Top Items:
New York Times:
A President Unhappy, Unleashed and Unpredictable — President Trump remains the most powerful man in the world, but powerless to achieve what he most wants: to avoid leaving office as a loser. — With four weeks left in President Trump's term, he is at perhaps his most unleashed — and …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Trump Pardons Two Russia Inquiry Figures and Blackwater Guards — The pre-Christmas wave of 20 pardons and commutations are not likely to be the last before Mr. Trump leaves office on Jan. 20. — In an audacious pre-Christmas round of pardons, President Trump granted clemency on Tuesday …
Discussion:
Vox, The Guardian, The Nation, Vanity Fair, Defense One, Mediaite, The Week, Outside the Beltway, IJR, Florida Politics, Mother Jones, POLITICUSUSA, The American Independent, Business Insider, USA Today, The Gateway Pundit, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Daily Caller and Law & Crime
Washington Post:
Trump calls on Congress to approve $2,000 stimulus checks, hinting that he might not sign economic relief bill into law without changes — The president has still not signed the measure even though it passed Monday night. He called the measure “a disgrace.”
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, National Review, CBS News, Mediaite, No More Mister Nice Blog, Forbes, The Wrap, Breitbart, New York Times, Rev, The Root, The Week, Gothamist, CBS Baltimore, The Gateway Pundit, American Military News, Newsweek, Reason, Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, OutKick, Bloomberg, Townhall, Sara A. Carter, Conservative News Today, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Federalist, Raw Story, USA Today, Bangor Daily News, WISC-TV, Deadline, Newsy, Bark Bark Woof Woof, The Daily Beast, Hackwhackers and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »
Axios:
Trump unleashes signature chaos with stimulus threat and wave of controversial pardons — Advisers to President Trump tell Axios three forces drove last night's twin bombshells — a slew of pardons for his allies, and a last-hour attack on the $900 billion stimulus bill as a “disgrace.”
Washington Post:
Republicans plunge into open battle over attempts to overturn Trump's loss to Biden — The GOP is plunging into open warfare over President-elect Joe Biden's election victory — with President Trump taunting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a passive-aggressive email blast …
Discussion:
ABC News, Raw Story, The Week, Los Angeles Times, Election Law Blog, POLITICUSUSA, Business Insider, CBS News, Denver Post, Mediaite, Breitbart, HotAir, Bloomberg, Washington Times, Forbes, Townhall and NBC News
Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Live updates: Biden introduces education secretary nominee; Trump threatens not to sign stimulus bill
Live updates: Biden introduces education secretary nominee; Trump threatens not to sign stimulus bill
Discussion:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Business Insider, New York Times, WPHM, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo and Alternet.org
Susan Ferrechio / Washington Examiner:
Democrats dare GOP to block $2,000 stimulus checks in Christmas Eve vote
Democrats dare GOP to block $2,000 stimulus checks in Christmas Eve vote
Discussion:
Politico and BuzzFeed News
Washington Post:
Trump grants clemency to 20 people, including three former GOP members of Congress and two men convicted in the Russia probe
Trump grants clemency to 20 people, including three former GOP members of Congress and two men convicted in the Russia probe
Discussion:
Fox News, Politico, The Root, National Review, CNN, Washington Examiner, POLITICUSUSA, NPR, Axios, Talking Points Memo, The Intellectualist and RedState
Politico:
Trump orchestrates final loyalty test in dying bid to subvert election
Trump orchestrates final loyalty test in dying bid to subvert election
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Front Page Magazine, Wall Street Journal, HotAir, Fox News, RedState, UPI, IJR and The Week
Edward Foley / Washington Post:
It's time for Mike Pence to choose: Trump, or the truth
It's time for Mike Pence to choose: Trump, or the truth
Discussion:
The Boston Globe, CBS News, The American Independent, The Signorile Report and American Thinker
Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
What happened to Maria Bartiromo? The Trump election fraud story has the TV news biz asking — When a public company makes news, a chief executive can expect a text or call from Maria Bartiromo. — The veteran business journalist, now an anchor at Fox News, made her bones by getting sit-downs …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Washington Post and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
Fox News management failures invited legal threat from Smartmatic — Leadership at Fox News Media knows that Lou Dobbs has a thing for conspiracy theories. During his time at CNN, for instance, the well-known cable-news host fanned the racist smear that Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States.
