Senate Republicans turn on Trump over suspend-the-Constitution talk  —  Senate Republicans are slowly but surely distancing themselves from Donald Trump after a call to terminate the Constitution and a meeting with antisemites — though there's no sign any will start actively opposing his 2024 campaign.

Top evangelicals are backing away from Donald Trump  —  Call it a crisis of faith.  Despite appointing the conservative judges who ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade — and fervently courting the religious right during his presidency — prominent evangelicals are beginning to shy away …

Michael Avenatti sentenced to 14 years in prison for stealing millions of dollars from clients  —  Disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti was sentenced Monday to 14 years in prison for embezzling millions of dollars from four of his clients and obstruction.  —  Avenatti pleaded guilty earlier …

Court Implodes Trump's Mar-a-Lago Defense (and the Errant Judge Who Bought It)  —  The timeline makes clear how careful and even deferential prosecutors were.  —  On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit finally put to rest the special master nonsense that Donald Trump set …

Rupert Murdoch to be deposed in $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox  —  The Fox Corp chairman is the highest-profile individual to be questioned in the case, which hinges on Fox's coverage of the 2020 presidential election.  —  Rupert Murdoch, the 91-year-old chairman …

Why Is Marjorie Taylor Greene Like This?  —  On the ground in the Georgia congresswoman's alternate universe  —  I.  —  she was very late.  A man named Barry was compelled to lead the room in a rendition of Lee Greenwood's “God Bless the U.S.A.” to stall for time.

Finally, a bipartisan deal to help the ‘dreamers’ is within reach  —  For three straight election cycles, running as the party of “border security” has largely failed for the GOP.  Though Republicans dumped enormous resources into painting migrants in the most lurid and threatening terms imaginable …

Major Break Coming in the JFK Assassination Story  —  The CIA is concealing a secret operation that involved accused assassin Oswald.  —  Many Americans wonder why the CIA is still concealing records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which happened nearly 60 years ago.

FBI Ramps Up Spending to Fight MAGA Terrorism  —  The FBI is conducting three times as many domestic terrorism investigations than it was five years ago, with 70 percent of its open cases focused on “civil unrest” and anti-government activity, according to FBI documents and government specialists.

Ukraine Targets Bases Deep in Russia, Showing Expanded Reach  —  Launching drones at air bases 300 miles from its own territory, Ukraine changed the geography of the war.  It said it had developed drones with a range of over 600 miles.  —  KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine executed its most brazen attack …

The Far-Right Attacked Drag Events in 4 States This Weekend  —  Protests against drag events have been an almost weekly occurrence this year.  This weekend was no different.  —  Neo-Nazis, Proud Boys, militiamen, Christian nationalists, and culture warriors in at least four states mobilized …

Haiti: Inside the capital city taken hostage by brutal gangs  —  In Port-au-Prince you cannot see the boundaries, but you must know where they are.  Your life may depend on it.  Competing gangs are carving up the Haitian capital, kidnapping, raping, and killing at will.  They demarcate their territory in blood.

The Global Zeitenwende … The world is facing a Zeitenwende: an epochal tectonic shift.  Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has put an end to an era.  New powers have emerged or reemerged, including an economically strong and politically assertive China.

Exclusive: Musk's Neuralink faces federal probe, employee backlash over animal tests  —  Elon Musk's Neuralink, a medical device company, is under federal investigation for potential animal-welfare violations amid internal staff complaints that its animal testing is being rushed …

Manhattan DA Hires Ex-DOJ Official to Help Lead Trump Investigation  —  The official, Matthew Colangelo, also worked on the New York attorney general's investigation of the former president.  —  The Manhattan district attorney is hiring a former senior justice department official with a history …

The political orientation of the ChatGPT AI system  —  Applying the Pew Research Political Typology Quiz to a state-of-the-art AI Language model  —  Update  —  I replicated the tests below using the more comprehensive Political Compass Test.  Results hold.

SOURCES: McConnell Caves to Pelosi, Schumer, Allows JCPA Media Cartel Bailout Bill to Be Included in Defense Package  —  Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell has caved to outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and will allow the National Defense Authorization Act …

Supreme Court Seems Ready to Back Web Designer Opposed to Same-Sex Marriage  —  The justices are expected to settle a question left open in 2018: how to reconcile claims of religious liberty with laws barring discrimination based on sexual orientation.  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court's …

Talk show host and Georgia House candidate accused of illegal voting  —  Brian K. Pritchard allegedly voted nine times while on felony probation  —  Conservative North Georgia talk show host Brian K. Pritchard, a candidate for the state House who rails against election fraud …

Jeffrey Friedman, RIP  —  The distinguished political theorist Jeffrey Friedman passed away suddenly on December 2, at the far-too-early age of 63.  Jeff was best-known for his work on democracy, political knowledge, and libertarianism, and for his role as the editor of Critical Review …

Supreme Court Rejects Conspiracy Theory-Laden Case Against Dominion Voting Systems  —  The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday morning declined to take up a case where a group of voters sued a private and prominent voting machine company under the statute that authorizes federal civil rights lawsuits …

GOP Election Losers Are Getting Even Weirder on Twitter  —  Unburdened by the pressure of winning votes, they're tweeting about chemtrails and killings.  —  A month after losing his gubernatorial election, Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano was tweeting pictures of what he implied were suspicious clouds.