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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Can Boosting Child and Elder Care Help Democrats Win Control of the Senate?</strong> - Groups canvassing in Georgia say that the “care economy” is a pivotal issue to voters. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/campaign-chronicles/can-boosting-child-and-elder-care-help-democrats-win-control-of-the-senate">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Can Democrats Win Georgia—and the Senate?</strong> - In order to do so, the candidates will need high voter turnout in a state where it tends to drop during runoffs, especially among the Partys own supporters. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/campaign-chronicles/how-the-democrats-are-turning-out-voters-in-georgia">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Real Republican Radicals</strong> - The Trump movement was long understood as a populist one. But, since the election, the people at the barricades have been politicians and their lawyers. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/the-real-republican-radicals">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Deconstructing the 2020 Latino Vote</strong> - The political preferences of white working-class voters and soccer moms have been dissected in detail—and now strategists are applying the same level of focus to Latino voters. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/deconstructing-the-2020-latino-vote">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The Trümperdämmerung Is a Fitting End to 2020</strong> - The President is careening through his final days in office with reckless disdain—for everything. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-trumps-washington/the-trumperdammerung-is-a-fitting-end-to-2020">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ted Cruz is spearheading a new GOP effort to overturn the 2020 election</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="The camera has captured Cruz at an angle, the many-doored hallway behind him appearing at a 45-degree slant. The senator, in a navy suit, white shirt, silver and blue tie, and with a salt and pepper beard, frowns slightly as he prepares to speak into a microphone." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mbXgqLCjX1EyZ2BW1irLFfzNI9I=/0x0:4001x3001/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68610334/GettyImages_1229217804.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Sen. Ted Cruz addresses the press during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
At least 12 Republican senators will object to certifying the results of the 2020 election.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2dgow0">
On Saturday, 11 current and incoming Republican senators announced in a <a href="https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&amp;id=5541">joint statement</a> that they would object to the congressional certification of President-elect Joe Bidens Electoral College victory next week in a futile effort to hand outgoing President Donald Trump an unelected second term in office.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CZTUzp">
The statement — led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — also calls for the creation of an electoral commission modeled on a similar committee assembled in 1877, saying the commission would conduct “an emergency 10-day audit of the election returns in the disputed states.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Mc0WCe">
Citing “unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities,” the letter also argues that states should be allowed to “evaluate the Commissions findings and could convene a special legislative session to certify a change in their vote, if needed.”
</p>
<div id="TXE0pd">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
NEW: <a href="https://twitter.com/SenTedCruz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation">@SenTedCruz</span></a> leads a group of senators calling for an emergency ten-day audit of Electoral College results. <a href="https://t.co/owjvsgwXt2">pic.twitter.com/owjvsgwXt2</a>
</p>
— Grace Segers (<span class="citation">@Grace_Segers</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/Grace_Segers/status/1345419986425307136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="YCLu8X">
The days after the 2020 election have indeed seen unprecedented allegations of voter fraud — but all have been found to be without merit by the judicial system, state elected officials, national security officials, and elections officials. Nevertheless, Cruz and the other members of the group — Sens. Ron Johnson, James Lankford, Steve Daines, John Kennedy, Marsha Blackburn, and Mike Braun, as well as Senators-elect Cynthia Lummis, Roger Marshall, Bill Hagerty, and Tommy Tuberville — maintain otherwise.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="1RO0dE">
Lummis, Marshall, Hagerty, and Tuberville were elected in November and have yet to be sworn in, but will be seated Sunday ahead of a session of Congress dedicated to the electoral vote certification on January 6.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="87cyLd">
In their plans to object to the certification, the 11 lawmakers join Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, who announced <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress-election-vote-certification-objection/2020/12/30/4dce936c-4ab6-11eb-839a-cf4ba7b7c48c_story.html">his own plan</a> to object last week, and a sizable majority of the House Republican Conference, led by Trump devotees like <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/1/2/22210169/louie-gohmert-mike-pence-trump-hawley-election-lawsuit">Rep. Louie Gohmert</a>, who have said they will do the same.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="93zfn5">
“74 million Americans are not going to be told their voices dont matter,” <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1344505790854553602?s=20">Hawley said</a> of his effort on December 30, conveniently ignoring the fact Biden won the election by a margin of more than <a href="https://cookpolitical.com/2020-national-popular-vote-tracker">7 million votes</a> over Trump, and that, in the US system, their votes hold equal weight.
</p>
<div id="tjq18n">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Somebody has to stand up. 74 million Americans are not going to be told their voices dont matter <a href="https://t.co/DMa7sRyoAh">pic.twitter.com/DMa7sRyoAh</a>
</p>
— Josh Hawley (<span class="citation">@HawleyMO</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1344505790854553602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2020</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="KH6m1x">
Ultimately, the Republican plan to object will lead nowhere. Though a bicameral group of Republicans will be able to successfully object to the certification of results, the Democratic majority in the House means that the effort will ultimately <a href="https://www.vox.com/22173990/electoral-college-trump-biden-stephen-miller">fail</a> there — and it may not stand much of a chance in the Senate either, where the No. 1 and No. 2 Republicans in the chamber — Majority Leader <a href="https://twitter.com/politicoalex/status/1344728671689592833?s=20">Mitch McConnell</a> and Majority Whip John Thune — have come out against it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="z8Cnkr">
“In the Senate, it would go down like a shot dog,” Thune <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/21/politics/house-conservatives-trump-meeting/index.html">told reporters</a> in December 2020. “I just dont think it makes a lot of sense to put everybody through this when you know what the ultimate outcome is going to be.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="5gWNqf">
Other Republicans, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/1/2/22210169/louie-gohmert-mike-pence-trump-hawley-election-lawsuit">including Sens. Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse</a>, have criticized Hawleys plan. And In a statement Saturday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) came out strongly against the lawmakers plan to object.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pdYIYZ">
“I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” <a href="https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1345474776236752901?s=20">she said</a>, “and that is what I will do January 6 — just as I strive to do every day as I serve the people of Alaska. I will vote to affirm the 2020 presidential election.”
