TRANSITION TROUBLE: CBS News reports that Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Fox News host Pete Hegseth, will be short of enough Senate votes to win confirmation.  The network says this morning that Trump might replace Hegseth with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who Trump used to call during the bitter primaries “Ron DeSanctimonious.”

  Trump and his team evidently did not vet Hegseth’s record, which includes an accusation of sexual assault and being ejected from the leadership of two veterans’ organizations for financial mismanagement, drunkenness, and creepy treatment of women. He’s been hounded by reporters in Senate hallways shouting questions about his personal life, which is never a good sign

  Trump has been picking appointees by “instinct” and personal loyalty,  sometimes evaluating only their performance on camera. Yesterday the Trump team signed an agreement to have the FBI vet the job candidates, which they should have been doing from the start. 

  Among the many Trump nominees to government positions who are questionably qualified, finally one of them admits it.  Florida Sheriff Chad Chronister, who has 30 years in law enforcement and was Trump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, withdrew from consideration because he has no knowledge of the international drug trade and, “the gravity of this very important responsibility set in.”

  He is the second Trump nominee to back away, following the scandal-plagued former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. More nominees may fall. 

Kimchee Krisis: South Korean lawmakers are moving to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol following a day of political turmoil in which he briefly declared martial law accusing the opposition of plotting an “insurgency” and “trying to overthrow the free democracy.” Only hours later the National Assembly voted to block the order as thousands of protesters filled the streets in Seoul, demanding that the president resign.

  This was the first time a South Korean president declared martial law since the military dictatorship ended in 1980. Yoon called his declaration an act “of national resolve against the anti-state forces that are trying to paralyze the essential functions of the state and disrupt the constitutional order of our liberal democracy.”

  South Korea is a vital US ally in Asia and 30,000 American troops are stationed there.

  The opposition party controls the National Assembly and Yoon has complained that the majority impeaches members of his cabinet, blocks his budget plans, and  has “paralyzed the administration.” 

  While the order was in effect an Army general declared a ban on all political activity and decreed that “all news media and publications are under the control of martial law command,” warning that those who spread “fake news” could be arrested. Yoon lifted his order late in the day and the military returned to their bases. 

THE WAR ROOM: Syrian rebels fighting government forces are moving on the city of Hama, a key area of support for President Bashar al Assad and his government. They’ve already taken the city of Aleppo.

  The rebels claim they have taken Al-Mujanzarat Military Academy, one of the government’s largest military bases, east of Hama. 

  Syrian aircraft backed by Russian jets have been pounding rebel positions, but the insurgent appear to be gaining ground.

WALKABOUT: The disappearance of a woman from Hawaii while she was making a connection to New York at Los Angeles International Airport set off a three week search during which her father committed suicide near LAX.

  Hannah Kobayashi, 30, missed her flight to New York where she was supposed to start  a new job and went silent. Over the ensuing weeks investigators spotted her on security video, shopping at The Grove in Los Angeles and touring the city. She was last seen crossing into Mexico with her luggage.

  Police in Los Angeles have concluded that  Kobayashi is, indeed, missing, but voluntarily. They urged to her to get in touch with her family.

THE SPIN RACK: California Democrat Adam Gray won his race for the House by a mere 187 votes closing out the last uncalled contest for Congress. Republicans control the House starting next year by only five votes. —New York City’s billionaire former mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a public health conference that having Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health   would be “beyond dangerous,” and tantamount to “medical malpractice on a mass scale.” Bloomberg derided Kennedy for claiming that that the Covid-19 shot was the “deadliest vaccine ever made.” — A federal appeals court ruled that Idaho can partially enforce its “abortion trafficking law,” which prevents adults from “harboring” or “transporting” minors out of state to end a pregnancy without parental consent. The law, the first of its kind in the country, went into effect in May of 2023. — Horror author Stephen King announced that he’s shutting down his three popular independent radio stations in Maine after losing millions of dollars to keep them running. King said he’s in good health but said in a news release that although he’s in good health he’s trying to get his business affairs in order. The stations go silent New Year’s Eve. — Alex Consani, a transgender woman, was named Model of the Year at the annual Fashion Awards in London on Monday night. She has strolled the catwalk for Chanel, Stella McCartney, and even Victoria’s Secret. 

 BELOW THE FOLD:  Sophie Rain, the biggest star on OnlyFans, the do-it-yourself porn site, says she earned $43 million in a year exposing herself yet claims she is a devout Christian and still a virgin. We might need a new definition of virginity. 

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