DANCING LEGAL ARGUMENTS: President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on the impending closure or sale of  the social media app TikTok, which he’s looking to save. The Chinese owners face a January 20^th deadline set by Congress and Trump wants to delay any action until he is President on January 20^th. 

 The brief filed on behalf of Trump says, “President Trump opposes banning TikTok in the United States at this juncture and seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.”

  Congress voted overwhelmingly to force the sale or closure of the wildly popular social media app as a matter of national security. The general belief in Washington is that TikTok’s Chinese owners use the app to gather information, data, and intelligence about its American users. 

  The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments about TikTok next month, but Trump wants action sooner. The very Trumpish brief says, “President Trump alone possesses the consummate deal-making expertise, the electoral mandate and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the government — concerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged.” 

  Trump has said he believes TikTok helped him to get elected. “President Trump is one of the most powerful, prolific and influential users of social media in history,” his brief says. “Consistent with his commanding presence in this area, President Trump currently has 14.7 million followers on TikTok with whom he actively communicates, allowing him to evaluate TikTok’s importance as a unique medium for freedom of expression, including core political speech.”

ECON 101: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says she will have to take “extraordinary measures” to prevent the United States from defaulting on its debt if Congress does not raise or eliminate the debt limit by January 14^th.

  A suspension of the debt limit passed by Congress in June of 2023 expires on January 2. Donald Trump has called for Congress to permanently eliminate the debt limit but he’s dealing with a handful of House Republicans who refuse to do that or even raise the limit.

  The federal government runs in the red and constantly borrows money to support programs and pay its bills. Yellen’s “extraordinary measures” would involve shuffling money and accounts to create a temporary illusion of liquidity. But she said in a letter to Congress, “I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the full faith and credit of the United States.” 

FRIENDLY FIRE: Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to the president of neighboring Azerbaijan for the downing of a commercial airliner in Russian airspace, but stopped short of saying Russia was responsible. The jet crash-landed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 of the 67 people on board.

  The rear half of the jet which survived the crash was peppered with shrapnel holes from anti-aircraft fire. Putin said the “tragic incident” on Christmas day had occurred when Russian air defense systems were repelling Ukrainian drones.  

THE OBIT PAGE: Long time sports announcer Greg Gumbel, a fixture in coverage of football and basketball for the NFL and CBS, died of cancer in Florida at age 78. He was the older brother of Bryant Gumbel, also a sports announcer, who for many years was host of NBC’s “The Today Show.”

   Greg Gumbel hosted and analyzed sports events for 50 years. He worked for NBC, ESPN, the MSG Network, and CBS for which he was the play-by-play announcer for Super Bowl 35 and Super Bowl 38.

  — Actress Olivia Hussey, who played Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 movie version of  “Romeo and Juliet,” died yesterday at age 73. No cause was given but she was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2018.  She was only 15 when she rocketed to fame as Juliet.

THE SPIN RACK: The annual federal headcount of the homeless in America found that 770,000 people are living in shelters or outdoors, up 18 percent from the previous year. — An unidentified Mega Millions player in California has won the lottery’s $1.22 billion jackpot.  

BELOW THE FOLD:  The superintendent of the Canyon Independent School District in Texas has removed from schools copies of the Bible and books with Bible stories under the state’s new law banning books that are “sexually explicit.” 

  You know, because of all that begetting and begotting that goes on in the Bible.

-30-