• Of course Taylor Swift beat Donald Trump for Time’s Person of the Year.  She’s interesting.  She’s creative.  Unlike Trump, she helps the economy grow.  Her cult isn’t set on illegally installing a cult leader.  And she will have a huge influence in the polls next November.  Trump is sooooo 2016.
• In canon, this is random thought #2,563.
• Norman Lear was not just an entertainment icon and genius, he was a civil rights and social issue warrior.  Among the topics he dealt with:  abortion on Maude; rape and antisemitism on All in the Family; divorce, women’s rights and single parenthood on One Day at a Time; and racism on Sanford and Son, The Jeffersons and virtually every series he created.   (And this is in no way an exhaustive list, plus there were crossover topics.)  Literally behind the scenes, he advanced civil rights causes more effectively than most who stood in front of microphones giving speeches.
• Last summer, GOP leaders told us he had irrefutable proof that the Biden family took a $10 million bribe from Ukraine.  Now we’re down to three car payments from father to son.  Republicans are thoroughly unserious people.
  Read More ▶ “Random thoughts Friday, Volume CL”

She doesn’t smile like she learned how to do it by reading the /help subreddit.  She puts together statements that make sense.  She doesn’t reactively cram culture war terms into random sentences.  And she’s got a better stump speech than her husband, leader of the Lollipop Guild and Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.  It’s too bad for Casey that her husband will never advance out of Tallahassee.

A George W. Bush-appointed federal judge has banned the government from separating families at the border for at least the next eight years as part of a settlement reached between families that were separated under the Trump administration and the Biden Administration, NBC News reports.  The Biden Administration had already halted the draconian policy which was designed by Trump henchman Stephen Miller and his anti-immigration compatriots to punish families who crossed the US southern border illegally.

Due to the policy in place in 2017 through 2018, adults were sent to detention facilities while their children were sent to shelters; many times, parents were sent back to their home countries while their children remained in the United States.  The Trump cabal made insufficient efforts to track the locations of the children, making reunification of families difficult and in some cases, impossible:  even though the policy was ended in June 2018, 68 migrant children separated from their parents remain unaccounted for despite the efforts of federal agencies and volunteer organizations.

Two men who attacked a Black riverboat co-captain helping a boat dock in August in an attack that went viral after guests and crew on the boat jumped in the water and swam to the man’s aid have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors in a plea deal, WAKA CBS-8 in Montgomery reports.  Zachery Shipman and Allen Todd pleaded to a lesser charge of harassment and were given a 60-day suspended sentence and one year of probation.  Two others from the group, Mary Todd and Richard Roberts, pleaded to the same charge earlier.

The co-captain, Dameion Pickett, had faced a charge of third-degree assault charge filed by Shipman, but the court ruled him not guilty.  The brawl started after Pickett told Shipman and his party to move a pontoon boat they had docked at a city dock assigned to the riverboat.  Shipman and his friends attacked Pickett, leading to people to jump off the Harriott II riverboat to come to Pickett’s aid.

“In the not-so-distant future, the European Union unveiled groundbreaking regulations to govern the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. Fueled by a commitment to ethical AI practices, the regulations aimed to balance innovation with the protection of human rights and privacy. AI developers faced stringent guidelines, ensuring transparency, accountability, and fairness in their creations.

“Companies were required to implement explainable AI systems, allowing users to comprehend the decision-making processes behind algorithms. Moreover, a comprehensive data governance framework sought to safeguard sensitive information, preventing AI from perpetuating bias or discrimination. The regulations sparked a new era of responsible AI, fostering collaboration between industry leaders, policymakers, and ethicists.”

Asked to create a “story about the new regulations on AI enacted by the European Union,” this is what ChatGPT wrote, and it’s really not that far off from reality, per the New York Times report on the new regulations for artificial intelligence.

Picasso-faced Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday petitioned the state Supreme Court to prevent a woman whose fetus suffers from severe defects from obtaining the abortion a judge on Thursday granted an exception to the state’s draconian “pro-life” laws, with Paxton writing “each hour [the temporary restraining order] remains in place is an hour that Plaintiffs believe themselves free to perform and procure an elective abortion,” the Texas Tribune reports.

Following the loss on Thursday, the impeached and indicted lawman threatened to prosecute any doctor who performs the procedure on the 31 year-old woman Kate Cox, which is fairly incongruous with his need to get the state Supreme Court to intervene to prevent the death of a fetus that is tragically going to suffer and die anyway if carried to term. The whole situation also raises questions about why Republicans don’t want to talk about abortion while still calling attention to it like this.

