The Christmas Song (commonly subtitled “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” or, as it was originally subtitled, “Merry Christmas to You”) is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by Bob Wells and Mel Tormé.
According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer. In an effort to “stay cool by thinking cool”, the most-performed (according to BMI) Christmas song was born.[1] “I saw a spiral pad on his (Wells’) piano with four lines written in pencil”, Tormé recalled. “They started, ‘Chestnuts roasting…, Jack Frost nipping…, Yuletide carols…, Folks dressed up like Eskimos.’ Bob didn’t think he was writing a song lyric. He said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics.”
The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song early in 1946. At Cole’s behest – and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records – a second recording was made later the same year utilizing a small string section, this version becoming a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts.
https://twitter.com/Acosta/status/940794102366515200
https://twitter.com/brianefallon/status/940777309606424577
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/940803224700903425
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/940813741838528512
https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/940811089926868993
Who was it that said Black voters weren’t enthusiastic about voting for Doug Jones? STOP LYING ON BLACK PEOPLE! #AlabamaSenateElection
https://twitter.com/TheAtlantic/status/940801500363874307
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/940802722772680704
https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/940801449294024705
https://twitter.com/elizabethforma/status/940797125348208641
https://twitter.com/AC360/status/940802365627817984
https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/940801967928078336
https://twitter.com/alanblinder/status/940801870196600833
https://twitter.com/AriMelber/status/940794859539062786
https://twitter.com/paulandstorm/status/940795743404724225
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/940800277405421568
https://twitter.com/TheDemocrats/status/940787326346780672
https://twitter.com/ChicksnPolitics/status/940798442850398210
https://twitter.com/ClintSmithIII/status/940786213937713153
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/940798556432162818
O.B.A.M.A.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
https://twitter.com/KatieMHill/status/940788122727657473
👊🏽💪🏽🙌🏽👏🏽
https://twitter.com/jelani9/status/940794353659842560
I like going through elections with you precious ladies! (smile)
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/940791121944502274
We have no reason to not hold our heads high. We are on the side of right.
All that’s left are Democratic strongholds
You are right!!! 😀
So much for Steve Bannon’s ISH talking. #DougJones wins the #AlabamaSenateElection
Wonderful!!!
Congratulations! Tears of Joy!
https://twitter.com/GDouglasJones/status/940786092315471872
Good news!
Oh My Sweet Jesus! CNN projects Democrat #DougJonesForSenate wins #AlabamaSenateElection
Holy Shyt!!!
Doug Jones!!
#DougJonesForSenate has pulled within 3000 votes. #AlabamaSenateElection. Woooo I believe he’s going to DO THIS!
Yes!
https://twitter.com/benchmarkpol/status/940781092738564096
Watching Steve Kornacki report the #AlabamaSenateElection returns. I’m hyperventilating.
I hear you. It is close.
https://twitter.com/ayeletw/status/940756491140849664
https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/940752888464322560
https://twitter.com/SarahLerner/status/940752540894990337
https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/940751375851507712
SG2,
@kira_lerner has photos of people wearing “Black Voters Matter” shirts (about 3 hours ago on timeline)
New York Times live election results for the Alabama Senate race:
https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/alabama-senate-special-election-roy-moore-doug-jones
ABC Live Coverage of Alabama Senate Race 2017:
https://youtu.be/B1lgYvBEvzE
“Black voters in Alabama are getting blocked from voting at polls (DETAILS)”
http://reverepress.com/politics/black-voters-alabama-getting-blocked-voting-polls-details/
Excerpts:
https://twitter.com/NBCPolitics/status/940709576869064705
https://twitter.com/RepGwenMoore/status/940669393343860737
https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/940685996731109376
https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/940683774936875014
https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/940684163480465408
https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/status/940668812491395074
I know I’m a broken record, but *we need to focus on voter suppression and election interference*. Both domestic and foreign threats are a problem.
If you don’t tackle these issues now, you likely won’t get another chance later.
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 12, 2017
.@Alyssa_Milano & @PiperPerabo with Delta Sigma Theta Inc sorority at UAB (who were the only women’s org to participate in the women’s suffrage movement) the ladies were helping GOTV for Doug Jones! pic.twitter.com/hgMLjhmAH7
— Doug Jones (@GDouglasJones) December 12, 2017
1.Just spoke with a source in the Mobile (AL) County NAACP. Here are some things that are happening today on the ground in Alabama that did not happen in the 2016 election. Thread:
— Al Giordano (@AlGiordano) December 12, 2017
CNN’s Jim Acosts says @PressSec pulled him aside to warn him against asking Trump about his sleazebag attack on Gillibrand or he won’t be allowed back.
— JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) December 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/DFAaction/status/940627322885099521
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/940597199968309250
Get your souls to the polls, Alabama! Take someone with you. Text 5 friends to encourage them to vote. Give a ride to someone who needs one. #VoteDougJonesForSenate
https://twitter.com/far1762/status/940632888432910337
https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/940630860058984450
https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/940628675141275648
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/940625180535255042
The Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, in a letter obtained by BuzzFeed News, says that Kamala Harris or Cory Booker should take the spot on the Judiciary Committee that will soon be vacated by Al Franken. https://t.co/UmslLfyP2a
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/OversightDems/status/940609655591591936
Alabama’s Secretary of State was an election monitor in Russia, where he deemed their election “free and fair” (it wasn’t) and said he’d implement Russian tactics in Alabama https://t.co/6R5j6NAgU3
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 12, 2017
In addition to monitoring elections in Russia and deeming them “free and fair”, Alabama Secretary of State also went on RT in 2015 to discuss American elections pic.twitter.com/yg6cgCNeRe
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 12, 2017
Alabama was one of the 21 states confirmed as a target of Russian election hackers in 2016 https://t.co/8RnbLaeHS4
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 12, 2017
https://twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/940608122409938945
Artist Minnie Evans was born on this day, December 12, 1892.
https://youtu.be/PZ-_M28SG6g&rel=0
Trump’s Victory Was Not Legitimate
by Martin Longman December 11, 2017
In my previous piece, I noted that Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time on January 11th that the Russians had been responsible for hacking into Democratic servers and stealing and leaking damaging materials. And that’s true as far as it goes. But he didn’t stick with that story.
I’d forgive you if have forgotten, but Anthony Scaramucci was briefly Trump’s communications director, even if he never signed the paperwork to get a paycheck or make his position official. Back in July, he went on CNN’s State of the Union and tried to explain why the president keeps lapsing into doubt about the Russians’ culpability.
This is a reminder that we’re dealing with a crazy person. At times, Trump understands his campaign was sending people all over the globe to meet with Russians. He knows that his team met in Trump Tower with Russians who were promising dirt on Hillary Clinton. He knows that his campaign chairman owed a Russian oligarch $15 million dollars and offered to give him private briefings and hoped to be released from some of his debt. He knows that his son-in-law was meeting with Russian intelligence officers and Putin’s representatives and trying to set up back-channels to communicate with them outside of the eye of the American intelligence community. He knows that he promised a relaxation of sanctions, which is why so much Russian help was forthcoming. He knows he’s in deep shit.
…………………………………
He wants his victory to be legitimate, but it’s not, and I don’t know why there is this persistent drip-drip-drip of liberal columnists who think their highest calling right now is to lecture other liberals about being too outspoken about it.
About the only thing Trump is correct about is the fact that his victory won’t be seen as legitimate if it becomes accepted that he colluded with the Russians.
The Underlying Crime in the #TrumpRussia Investigation
by Martin Longman December 11, 2017
Carol Lee and Julia Ainsley of NBC News wrote a helpful piece that explains that Robert Mueller is focusing heavily on an obstruction of justice case against the White House, providing a good refresher and timeline.
I have no problem with the special counsel’s office looking at obstruction charges, but I think it will be a shame if that is all he comes up with that he feels he can bring as evidence of criminal behavior. I think we should be focused first and foremost on the underlying behavior that led to a cover-up.
To illustrate my point, let’s go back in time a bit.
On December 1st, 2016, Jared Kushner and Michael Flynn had a meeting at Trump Tower with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. At this meeting, they allegedly discussed a possible easing of U.S. sanctions. Kushner also proposed using Russian diplomatic facilities in the U.S. to set up a secret communications backchannel so that the transition team and the Russians could communicate without U.S. intelligence services overhearing. A couple of other things happened at this meeting that should interest us.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/11/17
RNC caught in lie on renewed support for Roy Moore
Kyle Whitmire, a political columnist for AL.com, talks with Rachel Maddow about how influential Senator Richard Shelby’s decision not to support Roy Moore is, Alabama’s recent history of political scandal, and the challenge of polling the special senate election.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/11/17
GOP tax bill protesters brave winter weather
Rachel Maddow notes some of the protests against the Republican tax bill that took place despite challenging winter weather, and Secretary Mnuchin’s meager report on the plan’s expected performance.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/11/17
Roy Moore a lose-lose situation for Donald Trump
Michael Beschloss, NBC News presidential historian, talks with Rachel Maddow about Alabama history and why a Roy Moore victory in Alabama’s senate race could be a bigger political problem for Donald Trump than the short-term embarrassment of Moore losing.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/11/17
When did Donald Trump know that Mike Flynn lied to the FBI?
Rachel Maddow looks at new reporting by NBC News into Robert Mueller’s apparent focus on the question of Donald Trump’s obstruction of justice in the Flynn case, what Trump knew, when he knew it, and what it means for the story the White House has told about Pence.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/11/17
GOP looks to undercut Mueller as Trump Russia probe heats up
Rachel Maddow notes the sudden criticism of Robert Mueller in right-wing media as the Trump Russia investigation begins to show results.
Trump’s Treasury Dept embarrasses itself with one-page ‘analysis’
12/11/17 12:57 PM—UPDATED 12/11/17 01:55 PM
By Steve Benen
…………………………………………………..
The Treasury Department argued this morning that the Republican promise will prove to be true if (a) we assume that the regressive tax breaks supercharge the economy; and (b) policymakers also agree to pass Trump’s non-existent infrastructure plan, Trump’s non-existent welfare reform plan, and wait for Trump’s regulatory reform plan to work wonders.