</p>
<div id="2RCBv4">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Sen. <a href="https://twitter.com/lisamurkowski?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation">@LisaMurkowski</span></a> (R-Alaska): "I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and that is what I will do January 6—just as I strive to do every day as I serve the people of Alaska. I will vote to affirm the 2020 presidential election." <a href="https://t.co/P2JYIXXahD">pic.twitter.com/P2JYIXXahD</a>
</p>
— Sahil Kapur (<span class="citation">@sahilkapur</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1345474776236752901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AFpkJU">
Pennsylvania <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/532380-toomey-murkowski-to-oppose-gop-effort-to-challenge-election-results">Sen. Pat Toomey</a>, who represents one of the swing states Trump has contested, also criticized those who plan to oppose the certification on Saturday, saying in a statement: “A fundamental, defining feature of a democratic republic is the right of the people to elect their own leaders. The effort by Senators Hawley, Cruz, and others to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in swing states like Pennsylvania directly undermines this right.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bNXfPb">
Trump, on the other hand, signaled support for the lawmakers efforts, <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1345422983385538563?s=20">retweeting Hawleys praise</a> of Cruz and his allies, and seeming to <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1345508977031974918?s=20">characterize certification</a> as “an attempt to steal a landslide win.”
</p>
<h3 id="d7Fjf8">
Ted Cruzs “election commission” would investigate fraud thats been repeatedly proven nonexistent
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QUtQ5S">
Plan to object aside, the “electoral commission” plan backed by Cruz and 10 of his colleagues is nonsense. For one, the commission they demand has no precedent in the modern era and no realistic prospects of being convened. Whats more, the statement is predicated on a series of spurious claims by Cruz and his colleagues that echo similar — and equally baseless — election fraud rhetoric to that heard repeatedly from Trump.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="919UEc">
Election Day — November 3, 2020 — is now 60 days in the past. In that time, Trump and his Republican allies have filed and lost <a href="https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1345202689270026241?s=20">at least 60 election-related lawsuits</a> at all levels of the state and federal court systems alleging voter fraud and other improprieties — and they have failed to prove their case at every turn.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GKW2bp">
Recounts in battleground states like <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/07/politics/georgia-recount-recertification-biden/index.html">Georgia</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-madison-wisconsin-7aef88488e4a801545a13cf4319591b0">Wisconsin</a> — both won by Biden — have turned up no evidence of large-scale fraud or irregularities that could have affected the results of the election. And in all 50 states and Washington, DC, the election results have been carefully reviewed by state officials and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/politics/2020-election-results-certified/index.html">certified</a> as accurate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="OMR25F">
In short, 60 days of intense scrutiny has turned up exactly zero reasons to believe the letters false claim that “the allegations of fraud and irregularities in the 2020 election” are worrying — and theres no reason to believe that an “electoral commission” would turn up a different result.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="m6JN3C">
That there have been allegations of fraud as never before is true, but as <a href="https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1345472573488947200?s=20">MSNBCs Chris Hayes</a> pointed out on Sunday, these have been misleading efforts led by Trump, and bolstered by his allies, like Cruz, to overturn the elections rightful results.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0ow7Dt">
Cruz and his allies cite the results of this effort in their statement Saturday that widespread belief in the existence of voter fraud — a sort of warped “where theres smoke, theres fire” argument — necessitates the creation of an election commission.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cK8uLp">
<a href="https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipsos.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fct%2Fnews%2Fdocuments%2F2020-11%2Ftopline_reuters_post_election_survey_11_18_2020.pdf&amp;referrer=vox.com&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2021%2F1%2F2%2F22210509%2Fted-cruz-11-gop-senators-electoral-college-votes" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Reuters/Ipsos polling</a>, tragically, shows that 39% of Americans believe the election was rigged,” the group said Saturday. “That belief is held by Republicans (67%), Democrats (17%), and Independents (31%).”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="kihQQo">
Thats an accurate reporting of the polls results — but it does conveniently leave out the likely reason for that widespread belief.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="8EtO12">
In reality, the Republican base has been inundated with evidence-free voter fraud rhetoric from every corner of the right-wing universe — from Trumps Twitter feed to Fox News to stump speeches by Republican senators — almost nonstop since Trumps election defeat. Theres a direct line between Cruzs rhetoric and the problem he diagnoses: As Hayes put it on <a href="https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1345472573488947200?s=20">Twitter</a>, “Theyve spent months lying to people, telling them the election was stolen and now turn around and cite the fact that many people believe them as evidence!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="4jfZqh">
Ultimately, Saturdays statement is just the latest foray in a flailing Republican effort to keep Trump in office in opposition to the will of the people. Given that any challenge to certification can be dissolved by a majority vote, and that there are more than enough opponents to these challenges in both the House and Senate, Cruzs plan seems unlikely to work.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="k74b7j">
Biden is poised to again be affirmed the next president on January 6 ahead of his January 20 inauguration. But if Cruz and his colleagues are as genuinely concerned about a “deep distrust of our democratic processes” that “poses an ongoing threat to the legitimacy of any subsequent administrations” as they claim, their own role in disrupting trust in the electoral process deserves review.
