention specifics about his career, telling the crowd, 'I'm just a dumb business guy from right over that hill. That was followed by Trump promising to make the United States 'the manufacturing superpower of the world. And we will end our reliance on China once and for all.' Trump made no reference to the fact that Perdue, whom he called a 'very successful man,' made much of his fortune by heading Asian operations for a number of companies that relied on Chinese manufacturing of products sold in the United States.... Perdue was a top executive at some of the country's best-known consumer brands, spending years in Hong Kong and Singapore, which he used as bases to travel across Asia to take advantage of the region's lower-cost workforces."

U.K. Reuters: "The father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday he was in the process of applying for a French passport to maintain his ties with the European Union after Brexit. Stanley Johnson, a former member of the European Parliament who voted Remain in Britain's 2016 referendum, told RTL radio he wanted to become a French citizen because of strong family links to France."

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The Federal Government has distributed the vaccines to the states. Now it is up to the states to administer. Get moving! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet Wednesday morning, blaming states for chaotic federal vaccination roll-out ~~~

~~~ Isaac Stanley-Becker of the Washington Post: "The largest immunization campaign in U.S. history is off to a slow start, dimming hopes, at the end of a dismal year, of an imminent return to normal. In some places, the vaccination campaign -- among the most complex logistical efforts undertaken in peacetime -- has been marked by chaos and confusion.... The result is the delayed administration of vaccines during the deadliest month of the pandemic so far.... The reasons for the slow start in the United States include a chronic lack of public health funding and the absence of unified communication about the vaccines and their availability. Each state is deciding for itself how to prioritize residents, how to alert people of their place in line, how to sign them up, how to police eligibility, how to promote vaccine acceptance, how to configure immunization sites and how to muster the workforce to get it all done.... President Trump's approach -- furnishing states with vaccines but leaving them largely alone to conduct vaccination -- is at odds with how President-elect Joe Biden is vowing to govern."

Lauren Gambino of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's demand for $2,000 relief checks to Americans struggling financially with the pandemic was all but dead after Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday that a proposal from Democrats had 'no realistic path to quickly pass the Senate'. Declaring that he would not be 'bullied' by Democrats into quickly approving the measure, McConnell effectively denied a final request for legislative action by the president in the waning days of his administration. 'We just approved almost a trillion dollars in aid a few days ago,' McConnell said, referring to the passage of a massive $900bn stimulus package that included $600 direct payments to most American adults. 'It struck a balance between broad support for all kinds of households and a lot more targeted relief for those who need help most'.... '$2000 ASAP!' Trump demanded again on Wednesday before McConnell appeared to extinguish the possibility." The New York Times story is here. ~~~

~~~ Old McConnell Has a Trick, E I E I O. Phil Mattingly of CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced legislation Tuesday to combine two additional demands from ... Donald Trump to an expansion of direct stimulus payments as part of the Covid-19 relief package, raising Democratic concern the pathway for expanded stimulus payments would soon be short-circuited. The Kentucky Republican, shortly before adjourning the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, introduced a bill that would combine increased direct payments with a repeal of the online liability protections known as Section 230 and the establishment of a commission to study voter fraud. The latter two issues have been significant drivers of Trump's ire in the wake of his general election loss -- the latter of which with zero evidence presented to this point. While the move doesn't guarantee McConnell will bring the bill up for a vote, it provides a substantive option should time -- and the political winds -- press the chamber in that direction. It's also one that would be all but certain to fail to garner the votes for passage. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called the bill a 'cynical gambit' and said it would serve as 'a blatant attempt' to ensure the $2,000 direct payments were not signed into law." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Steve M.: "If you're a Republican, you've persuaded your voters that the purpose of government isn't to make ordinary people's lives better -- government just screws up everything it touches anyway, right?... And because [the voters] don't expect to get anything from government except validation of their hatred of liberals and the Democratic Party, they'll be fine. They won't care that the checks didn't go through. They'll still vote for Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in the Georgia Senate runoffs. They won't punish Republicans for this in any upcoming elections." Thanks to RAS for the link.

Nelson Schwartz & Gillian Friedman of the New York Times: "Whatever the amount [of the so-called stimulus check], the reality is that most Americans right now are much more likely to save the money they receive.... For the majority of the estimated 160 million individuals and families who will receive it, spending the money is expected not to be a high priority. After an earlier round of $1,200 stimulus checks went out in the spring, the saving rate skyrocketed and remains at a nearly 40-year high. That largely reflects the lopsided nature of the pandemic recession that has put some Americans in dire straits while leaving many others untouched.... Many experts said a truly stimulative package would have earmarked the payments for those who need it most -- the unemployed." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: IOW, the checks, no matter the amount, will be a boon to the financial industry. Either people will leave the funds in their non-interest-bearing checking accounts for the banks to use, or they will add them to savings, money-market, 401(k)s & similar accounts where financial institutions will profit. The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker; they're SOL.

