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The Unbearable Weakness of Trump's Minions — Those hoping for a quick snapback to sanity for the Republican Party once Donald Trump is no longer president should temper those hopes. — The latest piece of evidence to suggest the enduring power of Trumpian unreality is yesterday's announcement …
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Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, UPI, Raw Story, New Republic, Boston.com, Washington Post, The Hill and CNN
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McConnell: House's $2,000 stimulus checks are ‘socialism for rich’ — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dubbed the effort to increase direct payments to $2,000 “socialism for rich people,” eliciting an incredulous reaction from Sen. Bernie Sanders as the GOP Senate continued to decline to take up the matter on Thursday.
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Fox News, HuffPost, Business Insider, Talking Points Memo, The Western Journal, BGR, The Week, The Sun, The Hill and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »


Josh Hawley reminds us that the GOP is the sedition party — The Republican Party yet again provides us with reason for its own demise. The Post reports: “Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced Wednesday that he would object next week when Congress convenes to certify the electoral college vote …
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Mediaite, Rolling Stone, Crooks and Liars, The National Interest, Associated Press and The Hill


Sen. Sasse calls effort to overturn electoral college vote a ‘dangerous ploy’ — Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) on Thursday called the effort in Congress to reverse President-elect Joe Biden's electoral college victory a “dangerous ploy,” underscoring the challenge President Trump faces in persuading even members of his own party to join it.

Let Josh Hawley put Republicans to the uncomfortable test
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Breitbart, Raw Story, Israpundit, Los Angeles Times, WTOP, Washington Examiner and Mock Paper Scissors

‘Socialism for rich people’: McConnell attacks $2,000 stimulus checks, all but ensuring bill won't pass
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The Daily Wire, The Hill, Roll Call, Breitbart, UPI, Newsy, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Real America's Voice and WRIC-TV

Sasse: “Ambitious” Republicans objecting to Electoral College “are playing with fire”
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Washington Examiner, Washington Times, The Week and The Intellectualist

Senate Democrats' Motion To Concede On $2,000 Checks
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The Daily Dot, republicanleader.senate.gov, Conservative News Today, Regular Order, Raw Story and The Guardian

McConnell again blocks quick vote on $2,000 stimulus checks, slams ‘socialism for rich people’
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, CNBC, New York Post, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, IJR and abc7NY


Axios' Mike Allen: Some Republicans think Trump is trying to sabotage GOP in Georgia Senate races — “There's a big strain of thought among Republicans that President Trump is sabotaging” the Georgia Senate runoffs, Axios co-founder Mike Allen told CNBC. — Allen said Trump has …
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Georgia GOP senator to quarantine just days ahead of runoff — (CNN)Republican Sen. David Perdue of Georgia will quarantine after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, his campaign announced Thursday, with just days to go before the state's runoff race for his seat.


GOP looks for big Georgia runoff-election turnout to top Dems' early-voting advantage — Both Trump and Biden to campaign in Georgia on the eve of the runoff elections, where the Senate GOP majority is up for grabs — Trump, Biden to make final push in Georgia
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Politico, Axios, Weasel Words of Wisdom, Reuters, NewsNation Now, Washington Times, Associated Press, Reason and New York Post


Sen. David Perdue quarantines after contact with someone infected with Covid, days before Georgia runoff
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, NBC News and The Daily Caller

Georgia's Perdue to quarantine after possible coronavirus exposure, on weekend before Senate runoffs
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Fox News, WHNT-TV, capitalandmain.com and New York Post

Twitter Refuses To Flag Ossoff's False Accusation That ‘Kelly Loeffler Campaigned With A Klansman’
Discussion:
CNN, Twitchy and Conservative News Today

Loeffler hits back at Ossoff over KKK attack
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The Daily Caller, TheGrio, Townhall and The Hill

Often overlooked, Asian American Christian voters could be key in Georgia Senate runoffs
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The American Independent and Vox


‘Covid, Covid, Covid’: In Trump's Final Chapter, a Failure to Rise to the Moment — As the U.S. confronted a new wave of infection and death through the summer and fall, the president's approach to the pandemic came down to a single question: What would it mean for him?


