Viral News: Taking the spotlight of leadership from President Trump, President-elect Joe Biden yesterday laid out his plans for knocking down the virus, including asking Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days of his presidency. That would be mandatory in places under federal jurisdiction, including federal buildings, and on interstate transportation, both ground and air.

  He also plans to administer vaccines to 100 million Americans in his first 100 days and to get children back in school at the same time. “It’s not a secret how to do it,” he said. “Masking, vaccinations, opening schools.”

  The first person in the world to receive a Covid-19 vaccine is Margaret Keenan in Great Britain, who turns 91 next week. The second was a man named William Shakespeare. No, really.

  The Brits beat the world while it may be another couple of weeks before a vaccine is available in the US.

  In the past 24 hours the US crossed the threshold of 15 million cases. Hospitals across the country are running dangerously low on available intensive care beds. Some have set up units in parking garages. 

All Hat, No Cattle: In an attempt to overturn the results of the presidential election, Texas has gone straight to the Supreme Court to sue four other states for changing their voting procedures before the Nov. 3 election. It’s a case of “Don’t mess with Texas.”

  Texas Republican attorney general Ken Paxton sued Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin claiming that changes those states made to election procedures because of the pandemic were against the law.

  Texas, which voted for Trump, would have to prove that it was harmed by what the other states did. The lawsuit argues that those four states failed to protect mail balloting from fraud, thereby diminishing “the weight of votes cast in states that lawfully abide by the election structure set forth in the Constitution.”

  Texas has 38 votes in the Electoral College, all won by Trump. What happened in other states doesn’t reduce that number, so Texas would have a hard time proving the weight of its votes is reduced by procedural changes in other states.

  It’s hard to impress the Supremes. Yesterday they shot down a Trump campaign suit to overturn Joe Biden’s win in Pennsylvania. It was a one-sentence judicial smackdown; “The application for injunctive relief presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied.” 

  Trump is always a winner in the state of denial.

Firing Line: The Army has fired or disciplined at least 14 officers, including two generals, after a devastating investigation into the climate and culture of Ft. Hood in Texas and the failure to deal with it. The investigation found a command climate at the Army’s second largest base “that was permissive of sexual harassment and sexual assault,” said Ryan McCarthy, the secretary of the Army.

  The officers include squad level all the way up to corps command. 

  The investigation followed the murder of Spec. 20-year-old Vanessa Guillen, whose body was found in June burned and dismembered. She had told friends and other soldiers that she had been sexually harassed before she disappeared in April. She was killed on base by a fellow soldier who later committed suicide.

  Since January 2016 there have been more than 150 deaths of Fort Hood soldiers, including at least seven homicides and 71 suicides. McCarthy said that in 2020 alone, Ft. Hood has had 31 deaths and a number of disappearances that are “directly related to leadership failures.”

Guilty as Pardoned: The federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said President Trump pardon doesn’t mean Flynn is innocent.

  US District Judge Emmet Sullivan said he had to dismiss the case because Trump pardoned the former Army general, but noted that Flynn had pleaded guilty and repeatedly testified to his guilt under oath. Flynn pleaded guilty in December 2017 and repeatedly acknowledged it under oath.

   “President Trump’s decision to pardon Mr. Flynn is a political decision; not a legal one,” Sullivan said in his ruling.  “Because the law recognizes the President’s political power to pardon, the appropriate course is to dismiss this case with prejudice.”

The Bulletin Board: Russia has told its citizens they can’t drink alcohol for two months after getting the coronavirus vaccine. Tough medicine. — President Trump is expected to sign an order today commanding that vaccines paid for by the government must go to US citizens first. — China and Nepal have agreed that the world’s tallest mountain, Mt. Everest, is actually two feet taller than previously measured. They now say it is 29,031.69 feet above sea level. — New York Magazine reports on the plight of legal prostitutes in Nevada who can’t work during the pandemic. The headline says they are getting “Stiffed by Covid.” Evidently they still have a client named Covid.

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