Tal Axelrod & Naomi Jagoda of the Hill: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that stimulus payments from the most recent coronavirus relief package could begin landing in Americans' bank accounts as early as Tuesday night [i.e., two days ago]. Mnuchin said in a tweet that the Treasury Department had delivered a payment file to the Federal Reserve in association with the package and that 'payments may begin to arrive in some accounts by direct deposit as early as tonight and will continue into next week.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update: In yesterday's Comments, Bobby Lee says a friend in Georgia has already received the $600. Bobby Lee, a cynic, thinks that on accounta the upcoming senatorial election, checks went out to Georgia first. Nah!

Joseph Guzman of the Hill: "President Trump reportedly plans to hold his annual black-tie New Year's Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., despite the raging coronavirus pandemic that has left more than 330,000 Americans dead.... While there's no official word on how many guests will be in attendance this year, a member of Mar-a-Lago told [CNN] at least 500 reservations have been confirmed so far for the event where attendees reportedly paid about $1,000 per ticket in 2019." MB: Trump doesn't care if the event is a Covid superspreader as long as the checks clear before the guests die. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

     ~~~ Update. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Trump will return to Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon, cutting short his trip to Florida for the holidays. According to the president's daily schedule sent late Wednesday for the following day, Trump and the first lady 'will be leaving Florida for the White House' at 11 a.m. The shift in plans means Trump will not be in attendance at the annual New Year's Eve party at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, which guests have already secured tickets for. Trump has attended the annual gathering each of the past three years, typically making brief remarks to guests." MB: Worth bearing in mind: the whole Florida trip flouts CDC guidelines to celebrate the holidays in place.

Rep. Jim Jordan (Rabid-Ohio) asked what one supposes was a rhetorical question when complaining in a tweet about stay-at-home orders necessitated by the pandemic. "What would the Founders say?" asked Jim. Bad news for Jimbo; smarter people than he follow him on Twitter. Amee Vanderpool wrote, "George Washington established quarantine guidelines, travel bans and isolated those infected with smallpox during the Revolutionary War-the colonists even passed a law in 1731 that made reporting the illness mandatory." And Ethan Bearman tweeted, "The Founders passed An Act Related to Quarantine during the 3rd Congress in 1796, signed by PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON. It directed the feds to help states enforce quarantines." MB: My sentiments are with the Rude Pundit: "It would have taken you less than a fucking minute to google this shit and discovered that George Washington ordered quarantines during the small pox epidemic in the 1770s-80s." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link to this HuffPost story. (Also linked yesterday.)

Florida. Bobby Calvan of the AP: "Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis begged for patience from anxious seniors waiting their turn to get inoculated against COVID-19, as confusion and frustration arose over the availability of the life-saving vaccine among some of the state's most vulnerable. At vaccination sites across the state, seniors formed long lines -- some camping out overnight with lawn chairs and blankets -- hoping to gain immunity to fight the virus. Before the sun had even risen Wednesday morning, one southwest Florida county's vaccine supply for the day was already accounted for, prompting officials to turn down anyone else who was arriving. Seniors in other parts of the state were frustrated by busy phone lines and websites that would no longer issue new vaccination appointments. DeSantis has prioritized Floridians older than 65 to be next in line for the state's stock of vaccine, now that most health care workers and other first responders are protected against the virus that has infected more than 1.2 million Floridians." ~~~

~~~ Silent Movie: Everything Is Going Very Smoothly. Seniors lined up Wednesday outside the Fort Myers, Florida, Stars recreation complex, to wait overnight for vaccinations. Republicans really know how to govern, don't they?:

New Hampshire. Live Free [of Masks] or Die. Kathy McCormack of the AP: "New Hampshire's Republican governor said Wednesday that he is canceling his outdoor inauguration ceremony next month because of public safety concerns -- namely, armed protesters who have been gathering outside his home in the weeks since he issued a mask order. 'My first responsibility is ensuring the safety of my family and our citizens' Gov. Chris Sununu said in a news release. 'For weeks, armed protesters have increasingly become more aggressive, targeting my family, protesting outside my private residence, and trespassing on my property -- an outdoor public ceremony simply brings too much risk....' In consultation with Attorney General Gordon MacDonald, Sununu said, he and Senate President Chuck Morse, acting House Speaker Sherm Packard [all Republicans] and the Executive Council will be sworn in during a small ceremony Jan. 7."

U.K. James Gallagher & Nick Triggle of BBC News: "The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, with the first doses due to be given on Monday. There will be 530,000 doses available from next week, and vaccination centres will now start inviting patients to come and get the jab. Priority groups for immunisation have already been identified, starting with care home residents, the over-80s, and health and care workers." (Also linked yesterday.)

The Presidential Transition

Missy Ryan of the Washington Post: "President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate two former senior officials to fill the Pentagon's No. 2 and No. 3 jobs, transition officials said, further signaling the new administration's intent to forge a more predictable foreign policy and revitalize agencies that Biden says have been 'hollowed out' by President Trump. The officials said Biden has selected Kathleen Hicks, a think tank strategist and former senior Pentagon official who is heading Biden's Defense Department transition team, as his nominee to be deputy defense secretary.... The officials said Colin Kahl, who served as a top Pentagon official for the Middle East during the Obama administration and later as Biden's national security adviser, would be nominated to become undersecretary of defense for policy, an influential role that helps shape major security decisions."

Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times tells her Joe Biden story. MB: It's a good one.

The Last Days of the Mad Kaiser

Reuters: "... Donald Trump's pardon of four American men convicted of killing Iraqi civilians while working as contractors in 2007 violated U.S. obligations under international law, U.N. human rights experts said on Wednesday.... The Geneva Conventions oblige states to hold war criminals accountable for their crimes, even when they act as private security contractors, the U.N. experts said. 'These pardons violate U.S. obligations under international law and more broadly undermine humanitarian law and human rights at a global level.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Max Greenwood of the Hill: "President Trump called for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's (R) resignation on Wednesday, hammering him for refusing to back up the president's claim that he carried Georgia in the November presidential election -- despite his loss by 12,000 votes, a result that has survived multiple recounts and court challenges. '@BrianKempGA should resign from office,' Trump tweeted. 'He is an obstructionist who refuses to admit that we won Georgia, BIG! Also won the other Swing States.'" (Also linked yesterday.)

Josh Hawley, Junior Fascist. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced Wednesday that he would object next week when Congress convenes to certify the electoral college vote, a move that all but ensures at least a short delay in cementing President-elect Joe Biden's victory." Politico's story is here. MB: When little Josh heard Missouri was called the "show-me state," he thought it meant, "Show me! Show me! Everyone should see me!" What an ass. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~