Some healthcare workers refuse to take COVID-19 vaccine, even with priority access — They are front-line workers with top priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine, but they are refusing to take it. — At St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Tehama County, fewer than half …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Bodies pile up, patient care falters as COVID-19 devastates L.A. County hospitals — Los Angeles County's healthcare system was buckling Wednesday under the unprecedented surge of COVID-19 patients, with bodies piling up at morgues and medical professionals resorting to increasingly desperate measures …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Associated Press


Biden's Incoming Press Secretary: Briefings Won't Be A Platform For Right-Wing Spin — Toggle more options — President-elect Joe Biden's choice for White House press secretary says she will restore a tradition. Unlike her immediate predecessors in the Trump administration …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Forbes and Al Jazeera, more at Mediagazer »


The Mutated Virus Is a Ticking Time Bomb — Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. — A new variant of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe. It was first identified in the United Kingdom …
Discussion:
New York Times


Microsoft says Russians hacked its network, viewing source code — Russian government hackers engaged in a sweeping series of breaches of government and private-sector networks have been able to penetrate deeper into Microsoft's systems than previously known, gaining access …
Discussion:
Microsoft Security …, CNN, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Al Jazeera, The Sun, WTOP, Raw Story, The Verge and New York Times, more at Techmeme »


British PM Johnson's father applying for French citizenship — PARIS (Reuters) - The father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday he was in the process of applying for a French passport to maintain his ties with the European Union after Brexit.
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Orange County Register, CBS News, Al Jazeera, Raw Story, Business Insider and The US Sun
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US to move aircraft carrier out of Mideast amid Iran tension — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has decided to send home the only Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Middle East, a move that would reduce U.S. firepower in the region amid heightened tensions with Iran, officials said Thursday.
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Reuters
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Security firms say suspicious object on oil tanker off Iraq
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Business Insider, The Hill, The Daily Caller and The Iran Project


Trump Fears That His Influence Is Waning — The president is plotting retribution. Not just because he's mad about his election loss. But because he wants to keep folks in line. — As his days in office come to a close, President Donald Trump has hinted to those close to him that he's worried …
Discussion:
Raw Story


5 NY1 Anchors Exit As Part of Age, Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Settlement — Roma Torre, Kristen Shaughnessy, Jeanine Ramirez, Vivian Lee and Amanda Farinacci have “mutually agreed to part ways” with the station — Five Spectrum NY1 anchors who sued Charter Communications for age …
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The Hill, Gothamist, WTOP and New York Post, more at Mediagazer »


Republicans Don't Know Anything About Their Party. That's Very Bad for American Democracy. — By Ethan Winter — While the packaging of Republican Party politics has evolved since 2000, what remains unaltered is a bedrock commitment to regressive tax cuts, a sharp curtailment of worker power …
Discussion:
Raw Story


Trump Budget Chief Hampers Biden Transition With Ban on Meetings — Agency director Russ Vought wants focus on last-minute rules — Biden has complained OMB, Pentagon are hampering transition — President Donald Trump's budget office is blocking Joe Biden's transition team …
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CNBC, The Hill, New York Post, Raw Story, The Daily Caller and Politico


Federal agency knew Garda was “really bad” at safety. It took little action. — Three more people have died since the Times revealed safety problems at the Florida-based armored truck company. — By the time Johnathon Lue burned alive in the back of a GardaWorld armored truck in May …


Trump boasts about his Covid response after largely ignoring crisis during deadliest month yet — December was the deadliest month for America during the pandemic. Yet President Donald Trump barely uttered a word about Covid-19's tragic toll. — Instead, the president spent …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, CBS News and New York Times


West Virginia clinic gave 42 people an antibody treatment instead of the coronavirus vaccine — Forty-two people in West Virginia received an antibody treatment rather than Moderna's coronavirus vaccine in an error Wednesday at a vaccination clinic hosted by a county health department.
Discussion:
CNBC, The Hill and WV MetroNews


Trumpist Lawyer Lin Wood Goes on Unhinged Rant Suggesting Justice John Roberts Is a Murderous Pedophile — Wood has recently been in touch with President Trump, who has encouraged his election-stealing lawsuits and behavior. — Pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood ramped up the crazy on Wednesday night …
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HuffPost, Reason, National Review, HotAir, Raw Story and The Intellectualist


Biden asks nation for bell ringings, light shows to remember those lost to COVID — To set the tone for his inauguration the next day, President-elect Biden will lead a memorial to remember and honor lives lost to COVID-19, with church-bell ringings and light shows across the country on Tue., Jan. 19, at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Discussion:
Washington Post, NBC News, CNN, New York Post and The Week


This terrible year taught me something about hope — The first month of the pandemic was also supposed to be the month I got pregnant, but my clinic closed and plans changed. Doctors and nurses needed personal protective equipment to tend to patients with covid-19, not women with recurrent miscarriages.


Nobody Reads — People who pretend to read as a status symbol are certainly obnoxious — but are they on to something? — When you first hear about a store called “Books by the Foot,” you might think: The name tells me they've got a whole lot of books to sell me.


WANNABE ‘JEOPARDY!’ HOST KEN JENNINGS IS A BRETT KAVANAUGH RAPE TRUTHER WHO HATES REPUBLICANS — “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings is attempting to backtrack on years of insults hurled at conservatives and others on his Twitter feed in what some have speculated is a bid for the popular game show's open host position.
Discussion:
EW.com, RedState, Conservative News Today, Deseret News and Twitchy