SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET: 

ONE MORE FOR THE GOP – FROM FOX:   BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana voters chose Saturday to send Republican state Treasurer John Kennedy to the U.S. Senate, filling the nation's last Senate seat and giving the GOP a 52-48 edge in the chamber when the new term begins in January.  Kennedy had always been the runoff election's front-runner in a state that overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump. He defeated Democrat Foster Campbell, a state utility regulator whose chances were seen as such a long-shot that national Democratic organizations offered little assistance to Campbell's campaign.  Good news, but the GOP lead in the Senate is still slim.  If Dems stay united, a defection by only three GOP senators on, say, a Supreme Court nominee or confirmation of a Cabinet choice, can set back the GOP's momentum.  Trump must carefully nurture his relationships in the Senate to get his program through.

A TOUGH FIGHT MAY LOOM – FROM THE HILL:    Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Saturday he has concerns about the possibility of Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson being nominated for secretary of State, given his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.  “I don’t know what Mr. Tillerson’s relationship with Vladimir Putin was, but I’ll tell you it is a matter of concern to me,” McCain said in an interview with Fox News.  NBC News reported earlier on Saturday that President-elect Donald Trump had settled on Tillerson to head the State Department, though the transition team has not confirmed the report.  McCain is the first Republican to raise questions about the potential nomination, and Tillerson could fail to make it through the confirmation process if just three GOP senators join a united Democratic opposition.  “I’d have to examine it,” McCain said of the potential nomination. “You want to give the president of the United States the benefit of the doubt because the people have spoken. But Vladimir Putin is a thug, bully and a murderer, and anybody else who describes him as anything else is lying.”  Former top McCain aide Mark Salter predicted that Tillerson would have a hard time getting through the confirmation process.  Tillerson is such a marginal choice.  Will Trump risk the start of his presidency by nominating a man who clearly makes many uneasy because of his ties to Putin?  Isn't there someone else?

IT RETURNS – FROM BRITAIN'S SUN:   TWO bombs at a football stadium in central Istanbul have killed at least 29 and wounded 166 more in what has been described as an “inhuman terror attack”.  The blasts – a car bombing and a suicide bombing – targeted riot police just hours after the end of a match between two top teams at the Vodafone Arena on Saturday night.  At least 10 people have been arrested over the twin bombing and it is thought the outlawed Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) may be behind the attack.  Turkey’s deputy prime minister, Numan Kurtulmu?, said the attack was “clearly planned”, adding: “The arrows point at the PKK.”  I have no idea if that placing of blame is accurate.  What is clear, though, is that the terror in Europe continues and grows, with dire predictions for attacks throughout the continent in the coming year. 

December 10, 2016