</p>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Iran expands nuclear program amid heightened tensions with the US</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JLPXVGau-VOmpb4hzPnuDX7vFWw=/320x0:5440x3840/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68610046/1230389985.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
People attend a January 2, 2021, commemoration of the first anniversary of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimanis killing, in Kerman, Iran. | Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Iran plans to enrich uranium to 20 percent purity — a level it last reached before the 2015 nuclear deal.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="x09Xmh">
An international nuclear watchdog agency said Friday that Iran is preparing to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-iaea/iran-has-told-iaea-it-plans-to-enrich-uranium-to-20-russian-envoy-says-idUSKBN2962JG">ramp up uranium enrichment</a> to pre-nuclear deal levels in what would be the countrys latest violation of the 2015 agreement.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BFV3FW">
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran plans to substantially increase enrichment levels at its underground Fordow nuclear site, which was prohibited from enriching uranium under the terms of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an international agreement often known as the Iran nuclear deal, which saw Iran limit its nuclear program in exchange for the relaxation of sanctions.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tWy6Vu">
Iran <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-uranium/iran-fuels-centrifuges-resumes-uranium-enrichment-at-fordow-idUSKBN1XG2WN">resumed enrichment activities</a> at Fordow in November 2019, following President Donald Trumps <a href="https://www.vox.com/world/2018/5/8/17328520/iran-nuclear-deal-trump-withdraw">2018 decision</a> to tear up the nuclear deal — but at a relatively low level, only about 4.5 percent.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="7lXZwi">
If Iran follows through on Fridays pronouncement, that will change. The IAEA says that Iran is now targeting enrichment levels of up to 20 percent, though there is no known timeline in place for that change.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="vEjjWY">
Previously, the Iran nuclear deal limited Iran to 3.67 percent enrichment, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-iaea/iran-has-told-iaea-it-plans-to-enrich-uranium-to-20-russian-envoy-says-idUSKBN2962JG">according to Reuters</a>. To achieve weapons-grade uranium, Iran would have to increase enrichment to 90 percent; but, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/01/us/politics/iran-trump.html">New York Timess Eric Schmitt</a>, if Iran were to begin enriching uranium to 20 percent purity, “it requires relatively little further enrichment to get to the 90 percent purity that is traditionally used for bomb-grade fuel.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rVKPO9">
Iran has repeatedly said it does not want to develop nuclear weapons, and instead wants to advance its nuclear program for peaceful, scientific purposes. Adversaries such as the United States and Israel, however, have signaled they believe otherwise.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0vmhOM">
The new 20 percent enrichment target was set by Irans parliament last month in response to the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/11/28/21723778/assassination-iran-nuclear-scientist-mohsen-fakhrizadeh">assassination</a> of the countrys top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Fakhrizadeh was killed near Tehran on November 27, 2020, in an ambush that Iran has blamed on Israel.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Q38sbI">
And the same new law that mandates 20 percent enrichment also raises the imminent specter of international nuclear inspectors being expelled from the country: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-enrichment-inspectors.html">According to the New York Times</a>, Iran has set “a two-month deadline for oil and banking sanctions against Iran to be lifted before inspectors are barred.” Currently, the IAEA <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/01/01/952711544/iran-tells-u-n-agency-it-will-enrich-uranium-back-to-pre-nuclear-deal-level-of-2">says</a> it has “inspectors present in Iran on a 24/7 basis and they have regular access to Fordow.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tEUHsj">
Even before Friday, Iran has been taking steps toward regaining pre-nuclear deal capacity — and potentially toward achieving a nuclear weapon.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0sKGGh">
In November 2020, Iran <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/iran-nuclear-iaea-int/iran-feeds-uranium-gas-into-advanced-centrifuges-underground-iaea-report-idUSKBN27Y0W5">began operating</a> advanced centrifuges at another underground nuclear facility, Natanz, and its <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-54912402">nuclear stockpile</a> stood at more than 12 times the limit imposed by the JCPOA.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="eTxgSt">
US President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20, has <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/13/opinions/smarter-way-to-be-tough-on-iran-joe-biden/index.html">indicated</a> that he hopes to rejoin and revive the JCPOA, which was negotiated while he was serving as vice president to President Barack Obama. Some observers see Irans enrichment efforts as a way of <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/01/politics/us-iran-soleimani-anniversary-tensions/index.html">building negotiating leverage</a>, but it remains to be seen whether recent strides in Irans nuclear program could complicate things.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="af554c">
“I will offer Tehran a credible path back to diplomacy,” Biden wrote in a September op-ed. “If Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations. With our allies, we will work to strengthen and extend the nuclear deals provisions, while also addressing other issues of concern.”
