Calm down  Okay, let’s just get this out of the way. No, Justin Trudeau didn't get Trump edited out of ‘Home Alone 2.’ Someone had to fact-check it, and as CNN’s Daniel Dale tweets, “It's my life.” CBC itself confirmed that the edit of the Trump scene was done in 2014. As Kathy Gill clarifies in all caps, “Trump’s 7-second scene and other scenes totaling EIGHT MINUTES were cut from the film FIVE YEARS AGO to make make way for commercials.”
‘The guy is freaking evil’ Now on to some stories that deserve your outrage. Dave Philipps of The New York Times reveals the Anguish and Anger From the Navy SEALS Who Turned In Edward Gallagher. The New York Times got hold of never-before-seen video recordings of interviews with the Navy SEALs who accused Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher of war crimes. The videos were part of a trove of Navy investigative materials about the prosecution of Gallagher on war crimes charges including murder. And “What do fellow SEAL team members say about the guy Trump just protected from punishment and heralded as a ‘great’ fighter? ‘The guy is freaking evil.’ ‘The guy was toxic.’ ‘You could tell he was perfectly O.K. with killing anybody that was moving,’” tweets Dan Zak. “What this story makes clear: Edward Gallagher is a serial killer who pretended to be a Navy SEAL,” says Elon Green. And what’s worse, as Kara Swisher says, “Toxic monster gets off.” Eric Lipton calls this an “Extraordinary package of MUST READ/MUST WATCH journalism here. Painful, chilling stuff. Accountability still matters.” More stories to infuriate/depress you A new investigation by Sarah Kleiner and Chris Zubak-Skees for The Center for Public Integrity, published in partnership with the Tampa Bay Times, reveals the truth behind the Law Enforcement Officers Relief Fund: They promise to help families of fallen officers. But they’re mostly paying telemarketers. As Kleiner explains, “I wanted to know why a police support charity gives so little of the money it raises to the cause it champions: families of fallen officers. Here’s what happened when I found the group's leader at a hotel in Washington, D.C.” Aura Bogado links to news of “A death on Christmas Day in @CBP custody. She'd arrived the previous day, was cleared by ‘contracted medical personnel’ and transferred for hold overnight.” You can read the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s full Statement on Death of Congolese National in Laredo. In an exclusive for The Guardian, Damian Carrington reports that microplastic pollution is raining down on city dwellers, with research revealing that London has the highest levels yet recorded. When journalism goes away And now, an “Interesting, and sad, story about the strip mining at newspapers across the country. Alden, of course, is a central character. When you read this, remember that it’s communities that suffer when journalism goes away.” Larry Ryckman links to Ghost papers and news deserts: Will America ever get its local news back? by Jonathan O’Connell of The Washington Post. O’Connell notes that only 14 percent of the public is paying for local news, according to the Pew Research Center, and “if that number doesn’t rise, many newspapers and digital publishers will be unable to maintain the reporting they are doing now.” So Dan Kennedy offers up this little brain teaser: “Complete the following sentence: Asking the CEOs of Gannett, McClatchy and Tribune how to solve the local news crisis is like…” In Trump country “‘We’re supposed to be feeding the world, and we can’t even put food on our own table:’ In Trump Country, a season of need on family farms Read this gorgeous @anniegowen story.” Tracy Jan links to that story by Annie Gowen of The Washington Post, Farmers are struggling to feed their families amid bad markets and President Trump's trade war. Douglas Blackmon says it shows “The real effects of @realDonaldTrump’s clumsy & irresponsible trade policies: ‘Farmers around the country...struggling to pay for basics like groceries & electricity as farm bankruptcies rise & farm debt hits record high.’” “You won’t find a much stronger argument for food stamps than this story,” adds Alex Wayne. Doing better, rank-and-file workers, who are getting bigger raises this year—at least in percentage terms—than bosses. Eric Morath and Jeffrey Sparshott have that story at The Wall Street Journal. They point out that a short supply of labor, minimum-wage rises and increased poaching have helped lift wages for lower-income workers. Survey says… 
Zoe Tidman of The Independent reports on the Microsoft News tracking poll that finds public support for Trump conviction is at all-time high (90,000+ shares). Fifty-five percent of those asked said they were in favor of Trump’s conviction by the Senate, up from 48 percent the week before. “Of course impeaching Trump made it more popular. Voters reward courage. Never forget that,” tweets Will Bunch. Meanwhile, Ursula Perano of Axios writes about a new YouGov survey, which shows Germans believe Trump is more dangerous than Putin, Kim or Xi (84,000+ shares). ‘There for the bunkings, absent for the debunkings’ In what Lynn Henning calls “Fair criticism,” Erik Wemple of The Washington Post explains how Rachel Maddow rooted for the Steele dossier to be true. Then it fell apart. As he writes, “When small bits of news arose in favor of the dossier, the franchise MSNBC host pumped air into them...And when large bits of news arose against the dossier, Maddow found other topics more compelling. She was there for the bunkings, absent for the debunkings — a pattern of misleading and dishonest asymmetry.” The Bernie faithful 