~~~ Kyle Cheney has a longish piece in Politico in which he explores how the new House & Senate could change their rules on January 3 in a way that would prevent Hawley or any of his fellow Trumpophiles-of-convenience from giving pence the option to muck up the Electoral College vote count on January 6.

Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President Trump was briefed this month about intelligence reports that China had offered to pay bounties to fighters in Afghanistan who attacked American soldiers there, but the information was uncorroborated and comes months after Mr. Trump dismissed as a 'hoax' a C.I.A. assessment that Russia had paid for such attacks.... United States intelligence agencies collect enormous amounts of information, much of which turns out to be false or misleading.... [The information] comes at a time when Trump administration officials, including the director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, have sought to put more pressure on China, partly in the hope of limiting any plans by the incoming Biden administration to ease tensions with Beijing." ~~~

     ~~~ Lara Seligman of Politico: "... the [China] intelligence is 'very thin' -- thinner even than reports that Russia offered payments to the Taliban to target U.S. and coalition troops, which were never corroborated, [a] senior U.S. official told Politico. The official went on to described the recent intelligence as 'rumors' and lacking 'hard evidence.' But the allegations involving Chinese operatives in Afghanistan are being handled very differently [-- i.e., as if they were more, rather than less, credible than the Russia allegations --] by Trump officials than the those involving Moscow earlier this year."

Shayna Jacobs & Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: "The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has retained forensic accounting specialists to aid its criminal investigation of President Trump and his business operations, as prosecutors ramp up their scrutiny of his company's real estate transactions, according to people familiar with the matter. District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. opened the investigation in 2018 to examine alleged hush-money payments made to two women who, during Trump's first presidential campaign, claimed to have had affairs with him years earlier. The probe has since expanded, and now includes the Trump Organization's activities more broadly.... Vance's office has suggested in court filings that bank, tax and insurance fraud are areas of exploration." (Also linked yesterday.)

Another Trump Lie about a Republican. Alex Kasprak of Snopes: "Not long after Newsmax 'broke' this story [that the brother of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was an executive with China's state-owned technology company Huawei]..., Donald Trump referenced it in one of many tweets to Raffensperger on Dec. 29, 2020, broadly interpreting their reporting to mean that the Georgia secretary of state's brother 'works for China[.]'... The thing is, Ron Raffensperger -- who was accurately described by Daily Beast as 'a random man with the same last name who serves as CTO for a subsidiary of the Huawei conglomerate' -- is not Brad Raffensperger's brother."