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, Crooks and Liars and Vanity Fair
Politico:
Trump White House staffers receive conflicting messages about their departure — Conflicting internal memos created confusion inside the White House on Wednesday about when staffers in the Executive Office of the President should begin preparing to leave work ahead of the transition next month.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, Forbes, HotAir, Raw Story, The Week, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Associated Press
Kadia Goba / Axios:
Scoop: Pistol-packing freshmen prompt Congress gun review — Several incoming House freshmen have inquired about carrying guns into the Capitol, leading a board overseeing congressional security to rethink a regulation banning members from packing heat under the dome, a House aide with direct knowledge of the board review told Axios.
Tom Knowles / The Times:
Octopuses are ocean thugs that punch fish — Despite its extraordinary intelligence, the life of an octopus is a solitary one. So perhaps it is no wonder that the mighty brained cephalopod engages in a little thuggery to relieve the boredom. — Scientists have discovered that, on occasions …
Marc Ambinder / The Daily Beast:
Sources: Secret Service Has No Plan if Trump Refuses to Go — But they do have procedures for handling trespassers. — If there are any checklists or plans, procedures or guidelines for the Secret Service to follow in the event of an autogolpe—a Latin American-style crisis …
Discussion:
National Review, Alternet.org, Raw Story and Hackwhackers
Zach Abolverdi / USA Today:
Florida's Keyontae Johnson diagnosed with heart inflammation that has been associated with COVID-19 — GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida forward Keyontae Johnson, who collapsed on the court during a game Dec. 12 at Florida State, has been diagnosed with a heart inflammation that may be related to an earlier infection for COVID-19.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Patrick Lohmann / Syracuse Post-Standard:
Brindisi-Tenney race narrows even more: 3 to 5 votes separate candidates — OSWEGO, N.Y. — The incredibly close race for the 22nd Congressional District got even closer Tuesday, as about 90 new votes from a bundle of about 2,500 affidavit ballots from Oneida County were counted.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, HotAir and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
The Daily Beast:
White Supremacists Discussed Shooting Up Power Grids, Forming ‘Fascist Society’: FBI — Federal agents were tracking a group earlier this year that discussed a violent mission to “wreak havoc” if Trump lost the election, according to mistakenly unsealed court docs.
Discussion:
Associated Press and New York Post
Bradford Betz / Fox News:
Warnock's wife told officer that her husband is ‘a great actor’ after domestic dispute — Medical officials did not find visible signs of injury on his wife's foot and Warnock was never charged with a crime. — Ossoff, Warnock would embrace ‘far-left liberal policies’ in Senate: Alyssa Farah
RELATED:
Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Warnock's ex-wife calls him ‘great actor’ in police footage of dispute's aftermath
Warnock's ex-wife calls him ‘great actor’ in police footage of dispute's aftermath
Discussion:
New York Post and Conservative News Today
Washington Post:
Despite Trump's intense hunt for voter fraud, officials in key states have so far identified just a small number of possible cases — In Pittsburgh, the local police department this year received 10 complaints of possible fraudulent voting in the November election.
Discussion:
The Bulwark, RedState, Conservative News Today, Raw Story and Election Law Blog
Business Insider:
Democratic lawmaker says Trump campaign shell company was a campaign committee, likely broke law by not reporting or filing with the FEC … - Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan is asking the Justice Department and Federal Election Commission to investigate the Trump campaign's shell company.
