Hello and welcome to the weekend. Today we go for quality, not quantity. Fridays have notoriously been hellaciously busy. For the first time in recent memory, this is not one of them. At least, not yet. Here’s what you need to know going into your weekend.
TRUMP CAMPAIGNS FOR ROY MOORE…IN FLORIDA: Donald Trump has gone full-in on Roy Moore, almost. He’s endorsed him and sings his praises on Twitter but standing side-by-side with the alleged sexual predator must be one step too far. The President has a rally tonight in Pensacola, which is only a few miles from the Alabama state line. It is one of the oddest political rallies we’ve ever heard of. A president flies to one state to support a candidate in another state. (see our post from earlier today)
TRENT FRANKS MAKES THREE THIS WEEK: Representative Trent Franks has been told to resign immediately, and he has. The Arizona Republican was forced out after it was reported he offered an aide $5 million to carry his child (AP). Franks’s resignation follows Democrats John Conyers, also from the House, and Al Franken from the Senate.
CONGO ATTACK: The news from the Congo is horrific. Fourteen United Nations peacekeepers were killed in an overnight attack in the eastern part of the country. The U.N. Secretary General called it a “war crime.” NBC News has a report via the AP from Kinsasha.
TECH PARTIES: In case you were wondering if tech companies learned their lesson from a deluge of sexual harassment complaints this year, this story from Bloomberg makes us think not. Tech companies in Silicon Valley are sneaking paid models into holiday parties to mingle with employees. They are called ambience and atmosphere models. What could go wrong?
TWEET OF THE DAY: Diversity in America is our strength, unless you’re Steve King, the Republican representative from Iowa. We’re not sure if he’s just looking for attention or he actually believes what was written on his account today. In a series of tweets he said diversity was not our strength, and quoted the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban who wrote that “mixing cultures will not lead to a higher quality of life but a lower one.”
Diversity is not our strength. Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, “Mixing cultures will not lead to a higher quality of life but a lower one.” https://t.co/ZlMXzcc87w
— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) December 8, 2017