Marie: I don't usually ask for favors, but now I need some help with a domestic problem. I would like your assistance in composing a short note I can use to decorate the windshields of vehicles parked in my small lot on which I have posted this "No Parking" sign. I'd like to use proper, upper-crustly language in this note, absent profanities & obscenities, to let the drivers of these occasionally-parked vehicles know they are stupid, fucking, god-damned, narcissistic, arrogant assholes. The object is to shame them for life. Any & all suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

The Commentariat -- December 30, 2020

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

James Gallagher & Nick Triggle of BBC News: "The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, with the first doses due to be given on Monday. There will be 530,000 doses available from next week, and vaccination centres will now start inviting patients to come and get the jab. Priority groups for immunisation have already been identified, starting with care home residents, the over-80s, and health and care workers."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced Wednesday that he would object next week when Congress convenes to certify the electoral college vote, a move that all but ensures at least a short delay in cementing President-elect Joe Biden's victory." Politico's story is here. MB: When little Josh heard Missouri was called the "show-me state," he thought it meant, "Show me! Show me!" What an ass.

Old McConnell Has a Trick, E I E I O. Phil Mattingly of CNN: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced legislation Tuesday to combine two additional demands from ... Donald Trump to an expansion of direct stimulus payments as part of the Covid-19 relief package, raising Democratic concern the pathway for expanded stimulus payments would soon be short-circuited. The Kentucky Republican, shortly before adjourning the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, introduced a bill that would combine increased direct payments with a repeal of the online liability protections known as Section 230 and the establishment of a commission to study voter fraud. The latter two issues have been significant drivers of Trump's ire in the wake of his general election loss -- the latter of which with zero evidence presented to this point. While the move doesn't guarantee McConnell will bring the bill up for a vote, it provides a substantive option should time -- and the political winds -- press the chamber in that direction. It's also one that would be all but certain to fail to garner the votes for passage. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York called the bill a 'cynical gambit' and said it would serve as 'a blatant attempt' to ensure the $2,000 direct payments were not signed into law."

Reuters: "... Donald Trump's pardon of four American men convicted of killing Iraqi civilians while working as contractors in 2007 violated U.S. obligations under international law, U.N. human rights experts said on Wednesday.... The Geneva Conventions oblige states to hold war criminals accountable for their crimes, even when they act as private security contractors, the U.N. experts said. 'These pardons violate U.S. obligations under international law and more broadly undermine humanitarian law and human rights at a global level.'"

Joseph Guzman of the Hill: "President Trump reportedly plans to hold his annual black-tie New Year's Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., despite the raging coronavirus pandemic that has left more than 330,000 Americans dead.... While there's no official word on how many guests will be in attendance this year, a member of Mar-a-Lago told [CNN] at least 500 reservations have been confirmed so far for the event where attendees reportedly paid about $1,000 per ticket in 2019." MB: Trump doesn't care if the event is a Covid superspreader as long as the checks clear before the guests die.

Shayna Jacobs & Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post: "The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has retained forensic accounting specialists to aid its criminal investigation of President Trump and his business operations, as prosecutors ramp up their scrutiny of his company's real estate transactions, according to people familiar with the matter. District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. opened the investigation in 2018 to examine alleged hush-money payments made to two women who, during Trump's first presidential campaign, claimed to have had affairs with him years earlier. The probe has since expanded, and now includes the Trump Organization's activities more broadly.... Vance's office has suggested in court filings that bank, tax and insurance fraud are areas of exploration."

Max Greenwood of the Hill: "President Trump called for Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's (R) resignation on Wednesday, hammering him for refusing to back up the president's claim that he carried Georgia in the November presidential election -- despite his loss by 12,000 votes, a result that has survived multiple recounts and court challenges. '@BrianKempGA should resign from office,' Trump tweeted. 'He is an obstructionist who refuses to admit that we won Georgia, BIG! Also won the other Swing States.'"

Rep. Jim Jordan (Rabid-Ohio) asked what one supposes was a rhetorical question when complaining in a tweet about stay-at-home orders necessitated by the pandemic. "What would the Founders say?" asked Jim. Bad news for Jimbo; smarter people than he follow him on Twitter. Amee Vanderpool wrote, "George Washington established quarantine guidelines, travel bans and isolated those infected with smallpox during the Revolutionary War-the colonists even passed a law in 1731 that made reporting the illness mandatory." And Ethan Bearman tweeted, "The Founders passed An Act Related to Quarantine during the 3rd Congress in 1796, signed by PRESIDENT GEORGE WASHINGTON. It directed the feds to help states enforce quarantines." MB: My sentiments are with the Rude Pundit: "It would have taken you less than a fucking minute to google this shit and discovered that George Washington ordered quarantines during the small pox epidemic in the 1770s-80s." Thanks to PD Pepe for the link to this HuffPost story.

