We should not forget these 6 senators, who on January 6, 2010 chose to act in their own self interest rather than in the interest of the country by continuing to support the lie that there was some serious voting irregularity in the November 2020 elections; this despite evidence of the harm they are causing that could not have been plainer.

Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)

And a special negative shout out goes to House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and minority whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), who cynically encouraged Republican house members to oppose certification of the election with no basis in law or fact (138 went on to do so), this vote after the insurrectionists’ occupation of the Capitol.

On January 5, 2001, Congress met to certify the Electoral College vote for the office of President. Al Gore had won the 2000 election’s popular vote by a margin of over 500,000, but lost the Electoral College vote by 271 to 266 (one elector pledged to vote for Gore did not cast a vote).  The deciding state was Florida, where of almost 6 million votes cast there was a margin that wavered between recounts, but one clearly less than 1000 votes (<0.016%).  There were multiple recounts and bitter challenges, and hand recounts were still taking place when the Supreme Court ruled they must stop; George W. Bush was then awarded the win, and with Florida’s electoral votes the presidency, by the slender margin of 537 Floridian votes. In a widely praised speech, Mr. Gore subsequently said “for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.” As the current Vice President, he then had the unenviable task of presiding over the ceremonial congressional certification that awarded the presidency to his opponent, Mr. Bush. He gaveled down some Democratic House challenges to the Bush victory because no Democratic senator supported the challenges.  Mr. Gore concluded his brief speech documenting the tally (and his loss) with these words: “May God bless our new president and new vice president, and may God bless the United States of America.”  The stark difference could not be more crystal clear.

It’s almost impossible to comprehend how this charlatan can be allowed to continue this charade without consequence.    The only major fraud in the last election is being perpetrated by him and his minions.  This phone call to Georgia state officials – Republicans! – is simply astonishing in its moral turpitude. Shame on anyone in Congress who supports this man, and I’m forced to ask what have we come to as a country that this could even be tolerated.

I always enjoy Steven Rattner’s “The Year in Charts” (with graphics by Lalena Fisher) in the NYT.

For those of you who need a little cheering up because you’ve been watching DJT play golf while the pandemic rages, businesses go bankrupt and unemployment benefits lapse, treat yourself to some good news from the folks at Future Crunch – 99 Good News Stories from 2020 You probably Didn’t Hear About.  It made me feel better, at any rate…

Vaccines may help bring a gradual end to the coronavirus pandemic – if we are smart enough to use them.  The case surge in the US suggests we may not be – and makes me wonder yet again where our national leadership is on the issue.  Focusing on disenfranchisement, I guess.

The graph id from David Leonhardt’s The Morning newsletter at the NY Times. Sources: Hospitals and health agencies, World Bank

The first doses of an approved SARS-CoV2 vaccine to be administered in the US are being given today, December 14. It’s hard to overstate what an incredible achievement this is for the scientific community that rapidly identified the culprit virus, quickly identified and published its genome, determined its means of cellular entry, identified target proteins for vaccine development, produced a number of apparently functionally protective vaccines, and then rapidly began manufacture, all in less than a year.  This could not have happened so quickly even a decade ago.  Thank you to everyone who made these efforts first possible, then come to fruition, and to the health care workers who have striven so mightily to keep people alive while awaiting what will hopefully be a solution to the pandemic.  We owe you all an enormous debt.

From the NY Times’ Decency Agenda series, expressing yet another way DJT has damaged our country: “Presidents are role models. Their words and comportment influence their supporters and, more generally, set the tone for the national discourse. Mr. Trump has not merely normalized cruelty and boorishness; he has given it the imprimatur of the Oval Office.”

The multitude of reprehensible, self-centered, and self-evidently false tweets and statements issued by our current president regarding the November presidential election are by any standard destructive and un-American.  That they have been met by a most conspicuous silence on the part of Republican leadership is yet another striking example of their hypocrisy, lack of empathy and fixation on their idiosyncratic goals rather than those of all Americans.  So kudos to Georgia’s voting system implementation manager Gabriel Sterling, who finally called out his leadership for their failures (reported by the NYT here):

“This is elections,” Mr. Sterling said. “This is the backbone of democracy, and all of you who have not said a damn word are complicit in this. It’s too much. Yes, fight for every legal vote. Go through your due process. We encourage you, use your First Amendment, that’s fine. Death threats, physical threats, intimidation — it’s too much, it’s not right. They’ve lost the moral high ground to claim that it is.”

He continued: “I can’t begin to explain the level of anger I have right now over this. And every American, every Georgian, Republican and Democrat alike, should have that same level of anger.”

Thank you, Mr. Sterling.

Heather Cox Richardson reminds us that the origins of Thanksgiving as a national holiday lie in the Civil War. Read more in her November 25 Letters from an American.