THE POPULIST REVOLT:  As of this morning Trump has 295 Electoral College votes to 226 for Kamala Harris. You need 270. Trump leads by 4.8 million in the popular vote, which he did not win in 2016.

  Republicans have the Senate majority 52-44. They have the House majority 205-190, for the moment, with 218 required for majority rule. 

  Trump’s followers didn’t care that the President-elect who claims to have a collection of Bibles cheated on all three of his wives and has been accused of sexual misconduct by two dozen women. They chose him over a woman with a spotless personal record. Trump won the “manosphere,” the “bro” vote. He won over Latinos despite his threats to deport millions of Latino immigrants.

  Harris said yesterday in her concession speech that she spoke to Trump and that she told him “we will help him and their team with his transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power,” a dig at the events of 2021 when Trump lost. She said, “We owe loyalty not to a president or a party but to the Constitution of the United States.”

  And she said, “I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.” 

  Candidates for positions in the administration are gathering. Among them are Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

  Congratulations poured in from around the world including from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Hungarian strong man Viktor Orbán. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who made a comeback himself, called Trump’s win one of “history’s greatest comebacks” that would offer “a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America.”

  Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum cautioned, “To all Mexicans, there is no reason to worry. To our brothers and sisters living in the U.S., to their family members living here, to the business people, there is no reason to worry.” 

   Trump if Republicans control the House would be in a position to be one of the most powerful presidents in history. His acolytes either dismissed Trump’s troubling rhetoric as just “Trump being Trump” or they hope he will pay off on an agenda vengeance and national isolation. Talking about “the enemy within” and immigrants “poisoning the blood of our country” Trump campaigned with the language of dictators.

  CNN reports that the judge in Trump’s New York criminal fraud case is considering tossing out the conviction before the former president returns to office. Special Counsel Jack Smith is reported to be preparing to abandon the federal charges against the President-elect.

  Trump has dodged payment for his sins, from being found to have defamed and raped a woman, committing both civil and criminal fraud, to even attempting to overturn a Democratic election. His life has proved to him that he can get away with anything and he’s not done. 

ELECTION ROUNDUP:

• Voters in seven out of 10 states with abortion rights measures on the ballot approved them. They are; Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York. Missouri had some of the severest restrictions and will now allow abortion up to the point of fetal viability. 
• Colorado’s right wing Rep. Lauren Boebert carpet-bagged to another district and won her race to remain in the House.
• The Dow Jones spiked 1500 points yesterday following Trump’s election.

THE WAR ROOM: Ukraine reports that it has fired artillery at North Korean troops on the battlefront in the first engagement with the reinforcements sent to Russia by dictator Kim Jong-un.  The Pentagon says 10,000 North Korean soldiers are in the Kursk region of Russia. Ukraine’s defense minister said the North Koreans are wearing Russian uniforms so it’s hard to confirm whether any of them have been killed.

  Russia in the past two months has been using swarms of drones to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses and gather intelligence. They are reported to be using weaponless drones to deplete anti-aircraft defenses followed by drones loaded with explosives.

  Ukraine says that in October it tracked a record 2,023 unmanned aircraft against civilian and military targets.

THE OBIT PAGE: Geoff Capes, a British phenomenon who could pull a 12-ton truck uphill, flip a car, and tear a London phone book in half and was a two time winner of the World’s Strongest Man competition, died last month in England at age 75. 

 In peak condition at 6-foot-6 and 365 pounds, Capes’ daily diet was seven pints of milk, two loaves of bread, a dozen eggs, two steaks, a jar of baked beans, two tins of sardines, a pound of butter, and a leg of lamb.

  Capes won the Strongest Man title in 1983 and 1985 and the UK Truck-Pulling Championship in 1986. He was a six-time champion of the World Highland Games, which includes flipping telegraph poles end for end.

THE SPIN RACK: The Wendy’s restaurant chain is closing 140 of what it calls “outdated” outlets. The chain has 7,200 restaurants around the world. — Fast moving wildfires have forced evacuations in the Los Angeles area, burning dozens of homes to the ground. As many as 3500 homes are reported to be under threat.  

BELOW THE FOLD: Nothing’s funny today.

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