Objection to Democracy: Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley announced that he will object next week to the congressional vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s win. Hawley doesn’t have a prayer of changing the result, but he’s bought into the Trump election-conspiracy campaign.

  The law says that if any member of the House, joined by a senator, objects to the electoral college votes, both chambers must debate the issue and vote on it.

  Hawley said, “At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections. But Congress has so far failed to act.” 

  The allegations of fraud are mostly coming from President Trump and close followers or politicians who fear his power. Trump’s own lawyers have been unable in multiple efforts to prove or even produce evidence of fraud in court. More than 90 federal and state judges have rejected Trump campaign lawsuits. 

  Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, told reporters last week that any effort to block the Electoral College vote was doomed. He said, “I mean, in the Senate, it would go down like a shot dog.” 

Viral News: Actress Dawn Wells, who played the wholesome girl on the 1960s television series “Gilligan’s Island,”  has died of Covid-19 at age 82.She had been Miss Nevada in the 1959 Miss America pageant and went on the play one of three women stranded on an island with four men from 1964 to 1967.

  The US has lost 342,414 people as of this morning,  an astounding 3,764 of them in the past 24 hours.

  In China, the government has given conditional approval to a coronavirus vaccine developed by state-owned Sinopharm. It’s the first vaccine approved for general use in China. 

Police Blotter: The police department in Louisville is moving to fire two more officers involved in the botched raid in which 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was shot dead by cops in her apartment. It’s one of the more celebrated cases of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

  One of the two in line for firing was not on the raid. He had obtained the warrant with unverified information that led to the killing of the innocent Taylor. A detective had already been dismissed last June.

  Firing and prosecuting cops isn’t so easy. The Justice Department declined to prosecute two Cleveland police officers who rolled up on 12-year-old Tamir Rice back in 2014 and shot him dead almost immediately. Rice had a toy gun in his hand. The 911 caller who brought them to the scene said it was a juvenile probably waving a toy gun, but the two officers weren’t told that. Nor did they take any time to check. 

Overtime: The Census Bureau will miss its December 31st deadline for submitting  the numbers used for apportioning congressional seats. That  might kill President Donald Trump’s plan to exclude illegal immigrants from the count if the figures aren’t submitted before Joe Biden takes office.

  Census Bureau documents obtained by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform show that Census Bureau officials don’t expect the apportionment numbers to be ready until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

Thrown for a Loss: During a locker room celebration after beating Wake Forest to win the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, the Wisconsin Badger quarterback was dancing with the trophy and dropped it. The Lenox Crystal trophy in the shape of a football shattered. Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said, “We just wanted everybody to have a piece of that trophy.”

Goodbye 2020: Years don’t end just because they end on the calendar. The year 2020 will be with us for some time to come. Donald Trump will be President until January 20th, and from then on is likely to do his best to undermine the legitimacy of President Joe Biden. Republican politicians who fear the wrath of Trump’s rabid admirers will bend in the wind coming from his mouth.

  The pandemic and inoculating Americans against Covid-19 will extend into the new year and possibly into 2022. Trump’s border wall, his assault on truth and the free press, his undermining of faith in the election, will remain like facial scars on America. 

  Normally at this time of year we publish a “thank you” list of people and events that have made it a great year in the news. It’s meant to be funny. Donald Trump would be at the top of the list this year and the bottom for good measure. Overexposed journalist Jeffrey Toobin would have earned a mention and so would actress Lori Loughlin, a believer in higher education. But it doesn’t seem so funny this time around. As the pandemic reached a crescendo and the rollout of vaccines stumbled, The President of the United States spent the past week in Florida golfing and complaining about the interior decorations in his new home just weeks before he goes on permanent vacation.

  He is graciously skipping his New Year’s Eve party and returning to Washington today.

  Vice President Mike Pence, the leader of the Coronavirus Task Force, has been skiing in Vail where a one-day lift ticket costs $159, more than 25 percent of what his party is giving desperate Americans to pay for rent and food. There’s only so much you can laugh at or about these guys before it gets terribly sad and scary.

  The turn of a new year is always a moment for hope and optimism. Next year can be better than the last, or if you had a good one, just as good. The pandemic will be settled and Joe Biden will return the White House to a normalcy in which one of the biggest scandals is the President wearing a tan suit.

  One day when you reach into the pocket of your winter coat and find a surgical mask, you might remember 2020 with a smile that wasn’t seen while you were wearing it. It’s going to get better. Have a happy New Year.