Top Items:
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 …
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Amanda Carpenter / The Bulwark:
They're Fine With It — Republicans have no qualms with Trump's dangerous conspiracies—until they get tangled up in them themselves. — Why aren't more Republicans standing up and speaking out about Donald Trump's reprehensible acts? It's the eternal question of the Trump era and one that's …
Discussion:
ABC News, HotAir, Raw Story, Real Clear Politics, Reason and The Guardian
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Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
David Perdue's smarmy new Fox News interview showcases the Trump effect — Sen. David Perdue's new appearance on Laura Ingraham's show deserves careful study. It provides a comically twisted demonstration of the limits on what Republicans' calculations permit them to say to Trump voters …
Discussion:
NPR, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, Crooks and Liars, Raw Story and Democrats
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:
Raw Story
Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
The MAGA Revolution Devours Its Own — Republicans encouraged Trumpist havoc. Now it's coming for them. — Gabriel Sterling, a Georgia election official and longtime Republican, held a news conference this week in which, with barely contained rage, he excoriated Donald Trump's lies …
Discussion:
ABC News, Raw Story, Morning Shots and CNN
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Washington Examiner:
If Trump wants Republicans to keep the Senate and protect his legacy, he needs to change his tune
If Trump wants Republicans to keep the Senate and protect his legacy, he needs to change his tune
Jill Lawrence / USA Today:
Georgia, if you're listening, ignore conservatives peddling socialist Senate hallucinations
Georgia, if you're listening, ignore conservatives peddling socialist Senate hallucinations
Discussion:
ABC News, Defense News, Persuasion and ABC7
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 and National Review, more at Techmeme »
Axios:
Fauci says he accepted Biden's offer to be chief medical adviser “on the spot” — The government's top infectious-disease expert Anthony Fauci said Friday that he “absolutely” will accept the offer from President-elect Joe Biden to serve as his chief medical officer, telling NBC's “Today” that he said yes “right on the spot.”
Discussion:
Politico, Associated Press, New York Times, Raw Story, UPI, CNN and Summit News
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Steven Nelson / New York Post:
Joe Biden says he broke foot tripping after shower when he pulled dog's tail
Joe Biden says he broke foot tripping after shower when he pulled dog's tail
Discussion:
pjmedia.com, Townhall and Twitchy
New York Times:
Trump Associates Said to Have Been Scrutinized in Suspected Pardon Scheme — A billionaire from San Francisco sought clemency for a psychologist convicted of monetary crimes. The Republican donor Elliott Broidy and a lawyer for Jared Kushner were enlisted.
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:
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.
Discussion:
Axios, Crooks and Liars, Marijuana Moment and ABC11
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Alicia Victoria Lozano / NBC News:
Congress takes up historic bill to decriminalize cannabis
Congress takes up historic bill to decriminalize cannabis
Discussion:
Reason
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.
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.
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:
Forbes, The Daily Caller and Raw Story
Patricia Cohen / New York Times:
U.S. Hiring Slowed Sharply Last Month, Stranding Millions Without Work — Job growth has slowed considerably — Cumulative change in all jobs since before the pandemic — Here's what you need to know: — U.S. employers added 245,000 jobs in November amid a coronavirus surge.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, FOX21 News Colorado, NPR, Denver Post, Al Jazeera and KTLA
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Caleb Howe / Mediaite:
It's (Past) Time For Fox to Pull Lou Dobbs Off the Air — In March of 2020, Fox Business Network pulled Trish Regan off the air, following her claim that media coverage of the coronavirus pandemic was a “scam” on par with the president's impeachment. — It was a much-reviewed move.
David Beard / National Geographic:
Poll shows 61 percent of Americans likely to take COVID-19 vaccine — Our findings come as the former presidents commit to vaccination, and amid spiking hospitalizations and deaths. — Former U.S. presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton say they will take an FDA-approved …
Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Employment growth slows sharply in November amid coronavirus surge — Nonfarm payrolls increased by 245,000 in November, down from 610,000 in October. — The total was below the Wall Street estimate of 440,000. — Unemployment decreased to 6.7%, meeting expectations.
