Rick Springfield Arrested For Missing Court Date; Released In Time To Rock

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. Comb through just about any political nerd’s text chains in the last 48 hours and there is one profane piece of shorthand that likely appears repeatedly regardless of their political affiliation: WTF?

This week President Joe Biden welcomed President-elect Donald Trump back to his old home at the White House. This magnanimous act runs in stark contrast to the cold reception Trump gave Biden in 2020 when the roles were reversed, breaking with the tradition of an amicable—not to mention peaceful—transfer of power. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Biden’s White House welcome to Trump versus Trump’s snub of Biden four years ago is matched by lack of reciprocity in the economy each gifted the other.

Mike the Mad Biologist - failure to communicate - the Ignorance Edition; PM Carpenter's Commentary - an antidepressant for Democrats; Tell Me a Story - riding in a clown car full of crazies; The Rude Pundit - Biden will be remembered more for what he didn't do than what he did; The Smirking Chimp - the future is ours

In a landmark verdict cheered by human rights defenders around the world, a federal jury in Virginia found a U. S. military contractor liable for the torture of three prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison during the invasion and occupation of Iraq in the early 2000s. The jury ordered CACI Premier Technology to pay each of the three Iraqi plaintiffs $3 million in compensatory damages and $11 million in punitive damages, for a total of $42 million.

Much has been said about who’s to blame—or who’s to thank, depending on your political persuasion—for Trump’s resounding election win. Hispanic men, who flocked to him in unprecedented numbers, might have made the difference in Pennsylvania, giving Trump the shiniest jewel in his crown. Many hoped (myself included) that after calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage,” and promising to deport millions of immigrants, the Hispanic vote would help lift Kamala Harris to victory.

No one should care what Fauxcahontas has to say.