'If you want to be a Republican leader ... '
| 'If you want to be a Republican leader ... '  If you're a Republican and you don't have a working relationship with Donald Trump, you're toast.
The warning, conveyed with only a little less bluntness by GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, is not wrong. But it shows why American democracy remains in such trouble more than a year after the ex-President refused to accept defeat at the polls. Having a working relationship with Trump poses serious challenges to maintaining other valuable working relationships, for example, with the truth, with reality and with the age-old American faith in fair elections.
"Here's what I would say to every Republican: If you want to be a Republican leader in the House or the Senate and you don't have a working relationship with Donald Trump, you cannot be effective," Graham told "Fox News Sunday."
His point is that Republican leaders in Congress cannot hope to prosper in midterm elections next year or in the 2024 White House race by rejecting Trump, since he's still a hero to many voters in the party. The South Carolinian is boiling politics down to its most basic function: capturing power by any means necessary. During Trump's term, the Republican Party ultimately got what it wanted -- huge tax cuts and a conservative-majority Supreme Court -- though at the price of ignoring Trump's racism and trashing of traditional US political values.
The odd Republican, like Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin, has managed to thread the needle and win election largely by pretending that Trump didn't exist. But it's not a viable strategy for most Republicans who want to win. Trump has effectively made the midterm elections next year a proving ground for his influence by selecting candidates to run for key offices. More troubling, the former President is trying to install supporters of his election lies in vital positions in key states, ahead of the 2024 presidential race.
Still, for Graham and the bulk of a party that once boasted of making the world safe for democracy, the siren song of becoming politically "effective" with Trump's blessing is too hard to ignore. The world and America Millions of devices around the world are at risk from a newly revealed software vulnerability.
 'I do not anticipate ... issues of personal accountability' No US military personnel will be punished for the August drone attack in Kabul that killed 10 civilians, including seven children, reports CNN's Oren Liebermann.
Following a review of the strike, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin instructed the heads of Central Command and Special Operations Command to make recommendations to improve Defense Department policies and procedures. Their recommendations do not include holding anyone accountable or punishing anyone involved in the tragedy, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday.
"The secretary reviewed their recommendations. I won't get into all of them. Some of them are understandably classified, but he approved their recommendations," Kirby said. "So I do not anticipate there being issues of personal accountability to be had with respect to the August 29th airstrike."
In other words, there will be no disciplinary action over the strike, which Pentagon officials initially defended before admitting it was a "tragic mistake" as a result of "execution errors."  The UK's largest spy agency, GCHQ, just sent out its annual Christmas card (above) with a set of puzzles to test the abilities of would-be secret agents. Thanks for reading.
On Tuesday, representatives of EU member states meet with those of several Eastern European countries in Brussels. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Vice President Kamala Harris will announce new funding for minority-owned businesses and low-income communities. And the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater kicks off. View in browser | All CNN Newsletters
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