Top Items:
Politico:
White House fires Pentagon advisory board members, installs loyalists — The White House removed nine members of the Pentagon's Defense Business Board on Friday and installed people loyal to President Donald Trump in their place, including presidential allies Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie.
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CNN:
Trump Pentagon nominee spreads debunked conspiracies and tweets suggesting Trump declare martial law — (CNN)President Donald Trump's nominee to become a senior Pentagon official spread debunked conspiracies on Twitter that called Trump's election loss to Joe Biden a “coup” …
Discussion:
MSNBC, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Election Law Blog
Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
House votes to decriminalize marijuana as GOP resists national shift on pot — The House endorsed a landmark retreat in the nation's decades-long war on drugs Friday, voting to remove marijuana from the federal schedule of controlled substances and provide for the regulation and taxation of legal cannabis sales.
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Catie Edmondson / New York Times:
House Passes Landmark Bill Decriminalizing Marijuana
House Passes Landmark Bill Decriminalizing Marijuana
Discussion:
TheBlaze, The Right Scoop, POLITICUSUSA, Marijuana Moment and Townhall
Natalie Fertig / Politico:
House votes to legalize weed
House votes to legalize weed
Discussion:
CBS News, Common Dreams, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Reason, HotAir, KVIA-TV, Law & Crime and Raw Story
John Parkinson / ABC News:
Congress' vote to decriminalize marijuana, explained
Congress' vote to decriminalize marijuana, explained
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Mic, The Daily Caller and UPI
Kim Lyons / The Verge:
Meet the lieutenant governor pushing Democrats to get serious about weed
Meet the lieutenant governor pushing Democrats to get serious about weed
Discussion:
Vox, The Lid and Balloon Juice
Tanni Deb / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
BREAKING: Loeffler cancels rally plans after campaign staffer dies — One of Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler's campaign staffers died Friday, forcing her to cancel her plans to join Vice President Mike Pence in Savannah for a rally.Loeffler's communications director issued the following statement …
Discussion:
NBC News
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CNN:
Trump's criticism of GOP Senate candidates has Republicans worried ahead of rally — (CNN)President Donald Trump heads to Georgia on Saturday to campaign for two Republican senators one month ahead of a critical runoff that will determine which party controls the Senate.
Amanda Carpenter / The Bulwark:
They're Fine With It — Republicans have no qualms with Trump's dangerous conspiracies …
They're Fine With It — Republicans have no qualms with Trump's dangerous conspiracies …
Discussion:
ABC News, HotAir, Real Clear Politics, Reason, Raw Story and The Guardian
Hallie Golden / Lead Stories:
Fact Check: Video From Georgia Does NOT Show Suitcases Filled With Ballots Suspiciously Pulled From Under A Table; Poll Watchers Were NOT Told To Leave — Fact Check — Does security camera video show a Fulton County, Georgia, election supervisor suspiciously pulling suitcases filled …
Discussion:
Georgia Public Broadcasting, Washington Examiner, Erick Erickson's Confessions …, Breitbart, The Illustrated Primer, TheBlaze, theepochtimes.com, RedState, American Thinker, Washington Post, WGCL-TV, Forbes, Crooks and Liars, Media Matters for America, Louder With Crowder, Mediaite, Power Line, The New Neo, Lucianne and Twitchy
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Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Trump Orders All American Troops Out of Somalia — While the number of troops — about 700 — is small, it is a continuation of President Trump's efforts to withdraw the United States from what he has described as endless wars. — WASHINGTON — President Trump, continuing his end …
Discussion:
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, Bloomberg, Axios, Associated Press, Forbes, Al Jazeera, Washington Times, New York Post and The Week
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Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Will Move Nearly All Troops Out of Somalia, Officials Say
U.S. Will Move Nearly All Troops Out of Somalia, Officials Say
Discussion:
The Hill, ABC News, The Guardian, One America News Network, Boing Boing, Political Wire and Task & Purpose
Connor O'Brien / Politico:
Trump orders troop withdrawal from Somalia
Trump orders troop withdrawal from Somalia
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller
Benjamin Wittes / Lawfare:
How Do You Solve a Problem Like John Durham? — How should the next attorney general, whoever he or she turns out to be, handle the John Durham probe? — The more I study what Attorney General Bill Barr did in his secret October order naming the Connecticut U.S. attorney as a special counsel …
Discussion:
HotAir and New York Times
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Brittany Bernstein / National Review:
Durham Recommends Jail Time for Ex-FBI Lawyer Clinesmith Who Altered Carter Page Email
Durham Recommends Jail Time for Ex-FBI Lawyer Clinesmith Who Altered Carter Page Email
Discussion:
CourtListener, Law & Crime, The Stream, RedState and Gregg Jarrett
Adam Klasfeld / Law & Crime:
DHS Must Post Online Notice Welcoming Dreamers, Judge Rules in Rescinding Unlawful Chad Wolf Memo — Formally rescinding acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf's memo on the grounds that he was illegally appointed, a federal judge on Friday ordered the DHS to unfurl the welcome mat …
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Errin Haines / The 19th:
Kellyanne Conway acknowledges ‘it looks like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will prevail’ — The former adviser to President Donald Trump reflects on his presidency, women voters and her own historic role in the campaign. — Editor-at-large — Kellyanne Conway said President Donald Trump has …
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, IJR, The Daily Caller and Political Wire
Washington Post:
Coronavirus live updates: CDC advises people to wear masks indoors at all times, except at home — The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free. For more free coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter where all stories are free to read.
