GOOD MORNING, BLOGTOWN! Old Mr. Kringle is soon gonna jingle, the bells that'll tingle all your troubles away. LET'S GO TO PRESS.
A former Oregon state trooper slaps and knocks down his son, and instead of getting a felony conviction like most people would receive, guess what happened?
We got a quick blast of ice and snow this morning, but temps are warming quickly and will turn into days of rain, rain, rain.
Remember no matter what..."Keep Making Art". #billboard#graffiti#Portland#pdxpic.twitter.com/cB9G5lgCwg
— David Mascorro (@DavidMascorro) December 18, 2016
Today is the day electors decide whether or not they can stomach electing Donald Trump to the presidency. But in Washington state, these electors will be fined $1000 if they go against the will of the people—so they took it to court.
So will this handful of"faithless electors" who will be voting today be enough to save us from the shithole of a situation we're tumbling into, even though Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 2.9 million ballots? (Sigh.) Probably not. Nevertheless, protests have sprung up at state capitols around the country. (On the upside, this will NOT be the "landslide" electoral victory that Trump claimed he received—in fact his win will be one of the slimmest margins ever.)
In an NPR interview released today, President Obama blames the loss of the election on the Democrats "not showing up" in rural areas and attempting to sway their vote. This is more of that "liberal bubble" nonsense, and I'm pretty disappointed that Obama is trying to sell it.
China's Global Times newspaper doesn't seem to have much faith in Trump either, saying in print that he has no idea how to lead a superpower.
More unsettling news about Trump's pick for Secretary of State (and Russia's good buddy), Rex Tillerson—he was also the director of a US and Russian oil firm based in the tax-free Bahamas.
Some better news from Aleppo: Three thousand people have been evacuated from the war-torn Syrian city, including 7-year-old Twitter hero Bana al-Abed.
Glamorous actress/socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor has passed away at the respectable age of 99.
Now about that WEATHER: Temps are shooting up today to a balmy 45 degrees, but bring your rain gear.
And finally, let's welcome actor John Goodman (as Secretary of State Rex Tillerman) to the weekly SNL Trump skewering. (OH! And shirtless Putin is there, too!)