Top Items:
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Republicans raging at Trump are getting exactly what they deserve — House Republicans are in a fury with President Trump, now that he is threatening to blow up the carefully negotiated settlement that led to passage of the $900 billion economic rescue package.
Discussion:
The Hill, HotAir, Raw Story, Newsweek, The Guardian and The Gateway Pundit
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Jeff Stein / Washington Post:
House Republicans block Democrats' effort to advance $2,000 stimulus checks pushed by Trump — The Christmas Eve move came as Trump has refused to sign a $900 billion economic relief package into law — House Republicans on Thursday blocked an effort by House Democrats to approve $2,000 stimulus payments for millions of Americans.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Forbes, WKRN-TV, CNBC, Associated Press, UPI, Washington Examiner and WABC
Washington Post:
Families on brink of eviction, hunger describe nightmare Christmas as $900 billion relief bill hangs in limbo — About 14 million Americans will lose unemployment aid on Saturday after President Trump and Congress were unable to reach a deal. — Millions of Americans who are hours away …
Discussion:
CNN, NBC New York, Political Wire and Fox News
CNBC:
GOP blocks House Democrats' attempt to pass $2,000 stimulus checks — The Democrats moved to increase the size of the checks after President Trump threatened to oppose a more than $2 trillion pandemic aid and federal funding bill because it included $600 check to most Americans rather than $2,000.
Sludge:
Members of Congress Profited from COVID Bailout While Small Businesses Were Shut Out
Members of Congress Profited from COVID Bailout While Small Businesses Were Shut Out
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, No More Mister Nice Blog and Al Jazeera
Billy House / Bloomberg:
Pelosi Sets New Vote as GOP Foils Move on Trump's $2,000 Checks
Pelosi Sets New Vote as GOP Foils Move on Trump's $2,000 Checks
Discussion:
New York Times, Fox News, Business Insider, CNN, UPI, The Intellectualist and The Week
Politico:
Congress scrambles to avert shutdown after Trump's stimulus demands
Congress scrambles to avert shutdown after Trump's stimulus demands
Discussion:
Raw Story, One America News Network and Blue Virginia
HuffPost:
House Republicans Block $2,000 Coronavirus Stimulus Checks, Defying Trump
House Republicans Block $2,000 Coronavirus Stimulus Checks, Defying Trump
Discussion:
NPR, IJR, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, NBC New York, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, CBS Chicago, Alternet.org, Towleroad Gay News and Reuters
Tim Miller / The Bulwark:
The Treasonous Pardon of Paul Manafort — Trump, Russia, and the swamp won. America lost. — For four years we've been force-fed the preposterous dual notions that Donald Trump intended to “drain the swamp” and that any suggestion his campaign colluded with Russia in its interference in the 2016 election was a media hoax.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Daily Beast, Hackwhackers, The Daily Caller and FOX 5 San Diego
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Franklin Foer / The Atlantic:
The Triumph of Kleptocracy — Paul Manafort came of age in New Britain, Connecticut.
The Triumph of Kleptocracy — Paul Manafort came of age in New Britain, Connecticut.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Analysis: Trump is more erratic than ever with final days in sight
Analysis: Trump is more erratic than ever with final days in sight
Discussion:
Business Insider, KTVZ-TV, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money
The White House:
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency
Discussion:
New York Times, Fox News, CNN, The Week, USA Today, Mother Jones, Towleroad Gay News, Business Insider, Raw Story, The Last Refuge, FOX 5 San Diego, Power Line, The Texas Tribune, CNBC, HotAir, Reason, WTOP and RedState
Jacob Shamsian / Business Insider:
Dominion sends letters threatening defamation lawsuits to Sean Hannity, Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, and other pro-Trump media figures … - Dominion Voting Systems has sent letters to Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News, warning of a defamation lawsuit. — The voting firm is at the center …
Discussion:
LifeZette
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Jim Acosta / CNN:
Dominion sends legal letters to conservative media figures warning of ‘imminent’ action
Dominion sends legal letters to conservative media figures warning of ‘imminent’ action
Discussion:
Forbes, Washington Examiner and Salon
Sarah Isgur / Washington Post:
We in the ‘shallow state’ thought we could help. Instead, we obscured the reality of a Trump presidency. — Sarah Isgur was the director of the Office of Public Affairs at the Justice Department from 2017-2018. — As far as I know, no spokesperson for the Justice Department has ever …
Discussion:
Alternet.org
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Financial Times:
UK and EU agree historic Brexit trade deal — Accord will guarantee tariff-free trade on most goods and create a platform for future co-operation — Britain and the EU have sealed a Christmas trade agreement, a new economic and security accord that both sides hope will allow them to rebuild …
Discussion:
Politico, The Guardian, UPI, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CNN and One America News Network
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The Guardian:
UK and EU agree Brexit trade deal
UK and EU agree Brexit trade deal
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Breitbart and Fortune
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Host of ‘The Daily’ Clouds ‘N.Y. Times’ Effort To Restore Trust After ‘Caliphate’ — Toggle more options — Late last week, The New York Times issued one of its biggest mea culpas in years. The nation's leading newspaper returned a Peabody award and a citation as a finalist …
Discussion:
Meduza.io, more at Mediagazer »
William M. Arkin / Newsweek:
Exclusive: Donald Trump's Martial-Law Talk Has Military on Red Alert — Pentagon and Washington-area military leaders are on red alert, wary of what President Donald Trump might do in his remaining days in office. Though far-fetched, ranking officers have discussed what they would do if the president declared martial law.
