By
Today's edition of quick hits:
* Two hours from now: The Republican-controlled Senate is poised to confirm Amy Coney Barrett on Monday as a Supreme Court justice, handing President Donald Trump a political victory days before the election. The final vote is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. ET on Monday — 30 days after Trump announced he was nominating Barrett for the seat left vacant by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18.
* California wildfire: "A fast-moving, wind-whipped wildfire forced about 60,000 residents of a Southern California suburb to evacuate on Monday, while huge swaths of the Golden State went without power in an effort to prevent more flames, officials said."
* Someone let Mark Meadows know: "A day after White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said 'we're not going to control the pandemic,' a top Trump administration health official said Monday that Americans have already proven they can do that through basic safeguards shown to work. 'I think we can control the pandemic,' Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir said on a call with reporters."
* A scary story out of Ohio about a plot to abduct the state's Republican governor: "A Miami County resident reported to police being recruited to take part in a citizen's arrest of Gov. Mike DeWine at his Cedarville home a week ago, but the plot evidently never materialized."
* New claims from Lev Parnas: "President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was offered salacious photos and other documents belonging to Joe Biden's son Hunter in the spring of 2019, earlier than previously known, according to one of Giuliani's closest former associates. And the alleged offer came from an intriguing source: a Ukrainian oligarch looking for help with a potential legal jam."
* Pelosi's thinking ahead: "Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) intends to run for another term as House speaker, she said Sunday morning on CNN. Pelosi's commitment underscores Democrats' confidence that they will be able to retain their majority in the House after Election Day. She also called President Trump's debate-stage prediction that Republicans would retake the House majority 'delusional.'"
* What a weird story: "A federal health agency halted a public-service coronavirus advertising campaign funded by $250 million in taxpayer money after it offered a special vaccine deal to an unusual set of essential workers: Santa Claus performers."
* This article answered a lot of questions I had: "For years, The Epoch Times was a small, low-budget newspaper with an anti-China slant that was handed out free on New York street corners. But in 2016 and 2017, the paper made two changes that transformed it into one of the country's most powerful digital publishers. The changes also paved the way for the publication, which is affiliated with the secretive and relatively obscure Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong, to become a leading purveyor of right-wing misinformation."
See you tomorrow.