“An Appeals Court has just largely upheld the Gag Order against me in the ridiculous J6 Case, where the Unselect January 6th Committee deleted and destroyed almost all Documents and Evidence, saying that I can be barred from talking and, in effect, telling the truth. In other words, people can speak violently and viciously against me, or attack me in any form, but I am not allowed to respond, in kind. What is becoming of our First Amendment, what is becoming of our Country? We will appeal this decision!” writes disgraced former President Trump in another stupid Truth Social post.

Pressured by a fragile pro-slavery “amateur historian” incensed a video depicting slavery was shown during a tour at a former plantation, a board member of the Texas Historical Commission pushed to have books relating the harsh realities of slavery from the gift shops of at least two sites where African slaves were exploited, Texas Monthly reports.

History re-writer Michelle Haas – that’s not a made-up title:  she’s written about how slavery was an accepted practice around the world at the time of the nation’s founding (which is a lie), and she started a publishing company to promote her alternate “true” history of Texas–complained to board member David Gravelle.  Haas had repeatedly pestered Gravelle with her personal corrections over months on what she claimed were unflattering depictions of slavery in Texas, which she described as “a socially acceptable and economically worthwhile practice worldwide at the time our thirteen colonies arose.” (“Economically worthwhile” not applicable to the peoples enslaved, of course.)

Haas objected to the gift shop at Varner-Hogg plantation outside Houston selling titles in the gift shop including Alex Haley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Roots: The Saga of an American Family, Ibram X. Kendi’s National Book Award-winning non-fiction study of race in the United States Stamped From the Beginning and the National Book Award–winning novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.  She also objected to two dozen other titles, including the autobiography of a slave girl from Texas and a collection of narratives from Texas slaves. … because even an “amateur historian” knows you don’t rely on contemporaneous accounts of daily life from former slaves to, y’know, research the daily lives of slaves. 

A three-judge panel on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday released an opinion largely upholding the gag order imposed on fat former President Trump by Judge Tanya Chutkan in the post-2020 election coup attempt, apparently only allowing a limited exception for Trump to bitch about Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith on Truth Social and at his stupid rallies.

“The Order is affirmed to the extent it prohibits all parties and their counsel from making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding. The Order is also affirmed to the extent it prohibits all parties and their counsel from making or directing others to make public statements about – counsel in the case other than the Special Counsel, members of the court’s staff and counsel’s staffs, or the family members of any counsel or staff member – if those statements are made with the intent to materially interfere with, or to cause others to materially interfere with, counsel’s or staff’s work in this criminal case, or with the knowledge that such interference is highly likely to result. We vacate the Order to the extent it covers speech beyond those specified categories,” they wrote. Not really a “win” for the fat bastard.

Nihilistic edgelord Vivek Ramaswamy, aka “Da Vek,” has been quietly making inquiries into running on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2024, the Des Moines Register reports.

“I am pleased to announce that very popular and highly respected Congressman, Jeff Van Drew, will be heading up my New Jersey effort for President. I have known Jeff for a long time and consider him to be one of the best political minds anywhere. He feels, as do I, that because the Biden Administration has been so bad to the Garden State, that we have a very good chance of winning New Jersey. We will put it on our List for Rallies and all other forms of Events, and make a concerted effort to WIN! I spend a great deal of time in New Jersey, love the State, and its people. With what is going on in our Country now, Open and Broken Borders, Record Setting Crime, High Taxes and Regulations, Disrespect of our Military and Vets, the Worst Inflation in 72 years, and a Terrible Economy, we will win New Jersey, and possibly by a lot. Jeff Van Drew will put his Talents on display for all to see. I thank him very much,” writes disgraced former President Trump on Truth Social.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday launched his 2024 reelection campaign with a positive message from the man hoping to lead the world’s geographically largest country for another six years after voters head to the polls in March, the AP reports. Although the economy has been facing some headwinds with rising costs for average Russians and an increasing number of political and business leaders have been mysteriously falling out of windows recently, Putin is already the clear frontrunner given the power of incumbency and the immense popularity he enjoys.

Luck has also played a role in Putin’s durability: Eccentric business tycoon and possible challenger Yevgeny Prigozhin died in a fiery plane crash back in June while left wing former candidate Alexei Navalny is likely to remain in prison for decades on charges stemming from a major political scandal.

