And so 2020 finally draws to a close. As the Queen of England might say, it's been a real annus horribilis all around. Except for that one glorious day in November, of course. Well, OK, one glorious (and maddening and nail-biting) week, actually.

But finally -- finally! -- we only have 45 days more of "45" in the White House. And next year promises to be one heck of a lot better all around. Starting at the stroke of noon on the twentieth of January, of course.

The last few years here, I've been pretty depressed writing about politics (who wouldn't be?). In fact, one December I came incredibly close to just giving up on the idea of political blogging altogether. "What is the point?" accurately describes how I felt, at that point. But I pushed through, and you folks helped a lot. When I solicit donations at the end of the year, I consider it paid forwards, not backwards. In other words, by accepting your money I am committing to blogging for another full year. And this is the first year in a very long time that I am actively looking forward to doing so again. Oh, sure, President Joe Biden will likely disappoint me in many ways (just like Barack Obama did), but they will at least be sane and rational ways, not "acting like a petulant five-year-old throwing a tantrum" ways. And that will make a world of difference in how I go about my job, that much is certain.

So for the first time in four years, it is indeed with a joyous heart that I am asking all and sundry who read this site on a regular basis to help support it for the next calendar year. This site has remained ad-free for more years that I can count, and to guarantee this remains so for all of next year, we would really love to hit our pledge drive target. So, once again, we are subjecting everyone to shamelessly adorable kittens, to help soften your heart (and loosen your wallet). Even kittens are ever so generous, after all....

I picked it out myself!

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That headline is meant as a joke, because the much-more-typical headline of its type (that lazy political writers love to use) is: "Democrats In Disarray." But this week the Trump circus is finally beginning to realize that it's almost time to fold its tents and leave town, and the result has been the party beginning to eat its own, as it tries to figure out how to cope with the looming post-Trump era.

The problem for the Republican Party is that it has completely sold its soul to Donald Trump. And only now are they beginning to realize how high a price they've paid. There really is no Republican Party left, it is now nothing more than a personality cult feverishly devoted to their Dear Leader. Unfortunately, all the Dear Leader cares about is how fervently everyone worships him. Nothing else matters to him. The Dear Leader couldn't care less about the Republican Party or its future without him.

Many, including Joe Biden, kind of expected a snap back to some sort of political normalcy, post-Trump. But now we all seem to be trapped in a conundrum summed up by the song title: "How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?" Trump, it now seems, isn't going anywhere. His biggest decision right now is going to be when he will announce his bid to retake the White House in 2024. Will he surprise everyone and announce before the Georgia Senate runoff elections in early January? Will he go the standard route of waiting until after the 2022 midterms? Probably not, because Trump himself seems to be favoring what could possibly be the rudest presidential campaign launch since Andrew Jackson's in 1824. Trump is leaning towards not only not attending Joe Biden's inauguration, but instead trying to beat Biden's television ratings by holding a simultaneous rally where he announces his 2024 bid. But whenever it happens, what seems crystal clear is that Trump is not going to gently fade into the background.

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I tried, really I did. I sat down to watch President Donald Trump's new 46-minute-long video in full. But I just couldn't do it. I made it about 15 minutes in, and then just had to skip ahead to the last 10 minutes, to see the big finish.

This, I firmly believe, is precisely why Trump and his team released it as a social media video instead of choosing another route with a much larger audience -- like asking the broadcast networks to carry an Oval Office speech in primetime, for instance. Because I think Trump's advisors knew full well that going that route would have meant running a gigantic risk -- that the networks would all cut away from the speech mere minutes after it began. That would have been the ultimate snub for a president who only truly cares deeply about his own television ratings. So they must have talked him into not going that route, to avoid that particular embarrassment from happening.

The reason the networks would have cut away -- even from a primetime presidential Oval Office address -- is the same reason I couldn't sit through all 46 minutes of the video: it consisted of nothing more than warmed-over lies and half-witted and half-baked conspiracy theories. The entire thing, from beginning to end. That's what I had been warned before I tried to watch it, and that's precisely what it turned out to be. The best description I've yet heard (and I apologize because I didn't save the link to properly cite this) is that it was exactly like George Costanza's father celebrating "Festivus" by launching into "the airing of the grievances." Some old outer-borough White guy, angry at the world because it isn't the way he'd like it to be, in other words. And not the least shy about letting you know precisely how he feels about that.

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Today was a notable day for Democrats, because for the first time in almost 58 years, the state of Arizona now has two Democratic senators. Senator Mark Kelly -- astronaut and husband to Gabby Giffords -- was sworn in today, since the election he just won was a special election (meaning he didn't have to wait until January to take his oath). And I for one would like to thank outgoing seat-warmer Martha McSally for personally making this possible.

In 1952, Republicans began their rise to power in Arizona by electing Barry Goldwater to the Senate. For those who don't immediately recognize his name, the best way to describe him might be "Ronald Reagan before there was a Ronald Reagan in politics." Goldwater was "Mr. Conservative" personified (yes, people actually called him that). He was also the GOP's presidential candidate in 1964 (when he got crushed by Lyndon Johnson's historic landslide). Goldwater -- and Reagan, who followed in his ideological footsteps -- had an outsize influence on the Republican Party as a whole, dragging it far to the right in much the same fashion that Bernie Sanders has recently done (in the other direction, of course) for the Democratic Party. And after Goldwater, this Senate seat was held by none other than John McCain. That is the seat the Republicans just lost, which is why it's such a big deal.

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There's a Senate leadership battle going on in the Democratic caucus right now, but there's also a bigger issue at stake than just who gets to lead Democrats on the Judiciary Committee next year. The bigger reform Senate Democrats are now considering is whether they should adopt new rules to fundamentally change their leadership structure, to lessen the weight of seniority in office.

The specific committee leadership battle in question is being waged because Dianne Feinstein finally became convinced, after the most-recent Supreme Court justice confirmation hearings, that she had outstayed her welcome as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. Her move was applauded by many Democrats, it's worth noting.

But with DiFi stepping down, the top committee spot will open up. Normally, this would automatically go to the next-most-senior Democrat on the committee, which in this case would be Dick Durbin. However, another committee member, Sheldon Whitehouse, is making a bid for the job as well.

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After the long weekend, I'm kind of easing back into the political world, and I thought there'd be no better way to do that than to celebrate the impending return of First Pets to the White House. Joe and Jill Biden will be bringing their two dogs to live with them, and the news was announced over the weekend that they'll also be getting a new First Cat. From Jane Pauley on CBS yesterday:

And now some breaking news. President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden won't just be bringing their German shepherds, Major and Champ, to the White House. The Bidens tell us exclusively that soon they'll be joined by a cat.

Apparently, this is due to Jill, who had said in an interview before the election: "Well, I'd love to get a cat. I love having animals around the house."

I have to say, this is exactly the return to normalcy that 80 million of us voted for. Donald Trump was unique in many ways (and that's putting it mildly), but one of them was breaking the long-standing tradition of having pets in the White House. In fact, you have to go back to the depths of the nineteenth century to find a period when there were no pets in the White House. According to Wikipedia, the last president before Trump not to have pets was officially James K. Polk, who served from 1845 to 1849. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) doesn't really count, either, because I don't think that "fed white mice he found in his bedroom" truly qualifies as having presidential pets.

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[I have to begin here with a short program note. There will be no new column tomorrow or Friday. I may rouse myself from the tryptophan haze to post a re-run on Friday, but as of now, no promises. Regular columns will resume on Monday. Have a happy weekend, everyone!]

Since it's Thanksgiving-eve (or, at least, Thanksgiving-afternoon-before), I thought the most appropriate thing to write about today would be all the things I am thankful for. So here's my list of things which -- even after the most bizarre year anyone alive has ever seen in America -- I am still very thankful for, in no particular order.

Ready? Here goes.

I am thankful for...

...the continued health of all my friends and family. Nobody I personally know has died as a result of the pandemic. My heart also goes out to everyone who (sadly) cannot make the same claim.

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President Donald Trump is not going gentle into that good night. Far from it. But when I say that, I'm not talking about him tilting at the windmill of his election loss, but rather of what (hopefully) will be his final battle with Congress.

Congress is supposed to pass budgetary bills before the federal fiscal year starts in October. Being Congress, they are almost always late in performing this basic civic duty. This year is no different, so among all the other crises we face, we're actually now staring into the void of yet another government shutdown if some sort of "kick the can down the road" omnibus budget bill isn't passed in early December. But throughout most of these sadly-now-regular fights over the budget and shutdowns, Congress usually manages to at least pass the National Defense Authorization Act, which funds the Pentagon and our entire military.

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I spent some time today watching the end of the Michigan State Board of Canvassers meeting on television. Now, I'm a pretty wonky guy when it comes to politics, but even I never thought I would ever spend any of my time watching a state elections board perform their rather mundane duties. Over the years, I've watched more congressional hearings than I can count, but not since the year 2000 has anyone paid such close attention to the nuts-and-bolts inner workings of how votes are counted and certified in this country. And I certainly wasn't the only one watching -- the streaming on YouTube reportedly had over 30,000 viewers. For the Michigan State Board of Canvassers.

In the end, the board fulfilled their duty, as both Democrats on the board and one of the two Republicans voted to certify the previously-certified results of Michigan's 83 counties. The state board's job consists entirely of adding up the already-certified county results and certifying the final statewide total. That's it -- that's their entire job. Add 83 sets of numbers together and come up with the correct totals, and then certify the final numbers. The other Republican on the board didn't even vote against certification in the end -- he abstained.

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This isn't just the Keystone Kops, it's now a full-on Keystone Koup attempt. Before we get to any of it, however, we have to pause to wish Joseph Robinette Biden Junior a happy 78th birthday. Many happy returns, Joe!

Biden is now several steps closer to being sworn in as America's next president in less than nine weeks, as state after state certifies that Biden did indeed beat Donald Trump. Georgia did so today, and several other important states are slated to do so on Monday. By December 8th, all states will have done so and appointed their electors to the Electoral College.

Georgia officially going for Biden means, of course, that there is no viable route for Trump to get to the 270 votes needed to win the Electoral College. The head of the General Services Administration (Keystone Division) has so far refused to sign an "ascertainment" verifying Biden's win, however, and just issued her first post-election tweet. We are not making this up -- here is what Emily Murphy tweeted:

Dcccf Rex zzz. @#z@smaan anaNN

This, of course, prompted much hilarity online, with the best response being: "Dcccf Rex zzz come in. This is Covfefe. Do you copy?"

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