Discussion:
The Intellectualist, Alternet.org and Raw Story
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Tyler Olson / Fox News:
Jenna Ellis, Trump campaign legal adviser, pans calls for martial law — Amid Trump's claims he won the election, Ellis' tweet indicates martial law is off the table — Fox News Flash top headlines for December 24 — Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to the Trump campaign who has argued …
Discussion:
Alternet.org and Forbes
Donald G. McNeil Jr / New York Times:
How Much Herd Immunity Is Enough? — Scientists initially estimated that 60 to 70 percent of the population needed to acquire resistance to the coronavirus to banish it. Now Dr. Anthony Fauci and others are quietly shifting that number upward. — At what point does a country achieve herd immunity?
Discussion:
HotAir, Twitchy, The Week, Nuclear Diner and The Daily Caller
David Brennan / Newsweek:
Kelly Loeffler Falls Behind Raphael Warnock in Georgia Senate Runoff Poll — Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler has slipped behind Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock in the latest poll for next month's runoff election, while the race between Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff for the second seat remains on a knife-edge.
Discussion:
Raw Story
The Daily Beast:
How These Comedians Turned MAGA Men Into Laughingstocks — From Rudy's straying hand to Sarah Cooper's inner Donald, the joke was on Trumpworld this year. — Rudy Giuliani tried really hard this year soil himself: the hair-in-the-can, the Russian agent pal, the presser by the sex shop, the buckets of conspiracy drool.
USA Today:
Exclusive: As Trump leaves office, 50% of Americans see him as a ‘failed’ president — Susan Page Sarah ElbeshbishiUSA TODAY — President Donald Trump leaves the White House next month with the country more sharply divided than when he moved in and amid caustic assessments of his record in office …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Guardian, Salon, Wall Street Journal and Political Wire
Clarence Williams / Washington Post:
Trump pardons former Prince George's County police officer — President Trump granted a pardon Wednesday to a former Prince George's County canine police officer who was convicted of a federal civil rights violation for releasing her police dog on an unarmed homeless man in 1995.
Discussion:
The Hill, Talking Points Memo and Bark Bark Woof Woof
Gabor Rona / Just Security:
Can a Pardon Be a War Crime?: When Pardons Themselves Violate the Laws of War — Editor's note: Originally published on May 25, 2019; with an author's note published on Dec. 24, 2020. — Not all corrupt pardons are created equal. Many of the ones being handed out by President Donald Trump …
Discussion:
Towleroad Gay News, Law & Crime, The Intellectualist and Washington Post
Joseph Goldstein / New York Times:
Hospital Workers Start to ‘Turn Against Each Other’ to Get Vaccine — “I am so disappointed and saddened that this happened,” a New York hospital executive wrote to his staff after workers who did not have priority cut the line for the vaccine. — At NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital …
Saeed Shah / Wall Street Journal:
Pakistan Seeks to Continue Detention of Man Convicted of Murdering Wall Street Journal Reporter Daniel Pearl — Move follows judges' removal of temporary detention order that has kept Omar Sheikh in jail since his death sentence was set aside in April — ISLAMABAD—The Pakistani authorities …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, New York Post, CBS News, The Hill and The Week
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Syed Raza Hassan / Reuters:
Pakistani court orders release of men accused of murdering Daniel Pearl
Pakistani court orders release of men accused of murdering Daniel Pearl
Discussion:
UPI
HuffPost:
Trump Back At Mar-A-Lago, Raising Taxpayer Golf Tab To $151.5 Million — This marks Trump's 31st golf trip to his Palm Beach resort, which in total account for just over two-thirds of his golf-related travel and security costs. — Donald Trump has arrived at his Palm Beach, Florida …
Discussion:
Mediaite
Reuters:
Millions of U.S. vaccine doses sit on ice, putting 2020 goal in doubt — (Reuters) -Millions of COVID-19 vaccines are sitting unused in U.S. hospitals and elsewhere a week into the massive inoculation campaign, putting the government's target for 20 million vaccinations this month in doubt.