Then there are the smaller-time headaches that have managed to go right for Putin, such as the Russian-American Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested for espionage just a day after he published an article about the poor state of the economy and the army colonel who committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest five times right before he was to publicly reveal information about a corruption scandal in his ranks. These are just some of the most recent curveballs in Putin’s long and storied career – ones that would’ve been serious challenges for other leaders – that have left many observers wondering just what’s his secret sauce to defying the laws of political gravity.

Others see it as simply a matter of the fundamentals: Strength on national security issues, precision in enforcing the law against individuals and groups seen as disruptive to the Russian way of life, and the stamina Putin displays by riding a horse shirtless. This mixed with the fact that a lot of average Russians simply aren’t all that concerned with the price of vodka or turnips or candles to keep their homes lit – is the recipe for another 80 percent margin win for the Russian president.

National Zero will resume our regular news coverage now that we’ve delivered the Chuck Todd and Chris Cillizza fans in our audience the latest insider scoop on Russian politics.

There was a brief liminal window on Thursday when CNN first reported that Hunter Biden had been hit with a superseding indictment on top of his gun charges but they didn’t know what the charges were about, at all. That must have been just absolutely agonizing for the MAGA freaks as the minutes ticked by, hoping and praying that their public enemy number one had finally been accused criminally of the atrocities they had already long ago convicted him of in their imaginations.

Then came the first whispers of it being the tax charges they already knew about, ones for which Hunter actually really does have a solid claim to “selective prosecution” and “process crimes” song-and-dance the fanboys perfected online during the Trump-Mueller wars. And finally came the confirmation of what they did not at all want to hear, leading this demented hag Bartiromo to complain bitterly in the form of a question to some dipshit Republican Congressman. It sucked for her even more than having to acknowledge another strong monthly job report.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: “Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 199,000 in November, and the unemployment rate edged down to 3.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Job gains occurred in health care and government. Employment also increased in manufacturing, reflecting the return of workers from a strike. Employment in retail trade declined”

Republican New York Congressman Brandon Williams tells Politico he snapped at his former chief of staff and legislative director as recently caught on video because the two had threatened to expose Williams’ 27 year-old daughter’s OnlyFans account in which she presumably performs all sorts of different sexual acts live on camera – only for the fans that pay fees to her for the pleasure.

Williams said former Chief of Staff Michael Gordon was “trying to exert some leverage over me and I just simply won’t allow that to happen,” when he publicly screamed “You fuck with my family, I’ll end every relationship you have,” at a holiday party in DC last week as filmed up-close by Syracuse University student journalist Luke Radel. Gordon tells Politico that “the allegations Congressman Williams has levied against me are categorically false,” but declined to comment further, while the former legislative director Ryan Sweeney said the “congressman’s allegations are completely false.”

Wonder where those two got the idea that streaming on OnlyFans is considered a political liability among Republicans. It’s not like it’s been made into a campaign issue or anything recently.

Former Trump lawyer Kenny Chesebro is cooperating with prosecutors in Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul’s office, the first indication that the Cheesehead State’s top lawman is investigating the 10 MAGA assholes who signed false electoral college votes in 2020, CNN reports.

Who got a hold of my Christmas list?  Fed up with his antics and the ensuing chaos, several House Republicans are plotting to expel Florida Man and Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz virtually the second an expected scathing Ethics Committee report into his behavior, USA Today reports.  This comes one day after reports that the Ethics Committee has called at least one witness in its investigation into Gaetz.

Gaetz, who not coincidentally spoke out against the precedent sent by expelling George Santos without a criminal conviction, has been in the crosshairs of the Republican conference for his stunt of recalling Speaker pro tem Kevin McCarthy, forcing an embarrassing period when the GOP caucus looks leaderless, which continues to this day.

“There were a number of people who voted to expel Santos with the express intent of thinking through the precedent there on what happens next,” one of the plotting members told the outlet. “There was a lot of forethought about the precedent and what would happen when a report on Gaetz comes out.”

A Texas political consulting firm that caters to far-right conservative clients and that is linked to white nationalists including Donald Trump dinner companion Nick Fuentes decided to try to whitewash future background checks and Google searches into its actions by changing its name to distance itself from news reports.

With some great reporting from the Texas Tribune, in October, journalists photographed the toxic Fuentes entering the offices of Pale Horse Strategies, a firm owned by Jonathan Stickland, a former state rep and the person who controls one of the largest PACs in Texas politics.  Strickland has since filed paperwork with the state to change the company’s name to a completely generic white bread brand “West Fort Worth Management LLC.”

And this is why the Texas GOP had to remove a measure that would condemn and ban any association with people who support antisemitic views or Holocaust denialism:  had they approved the measure, dozens of them would have had to find a new consultant.