20 days of fantasy and failure: Inside Trump's quest to overturn the election  —  The facts were indisputable: President Trump had lost.  —  But Trump refused to see it that way.  Sequestered in the White House and brooding out of public view after his election defeat …

Reality and the Narrative  —  Despite the blandishments of the narrative, which seek to seduce you into acquiescence with rumors of inevitability, we really do not know how this story, which seems so familiar, will end.  —  Oscar Wilde was such a card.  Sitting for his viva voce examination in Greek …

Utah Monolith Mysteriously Disappears From Desert  —  The metal structure has been removed, Utah officials said on Saturday, adding that they had not taken it down.  —  As mysteriously as it arrived, a metal monolith that was discovered last week by Utah public safety workers is now gone, officials said on Saturday.

Right-wing media feud erupts over Trump lawyer Sidney Powell's bonkers election conspiracy theories  —  When it turns out Alex Jones is the peacemaker here, you're in trouble.  —  Right-wing media now have to grapple with a strange new internal conflict: whether to endorse the set …

A year after Wuhan alarm, China seeks to change Covid origin story  —  Reports in state media signal an intensifying propaganda effort to place the birth of the virus in other countries  —  Nearly a year after doctors identified the first cases of a worrying new disease in the Chinese city of Wuhan …

‘Time For My Flag to Go Up’: How Anti-Trumpers Are Reclaiming the American Flag  —  About a month before the election, Curtis Woodall logged onto Amazon and ordered an American flag.  The 72-year-old Vietnam War veteran and retired infantry soldier had taken his old flag down about a year into the Trump administration.

A Scorched Earth Strategy on Iran  —  The assassination of a top nuclear scientist isn't about stopping a bomb — it's about preventing diplomacy.  Joe Biden doesn't have to let it work.  —  Ms. Slavin directs the Future of Iran Initiative at the Atlantic Council.

What counts for Brad Raffensperger  —  Faith, family and the loss of a child prepared him for the Trump storm  —  President Donald Trump lashed out at Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Thanksgiving night as “an enemy of the people,” furious that he had certified the 2020 election in Georgia for President-elect Joe Biden.

Marco Rubio is already suiting up for the politics of destruction  —  Let's say you're a Republican senator who claims to support democracy and U.S. leadership in the world.  —  Let's imagine, too, that you've spent four years excusing and supporting a president who fawned …

Israel's Pick to Head Holocaust Memorial Stirs International Uproar  —  Critics are protesting the nomination of Effie Eitam, a retired general and far-right politician, to lead Yad Vashem, a hallowed Israeli institution.  —  JERUSALEM — For years, his name was synonymous with intolerance and right-wing extremism.

Trump Calls Fox News ‘Virtually Unwatchable,’ Points Followers to OANN and Newsmax  —  President Donald Trump called Fox News “virtually unwatchable” on Saturday, and pointed his followers to instead watch conservative media outlets One America News Network (OANN) and Newsmax.

Miller-Meeks' lead shrinks to six votes after Clinton County recount  —  Clinton County completed its recount of the 2nd Congressional District race Saturday, narrowing the tightest contest in the country.  —  Rita Hart gained a net of two votes in her home county after a recount of close to 6,000 votes …

Americans need to understand importance of not furthering spread of COVID-19: Fauci  —  Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on ABC's “This Week” Sunday.  —  Hospitals struggle with growing number of COVID-19 cases  —  The U.S. has surpassed 13 million confirmed coronavirus cases, adding more than a million cases in just six days.

Biden's cabinet picks send a clear message  —  Keilar calls out Rubio for attacking Biden's Cabinet over their education  —  Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University and author of the book, “Burning Down the House …

Voters punished the Pelosi Democrats  —  Joe Biden won, but it was a lonely victory.  House Democrats lost about a dozen seats, clinging to their majority by the skin of their teeth.  If it hadn't been for some friendly court-ordered redistricting, they'd have done even worse.

'I'm Sick Of It': GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman Unloads On Republican Colleagues, Trump  —  Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-Va.) pulled no punches against President Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress in an interview with Forbes, accusing them of a “massive grift” in refusing to acknowledge …

A Rush to Expand the Border Wall That Many Fear Is Here to Stay  —  Despite the president-elect's vow to halt the project, the Trump administration is expanding the wall at a breakneck pace.  —  DOUGLAS, Ariz. — Four years ago, President Trump took office with a pledge to build a towering wall …

Pandemic Rules Are Only for the Little People  —  The defining moment in the “rules for thee but not for me” ethos of the ruling class during the COVID-19 pandemic may have come when Neil Ferguson, the epidemiologist behind Britain's lockdown policy, met with his married girlfriend in defiance of the restrictions he promoted.

Conservatives' complaints about media calling presidential elections are desperate nonsense  —  The same people chiding news networks for calling the race were fine with it in 2016  —  On Saturday, after days of uncertainty, CNN became the first major news network to call the presidential race for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

This state is shutting bars and gyms as the coronavirus surges — but not schools  —  Bars in Rhode Island must close for two weeks starting Monday.  Gyms, casinos, movie theaters and bowling alleys will also go dark.  —  But not Scituate High School — or most other public schools in the state …