Top Items:
Dan Diamond / Politico:
‘We want them infected’: Trump appointee demanded ‘herd immunity’ strategy, emails reveal — A top Trump appointee repeatedly urged top health officials to adopt a “herd immunity” approach to Covid-19 and allow millions of Americans to be infected by the virus, according to internal emails obtained …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Business Insider, Axios, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Intellectualist and Eschaton
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Noah Weiland / New York Times:
‘Like a Hand Grasping’: Trump Appointees Describe the Crushing of the C.D.C. — Kyle McGowan, a former chief of staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and his deputy, Amanda Campbell, go public on the Trump administration's manipulation of the agency.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Raw Story and The Intellectualist
Keith Griffith / Associated Press:
MAGA turns on Mitch: Trump allies including Michael Flynn slam the GOP Senate majority leader for ‘caving to the mob and China’ for recognizing Biden as president-elect — Trump loyalists were furious after McConnell congratulated Biden on Tuesday — Top allies accused Senate majority leader of selling out the party's leader
Discussion:
Bloomberg, RedState, Washington Examiner, Reason, Mic, Washington Post, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Conservative News Today, Forbes, Geller Report News, Mediaite, IJR, Politico, Washington Times, Deadline and Axios
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Ewan Palmer / Newsweek:
QAnon Supporters Vow to Leave GOP After Mitch McConnell Accepts Election Result — Supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory have unsurprisingly turned their backs on Mitch McConnell after he finally congratulated President-elect Joe Biden on his election victory.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars
Richard Fowler / Fox News:
Trump's defeat is now final, bringing a disastrous presidency to a welcome end — Biden's victory was not the result of fraud, as Trump falsely claims — Biden calls for unity, blasts Trump after Electoral College vote — The former reality TV performer who is now president …
Discussion:
Associated Press, POLITICUSUSA, Democrats and NBC News
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Journalists, it's time for a cold-turkey breakup with Trump — Long before he glided down that golden escalator at Trump Tower in 2015 to announce his presidential candidacy, Donald Trump was an object of media fascination. He could never actually become president, of course …
Aída Chávez / The Intercept:
AOC: Nancy Pelosi Needs to Go, but There's Nobody to Replace Her Yet … Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez believes the Democratic Party needs new leadership, telling The Intercept in an interview that it's time for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to go.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, National Review, HotAir, Mediaite, WABC, Townhall, The Sun, TheBlaze, Washington Times and Liberty Unyielding
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Politico:
Hill leaders close in on Covid stimulus deal
Hill leaders close in on Covid stimulus deal
Discussion:
American Prospect, HuffPost, Axios, CNBC, Orange County Register, CNN, COURIER, The American Independent, Washington Post, Daily Kos, KCLO-TV, Forbes, The Week, NECN, New York Times, Mother Jones and Reuters
Washington Post:
Congressional leaders add stimulus checks to $900 billion relief package as they near deal
Congressional leaders add stimulus checks to $900 billion relief package as they near deal
Discussion:
USA Today, The Hill, Business Insider, KUSI-TV, New York Post, HotAir, ABC13 and TheGrio
Quint Forgey / Politico:
Ocasio-Cortez takes direct shot at Pelosi and Schumer
Ocasio-Cortez takes direct shot at Pelosi and Schumer
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, IJR, Conservative News Today and Axios
Alayna Treene / Axios:
Kevin McCarthy refuses to congratulate Biden on election victory
Kevin McCarthy refuses to congratulate Biden on election victory
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, The Nation, Politico, POLITICUSUSA and New York Times
Emily McCullar / Texas Monthly:
Texas Wedding Photographers Have Seen Some $#! + — They know what you did this summer. — NOTES — The wedding photographer had already spent an hour or two inside with the unmasked wedding party when one of the bridesmaids approached her. The woman thanked her for still showing up …
Discussion:
Mediaite
John Hudson / Washington Post:
Hundreds of invitees skip Mike Pompeo's indoor holiday party at State Department — Only a tiny fraction of the more than 900 guests invited to an indoor holiday party hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife Susan showed up on Tuesday following an outcry from public health officials …
Discussion:
Daily Mail, Business Insider, CNBC, Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Daily Kos, Mediaite, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, The Week and Political Wire
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Jennifer Hansler / CNN:
Pompeo quarantining after coronavirus exposure
Pompeo quarantining after coronavirus exposure
Discussion:
ABC News, Washington Examiner, National Review, The Daily Caller and Political Wire
Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
Secretary of State Pompeo quarantines after virus exposure
Secretary of State Pompeo quarantines after virus exposure
Discussion:
USA Today, The American Independent and Washington Times
Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Pompeo in quarantine after coronavirus exposure
Pompeo in quarantine after coronavirus exposure
Discussion:
Mediaite and Talking Points Memo
ABC13:
Alleged crusade to stop voter fraud lands former HPD captain in handcuffs — HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A former Houston Police Department Captain was arrested and charged for running a man off the road and pointing a gun at his head in an attempt to prove claims of a massive voter fraud scheme …
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Erin Douglas / The Texas Tribune:
Former Houston police captain accused of violent attempt to prove election conspiracy was hired by GOP activist's group
Former Houston police captain accused of violent attempt to prove election conspiracy was hired by GOP activist's group
Discussion:
The Hill, Houston Chronicle, Daily Kos, The Week, The Intellectualist, WTOP, Boing Boing and New York Post
Sun-Sentinel:
A mysterious gap in COVID-19 deaths appeared in Florida before the presidential election — An astonishing pattern has emerged in Florida's COVID death tally — one that suggests the state manipulated a backlog of unrecorded fatalities, presenting more favorable death counts in the days leading up to the 2020 presidential election.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Raw Story and The Week
Katie Shepherd / Washington Post:
North Carolina GOP lawmaker urges Trump to suspend civil liberties to keep power: ‘Invoke the Insurrection Act’ — On Facebook, North Carolina state Sen. Bob Steinburg (R) paraphrased a conservative commentator to make a radical suggestion: President Trump should declare a national emergency …
Discussion:
The American Independent, The Hill, The Sun, Just Security, Progressive Eruptions, Raw Story, Florida Politics and CANNONFIRE
RELATED:
John Bowden / The Hill:
Republican NC state senator: Trump should ‘invoke the Insurrection Act’
Republican NC state senator: Trump should ‘invoke the Insurrection Act’
Discussion:
Election Law Blog
NBC News:
White House counsel's office warned Trump not to fire Chris Wray — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has come so close to firing FBI Director Christopher Wray in recent months that the White House counsel's office has warned him not to do so because it could put him in potential legal jeopardy …
Discussion:
Politico, Associated Press, HotAir, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Raw Story, emptywheel, The Week and MSNBC
The Daily Beast:
Value of Loeffler's Mansion Dropped $6M Overnight—and Nobody Can Explain Why — The estate went from a $10.5 million appraisal to $4.1 million, resulting in a much lower tax bill for the senator and her husband. — When Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and her husband, Jeffrey Sprecher …
Discussion:
Business Insider, DSCC, Raw Story and Crooks and Liars
Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Hunter Biden in 2017 sent ‘best wishes’ from ‘entire Biden family’ to China firm chairman, requested $10M wire — 2017 letter asked chairman to ‘properly fund and operate’ Biden joint venture with Chinese energy company — Hunter Biden failed to report $400G in income from Burisma, new email shows
Discussion:
NOQ Report
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Tyler Olson / Fox News:
Biden says 'I'm confident' Hunter did nothing wrong, amid federal probe into ‘tax affairs’
Biden says 'I'm confident' Hunter did nothing wrong, amid federal probe into ‘tax affairs’
Discussion:
National Review
Suzanne Venker / Washington Examiner:
Traditional marriage roles make for much better sex — In 2014, author and psychologist Lori Gottlieb wrote an article for the New York Times about a study that found egalitarian, or “50-50,” marriages (in which both parents work full time outside the home and split household and childcare right …
Christian Middleton / Mississippi Free Press:
UM Fires History Professor Who Criticizes ‘Powerful, Racist Donors’ and ‘Carceral State’ — During a period of what University of Mississippi faculty are calling a time of increasing paranoia, the university is set to terminate a celebrated professor of history.
Washington Post:
Mar-a-Lago neighbors to Trump: Spend your post-presidency elsewhere — Next-door neighbors of Mar-a-Lago, President Trump's private club in Palm Beach, Fla., that he has called his Winter White House, have a message for the outgoing commander in chief: We don't want you to be our neighbor.
