Today’s edition of quick hits:
* I hope this is true: “Despite a delay in signing the most recent piece of coronavirus relief legislation into law, the Department of Labor ‘does not anticipate’ that there will be a lapse in unemployment benefits for claimants in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs, a spokesperson for the agency told CNBC.”
* This isn’t exactly warp speed: “The Trump administration’s Covid-19 vaccine distribution program needs a major shot in the arm because at the current rate, it would take almost 10 years to inoculate enough Americans to get the pandemic under control, a jarring new NBC News analysis showed Tuesday.”
* On a related note: “President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday took aim at the Trump administration for ‘falling behind’ on vaccine distribution as the country reels from more than 330,000 deaths from COVID-19 thus far.”
* An allegation worth taking seriously: “President-elect Joe Biden accused the Trump administration of continuing to obstruct the transition process, warning that a fumbled handoff could leave an opening for America’s adversaries to exploit.”
* Olivia Troye: “A former aide to Vice President Pence who has since become a vocal critic of the Trump administration warned Monday that she feared violence could erupt in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, when Congress will formally certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.”
* That’s quite a quote: “A federal judge in Iowa who has warned against political corruption is ridiculing President Donald Trump’s pardons, including those issued to convicted Republican campaign operatives and former members of Congress. ‘It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals,’ senior U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt of the Southern District of Iowa told the Associated Press during a brief phone interview Monday.”
* Conflict among the Scouts: “The recruiting pitches are strikingly familiar: Character-building and leadership opportunities for girls await in time-honored scouting programs. But in a filing in federal court last week, the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. said this wasn’t its recruitment message, but that of a rival organization — the Boy Scouts of America — that it accused of engaging in unfair competition and trademark infringement.” * Ever get the feeling the Trump White House doesn’t much care about keeping people safe from the pandemic? “Earlier this month, Tom Mountain, a Massachusetts Republican Party leader, posed for a maskless photo in front of a silver menorah as dozens of other guests without face coverings mingled nearby at a White House Hanukkah party. Three days later, the vice chairman of the Massachusetts Republican State Committee was rushed to the hospital with a severe case of covid-19 that later left him close to needing a ventilator.” * Sometimes, the best perspectives come from those on the outside looking in. Take Fintan O’Toole, for example, on Trump’s White House tenure: “This is his legacy: he has successfully led a vast number of voters along the path from hatred of government to contempt for rational deliberation to the inevitable endpoint: disdain for the electoral process itself.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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