Happy Thanksgiving!  Happy Thanksgiving to our readers in the U.S.!
Before you tuck into that Turducken (or Tofurkey, we get it, you’re vegan), here are a few of the stories making the rounds today. A torpedo We start with not a turkey but a roast. Ousted Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer has written in an op-ed for The Washington Post that the president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices. As Evan Smith says, it’s “A torpedo from the ousted Navy Secretary,” while Nick Schifrin highlights the "Extraordinary language from Richard Spencer.” And yet, says Heidi Moore, “This is a necessary and historically important read - but I do wish we could lose the certainty that each of these moments of standing on principle are just preludes to another cynical book deal when Trump officials lose their standing with him.” Swamp seems clogged today Rudy Giuliani’s dealings continue to make headlines. The latest, Giuliani was in talks to be paid by Ukraine’s top prosecutor as they together sought damaging information on Democrats (51,000+ shares), as Rosalind Helderman, Tom Hamburger and Matt Zapotosky report at The Washington Post. You know, “Working hard, fighting corruption,” tweets Julia Ioffe. Rob Pegoraro is now calling him “Rudy Giuliani, International Ho of Mystery.” “Swamp seems clogged today,” says Salvador Rizzo. 
Also, “Giuliani is a bottomless well of scurrilous behavior,” tweets Nicholas Kristof. Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum and Michael Rothfeld of The New York Times are also digging into that swamp scheme, noting that even though Giuliani’s repeatedly said he has no business in Ukraine, “the documents indicate that while he was pushing Mr. Trump’s agenda with Ukrainian officials eager for support from the United States, Mr. Giuliani also explored financial agreements with members of the same government.” While “It doesn’t get much more corrupt than this,” as Kerry Eleveld says, Kara Swisher is hoping the horse’s mouth will have even more to spill, tweeting, “Hey @RudyGiuliani, please text @Olivianuzzi ASAP to explain this one.” A few scoops In an explosive new story from Julia Silverman, Kelly Clarke, Fiona McCann and Maryam Jameel, co-published by ProPublica and Portland Monthly, Multiple Women Recall Sexual Misconduct and Retaliation by Gordon Sondland. “It’s almost as if Trump seeks these kind of people out,” tweets Will Bunch. And “Wow. This is a bombshell. These women are all named and on the record,” Kathryn Watson points out. Meanwhile, even though Sondland’s recollection of a phone conversation that he said took place on Sept. 9 has emerged as a centerpiece of Trump’s defense in the impeachment inquiry, witness testimony and records raise questions about the account of Trump’s ‘no quid pro quo’ call. In fact, write Aaron C. Davis, Elise Viebeck and Josh Dawsey of The Washington Post, “no other witness testimony or documents have emerged that corroborate Sondland’s description of a call that day.” Hmmm...Looks like “Gordon’s memory is going to have to be jogged, again,” tweets Quentin Hardy. 
The hits keep coming. As Sam Stein says, “Talk about your pre-thanksgiving break news dump.” At The New York Times, Adam Goldman reports that an inspector general’s report is expected to find that the F.B.I. never tried to place undercover agents or informants inside the Trump campaign. “Wow what an enormous fucking surprise,” is Brian Beutler’s reaction. Tom Gara says, “Personally I am very excited for the release of an investigation into the FBI’s Russia investigation, containing a ‘mixed bag of conclusions likely to give new ammunition to both Mr. Trump’s defenders and critics.’” What could be more definitive than a mixed bag of conclusions! This cretin What’s happening in the U.K.? Maybe don’t ask. Josh Halliday and Joe Goodman of The Guardian report that Boris Johnson has been accused of pushing racial stereotypes over a newly unearthed column written during his time as editor of the Spectator in which he said young people had “an almost Nigerian interest in money.” To which Amy Fleming pleads, “Oh my fucking god, somebody stop this cretin.” Unfortunately, there’s more. As Mikey Smith reports at the Mirror, in another column for the Spectator, Boris Johnson branded children of single mothers ‘ignorant and illegitimate’ (55,000+ shares). Natalie Bloomer notices, “Almost every paragraph of this shows Johnson’s hatred for the working class.” And Ian Dunt points out, “Johnson’s defence against this stuff is: ‘I was a journalist, I wrote some provocative pieces’. I don’t know anyone with any decency who’d ever write this kind of shite.” Remember Martin O’Malley? 
