Completely insane  Once again, there’s plenty of Trump news to get to, but before we do, Stephanie Saul, Kate Kelly and Michael LaForgia of The New York Times have taken a closer look at Georgia Sen. David Perdue’s stock trading during his six years in office, and first of all, how did he find the time?
Their analysis of 2,596 Trades in One Term: Inside Senator Perdue’s Stock Portfolio reveals that he has been the Senate’s most prolific stock trader by far, sometimes reporting 20 or more transactions in a single day. But if you dig into the details of that piece, well, it gets worse. As Charles Finch says, “This is completely insane. David Perdue basically became a Senator in order to get rich in the stock market.” So it looks like “Georgia’s Perdue and Loeffler might be two of the most unethical Senators in Congress — and that's really a high bar to pass,” Nick Bilton points out. Thoughts and whatnot According to the reporting by Matt Zapotosky, Josh Dawsey and Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post, Trump is said to be livid at Barr, with one official suggesting termination possible. As you can imagine, this story adds to Daniel Drezner’s #ToddlerinChief thread. Gary Legum offers up “Thoughts and whatnot,” but clearly, “Bill Barr was the deep state’s best undercover saboteur, by a mile,” says Andrew Prokop. A well-written dose of the truth Of course, that rant went down behind closed doors. In front of the camera...  “Increasingly detached from reality, President Donald Trump stood before a White House lectern and delivered a 46-minute diatribe against the election results that produced a win for Democrat Joe Biden, unspooling one misstatement after another to back his baseless claim that he really won.”
That’s the lede of the AP News story by Aamer Madhani and Kevin Freking, but Peter W. Singer thinks, “The second paragraph of this article might be the harshest thing the Associated Press has written since it was formed in 1846.” Covering the video rant at The Washington Post, Philip Rucker wrote, “Escalating his attack on democracy from within the White House, President Trump on Wednesday distributed an astonishing 46-minute video rant filled with baseless allegations of voter fraud and outright falsehoods in which he declared the nation’s election system ‘under coordinated assault and siege’ and argued that it was ‘statistically impossible’ for him to have lost to President-elect Joe Biden.” The heat continues in paragraphs two and three. In fact, says Oliver Willis, “before i forget, i want to note a good journalism thing. this paragraph from the washington post is accurate and because it is factual and not doing ‘both sides’ it is strong. so, well done. Joanne Ostrow calls it “A well-written dose of the truth.” As for Trump, John Carroll notes, “Sometimes you wonder, well, is he just lying his head off for tactical purposes, or is he really losing his grip on the fruitloops box. Today I’m wondering about the grip. Tactics, not so much.” Krakened up  Meanwhile, we found your voter fraud. Nicole Carr of WSB-TV reports that Florida attorney Bill Price is under investigation for registering to vote in Georgia and encouraging others to do the same. And it’s all on tape.
As Brody Logan shares, “A Florida attorney goes on Facebook live encouraging Floridians to use anyone they know's address in Georgia to fraudulently register to vote in the run-offs. He then gives his brothers address in GA and tells viewers they can use that address.” In other words, “Krakened up,” says Evan Perez.  Speaking of, “Sidney Powell released the Kraken. And it turns out the mythological sea beast can’t spell, is terrible at geography and keeps mislabeling plaintiffs in court.” That’s the lede from Zach Montellaro and Kyle Cheney’s story at Politico, Pro-Trump legal crusade peppered with bizarre blunders, and what can we tell you — it’s been quite a day for ledes. Isabel Dobrin thinks that one might be “The best @politico lede... ever?”