Anand Giridharadas / The.Ink:
$600 checks are a “crime,” says the pope's favorite economist — A conversation with economist Mariana Mazzucato on the case against Scroogenomics … I watched “The Muppet Christmas Carol” with my family last night, and whenever Michael Caine's Ebenezer Scrooge character came onscreen …
US Census / The United States Census Bureau:
July 1, 2020 Estimates of Population and Housing Units — DEC. 22, 2020 — The U.S. Census Bureau today released July 1, 2020 estimates of the total population and voting-age population for the nation and states. Additional estimates for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas …
Discussion:
The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Fox News and Sara A. Carter
RELATED:
William H. Frey / Brookings:
The 2010s saw the lowest population growth in U.S. history, new census estimates show
The 2010s saw the lowest population growth in U.S. history, new census estimates show
Discussion:
USA Today, UPI, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Roll Call and Empire Center …
The Guardian:
Trump pardons Blackwater contractors jailed for massacre of Iraq civilians — Four guards fired on unarmed crowd in Baghdad in 2007, killing 14 and sparking outrage over use of private security in war zones — President Donald Trump has pardoned four Blackwater security guards …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, WKRN-TV, middleeastmonitor.com, Raw Story and Associated Press
RELATED:
Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Trump pardons Blackwater contractors convicted in deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians
Trump pardons Blackwater contractors convicted in deaths of 14 Iraqi civilians
Discussion:
The Week, Informed Comment and Politico
Gustavo Arellano / Los Angeles Times:
Column: The bittersweet victory of Alex Padilla, California's first Latino U.S. senator — Well, Gavin Newsom took two-thirds of my advice. — In November, I wrote that he should pick a Latino from the San Fernando Valley to replace Kamala Harris as a California U.S. senator.
Discussion:
The Americano, CalMatters, CBS Los Angeles, Conservative News Today, The Daily Beast, Jewish Insider, PinkNews, NPR, Vox, Business Insider and CBS San Francisco
Danielle E. Gaines / Maryland Matters:
Miller, President Emeritus, Resigns After 45 Years in Md. Senate — State Sen. Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), the longest-serving Senate president in Maryland history — believed to hold the record for service of any state Senate president in U.S. history — resigned from the seat he's held for 45 years on Wednesday morning.
Discussion:
The Hill and Baltimore Sun
Eddie Scarry / Washington Examiner:
Biden's coronavirus health adviser is a prop — If President-elect Joe Biden is paying his coronavirus adviser anything, he should try getting a refund. Michael Osterholm doesn't seem to know much more about the pandemic than the average cable news anchor, and that kind of knowledge is basically free of charge.
Maura Forrest / Politico:
How 2020 changed Justin Trudeau, and didn't — PROGRAMMING NOTE: Corridors will not publish from Thursday, Dec. 24 to Friday, Jan. 1. We'll be back on our normal schedule on Wednesday, Jan. 6. — At the very beginning of this interminable year, Justin Trudeau grew a beard.
Cornel West / Jewish Currents:
The Radical Heschel — ABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL, who died on this day 48 years ago, was the greatest exemplar of the prophetic legacy of Jerusalem in the most anti-Jewish century of recorded time. He drew inspiration from the biblical prophets, whom he wrote about in great depth …
Derek Robertson / Politico:
Flint Has Clean Water Now. Why Won't People Drink It? — In a city synonymous for half a decade with disaster, something remarkable happened in February 2019. A team of researchers reported that Flint's homes—even the ones at the highest risk for undrinkable, lead-poisoned tap water …
Roman Chiarello / Fox News:
Rep. Jody Hice slams ‘inexcusable’ coronavirus relief bill, calls for reopening of economy — Hice says $2,000 checks are not a replacement for a stable income — Rep. Jody Hice accuses Alex Padilla of ‘probably illegal’ activity as secretary of state — Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga. …
Discussion:
ABC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Axios
Josh Kraushaar / National Journal:
The case for a Chris Christie comeback — The former New Jersey governor has the perfect political résumé to bridge the party's divides in a post-Trump world. — Talk to enough mainstream Republican operatives , who are already brainstorming for the type of presidential nominee …