Comment on Pope Francis and the American Culture War

The Denver District Attorney’s Office will not file criminal charges related to the inadvertent release of some voting system passwords by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, prosecutors announced Friday. In a statement, District Attorney Beth McCann said the release of the passwords, which were posted on the secretary of state’s website for several months starting in June, was not “an effort to influence the outcome of an election.” Instead, she wrote, the passwords release was an error that didn’t constitute a violation of law. A law firm hired by Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office previously determined that the passwords’ release was inadvertent, though the review found that the office violated information security policies. The passwords were included in a hidden tab on a larger spreadsheet by a staffer who left Griswold’s office in May 2023, the firm’s review found.

By MELISSA GOLDIN President-elect Donald Trump’s billionaire ally Elon Musk played a key role this week in killing a bipartisan funding proposal that would have prevented a government shutdown, railing against the plan in a torrent of more than 100 X posts that included multiple false claims. Related Articles National Politics | The Latest: House approves new government funding bill National Politics | House rejects Trump-backed plan on government shutdown, leaving next steps uncertain National Politics | House Ethics Committee secretly voted to release Matt Gaetz ethics report, source says National Politics | Some in seafood industry see Trump as fishermen’s friend, but tariffs could make for pricier fish National Politics | Mexico suggests it would impose its own tariffs to retaliate against any Trump tariffs The X owner, an unelected figure, not only used his outsize influence on the platform to help sway Congress, he did so without regard for the facts and gave a preview of the role he could play in government over the next four years. “Trump has got himself a handful with Musk,” John Mark Hansen, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, said in an email.

The BBC is being pressured to play a song vying for Christmas number one that tears into Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Labour party's decision to slash winter fuel payments. Because of course austerity is always the solution! Via The Daily Express: Freezing This Christmas by Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers has been steadily climbing the charts in the run-up to Christmas, leading to the very real possibility that it may reach the number one spot. While it is topping the charts in terms of downloads, the artists behind it have claimed radio stations are refusing to play the song, which is raising money for people affected by the winter fuel cut. Kier Starmer | It'll be Freezing this Christmas

“Speaker Mike Johnson will try yet again to pass a short-term funding bill this afternoon, just hours before a government shutdown is set to begin. But this time it seems likely to work,” Punchbowl News reports. “Johnson is now pushing a short-term funding bill that keeps federal agencies open until mid-March.

“I cannot believe the Republicans are extending the debt ceiling — I am a Republican and I am embarrassed!” — Donald Trump, in January 2013. “Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling. Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.” — Trump, earlier today.

Elon Musk is questioning whether the spending bill that Republicans are bringing to the House floor later today is a Republican bill or a Democrat bill.