More on Kentucky's former governor

Matt Bevin, the former Kentucky governor,has doubled-down on one of his recent pardons. Today’s Washington Post explains:

Kentucky’s ex-governor pardoned a child rapist because the 9-year-old victim’s hymen was intact

That's because, despite the evidence, Bevin denies that a rape had taken place:

Asked Thursday by [radio talk show host Terry] Meiners how he could stomach pardoning a child rapist, Bevin responded, “Which one?”

Those pardoned were quite a group:

Before leaving office, he issued 428 pardons, a group that includes multiple convicted murderers and sex offenders, the Courier-Journal reported.

No more "science-based" -- the Center for Disease Control gets list of forbidden words

On a different matter, the Post reported earlier in the week that the Trump administration has given the Center for Disease Control a list of forbidden words:

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are "vulnerable," "entitlement," "diversity," "transgender," "fetus," "evidence-based" and "science-based."

In some instances, the analysts were given alternative phrases. Instead of "science-based" or ­"evidence-based," the suggested phrase is "CDC bases its recommendations on science in consideration with community standards and wishes," the person said. In other cases, no replacement words were immediately offered.

Evangelical magazine calls for Trump’s removal from office

This morning, from The Atlantic:

Christianity Today—the magazine founded by the famous preacher Billy Graham, and the longtime forum for mainstream evangelical thought—has published an editorial calling for Trump to be removed from the White House. The editor in chief, Mark Galli, acknowledged that “the typical CT approach is to stay above the fray and allow Christians with different political convictions to make their arguments in the public square.” But the facts are “unambiguous,” Galli wrote. “The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.”

Our president, who does not like any criticism, responded:

....have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President. No President has done more for the Evangelical community, and it’s not even close. You’ll not get anything from those Dems on stage. I won’t be reading ET again!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019

Robert Maguire, an editor at Citizens for Ethics, notes the irony:

The President who paid hush money to a porn star over an affair he had while his third wife nursed his fifth child and admitted on camera, in front of a live audience that he's never asked God's forgiveness for anything is trying to give a religion lecture to...Christianity Today

— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) December 20, 2019

You may have noticed in the Trump tweet that he will no longer be reading ET. Huh? As Daily Show writer, Daniel Radosh, commented:

When ET phoned home it was a perfect call! Read the transcript!

Previewing SNL

Given the week, tomorrow night’s SNL opening should be interesting. There are lots of possibilities for the show's opening. Here’s one from historian Kevin Kruse:

I just remembered Eddie Murphy is hosting. Perfect. Let's do this.https://t.co/TZHCebHEas

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) December 20, 2019