</p>
<h3 id="j5Mdzs">
US-Iran tensions remain high as the clock runs out on Trumps presidency
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="chseZi">
Biden isnt in office yet, though, and in the meantime, tensions between the US and Iran remain high. January 3 will mark the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/01/politics/us-iran-soleimani-anniversary-tensions/index.html?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=2021-01-01T23%3A44%3A04&amp;utm_term=link&amp;utm_source=twCNN">one-year anniversary</a> of the US assassinating <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/1/2/21047655/iran-us-strike-general-qassem-soleimani-pentagon-news">Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani</a> with a airstrike in Iraq, an attack that Iran has pledged <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-soleimani/iran-commander-vows-resistance-a-year-after-soleimani-killing-idUSKBN29627W">further retaliation</a> for.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ocVY84">
Shortly after Soleimanis killing in January 2020, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-base-iraq-comes-under-attack-missiles-iran-claims-n1112171">Iran struck at US forces in Iraq</a>, hitting two air bases with more than a dozen ballistic missiles.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="bcyyIg">
There were no casualties from the attack, but more than 100 US service members suffered brain injuries, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/02/11/804785515/109-u-s-troops-suffered-brain-injuries-in-iran-strike-pentagon-says#:~:text=109%20U.S.%20Troops%20Suffered%20Brain%20Injuries%20In%20Iran%20Strike%2C%20Pentagon%20Says,-Facebook&amp;text=John%20Davison%2FReuters-,Debris%20and%20rubble%20are%20seen%20at%20the%20site%20where%20an,109%20personnel%20suffered%20brain%20injuries.">according to the Pentagon</a>.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gvSFCZ">
Until his death last year, Soleimani was the head of the Quds Force, a component of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. On Friday, Soleimanis successor, Esmail Ghaani, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-soleimani/iran-commander-vows-resistance-a-year-after-soleimani-killing-idUSKBN29627W">warned</a> that “American mischief will not deter the Quds Force from carrying on its resistance path.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fbuLgn">
“From inside your own house, there may emerge someone who will retaliate for your crime,” Ghaani said.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jOjwCv">
After Fakhrizadehs death in November, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani issued a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-scientist-retaliation/rouhani-says-iran-will-retaliate-for-scientist-killing-at-the-proper-time-idUSKBN28808T">similar threat</a> of retaliation, saying that “Iran will surely respond to the martyrdom of our scientist at the proper time.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IQTqmU">
In addition to Ghaanis ominous remarks, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/01/politics/us-iran-soleimani-anniversary-tensions/index.html?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=2021-01-01T23%3A44%3A04&amp;utm_term=link&amp;utm_source=twCNN">CNN reported</a> Friday that Iranian naval forces had moved to a heightened level of readiness, though the reason for the change could be defensive: The US has deployed a submarine and nuclear-capable <a href="https://www.axios.com/iran-us-bomber-mission-persian-gulf-fab2b01d-df44-4afe-a147-8d7ca38ba134.html">B-52 bombers</a> to the region in addition to existing forces.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="M2kT2c">
Somewhat discordantly, the Pentagon also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/01/us/politics/iran-trump.html">recalled</a> the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, which was previously stationed in the Middle East and North Africa region, to its home port in Washington state on Friday. Critics of the decision told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/01/us/politics/iran-trump.html">New York Times</a> the recall needlessly limited the US retaliatory options at a tense time, but proponents argued that bringing the ship home was a smart deescalatory gesture.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dKne5Q">
As of Saturday, however, that move appears to have done little to deescalate tensions in the region.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="CG1k09">
In a <a href="https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/1345370089063915523?s=20">tweet</a>, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif claimed provocateurs were hoping to spur military action, writing, “New intelligence from Iraq indicate that Israeli agent-provocateurs are plotting attacks against Americans—putting an outgoing Trump in a bind with a fake casus belli. Be careful of a trap, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump"><span class="citation">@realDonaldTrump</span></a>. Any fireworks will backfire badly, particularly against your same BFFs.”
</p>
<div id="NkeGcF">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
New intelligence from Iraq indicate that Israeli agent-provocateurs are plotting attacks against Americans—putting an outgoing Trump in a bind with a fake casus belli.<br/><br/>Be careful of a trap, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span class="citation">@realDonaldTrump</span></a>. Any fireworks will backfire badly, particularly against your same BFFs.
</p>
— Javad Zarif (<span class="citation">@JZarif</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/1345370089063915523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="sV0bh6">
Baghdads Green Zone, which is home to the US embassy, was the target of a <a href="https://www.axios.com/us-closing-embassy-baghdad-6ce51ac3-3986-4212-a128-4fa78f489edc.html">rocket attack</a> last month believed to have been carried out by Iran-linked militias, though Ghaani denied any involvement.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Gorswl">
In response, Trump has issued threats of his own in recent weeks: “Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible,” Trump tweeted on December 23 after the attack. “Think it over.”
</p>
<div id="liii8F">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
...Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.
</p>
— Donald J. Trump (<span class="citation">@realDonaldTrump</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1341862955604975617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2020</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="lgQTXe">
Separately, Trump reportedly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/16/us/politics/trump-iran-nuclear.html">considered a strike against Iran</a> in November of 2020 but was talked down by his advisers, who warned that such a move could quickly escalate into a larger conflict.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VmQjoI">
Despite the mutual saber-rattling, however, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/2/trump-may-launch-reckless-attack-iran-experts-fear">Al Jazeera reported Saturday</a> that some experts believe Iran will look to avoid a major confrontation with the US in anticipation of a coming Biden administration.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="WWmLhT">
<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/2/trump-may-launch-reckless-attack-iran-experts-fear">Northwestern University international studies professor Danny Postel told Al Jazeera</a>, “I think this is a very critical moment in US-Iran relations where there might be a chance to remove war from the equation and find a diplomatic solution to at least this core issue of Irans nuclear program.”
