**Written by Doug Powers

Here we go… another Sunday open thread with a few items to get things moving. But first, a health warning: The opening story is about Paul Krugman, so anybody with a nut allergy might be wise to skip it.

I don’t consider these two New York Times-related items completely unconnected:

Exhibit A:

Ah, so the President-Elect might already be wishing for a horrible terrorist attack to “legitimize” an election that’s already legitimate? It’s the kind of thing only the author of “The Conscience of a Liberal” could come up with.

Exhibit B:

If the Times keeps allowing the insane to be the highest paid on their roster, before too long they’ll be working out of construction site port-o-sans while their offices are leased out to accounting firms and rat exterminators.

*****

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio wants city employees to know that if they’re triggered by Trump’s election, they’re free to use the services of mental health hotlines. In this case I’m guessing the number to call is 1-800-SNO-FLAK:

New York City is offering its municipal workforce counseling services and other support for dealing with election-year stress brought on by Donald Trump’s election.

In a Dec. 1 email, the de Blasio administration pointed to mental health resources that are available to workers who are “feeling distressed or vulnerable following the election results.”

“We have seen the concerns expressed on social media and we are monitoring them closely,” the emails reads.
[…]
Asked about the email, City Hall press secretary Eric Phillips said it was a show of care for employees’ well-being.

“The post-election period has been anxiety-producing for many people, understandably,” he said. “When you throw the holidays into that, it can be a very difficult time for those coping with mental health challenges.”

The only remaining question is this: Will Bill de Blasio blame Trump for the death of J.R. the Harlem buck?

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President Obama’s been handing out clemencies like Christmas candy canes for quite a while now, but one inmate who applied for leniency now doesn’t want it:

A federal inmate in Texas has declined President Obama’s offer for clemency, USA Today reported Friday.

Arnold Ray Jones applied for the president’s clemency program for low-level drug offenders and was accepted on Aug. 3.

But Jones reportedly declined the condition that came with the offer that required him to enroll in a residential drug treatment program — a condition that has been attached to 92 of Obama’s clemency offers.

Jones is reportedly the first to refuse the condition.

Maybe what the inmate heard Obama say was “if you like your clemency, you can keep it.”

*****

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Friday that there was no evidence of direct interference in the U.S. election:

Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke at an event with Politico’s Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman Thursday morning. there, she was asked about reports that Russian hackers could have impacted the results of the 2016 election. Lynch said that there was no evidence that Russian hackers breached the integrity of the U.S. election system.

“Fortunately we didn’t see the sort of technical interference that I know people had concerns about, also, in terms of voting machines and the like,” Lynch said.

So, the election process was NOT interfered with — well, if you don’t count this:

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The Hollywood lib jagoffs I mentioned a couple days ago have retooled the effort to convince Republican electors to not vote for Trump and are sending them individual videos mentioning them by name. Here’s one:

These pinheads know that even if some electors flipped and Trump doesn’t get the 270, the whole thing goes to the GOP-controlled House, right? Probably not.

*****

Remember when National Geographic was about geography? Good times.

Coming up in the next issue of National Geographic: 12 Signs That He’s Not Really That Into You

Have a good Sunday all.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe