Shutdown: President Trump delayed his Christmas vacation in Florida to preside over a partial shutdown of the government he forced by insisting that Congress give him $5.7 billion for his border wall. Melania and son Barron went to Florida last night without the President. 
  Both the House and Senate gave up, adjourning at 8:30, and the  shutdown started at midnight. Nine government agencies are closed and hundreds of thousands of federal employees are furloughed. A NY Times editorial says, “The president clearly believes that throwing everyone else off balance gives him an edge — that is, if he can make the turmoil fierce enough, those around him will give up and give in.”
  Trump tweeted yesterday that, “We are totally prepared for a very long shut down. This is our only chance that we will ever have, in our opinion.” He doesn’t have  a chance or the votes now. It looks like the primary promise of his 2016 election campaign --- to build a border wall and force Mexico to pay for it … is sinking in the Washington swamp. 
  The President was quick to blame, even though he had said he would take responsibility. He tweeted, “the Democrats now own the shutdown!” Last week he said to Democratic leaders in the Oval Office, “I am proud to shut down the government for border security...I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I'm not going to blame you for it.” 
  The President needs 60 votes in the Senate. Democrats are universally opposed and so are some Republicans. A few senators even left town for Christmas. Reports say that in a meeting with Republican leaders in the White House who were trying to get Trump to see reality, he tried to get them to do away with the 60-vote minimum to get him his wall.
   On the Senate floor, minority leader Chuck Schumer said, “You’re not getting the wall today, next week, or on January 3 when Democrats take control of the House.”
Monopoly Money: Amidst the turmoil in Washington, President Trump’s announced retreat from the Middle East, and a worsening trade war, The Dow Jones  lost another 414 points yesterday, posting its worst week since the economy nearly collapsed in 2008.
The Indestructible RBG: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent surgery to remove a cancerous lobe in one of her lungs. The cancer was discovered in x-rays taken after the 85-year-old justice fell and broke some ribs. Doctors at Memorial Sloane Kettering in New York say they caught the cancer early and Ginsburg should be fine.
  Ginsburg is beloved, but she’s also seen as the guardian of liberal jurisprudence on the court. She says she actually plans to be back on the bench in January.
It’s Always the Guy: Police in Colorado have arrested the fiancé of a 29-year-old mother who went missing Thanksgiving Day. You just knew things were going in this direction. Patrick Frazee is charged with first-degree murder and solicitation for first-degree murder in the disappearance of Kelsey Berreth, the mother of his  one-year-old daughter. That second charge indicates he may have hired, or tried to hire a killer. Police aren’t saying why, other than the obvious that he wanted her dead.
  Investigators say they "recovered a number of items" that led them to believe Berreth was killed in her home, but they have not found a body.