There are many last-minute news tidbits this morning. (I threw in a few that weren't as bleak.)
'I think we might be entering a prolonged government shutdown': Politico reporter warns https://t.co/OBJMp1KJPV #SmartNews
— 🌵 🌊🐾 🆘 Lisa (@LisaKeel9) December 24, 2020
BREAKING: GOP blocks House Democrats’ attempt to pass $2,000 stimulus checks after Trump voices supporthttps://t.co/w0i3wV56na
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) December 24, 2020
Looks like Trump is going on air to pressure Congress on the election certification https://t.co/nroqsvl61V
— Sam Stein (@samstein) December 24, 2020
Via @CNNPolitics: Trump is more erratic than ever with final days in sight https://t.co/t8uPh9LN8L |
— joshua epstein🏳️🌈🖖🏼🗽👨🏼💻🇺🇸 (@thejoshuablog) December 24, 2020
Trump Appoints Anti-Gay Conversion Therapy Practitioner and Christian Extremist Marcus Bachmann (Husband of Michelle) to Advisory Panel - Towleroad Gay News. ....The hits keep coming in the 11th hour ... https://t.co/iYQ3ljSYX6
— One of the 80 million on the right side of history (@dotcalmu) December 24, 2020
Inside the chaotic first days of the effort to vaccinate America against Covid-19. https://t.co/NHEQWFMe1s
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 24, 2020
Trump has been an ethics disaster, and exposed a glaring need for executive branch ethics reform, to hold those in power accountable to the people. We have a way forward. https://t.co/vb91I8CXfr
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) December 24, 2020
Thousands Flee Fire on Christmas Eve Be Safe @USMC https://t.co/9JTj1KRKez pic.twitter.com/eSuhTy7rtG
— Russel L. Honore' (@ltgrusselhonore) December 24, 2020
Scientists have discovered that, on occasions, an octopus will “punch” a fish for no reason other than “spite”https://t.co/o3uYm1iiN6
— Abbie Cheeseman (@cheesemanab) December 23, 2020
.@TwitterSupport @Twitter @jack
Please pic.twitter.com/YFp6H2xvt6— kodiak149 (@kodiak149) December 23, 2020
A majority of Americans would back a Biden mask mandate https://t.co/ZTOmuIXUM8
— Vox (@voxdotcom) December 24, 2020
any Republican senator genuinely appalled by Trump’s behavior and not named Mitt Romney needs a long look in the mirrorhttps://t.co/dcVzyamIk9
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 24, 2020
War criminals. He’s pardoned war criminals. https://t.co/74AK5bPOaI
— VoteVets (Text VOTEVETS to 88424) (@votevets) December 23, 2020
Senate runoff race ugliness: Voters report campaign sign vandalism. https://t.co/8rsI6tl6fr
— Debbie (@Dangchick1) December 24, 2020
The @umichmedicine where Dr. Susan Moore earned her medical degree should set up a center in her name focused on healthcare inequity due to racism. May her memory be a call to action. https://t.co/3m1VqJq63Z
— Jennifer Taub (@jentaub) December 24, 2020
“When we say health disparities, what we’re really saying is disparities in death, because people are dying.” -@RevDrBarber #COVID19 #PoorPeoplesCampaign #ChristmasEve https://t.co/FarUqTimLE
— Repairers of the Breach (@BRepairers) December 24, 2020
Last-minute policies on religious freedom clear the way for employers to hire on the basis of faith. Some of the changes won't be easy for Biden to undo. https://t.co/AiAA6a26h3
— ProPublica (@propublica) December 24, 2020
This year has been a tough one no matter where you live in the world, but discoveries beyond our planet and dazzling images of the cosmos provided a bright spot in 2020 https://t.co/eCHRRvgJ51
— CNN International (@cnni) December 24, 2020
Daniel Snyder, in court filing, calls sexual misconduct allegation "meritless."
The Washington Football Team owner also accuses co-owner Dwight Schar of leading an "extortion campaign." https://t.co/Nr8eVh3Y81— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 24, 2020
After the latest pardons, Americans are so grateful tonight to hear from concerned politicians who did little to protect our democracy for four years.
— Michael Beschloss (@BeschlossDC) December 24, 2020
.@RevDrBarber blasts white evangelicals' obsession with abortion and homosexuality over Jesus' Gospel lessons on helping the least among us: "If we were in the ancient world, we would have had a Nicaean council by now and declared white evangelicalism a form of heresy." pic.twitter.com/wj6gpX4u05
— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) December 24, 2020
JAIL FOR LIFE: Trump’s 2nd night of Pardons and Commutations is an orgy of corruption from the head of a Crime Family. Biden's right to want to heal. But first his Att'y General must have a Special Counsel prosecute Trump, his family, his cabinet, his coup plotters, his staffers. pic.twitter.com/QToTGWmIcp
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) December 24, 2020
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Anthony Fauci --> What’s a fun fact that people might not know about you? “That, before I got too busy, I used to love to dance, particularly with my wife. So, nobody knows that Tony Fauci really likes to dance, but I do." https://t.co/UhC3EH2spo
— POLITICO Playbook (@playbookplus) December 24, 2020
Not gonna lie, I had to mute the phone during the interview and take a moment to collect myself when I heard this bit about COVID-19, chaplaincy, vaccines, and Christmas. https://t.co/Y3vhzEUZC1 pic.twitter.com/gQBhcw52M6
— Jack Jenkins (@jackmjenkins) December 24, 2020
If only SENATOR BEN SASSE — who voted to acquit Trump in the impeachment trial — could have done something to avoid this kind of brazen corruption from Trump! https://t.co/zMY6qDVIDO
— Matt Rogers 🗳 (@Politidope) December 24, 2020
Any significant changes to policing in America are likely to require dismantling deeply ingrained systems that shield police officers from scrutiny, make it difficult to remove them and portend roadblocks for reform effort.
This is how we got here. https://t.co/MIKcwyAVDm— The New York Times (@nytimes) December 22, 2020
Incompetence, waste, fraud: the border wall is another Trump disaster https://t.co/PAbOxzfJWz
— The National Memo (@NationalMemo) December 24, 2020
Anyone stunned by anything Trump does at this point is a jackass. https://t.co/fy0R9AFDWO
— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) December 24, 2020
What may #Manafort be hiding in exchange for pardon?
Recall this nugget in Sen. @RonWyden's note accompanying Senate Intelligence Committee report:
Wyden: The unredacted version of the report includes “indications of Manafort’s own connections to [the hack and leak] operations” pic.twitter.com/rO33ptsiui— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) December 24, 2020
More than 4 million people who got laid off at the start of the pandemic have already run out of unemployment benefits.
The new bill would throw them a lifeline — if Trump signs it https://t.co/BXZpJ7EPaF— Arthur Delaney (@ArthurDelaneyHP) December 24, 2020
"The most insidious damage to American norms from Trump’s pardon extravaganza stems not from the extravaganza itself, though that is bad enough," @RosenzweigP writes: https://t.co/3Jqef3fDyY
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) December 24, 2020
With 27 days left in his presidency, Donald Trump has thrown the government he is supposed to be leading into an intractable crisis, our @playbookplus authors say https://t.co/1X4RAp33nR
— POLITICO (@politico) December 24, 2020
The Biden-Harris Transition releases adorable #Christmas video from Champ Biden and Major Biden. pic.twitter.com/DfqbqJtIZa
— The Hill (@thehill) December 24, 2020
And finally, because everyone needs four hours of music to help you finish getting ready. Merry Christmas!