Tal Axelrod & Naomi Jagoda of the Hill: "Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that stimulus payments from the most recent coronavirus relief package could begin landing in Americans' bank accounts as early as Tuesday night [i.e., yesterday]. Mnuchin said in a tweet that the Treasury Department had delivered a payment file to the Federal Reserve in association with the package and that 'payments may begin to arrive in some accounts by direct deposit as early as tonight and will continue into next week.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Update: In today's Comments, Bobby Lee says a friend in Georgia already already has received the $600. Bobby Lee, a cynic, thinks that on accounta the upcoming senatorial election, checks went out to Georgia first. Nah!

~~~~~~~~~~

The Trumpidemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.

Christina Maxouris of CNN: "The US set two more devastating Covid-19 records as it counted down the hours to the end of what has been a calamitous year for the nation. On Tuesday, it recorded more than 3,700 new deaths linked to the virus, a chilling new high. The US also reported the most Covid-19 hospitalizations, with more than 124,600 patients nationwide, according to the COVID Tracking Project."

Alexandra Jaffe of the AP: "President-elect Joe Biden criticized the Trump administration Tuesday for the pace of distributing COVID-19 vaccines and predicted that 'things will get worse before they get better' when it comes to the pandemic. 'We need to be honest -- the next few weeks and months are going to be very tough, very tough for our nation. Maybe the toughest during this entire pandemic,' Biden said during remarks in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ What's to Criticize? Joe Murphy & Corky Siemaszko of NBC News: "The Trump administration's Covid-19 vaccine distribution program needs a major shot in the arm because at the current rate, it would take almost 10 years to inoculate enough Americans to get the pandemic under control, a jarring new NBC News analysis showed Tuesday. The goal of Operation Warp Speed, a private-public partnership led by Vice President Mike Pence to produce and deliver safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines to the public, is to ensure that 80 percent of the country's 330.7 million people get the shots by late June.... So far, only about 2 million people -- most of them front-line health care workers and some nursing home residents -- have gotten their first shots of the 11.5 million doses that were delivered in the last two weeks, a review by NBC News of data from federal and state agencies showed."

Dan Diamond of Politico: "President-elect Joe Biden is expanding his White House Covid-19 Response team, tapping three senior officials to coordinate vaccine, testing and supply chain strategy.... The officials are set to play a major role in Biden's response to the worsening pandemic, which the president-elect has made his top priority ahead of taking office.... Biden has selected Bechara Choucair, a Kaiser Permanente executive, to be the nation's Covid-19 vaccine coordinator.... The president-elect chose Carole Johnson, the commissioner of New Jersey's human services department and a former senior health adviser in the Obama-Biden White House, as the nation's new Covid-19 testing coordinator.... Additionally, Biden picked Tim Manning, who served as deputy administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency for all eight years of the Obama-Biden administration, to be the nation's new Covid-19 supply coordinator."

Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received a coronavirus vaccination on Tuesday in Washington, joining President-elect Joe Biden, Vice President Mike Pence and other leaders who have been inoculated. Harris took the shot at United Medical Center in Southeast D.C., an area of the nation's capital that is home to a large proportion of the city's African American residents. People of color have disproportionately been affected by the toll of Covid-19, and public health officials have sought to combat vaccine hesitancy in these groups.... Harris received a dose of the vaccine manufactured by Moderna, as did her husband, Doug Emhoff, who received his shot out of public view."

Mike DeBonis & Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday blocked consideration of a House bill that would deliver $2,000 stimulus payments to most Americans -- spurning a request by President Trump even as more Senate Republicans voiced support for the dramatically larger checks. McConnell's move was just the beginning of a saga that is likely to engulf the Senate for the rest of the week. Democrats are pushing for an up-or-down vote on the House bill, while more Republicans acknowledge a need for larger stimulus checks. Tension within the Republican party spilled into public view on Tuesday, with Trump leveling pointed attacks at GOP leaders for failing to act, accusing them of being 'pathetic' and suggesting they had a 'death wish.'... 'WE NEED NEW & ENERGETIC REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP,' he wrote. New proponents of the $2,000 checks include Georgia's two embattled Republican senators -- David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler...." The AP's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.)

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "Colorado officials on Tuesday reported the first known case in the United States of a person infected with the mutation-laden coronavirus variant that has been circulating rapidly across much of the United Kingdom and has led to a lockdown of much of southern England. The case involves a male in his 20s who is currently in isolation in Elbert County and has no travel history, according to a tweet from the office of Gov. Jared Polis." (Also linked yesterday.)

