FASTER, PLEASE: New Non-Partisan Group Calls on Amazon to Drop Scandal-Plagued SPLC.

HMM: Mark Levin: Impeachment is About Blocking Trump From Getting Another Supreme Court Pick.

IT’S DEAD, JIM: The Force doesn’t appear to be that strong with the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga.

HEH: Slow News Day. “I sat down to do a blog post, but it doesn’t seem like anything of any lasting import happened yesterday. Instead, let’s enjoy some music videos.”

Good choices for a tragicomic day like today.

COCAINE MITCH: McConnell Rips Apart Democrats’ ‘Partisan Crusade’ on the Floor of the Senate.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): This is interesting, and sounds like McConnell may be setting things up for the Senate to reject the House articles as not stating an impeachable offense:

“House Democrats want to create new rules for this president because they feel uniquely enraged,” he argued. “This is by far the thinnest basis for any House-passed presidential impeachment in American history.” He condemned it as “the most rushed, least thorough, and most unfair impeachment inquiry in modern history.”

McConnell noted that Pelosi is considering not sending the articles of impeachment over to the U.S. Senate. After rushing through the process of impeachment in the House, “they’re content to sit on their hands.”

“The Democrats’ own actions concede their allegations are unproven. The allegations are not just unproven, they’re also legally incoherent,” he said. “If the Senate blesses this historically low bar, we will invite the impeachment of every single future president.” . . .

McConnell dismissed both articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

The first article “does not even purport to allege any actual claim,” instead using “the vague phrase ‘abuse of power’ to impugn the president’s action in a general way.” He argued that this followed exactly what the Founders warned against — impeachment for maladministration.

The second article involves Trump’s supposed obstruction by going to the courts to challenge congressional subpoenas.

“It’s not a constitutional crisis for a House to want more information than a president wants to give up,” McConnell explained. Indeed, this kind of legal battle is “a routine occurrence.” In the case of Bill Clinton, Congress went to the courts.

“This takes time, it’s inconvenient. That’s actually the point. Due process is not meant to maximize the convenience of the prosecutor, it’s meant to protect the accused,” the Republican leader insisted. “Fourteen months of hearings for Richard Nixon; years of investigation for Bill Clinton; twelve weeks for Donald Trump.”

McConnell did not say whether the Senate would take up the trial and call witnesses who might explain Trump’s side of the story on Ukraine.

The Republican leader’s historic speech did indeed echo the Founders, who warned against impeachment based on partisan strength rather than real crimes.

The way it’s set up, the House can impeach for whatever it chooses, but it’s up to the Senate to decide whether the House has stated an impeachable offense. And by dismissing the articles on this basis, there’s no need for a Senate trial. Trump would like a trial to get his side out, but it’s not as if the Senate is the only place he can do that. And part of the Dems’ strategy is to make it harder for Trump to fill a Supreme Court seat if (when?) one opens up before January 2021. And we know McConnell is focused on judicial appointments. Anyway, stay tuned.

THAT’S NOT AT ALL SUSPICIOUS: Prison footage from Epstein’s first suicide attempt has gone missing.

OH: Another Chinese national is arrested for trespassing at Mar-a-Lago: Woman, 56, is detained for taking photos of the private resort after being asked to leave.

ANALYSIS: TRUE. Adam Carolla Dubs Press ‘Cheerleaders,’ Calls Woke Critics ‘Racist.’

THE GHOST OF JOHN MCCAIN COULD NOT BE REACHED FOR COMMENT: Would Someone Please Put Obamacare Out of Its Misery and Kill It?

AND TRUMP’S THE ONE SHREDDING OUR INSTITUTIONS AND PROCESSES? Nancy Pelosi Signals She May Freeze Impeachment After Vote So Trump Can’t Claim Senate Vindication. “After ramrodding through the tissue-thin impeachment articles in the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now threatening to withhold the Democrats’ case unless she can dictate the terms of the Senate trial.”

McConnell ought to simply ignore the articles of impeachment until and unless Pelosi sends them over. What a sham, what disgrace.

ONLY NOW, AT THE END, DO YOU UNDERSTAND: Warning lights are flashing for Democrats as they prepare to impeach Trump. “Even as the House prepares for the historic vote, however, there’s growing evidence that the public impeachment proceedings in the House against Trump may actually be helping him politically.”

That’s from CNN’s Chris Cilizza, so you’ll have to forgive him for arriving so late to what you’ve been reading (and commenting) here at Instapundit for weeks.

IT ISN’T FAIR WHEN YOU WON’T LET US CHEAT: Rightwing group pushes Wisconsin voter purge that ‘could tip’ 2020 election.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: Donald Trump Is Still Your President Edition. “Many on the Left have remarked that this leaves a permanent stain on President Trump’s legacy. That stain can actually be washed out by re-election next year.”