In other words, the Trump administration is conceding that Republicans are wrong about one of the core promises of the party’s own tax plan. The Treasury effectively declared this morning, “The tax plan will pay for itself if everyone agrees to pass a bunch of other proposals, which haven’t been written, and which have nothing to do with the tax plan.”
Second, let’s not skip past that “welfare reform” tidbit too quickly. Trump’s Treasury Department is now saying, in writing, that Republicans can pay for tax breaks for the wealthy, not only by raising taxes on the middle class, but by cutting benefits to the nation’s most vulnerable. The document is describing class warfare at its most depraved – taking money from food-stamp beneficiaries, and giving it to millionaires.
And third, the entire Treasury Department analysis literally fits on one page. If we exclude the headline, the document isn’t quite 400 words (by comparison, the blog post you’re reading right now is 622 words).
Do you get it?
😄😄😄😄😄😄
https://mobile.twitter.com/ChrisCJackson/status/939988855956140038
about being in support of Net Neutrality:
The phone number to call is 888-225-5332, and Pai’s email is Ajit.Pai@fcc.gov.
Saw this on Twitter last night, and it made me cry.
You could hear the guilt in his voice. Broke my heart.
https://twitter.com/funder/status/940376882360520704
Short piece on the “protect Mueller” bills in the Senate. Graham doesn’t feel any urgent need to pass: https://www.thedailybeast.com/will-the-senate-still-protect-robert-mueller-from-donald-trumps-ax
Roughly a million FCC comments were fraudulently filed using real names and half a million additional comments were filed from Russian email addresses. Meanwhile, 50,000 real FCC consumer complaints are missing https://t.co/ezMfo6lyyU
— WIRED (@WIRED) December 10, 2017
Amazing. Moore guy reduced to “look, they’re not going to be voting on slavery in the Senate so …” Also look at the woman’s expressions! pic.twitter.com/AjT2qHiAI2
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 11, 2017
BREAKING: San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has died unexpectedly overnight. He was 65 years old. We are awaiting a news conference to begin shortly, and we’ll bring it to you live on-air and online. Latest here: https://t.co/nt4pIEhyV3
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) December 12, 2017
BREAKING: We just got a call from attorneys John Brakey and Chris Sautter from #Alabama. The State Supreme Court, without a hearing, but on the pure “ex-parte” (i.e. private) complaint of the State, “stayed” — that is, OVERTURNED THIS MORNING’S RULING TO PRESERVE ALL BALLOTS! https://t.co/lZevAjpXhH
— Greg Palast (@Greg_Palast) December 12, 2017
I think Alabama has a problem.
Will this be a fair election? I am very concerned.
Today is incredibly important for the future of Alabama and we need your help encouraging your friends to vote.
The link below will enable you to find and email your friends that are voters in AL and remind them to vote.https://t.co/LxE9CDmI5T pic.twitter.com/VqWPxhZjDe
— Doug Jones (@GDouglasJones) December 12, 2017
Alabama Democrats, POLLS ARE OPEN.
Find your polling place: https://t.co/tHelwqDMAm …
Polling hours are 7am – 7pm
Take friends & family with you.
Make sure everyone you know has a plan and a ride.
Don’t be turned away. Make sure you have valid ID pic.twitter.com/6ElLUsJxr6
— meta (@metaquest) December 12, 2017
Alabama Democrats, if your voting rights are challenged –
Take this info with you and if anyone questions your right to VOTE, call
866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683) Election Protection hotline with questions or complaints. pic.twitter.com/oGfeKFkrqP
— meta (@metaquest) December 12, 2017
This is how Trump lays the groundwork to eventually fire Mueller, and we all know it. https://t.co/jwJKQqbbS5
— Josh Jordan (@NumbersMuncher) December 12, 2017
Read @brianbeutler: The real significance of Roy Moore is that he reveals Trump is not an anomaly in today’s GOP:https://t.co/PgCTIJRcJP pic.twitter.com/MWC1e8a5Wq
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) December 12, 2017
Adam Silverman at BJ has hypothesized from the beginning that Moore honed his predator skills in Vietnam as an MP.
This thread is surreal.
Everytime, I think that it can’t get any lower, something else comes up to prove that it can.😠😠
https://mobile.twitter.com/JuddLegum/status/940419839633616896
Good morning, lovely ladies!
Good morning, Vitamin. How is it going? Are you swamped with packages? Daughter is swamped. And they’ll probably increase this week. Good luck!
Yes, indeed, Southern, we are swamped! We had to deliver on Sunday. We’ll not the regular rural carriers but all the others did. Bless your daughter’s heart.
Good Morning, Vitamin!
Have a great day!
Good Morning vitaminlover & 3 Chics Family!
Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄
Good Morning, Rikyrah and Everyone!
The chestnuts are almost ready for us to enjoy! Here you go, SG2 🙂
http://santaclausind.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/Santas-Candy-Castle-Chestnut-Roasting_8–300×200.jpg
This song makes me feel happy.
Me, too!
Morning, yahtzee! YUMMY…Thank you.
You are most welcome, Ametia, my pleasure 😀