Democratic insiders: Bernie could win the nomination  —  Suddenly, Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign is being taken seriously.  —  For months, the Vermont senator was written off by Democratic Party insiders as a candidate with a committed but narrow base who was too far left to win the primary.

Trump Senate Impeachment Trial Finds Scant Precedent in History  —  (Bloomberg) — Bill Clinton's impeachment two decades ago set the modern template for President Donald Trump's upcoming trial in the Senate.  But the process may be even more contentious this time given sharper tribal divisions in Washington.

Trump ‘Home Alone 2’ scene reportedly cut from Canadian Christmas broadcasts  —  President Trump's cameo scene in the holiday classic “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York” was reportedly cut from showings of the movie on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) this month.

The Year of Batshit Crazy at One America News, Trump's New Favorite Cable-News Channel  —  Trump in 2019 began attacking Fox News when its news side seemed insufficiently loyal to him.  Such an opportunity presented itself for OAN to vie for the president's affections.

Trump stock market rally is far outpacing past US presidents  — The S&P 500 has returned more than 50% since President Trump was elected, more than double the average market return of presidents three years into their term, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

The Christmas Eve Confessions of Chuck Todd  —  That disinformation was going to overtake Republican politics was discoverable years before he says he discovered it.  —  'Round midnight on Christmas eve, Rolling Stone posted a short interview with Chuck Todd, host of “the longest running show on television,” NBC's Meet the Press.

At each end of Pacific, skepticism over China farm purchases  —  OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — President Donald Trump likes to joke that America's farmers have a nice problem on their hands: They're going to need bigger tractors to keep up with surging Chinese demand for their soybeans …

Ari Behn, Norwegian princess' ex and Kevin Spacey accuser, dead at 47  —  Ari Behn, a former member of Norway's royal family who was one of Kevin Spacey's sexual assault accusers, died by suicide on Wednesday, his manager said.  He was 47.  —  “It is with great sadness in our hearts …

Trump struggles when asked about Ukraine messages from Putin  —  For nearly three years, Donald Trump has ignored his own country's intelligence community and believed that Ukraine intervened in the U.S. elections in 2016 in the hopes of undermining his candidacy.

Democrats seize on anti-Obamacare ruling to steamroll GOP in 2020  —  A court ruling last week putting the Affordable Care Act further in jeopardy may provide the opening Democrats have been waiting for to regain the upper hand on health care against Republicans in 2020.

Democrats' denial on health care may produce Trump's reelection  —  As this shabby year, and with it a dispiriting decade, sags to an end, there is an interesting symmetry.  In 2010, passage of the Affordable Care Act signaled the nation's domestic policy preoccupation: health care.

Hallmark movies are fascist propaganda  —  Forget “Triumph of the Will” — the most insidious authoritarian propaganda comes in the form of schmaltz  —  The Hallmark Channel has been having a rough go of it in the past few weeks.  The cable TV behemoth, which has been minting money …

Colorado hits a new milestone with unaffiliated voters and busts the myth about its even partisan split  —  To make a case that he can win over a divided nation, Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bennet often points to his home state.  —  “This is a state that is exactly a third Democrat …

China, Russia and Iran to hold joint naval drills from Friday  —  BEIJING (Reuters) - China, Iran and Russia will hold joint naval drills starting on Friday in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman, China's defense ministry said on Thursday，amid heightened tension in the region between Iran and the United States.

Raids and conscription: Russian authorities crack down on Kremlin critics  —  MOSCOW - In Russian authorities' latest crackdown this week on Kremlin critics, opposition leader Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation office was raided Thursday, just days after one of his top aides …

R.I.P. GMIB.  Long live GMIB.  —  What happened at SB Nation and what comes next.  —  2 hr  —  Átropos (The Fates), Francisco Goya  —  TL;DR — I'm no longer at SB Nation, so if you want to continue to receive Good Morning It's Basketball, you need to subscribe to the new version, published here on Substack.

Israel Strikes in Gaza After Rocket Forces Netanyahu Off Stage  —  ‘Whoever fired rockets now, better pack his belongings,’ Netanyahu threatened as he returned to finish address at southern Israeli port city of Ashkelon  —  The Israeli military said it struck in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning …