7. The New York Times went to the daughter of a long-dead doctor to concoct an anti-Trump hit piece
— The paper found the anti-Trump daughters of a doctor who claimed that their dad helped now-President Donald Trump avoid military service during the Vietnam War with a phony diagnosis of bone spurs.
— The Times says “a possible explanation has emerged” as the doctors’ kids claim he told them the diagnosis was done “as a favor to his father,” but they offered no evidence of this, drawing the scorn of many that feel this is the anti-Trump media latching on to anything they can find to criticize the president.
6. The much-touted Women’s March is losing members over the leadership’s anti-Semitic history
— The group’s leaders questionable conduct has long been reported, but until recently, that criticism was brushed off by mainstream outlets. Now, members are acknowledging that phrases like “your people hold all the wealth” were used by the leaders in the organization’s meetings in references to Jews.
— The controversy has received little mainstream attention, but a number of smaller Women’s March chapters have distanced themselves from the national organization, like Washingon State’s director who released a statement saying, “I and my team can’t sit idly by and ignore the antisemitism the four National Team co-chairs have supported and continue to support.”
5. Democrats continue to attempt to make the case that the U.S. government is responsible for preventable illegal immigrant deaths
— Incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is promising investigations into the handling of the deaths are coming with a new Democratic Congress. He declared, “House Democrats will not stand idly by and watch as our nation’s most fundamental values are eroded, while innocent children are held like prisoners in cages and their lives placed at risk.”
— Two young illegal immigrants have lost their lives this month making the dangerous trek from South America. In both cases, the parents put their children in dangerous situations and the children were apprehended in the United States in ill-health.
4. Congresswoman Terri Sewell wants corrupt and ailing former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford released
— U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, (D-Birmingham) says the Federal Bureau of Prisons should let former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford go home on a compassionate release in a statement that read, “During this season of hope, I am calling on the Trump Administration to act with compassion and immediately reduce Mayor Langford’s sentence due to his deteriorating health.”
— Langford, 72, is in critical condition and is said to be near death in a Kentucky prison where he is jailed on bribery charges. Officials said he still “posed a danger to the safety of the community” when they denied his release in November.
3. Billionaire backer of Senator Doug Jones apologizes for his deceit in Alabama’s 2017 U.S. Senate race
— LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman apologized for donating money to a campaign to deceive Alabamians but claimed he didn’t know what they were doing and would not have supported these tactics, stating, “I find the tactics that have been recently reported highly disturbing. For that reason, I am embarrassed by my failure to track AET – the organization I did support – more diligently as it made its own decisions to perhaps fund projects that I would reject.”
— Facebook has suspended five of the accounts that intentionally spread misinformation as part of a plot to help Jones beat Judge Roy Moore in December of 2017.
2. The Trumps go to Iraq in a surprise visit
— The president and first lady visited military members at Joint Base al Asad on Wednesday. He told them he had no plans to withdraw from Iraq, and stated the importance of using Iraq as a base of regional operations. Trump also touched on some domestic issues.
— The media spent weeks criticizing him for not going to see troops at Christmas, now they are criticizing troops for being excited to see the president.
1. Stock market soars 1,000+ points in a record day
— After the worst Christmas Eve ever where the Dow Jones lost 653 points, the Dow responded by growing 1,068 points, marking the largest single point gain in one day.
— The volatility in the market is probably not over, but the market is no longer headed for the worst December in history because of this spike, which was possible days ago. But, there are a few days left where we could see more massive shifts.
