SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:51 P.M. ET: 

GOOD! – FROM NEWSWEEK:  A Kentucky radio station blasted “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” on its airwaves repeatedly for two hours straight on Sunday, amid controversy over the Christmas song’s lyrics.  Elizabethtown WAKY radio station mixed it up during the two hours by playing five different versions of the 1940s classic. “BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE! We like it and we're not afraid to play it on WAKY for the next couple of hours!” WAKY wrote on Facebook.  Joe Fredele, WAKY’s director of programming, told local CBS News outlet WLKY that he’s “not sure why it’s controversial.” “We’ve played this song for years, you know, this song is older than WAKY is. It’s almost 70 years old.”  The song’s lyrics have come into question in recent months after the #MeToo movement highlighted the issue of consent. The 1944 duet—written by Frank Loesser—is about a woman who sings about leaving a man’s house while he attempts to convince her to stay by pointing out the bad weather outside.  Common sense prevails.  It's a flirtation song.  In some versions the woman is the one who wants the man to stay.  It's a great number, which won the Academy Award for best song in 1949.  Let's play it.  Take that, thought police!

ANOTHER GENIUS HEARD FROM – FROM FOX:   Alec Baldwin's severe disdain for President Donald Trump hasn't waned one bit.  The actor, who frequently spoofs Trump on "Saturday Night Live," claimed in an incendiary tweet this weekend that the POTUS is "punishment" for a variety of American sins.  "Trump is a curse, brought down on us as punishment 4 our sins. The slaughter of Native Americans, slavery, Japanese internment, Vietnam. Every hateful, misogynistic, racist notion, intertwined with our better nature, Trump embodies those. He is us. Now we can face it + exorcise it," he wrote.  So the American people punished themselves by electing Trump?  Why did I never think of it that way?

A SENATE LOSS – FROM THE TENNESSEAN:  After roughly a quarter century in elected office, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander will retire.   The former Republican governor, who has served in the Senate since first being elected in 2002, said Monday that he will not seek a fourth term in the upper chamber.  “I will not be a candidate for re-election to the United State Senate in 2020,” Alexander said in a statement.  He thanked the people of Tennessee, calling them generous.   "I am deeply grateful, but now it is time for someone else to have that privilege," Alexander said.  His decision means for the second time in two years, Tennessee will have an open U.S. Senate race.  Like U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, who last year declined to run for a third term, Alexander’s announcement will send shockwaves throughout Tennessee’s political landscape.   The state just elected Republican Marsha Blackburn to the Senate, replacing Corker.  Alexander's retirement means another Republican seat to be defended in 2020.

December 17,  2018