The threats All of this is serious — and increasingly dangerous — business. As Colleen Long and Calvin Woodward of AP News write, Trump’s grievances are feeding a menacing undertow after the election, with death threats on the rise and election officials hounded into hiding. Dan Mihalopoulos highlights, “‘This is unprecedented in America.’ Voting machine company exec in hiding, another Trump critic under Secret Service protection, threats against election officials and more.” “President Mobster,” tweets Andrej Mrevlje. Doesn’t sound pro-life Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley of NBC News report that after months of pleas by legal advocates, the government has finally handed over new data (for example, phone numbers) that could be critical to helping them reunite separated migrant families. Still a long road ahead: In November NBC News reported that the parents of 666 kids had yet to be found. The filing on Wednesday said some families have since been identified, bringing the number of parents whose whereabouts are still unknown to 628. And here’s a very unpalatable but unsurprising scoop from John Hudson of The Washington Post: Pompeo invites hundreds to indoor holiday parties after subordinates are warned against hosting ‘non-mission critical events.’ “As administration health officials say covid deaths could approach a half million by February, the White House, State Department, plan big indoor holiday parties with food, drink and music. That doesn’t sound pro-life to me,” tweets Marty Schladen. The COVID surge The U.S. hit a record daily death toll yesterday, with worse likely to come as the coronavirus rages on. The New York Times reports that more than 100,000 people were hospitalized for Covid-19 as of yesterday, while total cases surpassed 14 million. Experts warn that the nation could be facing the most difficult time in its public health history. Sareen Habeshian of KTLA-5 reports that residents in the city of Los Angeles have been ‘ordered to remain in their homes’ amid COVID-19 surge. Many residents were notified with an email and text alert from the city’s NotifyLA System Wednesday night. As Deepa Fernandes says, “This is serious, fellow Angelenos: ‘All travel, including on foot, bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, automobile, or public transit is prohibited.’” Meanwhile, Austin mayor Steve Adler addressed constituents in a Facebook video telling them they needed to stay home. Wait for it: He was vacationing in Cabo at the time, as Tony Plohetski reports at the Austin American-Statesman. In Canada, Alberta has asked the federal government and the Red Cross for field hospitals as COVID spreads. David Cochrane of CBC News reports that the province is struggling with soaring COVID-19 cases and would likely receive at least four field hospitals — two from the Red Cross and another two from the federal government. Former Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton are volunteering to get their coronavirus vaccines on camera to prove it’s safe. Shelby Lin Erdman reports that CNN has reached out to representatives for former President Jimmy Carter to see if he would be willing to take the vaccine publicly as well. A couple of must-reads First, from Anna Orso of The Philadelphia Inquirer: Police beat her and took her son during West Philly unrest. A month later, they’re still ‘petrified.’ From this infuriating and heartbreaking story, Erin McCarthy highlights, “‘We’re not going to let them be the saviors for this child, when in fact, the police were the ones that terrified this child.’ The real story behind the viral photo of an officer holding a little boy amid unrest in Philly, expertly told by @anna_orso. “ “This piece by @anna_orso is a damn knockout. Well done,” tweets Joseph Darius Jaafari. Next, “Prosecutors dismissed charges against Robert Kraft and other men busted for consensual sex acts, but they're still making the women involved pay (THIS IS INSANE).” Paula Froelich links to Elizabeth Nolan Brown’s story at Reason, Florida Masseuse Ordered to Pay $31,573 After ‘Soliciting’ Robert Kraft To ‘Commit Prostitution.’ “Over and over again, the political fight against what’s labeled ‘sex trafficking’ is portrayed as a battle to help and protect women. Over and over again, as @ENBrown constantly shows, the facts say otherwise,” tweets Peter Suderman. Kid of the Year  Time magazine has named its first-ever Kid of the Year, and she’s 15-year-old scientist and inventor Gitanjali Rao, who was selected from a field of more than 5,000 nominees. Rao spoke with Angelina Jolie “about her astonishing work using technology to tackle issues ranging from contaminated drinking water to opioid addiction and cyberbullying, and about her mission to create a global community of young innovators to solve problems the world over.”
Tweets Fiza Pirani, “me: omg I just want every kid to be a kid also me: 🥺🥺🥺😍😍😍” Also, “If you’re hoping to be Time’s next Kid of the Year, or the parent of one, choose your reading materials well, I’m just saying,” tweets James Temple, and here’s your hint: He’s an editor at MIT Technology Review. (Rao told Jolie, “My pop-culture news is actually MIT Tech Review. I read it constantly.”) Well, this is a nice story  It is, David Fanner. It’s also “Peak #Australia 😂” tweets Chris Johnston. They’re referring to On the first day of ... Australian family finds live koala in their Christmas tree, by Matilda Boseley of the Guardian, and Joy Hui Lin is “Here for the koala content.”
Jennifer King shares, “I am going home to put up my Christmas tree immediately!” We should clarify, we can’t be sure every tree comes with a koala this year (some come with owls). But the point is, “Happy holidays to this koala only,” tweets Patricio Chile. | 
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