Chris Geidner admits, “I have not wished I was at a bar so much since I stopped drinking,” and this has nothing to do with Thanksgiving with the relatives. As Laura Vozzella of The Washington Post relates the story, Ken Cuccinelli walked into a bar. And Martin O’Malley lit into him. As Marisa Kabas puts it, “WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO STAN.” And Martha Moore says, “Today I am thankful that someone stood up against cruelty and hypocrisy.” Meanwhile, Seth Masket says, “I’m eagerly awaiting the ‘non-Senate-confirmed Homeland Security leaders deserve to drink Guinness in peace without being reminded of their role in caging children’ arguments.” Not your ordinary Thanksgiving reads This is interesting and only slightly creepy. The Bowery Boys share some Thanksgiving history you might not be aware of in their piece, Happy Thanksgiving Masking: The pleasures of mischief, featureless masks and cross-dressing children! Justin Kirkland has “An important Thanksgiving announcement: I spent 70 (dog*) hours at the National Dog Show (Presented by @Purina Where Pets and People are Better Together). It was the best day of my life. #DogThanking.” You can read about that, and some Very Good Dogs, in his story for Esquire, 70 Hours* With the Winners (and Losers) of the National Dog Show. 
And at The Atlantic, James Hamblin helpfully explains How to not to be poisoned by your Thanksgiving dinner. Matt Collette notices “another way of reading this is that it’s a great guide to poisoning your whole family over the holidays,” but we’re certainly not advocating that. Heroes Looking for a good read this weekend? Don’t miss Zelda Perkins’ essay for Tortoise, The final bow. Perkins, a producer on Lazarus, shares what it was like bringing one of David Bowie’s final visions to life, and she shows us that, every once in a great while, your heroes do live up to the hype. 
“David Bowie was officially the most delicious smelling man on Earth...Nothing about him had disappointed after all,” she writes. And then she wonders, “The Blackstar and Lazarus videos and lyrics now seem so obviously stuffed with clues. Did no one hear or see these clues that were screaming through the songs and dialogue about the frailty of mortality – his own mortality?” Farewells David Grann links to some “Sad news. Among his enormous talents Clive James was one of the great critics and essayists.” Read the BBC obit for Clive James, the Australian writer and broadcaster known around the world for his dry wit, who has died at the age of 80. William Ruckelshaus, who resigned as deputy attorney general rather than carry out President Nixon’s illegal order to fire the independent special Watergate prosecutor, died on Wednesday at 87. Robert McFadden has the New York Times obit for Ruckelshaus, Who Quit in ‘Saturday Night Massacre.’ Drop some knowledge over the dinner table - Trump admin projected it would separate 26,000 migrant kids at border, Jacob Soboroff and Julia Ainsley report for NBC News. A new DHS inspector general report also says the Trump administration knew it lacked the technology to track and reunite children with their parents.
- John Hudson of The Washington Post has the backstory on Frank Wuco, the Trump official who suggested dropping nuclear bombs on Afghanistan and is now responsible for arms control issues. Wuco also elevated far-right conspiracy theories, including that Obama was not born in the U.S., John Brennan converted to Islam, Eric Holder belonged to the Black Panthers and Huma Abedin has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Cool, cool.
- Trump famously turned down a presidential salary. Big savings for the country, right? Well, HuffPost’s S.V. Date did some math and it turns out, Trump Has Spent $115 Million On Golf Trips ― Or 287 Years Of Presidential Salary.
- Nicholas Confessore and Alexandra Alter of The New York Times explain how “Triggered” landed on the bestseller list: Donald Trump Jr., Debut Author, Sees Sales Bolstered by G.O.P. Allies.
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