Mark Thornton / Mises Wire:
Joe Biden Wants a Huge New Tax on Gun Owners — Joe Biden's gun policy platform offers support for almost all conceivable forms of government restrictions on the Second Amendment. This includes bans and restrictions on sales, expansion of registration and background checks …
Gabe Schneider / The Objective:
U.S. newsrooms are very white. So are the critics and the journalists that cover them — From Ben Smith to Brian Stelter, there is an obvious problem with who gets to cover media full-time. — 3 hr ago — Max Tani was, for a brief moment, adrift in tattersall, tartan and gingham.
New York Daily News:
‘We cannot allow death threats’: Dems demand disbarment of Trump lawyer who said ex-election chief should be killed — A couple of House Democrats formally called on a Washington court to strip a Trump campaign attorney of his right to practice law Wednesday amid mounting outrage …
Politico:
Trump mulls preemptive pardons for up to 20 allies, even as Republicans balk — President Donald Trump is considering preemptively pardoning as many as 20 aides and associates before leaving office, frustrating Republicans who believe offering legal reprieves to his friends and family members could backfire.
Discussion:
The Intellectualist, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, CNBC, Business Insider, New York Times, Musing about law … and CNN
David Corn / Mother Jones:
274,000 Dead, and Trump Obsesses Over Election Conspiracy Theories. Where's the Outrage? — Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters. — In the late 1990s, conservatives and Republicans were fond of shouting …
Dion Rabouin / Axios:
America's hidden depression — President-elect Biden faces a fragile recovery that could easily fall apart, as the economy remains in worse shape than most people think. — Why it matters: There is a recovery happening. But it's helping some people immensely and others not at all.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:
Bipartisan defense bill includes several rebukes of Trump's record as commander in chief — The final draft of the bicameral, bipartisan-approved defense authorization bill contains a number of rebukes of President Trump's actions as commander in chief, in addition to defying …
Discussion:
Politico, Defense News, HotAir, Bloomberg, Defense One, IJR and Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CNN:
The top contenders to lead Biden's Justice Department — Washington (CNN)Political questions from Democrats and a new Republican litmus test have suddenly become complicating factors in one of President-elect Joe Biden's most critical choices: picking a new Attorney General to lead …
Politico:
White House fires Pentagon advisory board members in latest purge — Several members of the Defense Business Board were fired on Friday, marking the latest effort by the Trump administration to clean out the Pentagon in the final weeks of his term, according to two former board members.
Discussion:
Defense One and Foreign Policy
Eva Dou / Washington Post:
As China nears a coronavirus vaccine, bribery cloud hangs over drugmaker Sinovac — Chinese coronavirus-vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech is good at getting its products to market. It was first to begin clinical trials of a SARS vaccine in 2003 and first to bring a swine flu vaccine to consumers in 2009.
Daily Mail:
EXCLUSIVE: Trump's newest star witness to ‘voter fraud’ who claimed she saw Dominion systems being rigged was on probation for COMPUTER CRIME after plea deal to drop ‘obscenity’ charge — Mellissa Carone, 33, was on probation for a year for committing a computer crime, DailyMail.com can reveal
Discussion:
Raw Story, Boing Boing, Common Dreams and The Cut
The Daily Beast:
Hannity's Crony Has Taken Over Fox News Digital—and It's a Disaster, Staffers Say — Sean Hannity is already one of Fox News' loudest voices, and has put his Trumpist stamp on the network's broadcasts. Now, his influence has spread to the once-independent digital news operation, staffers say …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Christopher Bedford / The Federalist:
Joe Biden's DHS Nominee Is The Absolute Picture Of DC Political Corruption — Alejandro ‘Al’ Mayorkas is a left-wing Democrat with a history of working to help suspected Chinese spies enter the country and convicted drug dealers get out of prison. — Alejandro “Al” Mayorkas is a left-wing Democrat …
Glenn H. Reynolds / New York Post:
‘Hillbilly Elegy’ critics show they still despise ‘deplorables’ — Elites won't allow any sympathy for poor whites — Netflix's new adaptation of JD Vance's “Hillbilly Elegy” is devastating for the left's political narrative. How do I know that? Because so many leftists are trying to keep people from watching it.
Discussion:
Small Dead Animals