POST PARDON DEPRESSION:  Republican politicians and some Democrats are outraged by President Biden’s decision to pardon his son Hunter even while President-elect Donald Trump and some of his political appointees have vowed to seek revenge against Trump’s legal and political enemies.

  Biden had repeatedly said he would not pardon Hunter, until he did, saying that he feared the new administration would continue to pursue his son after what has already been five years of investigation and prosecution. Some have called Biden a liar and say he has tarnished his political and professional reputation while the man who is about to replace him is a font of lies and a convicted felon. It’s become a political world in which there is no gravity.

  Democratic Sen. Gary Peters said that the Biden pardon “erodes trust in our government, and it emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.”

  Trump posted on his Truth Social website that the pardon is “Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” And yet Trump has frequently called the people who attacked the Capitol in the January 6^th insurrection “hostages” and asked in that same post “Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?” 

  Trump has said he intends to pardon the people … not those convicted of a minor gun charge, or failure to file income taxes … but the ones who tried to violently overturn the 2020 election.

UNDER 50: Despite Donald Trump’s claim that the election gave him a “mandate” to rule, the latest results show that he won less that 50 percent of the vote. With 96 percent of the vote in, Trump has 49.97 percent to Vice President Harris’ 48.36 percent, or 76.9 million votes to 74.4 million.

THE WAR ROOM: Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Israel have traded fire during a cease fire that appears to be holding despite the interruption.

   Hezbollah fired rockets and Israel shot back. The militant organization said they had fired first because of “repeated violations of the agreement by the Israeli enemy.” In a year of what was limited war until recent weeks, 4000 people in Lebanon and 100 Israelis have been killed.

  Down south in Gaza, the Israeli military has been building military bases and clearing buffer zones of buildings in what appears to be an indication that they are preparing for a long-term presence in the Palestinian territory. The Israelis have blown up 600 buildings to clear the area around a road that separates northern Gaza from the south.

  The NY Times reports that the Israelis have built 19 significantly-sized military bases as well as smaller outposts in Gaza.

  Six weeks from taking office, Donald Trump is threatening to solve the Gaza hostage situation even more violently than what Israel has already done. Trump posted on his Truth Social website that; “If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!

THE TROUBLED NOMINEE: Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense is the subject of another damning report, this one from The New Yorker. The magazine reports that Hegseth was forced to step down from leadership of  two veterans’ non-profits after staff members accused him of financial mismanagement, drunkenness, and sexual misconduct. 

  This follows the original report that Hegseth was once investigated for sexual assault and the revelation of a letter from his mother berating him for his treatment of women.

  The New Yorker report says that Hegseth “sexually pursued the organization’s female staffers” and one time “had to be restrained while drunk from joining the dancers on the stage of a Louisiana strip club, where he had brought his team.”

  In one letter of complaint in 2015 a female staffer described Hegseth being at a bar in the early-morning hours of May 29, 2015, while on an official tour through Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, drunkenly chanting “Kill All Muslims! Kill All Muslims!” 

BOMBS AND BULLETS: The Biden administration is sending a last-minute package of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine ahead of Donald Trump taking office and possibly reducing US support. The package worth $725 million includes  including anti-personnel land mines, drones, portable antiaircraft missiles and anti-tank missiles.

THE SPIN RACK: Singer and musician Elton John says he has lost his vision following an eye infection. — The 26-year-old South Carolina woman who drove drunk at 65 mph and killed a bride leaving her wedding in a golf cart was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in prison. In a tearful yet scripted statement to the court, Jamie Lee Komoroski said she takes “full responsibility” for what she did.  Aric Hutchinson, who was married to Samantha Miller for only a few hours, said,  “I wish I had gone that night, so she didn’t have to go alone.” — A Delaware judge is sticking by her decision to cancel a $50 billion stock-option pay package for Tesla billionaire Elon Musk. She said the stockholders were never properly informed of the proposal and the board members are not sufficiently independent from Musk. — Stoli Group USA, the owner of the vodka brand that used to be sold as Stolichnaya in the US, has filed for bankruptcy citing up to $100 million in debt.  — The Big 10 fined Michigan and Ohio State $100,000 each for the brawl that followed Saturday’s 3-point win for Michigan.

 BELOW THE FOLD: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a proponent of abandoning  vegetable oils for cooking. The man who has promised to make America healthy again (MAHA), deep fried his Thanksgiving turkey in beef fat with bare feet.

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