If You Think It's Bad for Mainstream Democrats Now, Just Wait  —  It is always darkest, John McCain used to say, before it gets totally black.  So it is for the American center-left right now.  Bernie Sanders is currently favored to win the nomination, a prospect that would make Donald Trump …

White House Weighs Ouster of Aide Who Testified Against Trump  — Army's Vindman could be removed as part of a broader sweep  — Some officials may be reassigned from NSC in impeachment wake  —  The White House is weighing a plan to dismiss Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council …

Fox News Internal Document Bashes Pro-Trump Fox Regulars for Spreading ‘Disinformation’  —  In a dossier obtained by The Daily Beast, Fox's research unit advises colleagues to be wary of “disinformation” from several Trump-boosting on-air regulars, including Giuliani.

China Tightens Wuhan Lockdown in ‘Wartime’ Battle With Coronavirus  —  With infections doubling every four days and more than 600 deaths, China intensified its response in Wuhan, with house-to-house temperature checks and mass confinements at quarantine centers.

Navy Secretary Pushed Out by Trump Says He'll Endorse Bloomberg  —  Richard Spencer, ousted as Navy secretary after he publicly disagreed with President Trump's intervention in a war crimes case involving a Navy SEAL, is a lifelong Republican.  —  WASHINGTON — The Navy secretary ousted …

Trump's politicization of the National Prayer Breakfast is unholy and immoral  —  At the 68th, and perhaps last, National Prayer Breakfast, the main remarks were made by the former president of the American Enterprise Institute (and Post columnist) Arthur C. Brooks, who spoke on the themes of his wonderful 2019 book “Love Your Enemies.”

New Doubts From Iowa Caucuses: How ‘Satellite’ Votes Are Being Measured  —  Party documents lay out conflicting ways to award delegates, and the contest is so close that the small difference matters a lot.  —  The winner of the Iowa Democratic caucus might come down to one not-so-simple question …

Women of color bolt Warren's Nevada campaign in frustration  —  A half-dozen women of color have departed Elizabeth Warren's Nevada campaign in the run-up to the state's caucuses with complaints of a toxic work environment in which minorities felt tokenized and senior leadership was at loggerheads.

Mikie Sherrill endorses Bloomberg for president  —  New Jersey congresswoman says Bloomberg ‘embodies the integrity we need from leadership’  —  Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) is endorsing Michael Bloomberg for the Democratic nomination for president, giving the former New York City mayor …

Bloomberg Plagiarized Parts of At Least Eight of His Plans  —  Mike Bloomberg's presidential campaign plagiarized portions of its plans for maternal health, LGBTQ equality, the economy, tax policy, infrastructure, and mental health from research publications, media outlets, and a number of nonprofit, educational, and policy groups.

Challenging Trump for the GOP nomination taught me my party is a cult  —  Real conservatives think for themselves.  Trump Republicans have been brainwashed.  —  When I announced my primary challenge to President Trump last year, I knew running against him for the GOP nomination was the ultimate long shot.

EXCLUSIVE: Indiana U defends ‘Sex Fest’ featuring BDSM demos, ‘kink’ and ‘sex toys’  — The second night offered BDSM demonstrations, including a man whipping a tied up woman in public.  —  New video and photos out of Indiana University show an individual being publicly whipped as part of a university-sponsored “sex fest.”

How Trump Wins Again  —  Are Democrats going to give this election away?  —  As several people have noticed, this was the most politically successful week of the Trump presidency.  —  First, President Trump's job approval numbers are rising.  When the impeachment inquiry got rolling in October his Gallup approval rating was 39.

Trump's health care rhetoric shows at least short term appeal  —  Tapper rolls the tape on glaring Trump falsehood in SOTU  —  Washington (CNN)Before the State of the Union speech she would later rip up on camera, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called a news conference to rip President Donald Trump's “all-out assault on health care.”

Treasury Department sent information on Hunter Biden to expanding GOP Senate inquiry  —  The Treasury Department has complied with Republican senators' requests for highly sensitive and closely held financial records about Hunter Biden and his associates and has turned over " …

On Facebook, anti-vaxxers urged a mom not to give her son tamiflu.  He later died.  —  Online groups that routinely traffic in anti-vaccination propaganda have become a resource for people seeking out a wide variety of medical information.  —  Facebook groups that routinely traffic …

Kushner: Abbas, Olmert jealous they couldn't bring about peace themselves  —  Jared Kushner spoke out against Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, saying that they are jealous of the peace plan for having the potential to accomplish what they could not.

Bullock meets with Obama as Montana Senate deadline nears  —  Former President Barack Obama met privately with Montana Gov. Steve Bullock on Thursday in Washington, an adviser confirmed, as Democrats hold out hopes that the red-state governor makes a surprise, last-minute splash into the state's Senate race.

Venezuela Moves U.S. Oil Executives to Caracas Prison  —  The six Citgo employees have been detained since 2017 without trial  —  WASHINGTON—Venezuelan authorities rounded up U.S. oil executives held under house arrest in Caracas Wednesday night and moved them to a prison, the top U.S. envoy to Venezuela told reporters on Thursday.

Trump Is Blowing Up a National Monument in Arizona to Make Way for the Border Wall  —  Contractors working for the Trump administration are blowing apart a mountain on protected lands in southern Arizona to make way for the president's border wall.  The blasting is happening …

Donald Trump ‘apoplectic’ in call with Boris Johnson over Huawei  —  Donald Trump vented “apoplectic” fury at Boris Johnson in a tense phone call over the UK's decision to allow Huawei a role in its 5G mobile phone networks, according to officials in London and Washington.

Trump planned a surprise, on-camera military reunion.  This is what they're really like.  —  The flight shuttling war-weary Green Berets home had been delayed, and nobody at battalion headquarters thought to unlock the door for their families waiting in the freezing rain.

The Democratic Party is telling millions of pro-lifers to get out  —  Until recently, I spent much of my time working hard to elect Democrats to public office — but the early presidential campaigning pushed me away from the party, as well prompting my resignation from the board of Democrats for Life, where I had served since 2014.