THE MAIN REASON NOT TO LEAVE ALL OUR EGGS IN THIS ONE BASKET: Earth has had more major mass extinctions than we realized.

WELL, THAT’S ONE WAY TO PUT IT: Jesus KOs Santa Again This Year. “For sizable majorities of Americans, it’s no contest again this year: Jesus wins over Santa, and ‘Merry Christmas’ beats ‘Happy Holidays’.”

THEY JUST CARED TOO MUCH! John Brennan Claims FISA Abuses were Committed by ‘Overly Aggressive’ FBI Agents ‘Doing Their Level Best.’

RELIABILITY: Amazon Blocked Sellers From Using FedEx And Now We Know Why.

A supply chain software company called Convey has done an analysis on 2.5 billion shipping events relating to tens of millions of packages shipped from over 500 thousand locations since Thanksgiving and the results are troubling to any FedEx shareholder: FedEx on-time delivery performance has dropped to 68.3% from 77.5% in the same period in 2018. And FedEx is not alone. The same analysis shows UPS’ on-time stats are down too, from 86% to 80%. Most likely, the increase in the number of packages and the higher percent going to consumers’ homes is overwhelming the companies’ systems and accounts for the decline in on-time performance.

Although these poor performance numbers from FedEx and UPS are bad for Amazon’s customer service in the short-term, this may be a big opportunity for Amazon in the longer term. Amazon is now leaning on these poor performance numbers to continue to build its own delivery business.

Here in the Front Range exurbs, Amazon’s homegrown delivery service had a rocky start. But we’ve found their delivery in recent months to be more reliable than anyone else. They also tend to deliver earlier in the day, which is nice since I’m usually home.

TRUMP: ‘If Comey and Top FBI People Were Dirty Wouldn’t All These Phony Cases Have to Be Overturned?’

Good question.

IT’S BACK: The Ground Zero Mosque Project Is in the Works Again.

SWAMPLAND: Judge In Michael Flynn Case Decides To Ignore Mounting Evidence Of Prosecutorial Abuse.

THANKS, EGON: Important Safety Tip. “A bunch of climate idiots decided it would be a supergenius idea to play chicken with a train. Hint: The train always wins. It’s called momentum.”

Science!

OH: Former Google employee says she was ‘fired in retaliation’ for organizing efforts.

A fifth fired Google employee said she believes she was “fired in retaliation” for her labor organizing efforts within the tech giant, as the company already faces similar allegations from its firing of four other employees just days after a staff-organized protest last month.

“I was involved in organizing at Google and I do believe I was fired in retaliation,” Kathryn Spiers, 21, from California’s Bay Area, told ABC News Tuesday.

Spiers said that she had worked at Google for just under two years when she was suddenly terminated from the company last Friday.

“I was given no notice, I got a phone call last Friday telling me I was fired,” Spiers said.

“They were accusing me of violating the basic security policies,” she added. “What I was actually fired for was organizing.”

Why are progressive-run companies so hostile to the workingman-woman-person?

AN ISSUE FAR WEIGHTIER THAN THIS RIDICULOUS IMPEACHMENT: Baby Yoda Conquers Our Galaxy.

CRIME OF THE CENTURY: Man Tries To Smuggle Marijuana Disguised As Christmas Gifts, Gets Caught At Airport.

CHANGE: Fiat Chrysler Agrees Binding Merger With Peugeot Maker to Create $50 Billion Auto Giant.

The two companies said Wednesday they had signed a combination agreement fixing the financial terms of the deal and the corporate governance structure of the combined group. The move marks an important step in solidifying a merger that was announced in October. The tie-up aims to create a $50 billion auto giant that would rank among the world’s largest car companies by sales.

The deal comes at a time of mounting cost pressures in the global car business, with auto companies investing billions in new technologies, such as electric cars, as demand for cars and trucks in the top auto markets weakens.

Among the terms added over the past several weeks were agreements that China’s state-run Dongfeng Motor Group Co. would sell part of its 12.2% stake in PSA back to the French car maker and that Fiat Chrysler would spin off its Comau division after the deal.

The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported that both companies’ boards had backed the agreement and the new deal terms that were added in recent weeks.

The transaction—expected to close in the next 12 to 15 months—will create a car maker selling 8.7 million vehicles a year with revenues of nearly €170 billion ($189 billion), the companies said. The merger won’t result in any plant closures and will lead to annual cost savings of some €3.7 billion euros a year, they added. The merged company’s name is so far undecided.

I wonder if this means they’ll try bringing Peugeot models back to the US again — maybe rebadged as Chryslers, since their line-up consists of one aged sedan and a minivan.