Discussion:
Vanity Fair, Business Insider, Law & Crime, The Root, The Hill, New York Magazine, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, IJR, Mediaite, Crooks and Liars and Slate
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Peter Weber / Yahoo News:
Trump's Mar-a-Lago neighbors don't want him to move there. They may be able to stop him, too.
Trump's Mar-a-Lago neighbors don't want him to move there. They may be able to stop him, too.
Discussion:
Business Insider and The Week
Ben Lindbergh / The Ringer:
MLB Is Finally Recognizing the Negro Leagues as the Major Leagues They Always Were — Negro League statistics from 1920 to 1948 will now be officially classified as “major league,” marking a long-overdue acknowledgment of the accomplishments of players who didn't have the opportunity to play in the American or National Leagues
Discussion:
MLB.com, The Week and Outside the Beltway
Zack Budryk / The Hill:
Sen. Angus King proposes Netflix, Disney, HBOMax stream free over holidays to stop COVID-19 spread — Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) called on video streaming platforms to make their content available for free during the holiday season to encourage people to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Discussion:
king.senate.gov, The National Interest and The Root
Associated Press:
‘I do not feel safe’: Kansas GOP mayor resigns after threats over backing mask mandate — A Republican mayor in western Kansas announced in a letter to city officials and on social media Tuesday that she is resigning, effective immediately, because of threats she has received after she publicly supported a mask mandate.
Discussion:
Dodge City Daily Globe, Raw Story and Forbes
Douglas MacMillan / Washington Post:
America's biggest companies are flourishing during the pandemic and putting thousands of people out of work — A Post analysis found 45 of the 50 biggest U.S. companies turned a profit since March. The majority of firms cut staff and gave the bulk of profits to shareholders.
Craig Stirling / Bloomberg:
Fifty Years of Tax Cuts for Rich Didn't Trickle Down, Study Says — Paper looks at fiscal policies in 18 countries over 50 years — Governments shouldn't worry about taxes on rich, author says — Tax cuts for rich people breed inequality without providing much of a boon to anyone else …
Discussion:
Raw Story and The Intellectualist
Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:
We're Never Going Back to the 1950s — Twenty years ago, the sociologist Robert Putnam in Bowling Alone used the decline of bowling leagues since the middle of the 20th century to symbolize America's declining social engagement. This year, he published a sequel of sorts, The Upswing …
Heather Long / Washington Post:
Nearly 8 million Americans have fallen into poverty since the summer — Nation's poverty rate has risen at the fastest pace ever this year after aid for the unemployed declined. — The U.S. poverty rate has surged over the past five months, with 7.8 million Americans falling into poverty …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Week and Forbes
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Expected to Unseal Charges Against New Suspect in 1988 Lockerbie Bombing — Charges aimed at top bomb-maker for late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi — WASHINGTON—U.S. prosecutors are expected to unseal charges against a suspect they allege was a top bomb-maker for the late Libyan …
Tyler Cowen / Marginal REVOLUTION:
John O. Brennan on UFOs — I thought I would give this segment its own post, again here is the audio, video, and transcript of my Conversation with John O. Brennan, head of the CIA for four years under President Obama: — BRENNAN: I've seen some of those videos from Navy pilots …
Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:
Bob Iger, Jeffrey Katzenberg In the Mix for Biden Ambassadorship Roles — The Disney executive chairman is at the top of the president-elect's wish list for a diplomatic assignment with the DreamWorks and Quibi mogul also in the mix. — It appears that Bob Iger might have a future in public service after all.
Discussion:
The Week, more at Mediagazer »
Jennifer Jacobs / Bloomberg:
Trump Spy Chief Stirs Dispute Over China Election-Meddling Views — Disagreement is over the extent of interference by China — Ratcliffe may withhold certification of a report to Congress — President Donald Trump's spy chief is considering holding up a report to Congress …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Israpundit and Election Law Blog
McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:
The Most American Religion — Image above: The Oquirrh Mountain Temple sits about 20 miles south of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, where the Church is based. — This article was published online on December 16, 2020. — To meet with the prophet during a plague, certain protocols must be followed.
Marc Thiessen / Washington Post:
Giving Trump credit for the vaccine is the best way for Biden to unite the country — Joe Biden promised in his victory speech to “unite us here at home” and told Trump supporters that he wanted to “put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature [and] see each other again.”
Discussion:
USA Today