</p>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Louie Gohmerts failed election lawsuit, briefly explained</strong> -
<figure>
<img alt="Gohmert, in a dark suit and blue tie, has his head — bald on top, with white hair on the sides — tilted back as he speaks, and framed by the white dome of the Capitol." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SOkdtgvP-pM8K1WvyYRC71_nEE0=/269x0:4562x3220/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68609537/1230000337.0.jpg"/>
<figcaption>
Rep. Louie Gohmert at a news conference outside the Capitol on December 3, 2020. | Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc./Getty Images
</figcaption>
</figure></li>
</ul>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Vice President Mike Pence will not be allowed to pick the next president.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="3LtyiF">
On Friday, a federal court in Texas <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txed.203073/gov.uscourts.txed.203073.37.0.pdf">dismissed</a> the latest in a long line of Republican lawsuits intended to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IjD2A5">
The <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txed.203073/gov.uscourts.txed.203073.30.0.pdf">suit</a>, which was brought late last year by US Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) and a slate of would-be Republican electors in Arizona, asked the US District Court for eastern Texas to grant Vice President Mike Pence the “exclusive authority and sole discretion under the Twelfth Amendment to determine which slates of electors for a State, or neither, may be counted.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="PtkWF5">
Such authority — which Pence very much lacks — would grant the vice president the power to choose the next president, clearing the way for Pence to throw the election to President Donald Trump and install him to an unelected second term in office.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tldz9b">
In reality, Pence does have a role to play when Congress meets to certify the Electoral Colleges votes on January 6, but it is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/congress-count-electoral-college-vote-5605532631a251ac8f902d1d1ca55428">more a formality than anything</a>. As vice president, Pence is also president of the Senate — thus, according to the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxii">12th Amendment</a>, Pences job is to “open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.” The actual certification of the votes, though, falls on Congress.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="W9i9oT">
In his case, Gohmert claimed vice presidents were meant to be more than “the glorified envelope-opener in chief,” a position at odds with more than a century of established practice.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qVLU35">
The court, however, didnt consider the merits of that claim in its Friday ruling. In a 13-page order dismissing the suit, <a href="https://tylerpaper.com/news/local/trump-confirms-jeremy-kernodle-as-u-s-district-judge-in-tyler-senators-cruz-and-cornyn/article_caebc1d6-ce52-11e8-b4b1-cfa0b3ed177d.html">Trump-appointed</a> Judge Jeremy Kernodle concluded that the court was “without subject matter jurisdiction” to hear the suit in the first place, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked standing — essentially, that they would not be harmed should the certification process proceed — that the suit relied too heavily on convoluted hypotheticals, and that the plaintiffs werent even suing the right person.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jzd89W">
Specifically, Gohmert sued Mike Pence — the very person to whom his lawsuit would grant sweeping powers if successful.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="BkI63c">
Pence, understandably, wasnt exactly on board. In a <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000176-baf5-d67a-a3f7-bffd0fe90000">response</a> from Trumps own Justice Department requesting that the Texas court deny emergency relief to Gohmert on behalf of Pence — acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark, joined by two deputy assistant attorneys general — wrote that “the Vice President is not the proper defendant to this lawsuit.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cVWiOC">
“If plaintiffs suit were to succeed,” the Justice Department filing continues, “the result would be to remove any constraint the Electoral Count Act places on the Vice President. To the extent any of these particular plaintiffs have a judicially cognizable claim, it would be against the Senate and the House of Representatives.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="O32RSC">
The <a href="https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/1345085824451432449">New York Times Maggie Haberman</a> reported Friday that Trump was upset the Justice Department took this stance, and that he complained to Pence about it. The judge, however, agreed that suing Pence was improper.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="cekjik">
There were also a few rather important <a href="https://twitter.com/bradheath/status/1345046314107678720?s=20">factual errors</a>. Notably, <a href="https://twitter.com/AkivaMCohen/status/1343602386049380353?s=20">as pointed out by lawyer Akiva Cohen on Twitter</a>, the suit claims that Arizona has appointed competing sets of electors, a situation that would mean the state would submit two sets of votes to Congress. But there are no competing slates of electors, in Arizona or elsewhere. The results of the 2020 presidential election — which was won by President-elect Joe Biden — have been certified in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/politics/2020-election-results-certified/index.html">all 50 states and the District of Columbia</a>, and no state legislature attempted to appoint an alternate slate of pro-Trump electors.
