THE FIRES OF WINTER:  Raging wildfires driven by winds up to 80 mph ripped through the Los Angeles area overnight including the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Pasadena, and Sylmar. As many as 30,000 people had to flee leaving their homes to burn. …

IN TRANSITION: Vice President Kamala Harris gracefully did yesterday what Donald Trump tried to prevent four years ago, presiding over certification of the presidential vote and paving the way for Trump to return to the White House.   Walking through the Capitol …

CERTIFIABLE: Congress meets today to certify the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, four years to the day after Trump incited an angry mob to storm the Capitol in an attempt to block certification of Joe Biden and the peaceful …

TRUMP SKATES: The judge in Donald Trump’s criminal fraud case in New York has upheld the President-elect’s conviction and scheduled sentencing for January 10th,  signaling that he will give the president-elect an “unconditional” discharge with no fine or jail time. What it …

PERMISSION TO SPEAK: Congressional chaos looms today as the House Republicans vote on whether to keep Mike Johnson of Louisiana as Speaker. Despite Johnson having the backing of Donald Trump, the loss of just two Republican votes in the thin House …

JIMMY CARTER: Accolades never granted to the late President Jimmy Carter while he was in office are flowing. Number one is what a kind and decent man he was whose accomplishments in office were masked by runaway inflation and the Iran …

JIMMY CARTER, 100: Flags are at half-staff today to honor former President Jimmy Carter, a Georgia peanut farmer who rose to be leader of the free world and one of the most decent men ever to occupy the Oval Office. He died …

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 20th deadline set by Congress and Trump …

DEFENSELESS: Authorities in Azerbaijan are telling reporters that their airliner that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas day killing 38 people was brought down by Russian air defenses. The fuselage was peppered with holes that look like they were caused by shrapnel. …

FUNCTIONAL DISFUNCTION: The House and Senate last night passed a stopgap spending bill just after the midnight deadline keeping the government open into March in what amounts to a legislative defeat for Donald Trump even before his inauguration.   The bill does …