Discussion:
KVIA-TV, The Gander, National Review, The Hill, The Week, New York Post, Vanity Fair, Talking Points Memo, UPI, Political Wire and Politico
RELATED:
Gabriel T. Rubin / Wall Street Journal:
Democrats Push to Fill Postal-Service Board Seats to Stymie DeJoy, Reverse Cuts — Fate of postmaster general may hinge on outcome of Senate runoffs in Georgia — LOUIS DEJOY, the Republican donor-cum-postmaster general, was a top target for Democrats who accused him of slowing down mail ahead …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
David Perdue's smarmy new Fox News interview showcases the Trump effect
David Perdue's smarmy new Fox News interview showcases the Trump effect
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, NPR, Raw Story, Democrats and Crooks and Liars
Politico:
Becerra among new candidates for Biden's health secretary — President-elect Joe Biden is eyeing three new candidates for health secretary after previous front-runners fell out of contention for the job this week, according to people familiar with the discussions.
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Jacqueline Thomsen / LAW.com:
Judge Questions Whether Trump's Pardon of Michael Flynn Is ‘Too Broad’ — U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said his colleague Emmet Sullivan could find that “the wording of the pardon is too broad, in that it provides protections beyond the date of the pardon.”
Discussion:
emptywheel and Raw Story
Sunny Oh / MarketWatch:
Wall Street and finance workers could get COVID vaccines before most Americans — Financial industry workers could be second in line after healthcare workers and nursing home residents — Wall Street could get a shot in the arm in the coming months, while much of Main Street waits months for their COVID inoculations.
Roger Sollenberger / Salon:
RNC's highest-paid vendor of the 2020 election: A mystery company formed nine months ago — Digital Consulting Group made $42 million in eight months for media and marketing services. But who's behind it? — In August, Salon reported that the Republican National Committee (RNC) …
Discussion:
The Intellectualist
Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:
Stevie Nicks Sells Stake in Songwriting Catalog — Music publisher Primary Wave takes 80% interest in Fleetwood Mac star's catalog — Stevie Nicks closed a deal to sell a majority stake in her publishing catalog late last month, on the heels of Fleetwood Mac's “Dreams” hitting the Billboard charts for the first time since 1977.
Christopher Rugaber / Associated Press:
Gripped by surging pandemic, US employers cut back on hiring — WASHINGTON (AP) — With the viral pandemic accelerating across the country, America's employers sharply scaled back their hiring last month, adding 245,000 jobs, the fewest since April and the fifth straight monthly slowdown.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Florida Politics, New York Times, Raw Story, Common Dreams, Denver Post and KUSA-TV
RELATED:
Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
The Children of Pornhub — Why does Canada allow this company to profit off videos of exploitation and assault? — Pornhub prides itself on being the cheery, winking face of naughty, the website that buys a billboard in Times Square and provides snow plows to clear Boston streets.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Stream, National Review and TheBlaze, more at Techmeme »
Paul Egan / Detroit Free Press:
Michigan Court of Appeals rejects another Trump lawsuit over Michigan election — LANSING — The Michigan Court of Appeals on Friday rejected an appeal from the Trump presidential campaign challenging Michigan's election results, in the latest in a series of court defeats for the president.
Jim Geraghty / National Review:
Stop Lin Wood and Sidney Powell Now, or They Will Control the GOP's Destiny — If significant numbers of Republican voters choose to not participate in the January 5 runoff elections for both Senate seats, and that leads to victories by Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, that will do nothing for Donald Trump …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and HotAir
Jonah Goldberg / The Dispatch:
Conspiracy Theories Are Incompatible With Conservatism — It's supposed to be a worldview grounded in realism. — 11 hr ago — You aren't a conservative if you believe in conspiracy theories. — Before I defend this statement, I should say that as a general rule …
New York Times:
How 700 Epidemiologists Are Living Now, and What They Think Is Next — They are going to the grocery store again, but don't see vaccines making life normal right away. — Even with coronavirus vaccines on the way, many epidemiologists do not expect their lives to return to pre-pandemic normal until most Americans are vaccinated.
Discussion:
Reason
Washington Post:
Sanders announces opposition to $908 billion coronavirus relief package as lawmakers scramble for deal — Opposition from former presidential candidate shows that not all liberals will embrace the targeted package. — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Friday announced his opposition …
Discussion:
Business Insider, The Hill, Fortune and The Week
Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
The GOP Is Fighting to Block Red-State Bailouts — For eight months now, Mitch McConnell has been preventing the federal government from providing fiscal aid to America's state and municipal governments. The Senate Majority Leader and his far-right colleagues have obstructed such aid even though:
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Times and Daily Kos
Lachlan Markay / The Daily Beast:
The RNC Shelled Out $300K for Don Jr.'s New Book — The huge sum that the GOP paid to give signed copies of the book to its donors appears to be its largest-ever payment for “donor mementos.” — The Republican National Committee paid more than $300,000 in October to a company owned …
Discussion:
Mock Paper Scissors, Raw Story, Forbes and The Daily Caller
Brian Karem / The Bulwark:
Michael Cohen on What Trump Wants Now — The president's longtime lawyer, still serving out his federal sentence, explains his former boss's post-election maneuvering. — Donald Trump is Captain Chaos. — Michael Cohen, Trump's former fixer, pinned that label on him and it has stuck.
Discussion:
Raw Story