</p>
<div id="Hkbe8C">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Oh, Gohmert and crew also think they're a State legislature, apparently.<br/><br/>Plus they figured "outright lying to a federal court" was a good way to start a complaint.<br/><br/>No, "the State of Arizona" hasn't "appointed two competing slates of electors" <a href="https://t.co/TSWxmHkkb7">pic.twitter.com/TSWxmHkkb7</a>
</p>
— Akiva Cohen (<span class="citation">@AkivaMCohen</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/AkivaMCohen/status/1343602386049380353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2020</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="XlPb2H">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/22173990/electoral-college-trump-biden-stephen-miller">As Voxs Andrew Prokop explained in December</a>, pretend Republican electors in a handful of key swing states won by Biden did meet to cast their votes for Trump, but those votes have absolutely no legal force or substance behind them. Each state has only one valid set of electors — and those electors <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-270-electoral-college-vote-d429ef97af2bf574d16463384dc7cc1e">confirmed</a> Bidens Electoral College win last month, 306 to 232.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yKHNWC">
Gohmert, for his part, appears to be in denial: “Judge rules no standing in my lawsuit to toss fraudulent Biden electors,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/replouiegohmert/status/1345225669979086848?s=20">tweeted</a> Friday. “If I dont have standing, no one does. When no one ever has standing, what good is a court system?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="09ZUdQ">
And he strayed into even more dangerous territory Saturday in an appearance on the conservative cable network Newsmax, falsely claiming that if Trump is not allowed to steal the election from Biden, “it will mean the end of our republic,” and saying, “in effect, the ruling would be that you gotta go to the streets and be as violent as antifa and BLM.”
</p>
<div id="uy5ErA">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
Louie Gohmert on Newsmax: "But if bottom line is, the court is saying, 'We're not going to touch this. You have no remedy' -- basically, in effect, the ruling would be that you gotta go the streets and be as violent as Antifa and BLM." <a href="https://t.co/cZIdGTiQls">pic.twitter.com/cZIdGTiQls</a>
</p>
— Aaron Rupar (<span class="citation">@atrupar</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1345377936300453891?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="aPLrDM">
Gohmerts case isnt the first Republican election lawsuit to run into issues of legal standing — the Supreme Court rejected a wide-ranging <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/12/12/22097324/trump-tweets-supreme-court-rejects-texas-election-results-lawsuit">lawsuit</a> brought by Texas last month for the same reason — but with Inauguration Day rapidly approaching, Trump and his allies are running out of time to launch new attempts to stop Biden from taking office.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="B0pyl4">
Bidens inauguration doesnt mean challenges like Gohmerts — which, according to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/gohmert-court-filing-claims-pence-is-not-a-glorified-envelope-opener/2021/01/01/eeb6b222-4c51-11eb-839a-cf4ba7b7c48c_story.html">Washington Post</a>, his legal team plans to appeal — will vanish. But that doesnt mean they stand a chance of succeeding either.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tZ9C3n">
As University of California Irvine <a href="https://twitter.com/rickhasen/status/1337450027665346562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1337450027665346562%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=about%3Asrcdoc">law professor Rick Hasen</a> put it on Twitter last month in regard to a different lawsuit: “People ask me when the litigation is going to stop. I say perhaps not through the entire Biden presidency. But when will the serious litigation stop? It already has.”
</p>
<h3 id="yDp9VS">
Gohmerts lawsuit is a preview of whats to come in Congress
</h3>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="COzlSP">
Gohmerts deeply unserious attempt at a lawsuit, however, is just one expression of the post-election mania gripping the Republican Party. And the courts Friday ruling — which drops Trump and his Republican allies court record to 1-60 in post-election litigation, <a href="https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1345202689270026241?s=20">according to Democratic voting rights lawyer Marc Elias</a> — wont be the end of it.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Ueh7Vi">
Republicans in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress-election-vote-certification-objection/2020/12/30/4dce936c-4ab6-11eb-839a-cf4ba7b7c48c_story.html">both</a> <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/these-incoming-freshman-lawmakers-to-join-mo-brooks-in-challenging-election-on-jan-6">chambers</a> of Congress have already stated their intention to object to the certification of Bidens Electoral College victory when lawmakers meet on January 6, and Trump, who <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/30/politics/trump-returning-to-washington-early/index.html">returned to the White House early</a> on Thursday after a holiday sojourn in Florida, has been busy <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1345095714687377418?s=20">promoting</a> a rally centered on overturning the election results the same day.
</p>
<div id="gKK5EY">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" dir="ltr" lang="en">
The BIG Protest Rally in Washington, D.C., will take place at 11.00 A.M. on January 6th. Locational details to follow. StopTheSteal!