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "Dozens of research papers published over the past few months have found that people whose bodies were teeming with the coronavirus more often became seriously ill and were more likely to die, compared with those who carried much less virus and were more likely to emerge relatively unscathed.... The results suggest that knowing the so-called viral load -- the amount of virus in the body -- could help doctors...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Sam Karlin of the New Orleans Times-Picayune: "Congressman-elect Luke Letlow [R] died Tuesday evening from complications with COVID-19, shaking the Louisiana political world weeks after his election to represent Louisiana's 5th District in Congress as the state's youngest U.S. representative. Letlow, 41, died at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport from 'complications from COVID-19,' his spokesman, Andrew Bautsch, said in a statement."

Sarah Polus of the Hill: "A Massachusetts GOP leader who has COVID-19 says he most likely contacted it at a White House Hanukkah party on Dec. 9, local station WJAR reported last week. Tom Mountain, the vice chairman of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee, was hospitalized and almost put on a ventilator just a few days after attending the event, one of the 25 holiday parties thrown at the White House this month, according to The Washington Post.... Photos of Mountain from the gathering show him and many others around him without masks on. While masks were required while in line, many partygoers removed them upon entry, according to the Post." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Like every Republican, Mountain doesn't see something -- even an international crisis -- as real unless it touches him personally: "Mountain is now urging others to heed the advice of health experts of social distancing. 'I didn't listen to the warnings of my own family, and now I’m paying the price,' Mountain told The Boston Globe.

California. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde, et al., of Yahoo! News: "The crisis at Los Angeles County hospitals hit new levels as patients continued to stream in during the holiday weekend, and the medical system is bracing for a new wave of coronavirus spread arising from Christmas travel and gatherings. L.A. County's cumulative COVID-19 death toll is expected to climb past 10,000 this week. Hospitals are so inundated that they've resorted to placing patients in conference rooms and gift shops. But even so, many facilities are running out of space. Virtually all hospitals in L.A. County are being forced to divert ambulances with certain types of patients elsewhere during most hours. On Sunday, 94% of L.A. County hospitals that take in patients stemming from 911 calls were diverting some ambulances away."

Last Days of the Mad Kaiser

Toluse Olorunnipa & Jabin Botsford of the Washington Post review Trump's year that was.

Whiney-Prez* Knocks Congressional Republicans. Morgan Chalfant of the Hill: "President Trump on Tuesday sharply criticized Republican leaders for allowing a vote to override his veto of a must-pass defense policy bill, calling them'weak' and 'tired' and accusing them of a 'disgraceful act of cowardice.' The House on Monday evening voted 322-87 to override Trump's veto of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), teeing up what may be the first and only veto override of Trump's presidency. 'Weak and tired Republican "leadership" will allow the bad Defense Bill to pass,' Trump tweeted Tuesday morning, apparently referring to GOP Senate leadership." (Also linked yesterday.)

AP: "... Donald Trump' campaign asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to take its failed lawsuit challenging election results in swing state Wisconsin. Trump lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden by about 21,000 votes. The president's campaign filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court seeking to disqualify more than 221,000 ballots in Dane and Milwaukee counties, the state's two most heavily Democratic counties. Trump wanted to disqualify absentee ballots cast early and in-person, saying there wasn't a proper written request made for the ballots; absentee ballots cast by people who claimed 'indefinitely confined' status; absentee ballots collected by poll workers at Madison parks; and absentee ballots where clerks filled in missing information on ballot envelopes. The state Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit, ruling 4-3 that Trump's challenge to voters who were indefinitely confined was without merit and that the other claims came too late."

Oh, Dear, Will Pence Foil the Gohmert Plot? Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Lawyers for Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Arizona's 11 Republican electors revealed Tuesday that Vice President Mike Pence declined to sign onto their plan to upend Congress' certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory. It's the first indication that Pence is resisting some of the most extreme calls to reverse the presidential election results, thus relying on his role as the presiding officer on Jan. 6, when Congress meets to finalize Biden's win.... Pence still has not publicly weighed in on his plans for presiding over the Jan. 6 session, when Congress will count electoral votes expected to certify Biden's victory. He also has not publicly commented on Trump's repeated calls to reverse the results of the democratic process and install himself for a second term." ~~~

