Thursday housecleaning

 As all real Americans know, Trump saved Christmas.  Nevertheless, millions of Americans will be on their own as of Boxing Day.  On December 26 twelve million will lose their special Trumpandemic jobless benefit unless Congress acts.  Is Congress acting?  Sure, just not on that.   Only yesterday Mitch and the gang confirmed another unqualified lawyer to the federal bench in Florida.  She's only thirty, so she'll have plenty of time to learn about trial procedure and all that other stuff.  I'll bet Matlock is on every day in Florida.

There was a disturbance in the Farce this morning as Glenn Beck and his marching MAGAts arrived in Atlanta to encourage the vote-counters to certify the correct result.  It doesn't look like he was successful.  Trump is still in hiding, tweeting taunts at Governor Kemp, who seems happy to let Brad take the heat and the death threats.  This is how we hold elections now.  By the way, there's a body of opinion that it's finally time to abolish that 18th century relic the electoral college.  Probably a lot of secretaries of state would sign the petition right now.  

Emily Murphy of the GSA still refuses to authorize the transition despite entreaties from the public health community, her predecessor, the president-elect himself and various other sane people.  Today she broke her silence with this tweet:

No idea what it means but I imagine the Q Qommunity is on high alert.

Elsewhere on the social media, someone unearthed this Facebook post by Jenna Ellis:

The internet never forgets.  That line about shooting someone on Fifth Avenue wasn't even original, was it?  He remembered it as praise and four years later hired Ellis as his lawyer.  

Americans are being urged, except by idiots like Scott Atlas, to avoid large gatherings during the holidays, but at the White House, where people are still recovering from the Election Night coronavirus blowout, it's business as usual.  The annual Hanukkah reception is scheduled for December 9, an excellent chance to discuss the appointment of white nationalist Darren Beattie to the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.  The Trumps are spending Thanksgiving in the White House, too, possibly fearing that if they leave someone will change the locks.  In Trump America, turkey pardons president!

If you still cling to a belief in "herd immunity," here's a story about how it failed in Sweden and helps the virus mutate more quickly, rendering useless the vaccines everyone has such hopes for.  Read it with a mask on, for cod's sake.

It wouldn't be The Holidays without the Rockefeller Center tree, and wait till you see the specimen they just erected.  Since when is it supposed to symbolize the year?  

And there was a scared owl clinging to it.  I don't know what that portends, and I'm afraid to find out.