</p>
— Donald J. Trump (<span class="citation">@realDonaldTrump</span>) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1345095714687377418?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 1, 2021</a>
</blockquote>
</div>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="TnVKWC">
Needless to say, Trumps planned rally will be utterly ineffective in challenging the election results — but that doesnt mean it will be harmless. The last time pro-Trump protesters <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/12/13/22172438/trump-stop-steal-march-washington-dc-proud-lindell-fuentes">descended on Washington en masse</a>, violence broke out and at least five people were stabbed.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s2AQSQ">
And though Republicans efforts on the Hill are equally doomed to fail, they will ensure a protracted certification process come Tuesday. With support from at least one Republican senator guaranteed — <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1344307458085412867?s=20">Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri</a> got behind the effort on Wednesday — the GOP can temporarily hold up the process by objecting to a states electoral results.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="W4zwNE">
<a href="https://www.vox.com/22173990/electoral-college-trump-biden-stephen-miller">According to Voxs Andrew Prokop</a>:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="AKVFYK">
Under this process, if at least one House member and one senator object to the results in any state, each chamber will hold a vote on the matter. For the objection to succeed, both the House and the Senate must vote in favor of it. Otherwise, it fails. (And since Democrats will control the new House, any objection to Bidens win will surely fail in that chamber.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="u9AeB3">
Failure seems a near certainty in the Senate as well. Democrats currently hold 48 seats in that chamber, and a number of Republican lawmakers have expressed disdain for Hawleys plan. According to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/01/republicans-hawley-election-challenge-453362">Politico</a>, Alaskas Sen. Lisa Murkowski has called it “awful;” Utah Sen. Mitt Romney said it was “disappointing and destructive;” Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi said, “I dont think its a good idea;” and Nebraskas Sen. Ben Sasse said, “Adults dont point a loaded gun at the heart of legitimate self-government.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mBIqcM">
<a href="https://twitter.com/Olivianuzzi/status/1345101814052610048">New York magazines Olivia Nuzzi</a> reported Friday that a GOP official said senators have been so openly angry with Hawley “because they think he knows better. As the official put it: Hes not some moron like Louie Gohmert.’”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="mxkH9h">
That isnt to say Hawley wont get some support: <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/1345408241300164608?s=20">According to a CBS report on Saturday</a>, as many as a dozen Republican senators, including three new members, might join Hawley in objecting. These senators <a href="https://twitter.com/burgessev/status/1345420636714397698?s=20">reportedly include</a>: Texass Sen. Ted Cruz, Oklahomas Sen. James Lankford, and Alabamas incoming Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tAc6Gm">
Overall, though, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/21/politics/house-conservatives-trump-meeting/index.html">according to Senate Majority Whip John Thune</a>, the effort will “go down like a shot dog” in the Senate.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jcKmai">
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also <a href="https://twitter.com/politicoalex/status/1344727635000229890?s=20">opposes the effort</a> — but <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/gohmert-140-republicans-object-electors">according to Gohmert</a>, as many as 140 Republican representatives plan to object to the vote totals in the House.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QtAq3H">
As Prokop points out, none of this will work out for the GOP. Regardless of what further undemocratic hijinks may be planned, Biden won the presidency, and his win will be confirmed again on January 6.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fL2lE5">
The efforts of Gohmert, Hawley, and other Trump allies do, however, underscore a continued and dangerous unwillingness on the part of a major US political party to accept the results of a free and fair election — and the corrosive effect that might have on democracy is cause for concern, regardless of how successful their efforts are.
</p>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Kento Momota tests positive for COVID-19, Japan to miss Thailand Open</strong> - An association official confirmed that none of the other 22 Japan players tested positive, but said the entire team would withdraw nonetheless</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Full Indian squad, including isolated five, travelling to Sydney together; Brisbane Test on as of now</strong> - For BCCI, the man under scanner is administrative manager Girish Dongre.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Sourav Ganguly health improves, tests negative for COVID-19</strong> - The BCCI president was admitted to the Woodlands Hospital in Kolkata on Saturday.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ajinkya Rahane is born to lead: Chappell</strong> - Ian Chappell says, “Rahane is calm when things could easily get out of hand.”</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Aus vs Ind third Test | Rain washes out Indias practice session at MCG on Sunday</strong> - Both the Indian and Australian players are scheduled to leave for Sydney on Monday.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>COVID-19 vaccine skeptics playing into hands of vested interests: Nadda</strong> - The BJP chief, hitting back at opposition leaders, said they refused to be proud of anything Indian</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Durga Bhabhi and Maulvi Liaquat to get their due at the Allahabad Museum</strong> - ₹8 crore project for one of its kind Azad Gallery will tell the story of revolutionaries in the Indian freedom movement.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Bilara villagers mobilise against addiction</strong> - In a unique campaign, residents of Lamba have imposed boycott and penalties on trade of drugs, alcohol and tobacco products</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Centre suspends Hindustan Newsprint Limited MD</strong> - Order follows a Central Vigilance Commission probe against him</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Drop plans to privatise defence sector units, BMS urges Centre</strong> - Pay dearness allowance to Central government employees immediately</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>France: More than 2,500 break virus restrictions at illegal rave</strong> - The New Year's Eve event, held in a warehouse in a village in Brittany, was shut down on Saturday.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Norway landslide: More bodies found as rescuers search Gjerdrum site</strong> - Four bodies have now been recovered following the landslide that destroyed homes in Ask village.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Brexit: New era for UK as it completes separation from European Union</strong> - Boris Johnson celebrates the "freedom in our hands" as the long Brexit process comes to a conclusion.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Paris St-Germain: Mauricio Pochettino replaces Thomas Tuchel as head coach</strong> - Former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is named Paris St-Germain boss following Thomas Tuchel's sacking.</p></li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pierre Cardin: French fashion designer buried in Paris</strong> - The renowned designer was buried in a private ceremony at Paris's Montmartre Cemetery on Saturday.</p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
<ul>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Tesla delivered a record 500,000 vehicles in 2020</strong> - Tesla needs to expand rapidly to justify its $600 billion market capitalization. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1732660">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Archaeology is going digital to harness the power of Big Data</strong> - Combining traditional "pick and trowel" field work with a sweeping birds-eye view - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1732570">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>You cant unsee Tedlexa, the Internet of Things/AI bear of your nightmares</strong> - From the archives: Teddy Ruxpin + Arduino + Raspberry Pi + Alexa = What could go wrong? - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=997673">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Pandemic shaming can backfire—heres a better way</strong> - Opinion: If we cant expect people to avoid risk, we should embrace harm reduction. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1732567">link</a></p></li>
<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>How electric lighting changed our sleep, and other stories in materials science</strong> - Author and science evangelist Ainissa Ramirez discusses her book, <em>The Alchemy of Us</em> - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1732479">link</a></p></li>
</ul>
<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
<ul>
<li><strong>I bought a sail for my boat on Amazon the other day. Today it dawned on me that it's not the right size so I called to cancel. They said it's too late.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
That sail has shipped.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/timthedriller"> /u/timthedriller </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/kp9vy4/i_bought_a_sail_for_my_boat_on_amazon_the_other/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/kp9vy4/i_bought_a_sail_for_my_boat_on_amazon_the_other/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>My doctor gave me 6 months, so I shot him.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<h2>
The judge gave me 60 years!
