Comment on In a difficult year, 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' speaks to us now more than ever

I remember Donald Trump saying that Hillary Clinton, who traveled 956,733 miles as Secretary of State, didn't "have the stamina" to be President. I also recall Trump calling the President "Sleepy Joe" and "corrupt." As it happens, Trump is facing 91 felony charges. He fell asleep in court, and "his eyes looked red and bloodshot when he opened them and peered at the judge." Sad! Maggie Haberman, a senior political correspondent for the New York Times, also known as the Trump Whisperer, told Jake Tapper, His jaw kept falling on his chest, and his mouth kept going slack." Defendant Trump reportedly glared at Haberman before leaving court. The internet lit up.

Florida Rep. Byron Donalds threw his hat in the ring big-time to be Trump's VP pick when he demanded Manhattan residents that sit on the jury in Trump's hush money trial acquit him without even hearing any evidence. The Florida Republican attacked Manhattan citizens and its law enforcement officials as hacks and political operatives. I don't expect this judge or this D.

That was astoundingly unprecedented. American, British, French, and an assortment of Arab countries’ warplanes and air defenses teamed up with Israel to block Iran’s massive wave of missiles and drones. Now let’s recognize that Joe Biden deserves credit for his immediate follow-up. The President saved the world from coping with an awful war in the Middle East, by calling Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and twisting Israel’s arm so that it didn’t immediately retaliate against Iran. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] While Israeli war cabinet consultations are secret, we can confirm that the group of five top decision-makers was moving toward ordering a powerful retaliation against sites in Iran—some connected with that country’s nuclear program—that have been on Israel’s standby target list for years.

This article is part of The D. C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. Roughly a year before the 2004 campaign hit its frenzied stride, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich huddled in a private room at a French restaurant just a few blocks from the White House.

Rust film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to the maximum penalty of 18 months in prison Monday afternoon in New Mexico after the fatal on-set shooting of Halyna Hutchins nearly three years ago. She could also face a $5,000 fine. Gutierrez-Reed, 27, who was responsible for handling and storing the firearms on set, was convicted on March 6 of involuntary manslaughter.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, technologists made the world a grand promise: new communications technologies would strengthen democracy, undermine authoritarianism, and lead to a new era of human flourishing. But today, few people would agree that the internet has lived up to that lofty goal. Today, on social media platforms, content tends to be ranked by how much engagement it receives.