As we shared yesterday, Democratic insiders have told Politico’s Matt Wuerker that they think Bernie could win the nomination. Today, Sydney Ember of The New York Times takes a look at Why Bernie Sanders is Tough to Beat. She points out that his supporters are loyal, and in Iowa they don’t really have eyes for anyone else. And yet, “At the same time, there is little indication, in Iowa and elsewhere, that Mr. Sanders is attracting more supporters beyond those who backed him in 2016 and young people who were not old enough to vote then.” Global news Niha Masih of The Washington Post reports from Lucknow, India on the India citizenship law: Muslims and activists face mass arrests, beatings in police clampdown. Head over to Twitter for her “Thread on UP: Photos of women in Lucknow beaten in police crackdown which spared ‘nothing and no one.’ Top official in the state said there was a process for public grievances & if anyone complained to the police, the law would be followed.” Radhika Bordia has more at Scroll.in, No criminal record, no protest, yet Muslim men made to sign bonds in Uttar Pradesh villages. New from Selcan Hacaoglu and Samer Al-Atrush of Bloomberg, Turkey-Backed Syrian Rebels to Join Libya War Against Haftar. Because “Really the one thing Libya had been missing was an influx of Turkish-backed rebels known for looting and pillaging their way across northern Syria,” says Gregg Carlstrom. Josie Ensor points out, “The context of this is unavoidable. Idlib, the last rebel bastion in Syria, is currently facing one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the war. Now the rebels are being shipped off to fight in a foreign war at Turkey’s behest.” RIP William Greider Reporter, editor and author William Greider has died at 83. Katharine Q. Seelye has The New York Times obit for the journalist “who examined the United States, its politics and its position in the world through an economic lens for four decades for The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, The Nation and other media outlets.” As Dan Morrison says, “He taught us politics and the rigged game from the pages of @RollingStone.” David E. Hoffman tweets, “Another giant of The Post’s newsroom has passed. ‘No one really understands what’s happening with all these numbers’ Stockman told him. Still true.” And Mike Elk quotes, “‘Asked in a 2009 interview with Princeton Alumni Weekly if the university had shaped his political philosophy, Mr. Greider said no.’ hahahahah Classic quote from Bill in his NYT obit.” Stoicism and grace 
Let’s turn to Will Graves of AP News for a bright spot today: Simone Soars: Biles named 2019 AP Female Athlete of the Year (34,000+ shares). “Stoicism and grace: American gymnast Simone Biles, who has earned a record 25 world championship medals throughout her career, is the 2019 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year,” tweets AP. As Graves writes, “They’re called ‘Simone Things,’ a catchall phrase for the casual ease with which Simone Biles seems to soar through her sport and her life. The irony, of course, is that there’s nothing casual or easy about it. Any of it.” Weekend reading, listening and more At Bellingcat, Aric Toler has published a massive Guide To Using Reverse Image Search For Investigations. On Twitter, he explains, “I test out the Big Three services, ranking them with a running scorecard, and detail some creative search strategies at the end of the guide.” As Eliot Higgins says, it’s “A belated Christmas present from @AricToler for @bellingcat, a detailed look at the strengths and weaknesses of some of the most popular image search engines. Pretty much essential for anyone with eyes.” From TV to Brexit to food to the Supreme Court and more, the team at The Washington Post gives us a preview of the ideas, debates and questions that we’ll be talking about for the next 12 months. That package is edited by Mike Madden. Sejal Sukhadwala says, “Reading these will keep me busy for a while…” and maybe it will keep you busy, too. In case you missed it in all the holiday noise, check out Longreads’ Best of 2019: Food Writing. As Kim Severson says, you’ll find “Great new voices (and some old ones, too!), all wrapped up for your weekend reading pleasure.” 
And finally, for your weekend viewing and listening, enjoy this Christmas gift from Nick Cave: a full-length stream of the concert film Distant Sky: Live in Copenhagen. As Matt Sebastian says, “Go to church with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds this Christmas Eve.” Put on the headphones, turn down the lights, cue the goose bumps. | 
So often, the PR team is brought in after something goes awry. But what if instead the public relations professionals were consulted before the situation blew up? Today on the Muck Rack Blog, 
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