~~~ Rosalind Helderman & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: “President Trump and his allies are growing increasingly desperate as Congress prepares to formally receive the votes that will confirm his election loss next week, filing lawsuits against nonexistent entities and even Trump's own vice president as they try to come up with new ways to overturn the vote.... Trevor Potter, a Republican election law expert ... said the remedy [Rep. Louis] Gohmert [R-Texas] is seeking 'would stand the Constitution on its head. It would effectively deliver to the vice president the right to determine who won the presidential election. If the vice president has authority to pick his favorite electors, then you wouldn't need a Congress or a Constitution.'"

Georgia. WSB-TV Atlanta News: "... the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has finished the signature audit in Cobb County over the November election. Earlier in the month, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said his office had investigated credible allegations that Cobb County improperly performed signature matches during the June primary, so he ordered a signature audit for the November election in that county.... Raffensperger ... said there were only two mismatched signatures among the more than 15,000 votes in the audit.... The inaccuracy came from a wife who signed her name to ballots for both her and her husband, the Secretary of State said.... The audit found no fraudulent absentee ballots with a 99% confidence threshold, Raffensperger's office said in a news release Tuesday."

Matt Naham of Law & Crime: "A senior U.S. District judge called Donald Trump a 'criminal' during a phone call with the Associated Press as he discussed the 45th president's recent pardons of political allies who were convicted in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Senior U.S. District Judge Robert W. Pratt, a Bill Clinton appointee who had been the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa before assuming senior status in 2012, said..., 'It's not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals.'" The AP story is here." (Also linked yesterday.)

Will Sommer of the Daily Beast: "Former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is going all in on the QAnon conspiracy theory, promoting an online store to sell QAnon hats and T-shirts, the proceeds of which will benefit his partnership with a prominent QAnon booster. Flynn's drawn-out legal battle with Special Counsel Robert Mueller turned him into a hero for QAnon believers. Many QAnon supporters, who rely on mysterious online clues to construct a worldview where the Democratic Party and other institutions are controlled by a cabal of pedophile-cannibals, claim that Flynn is 'Q', the anonymous figure behind the conspiracy theory. They also took a previously obscure Flynn quote about the American military's 'digital soldiers' as their banner, adopting the phrase to refer to QAnon believers themselves."MB: Other than that & a few other itty-bitty lapses (secretly representing Turkey, dining with Putin, for instance), Flynn was a perfectly well-qualified National Security Advisor, and President Obama should not have fired him.

Peter Grant of the Wall Street Journal: "Kushner Cos., the family business of White House senior aide Jared Kushner, filed papers to raise at least $100 million by selling bonds in Israel. The deal would be Kushner Cos.' first capital raise on the Israeli bond market, as well as the largest unsecured capital raise by the family-controlled business that owns billions of dollars worth of apartments, office buildings and other commercial property in the U.S. Kushner Cos. filed the papers this month with the Israel Securities Authority and would sell the bonds on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The company has raised other forms of capital in Israel in the past from both banks and equity partners.... The move by Kushner Cos. is likely to rekindle the criticism of the potential conflicts of interest between Mr. Kushner's role in the White House and his family's business.... Mr. Trump this month pardoned Mr. Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, who was sentenced in 2005 to two years in prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion and witness tampering." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The story is ostensibly firewalled, but I was able to call it up twice. ~~~

~~~ "Open & Transparent," Trump-style. Joseph Krauss of the AP: "The United States sold the ambassador's residence in Israel for more than $67 million in July, according to an official Israeli record of the sale that shines new light on a transaction that has been shrouded in secrecy. The State Department confirmed the sale in September but refused to identify the buyer or disclose the sale price of the sprawling beachfront compound in the upscale Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya. On Tuesday, it said the sale had been 'open and transparent.' The Israeli business newspaper Globes has identified the buyer as the U.S. casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a strong supporter of both ... Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.... It appears to be the most expensive single residence ever sold in Israel. Congressional aides told The Associated Press in September that lawmakers in the House and Senate were looking into whether the sale of the residence complied with regulations. The sale helped to cement Trump's controversial decision to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem in 2018 and to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. By selling the residence, it would make it harder for future presidents to reverse the decision to move the embassy. President-elect Joe Biden has criticized the decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem but says he will not reverse it." ~~~

~~~ Speaking of Sheldon Adelson. AP: "Jonathan Pollard, who spent 30 years in U.S. prison for spying for Israel, arrived in Israel early Wednesday with his wife, triumphantly kissing the ground as he exited the aircraft in the culmination of a decades-long affair.... 'We are ecstatic to be home at last after 35 years,' Pollard said as he was greeted at Israel's international airport by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader jubilantly presented Pollard and his wife Esther with Israeli ID cards, granting them citizenship.... Pollard arrived on a private plane provided by American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.... Pollard's arrival was first reported by Israel Hayom, a newspaper owned by Adelson.... Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy, sold military secrets to Israel while working at the Pentagon in the 1980s. He was arrested in 1985 after trying unsuccessfully to gain asylum at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and pleaded guilty. The espionage affair during the Reagan years embarrassed Israel and tarnished its relations with the United States for years."

Georgia Senate Race. Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge in Georgia on Monday ordered two counties to reverse a decision removing more than 4,000 voters from the rolls ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff elections that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. The judge, Leslie Abrams Gardner -- the sister of former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, a prominent ally of President-elect Joe Biden who has led voter registration efforts across the state -- concluded that the counties appeared to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to invalidate registrations in the two counties." ~~~

~~~ David Corn of Mother Jones: Kelly Loeffler is just about the swampiest swamp creature in Washington, D.C.: As a U.S. senator, "Loeffler was overseeing regulators at the same time they were engaged in activity affecting a company she was intimately tied to as a current shareholder, former executive, and spouse of its CEO. That's very swampy."

Beyond the Beltway

Kentucky. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "The Louisville police officer who fired the shot that killed Breonna Taylor, a Black emergency room technician whose death set off a wave of protests on American streets, was told on Tuesday that the department was moving to oust him from the force, as was a second officer who obtained a judge's approval for the poorly planned nighttime raid on her home. The move is the most significant acknowledgment by the department that its officers had committed serious violations when they burst through Ms. Taylor's door late one night in March, encountered gunfire, and then fired a volley of shots at her and her boyfriend. The terminations mark an effort by the city's interim police chief, Yvette Gentry, to achieve the reckoning she promised when she came out of retirement to lead the troubled department into the beginning of the new year. Lawyers for Detective Myles Cosgrove, one of the officers who shot Ms. Taylor, and Detective Joshua Jaynes, who prepared the search warrant for the raid, said each had received notices of termination. Both have been on administrative reassignment as the investigations have been underway." The Louisville Courier Journal story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Malachy Browne, et al., of the New York Times: "None of the police officers who raided Breonna Taylor's home wore body cameras, impeding the public from a full understanding of what happened. The Times's visual investigation team built a 3-D model of the scene and pieced together critical sequences of events to show how poor planning and shoddy police work led to a fatal outcome." This is a video report, and it is as disturbing as you might expect.

Ohio. Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "Two Cleveland police officers will avoid federal criminal charges for their role in the killing of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old Black boy who had been carrying a pellet gun when he was shot in 2014, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday, citing a lack of evidence in the high-profile case. The announcement drew to a close a five-year federal investigation into the actions of then-Officer Timothy Loehmann and his partner, Officer Frank Garmback, one that has been criticized by Tamir's family and government watchdogs as deeply flawed and politically influenced.... In 2019, two career prosecutors in the Justice Department's civil rights division were denied permission to use a grand jury to issue subpoenas for documents or witness testimony.... Justice Department officials said in a lengthy statement on Tuesday that they could not establish that the officers involved in Tamir's killing willfully violated his civil rights or that they knowingly made false statements with the intent of obstructing a federal investigation." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: "were denied permission to use a grand jury": The use of the passive voice here is maddening. "Were denied"? By whom? A career mid-level DOJ lawyer? A political appointee? Bill Barr?

Tennessee. Natalie Allison of the Tennessean: "Sixteen months before Anthony Quinn Warner's RV exploded in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, officers visited his home in Antioch after his girlfriend reported that he was making bombs in the vehicle, according to documents obtained by The Tennessean.... In the aftermath [of the Nashville bombing], The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Warner was 'not on our radar' prior to the bombing. But a Metro Nashville Police Department report from August 2019 shows that local and federal authorities were aware of alleged threats he had made.... On Aug. 21, 2019, the girlfriend told Nashville police that Warner 'was building bombs in the RV trailer at his residence,' the MNPD report states.... Officers saw his RV behind the house, but the vehicle was fenced off and police were unable to see inside of it, the [police] report said.... Nashville police then forwarded the information to the FBI." A New York Times story is here.

Beyond the Beltway

Dharna Noor of Gizmodo: "This past autumn, people all across the U.S. southwest were finding an astounding number of dead birds littered along roads, on golf courses, and in their own driveways. Some estimated that hundreds of thousands of the creatures perished.... Lab results on bird necropsies from the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center ... suggest that starvation was a cause of the mass die-off seen in August and September. 80% of the carcasses the researchers analyzed showed signs of starvation.... The findings are a warning sign of difficult times ahead for birds. As the climate crisis worsens, studies show the American West and South will see far more frequent and severe dry spells. Seemingly random spurts of cold weather will also become more common.... A 2019 report found that North America has already lost 30% of its birds since 1970[.]" --s

Way Beyond the Beltway

** China. Communist Capitalism is Awesome, Slave State Edition. Alison Killing & Megha Rajagopalan of Buzzfeed News: "China has built more than 100 new facilities in Xinjiang where it can not only lock people up, but also force them to work in dedicated factory buildings right on site, BuzzFeed News can reveal based on government records, interviews, and hundreds of satellite images. In August, BuzzFeed News uncovered hundreds of compounds in Xinjiang bearing the hallmarks of prisons or detention camps, many built during the last three years in a rapid escalation of China's campaign against Muslim minorities including Uighurs, Kazakhs, and others.... Collectively, the factory facilities identified by BuzzFeed News cover more than 21 million square feet -- nearly four times the size of the Mall of America.... Xinjiang's industry is booming, and the region has one of the fastest GDP growth rates in China. Xinjiang exports a range of products, from clothing to machinery, and the US is one of the region's fastest-growing markets." --s ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I see where Ivanka Trump is thinking of running for public office. The Chinese system sounds like one she would heartily endorse (or enforce, if it were in her power).

News Lede

CBS News: "Dawn Wells, best known for portraying the girl-next-door castaway Mary Ann Summers on the iconic 1960s CBS sitcom 'Gilligan's Island,' died Wednesday of complications related to COVID-19. She was 82."