</h2>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
.<br/> .<br/> .
</p>
<h3>
My (other) favorite one liners:
</h3>
<ol>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Ive had amnesia for as long as I can remember.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
What do you call a cheap circumcision? A ripoff.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
French tanks have five reverse gears, and one that goes forward in case theyre attacked from behind.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
My last relationship ended because I didnt open the car door for her. I just swam for the surface.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
My moms had a moment of clarity. She called me a son of a bitch.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I dont trust anything that bleeds for five days straight and doesnt die.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I used to finish my sentences, but now...
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
My therapist told me Im too indecisive, but Im not so sure.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I bought a terrible thesaurus yesterday, not only was it terrible, it was terrible!
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Why do we call ourselves pirates? Because we arrr!
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I intend to live forever. So far, so good!
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
When life gives you melons, you might be dyslexic.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Evening news is where they start with Good evening and then tell you why its not.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I hate Russian dolls, they are so full of themselves.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Theres no I in denial.
</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h3>
Marriage:
</h3>
<ol>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
My wife and I were happy for 20 years, before we met.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I love my wife so much that if we were an a sinking boat, and there was only one life jacket, I would really miss her and think of her a lot.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The other day, my wife started a conversation by suddenly blurting out: “You havent listened to a word Ive said, have you?”
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
My wife told me our neighbor kisses his wife goodbye on the steps every morning, and asked me why I dont do the same, but I dont know her that well.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Religious differences destroyed our marriage. I wasnt allowed to love my neighbor.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
I divorced my wife because she was too loud in bed. I could hear her from two houses down the street.
</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h3>
Just a couple notes on your beloved mother to wrap it all up:
</h3>
<ul>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Yo mama so ugly, a blowjob from her counts as anal.
</p>
</li>
<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Yo mama so fat, last time she passed by the TV, I missed a season of Friends.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h1>
THANK YOU, AND GOOD NIGHT!!
</h1>
<pre><code>——— Edit: An unforeseen consequence of ending the post with a couple YoMamas is that an overwhelming amount of comments have been yo mama jokes. If you feel inclined to post one too, I suggest that you do as I did yesterday, and join r/YoMamaJokes. They obviously have too few members compared to the popularity of these jokes! ——— </code></pre>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/BinBender"> /u/BinBender </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/kp715g/my_doctor_gave_me_6_months_so_i_shot_him/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/kp715g/my_doctor_gave_me_6_months_so_i_shot_him/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>Heisenberg and Schroedinger are driving together, but they get stopped by a police officer.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The officer asks, "Did you know you were driving at 75 mph?"
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Heisenberg sighs, "Oh great, now we're lost."
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The cop is unhappy, and checks the car's trunk. He asks, "And why is there a dead cat in here?"
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
Schroedinger grumbles, "Well there is NOW!"
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/aflashingstar"> /u/aflashingstar </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/kp36pn/heisenberg_and_schroedinger_are_driving_together/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/kp36pn/heisenberg_and_schroedinger_are_driving_together/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>A big Texan stopped at a local restaurant following a day roaming around in Spain ...</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
While sipping his wine, he noticed a sizzling, scrumptious looking platter being served at the next table. Not only did it look good, the smell was wonderful.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
He asked the waiter, “What is that you just served?”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The waiter replied, “Si senor, you have excellent taste! Those are called Cojones de Toro, bull's testicles from the bull fight this morning. A delicacy!”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The cowboy said, “What the heck, bring me an order.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The waiter replied, “I am so sorry senor. There is only one serving per day because there is only one bull fight each morning.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
If you come early and place your order, we will be sure to save you this delicacy.'
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The next morning, the cowboy returned, placed his order, and that evening was served the one and only special delicacy of the day.
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
After a few bites, inspecting his platter, he called to the waiter and said, “These are delicious, but they are much, much smaller than the ones I saw you serve yesterday.”
</p>
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
The waiter shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Si,Senor. Sometimes the bull wins."
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/ephmal"> /u/ephmal </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/kp96gp/a_big_texan_stopped_at_a_local_restaurant/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/kp96gp/a_big_texan_stopped_at_a_local_restaurant/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
<li><strong>My dad just gave me a 30 minute Power Point Presentation on why to use condoms during sex.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF -->
<div class="md">
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
All the slides were just pictures of me.
</p>
</div>
<!-- SC_ON -->
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/porichoygupto"> /u/porichoygupto </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/kpbcqp/my_dad_just_gave_me_a_30_minute_power_point/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/kpbcqp/my_dad_just_gave_me_a_30_minute_power_point/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
</ul>
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