First: Nothing much has changed about the stalemate in the Gulf of Hormuz . The little sister of Lindsey Graham, 62-year old Darline Graham Nordone, will serve out his term in the U.S. Senate.   She will not run in the Republican primary to replace him. The Manhattan federal court released more than $5.6 million that Donald Trump owes E. Jean Carroll. The U.S. Senate has 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats. John Cornyn (R-Tex), Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) will not return to the Senate next year, and mostly because Trump was directly responsible for their situation. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) chose not to run for re-election.  If he never returns to the U.S. Senate, this means that, if the above three Republicans want to leave with a major payback, Democrats would have one vote more than Republicans.   If McConnell does return, he has had a severely strained personal relationship with Trump, that he, too, could well vote like a Democrat.   This ...