Top Items:
NBC News:
Some QAnon followers lose hope after Inauguration — Some QAnon conspiracy theorists, in public and private internet forums and chat rooms, were despondent Wednesday as their prophecy of an Inauguration Day coup to keep Donald Trump in power failed again as President Joe Biden was sworn into office.
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, The Week and The Guardian
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Kevin Roose / New York Times:
QAnon believers struggle with inauguration. — Followers of QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy theory, have spent weeks anticipating that Wednesday would be the “Great Awakening” — a day, long foretold in QAnon prophecy, when top Democrats would be arrested for running a global sex trafficking ring …
Discussion:
HuffPost, The Daily Beast, New Republic, Associated Press, Forbes and Raw Story
Jesselyn Cook / HuffPost:
'It's Over': Devastated QAnon Believers Grapple With President Joe Biden's Inauguration — A look inside QAnon's virtual inauguration watch party, which went horribly wrong. — Joe Biden's inauguration on Wednesday marks not only the historic beginning of a new presidency, but also …
Sheera Frenkel / New York Times:
‘A Total Failure’: The Proud Boys Now Mock Trump — Members of the far-right group, who were among Donald Trump's staunchest fans, are calling him “weak,” in a sign of fraying support. — After the presidential election last year, the Proud Boys, a far-right group, declared its undying loyalty to President Trump.
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Anna Merlan / VICE:
Trump Fails to Ascend as God Emperor, Leaving Diehard Fans Adrift — Some grieve and some insist all is going according to plan. Others are enthused about forming a new political party. It's a moment as dangerous as it is hilarious. — TORONTO, CA — As new President Joseph R. Biden took …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Raw Story and Washington Times
Andrew Restuccia / Wall Street Journal:
Trump Has Discussed Starting a New Party — President Trump has talked in recent days with associates about forming a new political party, according to people familiar with the matter, an effort to exert continued influence after he leaves the White House. — Mr. Trump discussed the matter …
Ben Makuch / VICE:
Far-Right Extremists Tell One Another to Stay Home, Fight Another Day
Far-Right Extremists Tell One Another to Stay Home, Fight Another Day
Discussion:
Raw Story
The White House:
Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency — President Donald J. Trump granted pardons to 73 individuals and commuted the sentences of an additional 70 individuals. — Todd Boulanger - President Trump granted a full pardon to Todd Boulanger.
Discussion:
USA Today, Democracy Now, Washington Post, CNN, Reuters, Mother Jones, The Progressive Pulse, Detroit Free Press, Breitbart, New York Times, NBC News, The American Conservative, New York Post, Law & Crime, The Verge, Wall Street Journal, Axios, The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, Rolling Stone, Florida Politics, TheBlaze, Washington Times, The Colorado Sun, Twitchy, Vox, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, The Independent, HuffPost, Gothamist, KIFI-TV, iPolitics, Daily Kos, Mashable, CBS Detroit, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Slate, Talking Points Memo, Al Jazeera, Washingtonian, Metro.co.uk, Variety, CBS Baltimore, Althouse, ProFootballTalk, UPI, Common Dreams, KRON4, Gizmodo, The Week, TechCrunch, emptywheel and The Wrap, more at Techmeme »
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Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
With hours left in office, Trump pardons Bannon.
With hours left in office, Trump pardons Bannon.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mediaite, CNN, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Independent, Breitbart and The Week
Washington Post:
Joe Biden's inauguration speech transcript, annotated — Joe Biden pleaded for national unity in his inaugural address Wednesday after he was sworn in as the 46th president. Below is a full transcript of his remarks, with analysis from The Fix team. — Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris.
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Amanda Arnold / The Cut:
Our Vice-President Is a Black Woman
Our Vice-President Is a Black Woman
Discussion:
HuffPost, CNN, BuzzFeed News, Fox News, Washington Post, Associated Press, Bloomberg and KTLA
Washington Post:
Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president, pleads for unity in inaugural address to a divided nation
Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president, pleads for unity in inaugural address to a divided nation
Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
It's okay to feel hope
It's okay to feel hope
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Beast, American Prospect, Mother Jones, East Bay Times and CBS Philly
New York Times:
For Kamala Harris, an Influential Voice and a Decisive Vote
For Kamala Harris, an Influential Voice and a Decisive Vote
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Mercury News
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Biden: ‘We Must End This Uncivil War.’ Here's What It Would Look Like.
Biden: ‘We Must End This Uncivil War.’ Here's What It Would Look Like.
Discussion:
Orange County Register
Bloomberg Law:
Biden Moves to Oust Top Labor Board Attorney Robb — Listen — The new Biden administration has asked for the resignation of the National Labor Relations Board's general counsel, Trump-appointee Peter Robb, according to four people familiar with the decision.
Discussion:
GovExec.com
Raphael Satter / Reuters:
In hidden message on White House website, Biden calls for coders — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The recently updated website for President Joe Biden's White House carried an invitation for tech specialists savvy enough to find it. — Hidden in the HTML code on www.whitehouse.gov was an invitation …
Discussion:
The Hill, KIFI-TV, Washingtonian, The Verge and Raw Story
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Kate Bennett / CNN:
Melania Trump outsourced writing her own ‘thank you’ notes to the White House residence staff
Melania Trump outsourced writing her own ‘thank you’ notes to the White House residence staff
Discussion:
Business Insider, Vanity Fair, The Independent, The Week, Fox News, New York Times, The Intellectualist and Raw Story
Meridith McGraw / Politico:
Trump revokes rule preventing White House staff from lobbying
Trump revokes rule preventing White House staff from lobbying
Discussion:
Business Insider, Washington Post, CNN, The White House, Washington Examiner, The Federalist, Townhall, WTOP, Snopes.com, TheBlaze, Common Dreams and UPI
HuffPost:
Feds Arrest Proud Boy Member Joe Biggs Over Capitol Riot — The right-wing media figure denied to FBI agents that he was involved in any planning for the attack on the Capitol, but admitted entering the building. — Federal authorities on Wednesday arrested Joe Bigs …
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Pilar Melendez / The Daily Beast:
‘This Is Awesome!’: Another Proud Boys Leader Arrested for Storming U.S. Capitol
‘This Is Awesome!’: Another Proud Boys Leader Arrested for Storming U.S. Capitol
Discussion:
USA Today and The Intellectualist
Axios:
Off the rails: Inside Trump's campaign to coerce Pence into overturning the election — Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term.
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Beast, Fox News, Boston Herald, The Independent, Reuters, Raw Story and Foreign Policy
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Alayna Treene / Axios:
Trump departs on final Air Force One flight
Trump departs on final Air Force One flight
Discussion:
ABC News, Washington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Deseret News, NBC News, Forbes, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, Metro.co.uk, The Week, NPR, Breitbart and UPI
Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Parting Words to U.S.: ‘Have a Nice Life. See You Soon’
Trump's Parting Words to U.S.: ‘Have a Nice Life. See You Soon’
Discussion:
CBS News, ABC News, The Hill, Associated Press, Washington Post, Common Dreams, The Independent, Variety, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Reuters and Real America's Voice
Politico:
‘Really quite shocking’: Inside the ugly transition at the Pentagon — The Pentagon blocked members of President Joe Biden's incoming administration from gaining access to critical information about current operations, including the troop drawdown in Afghanistan, upcoming special operations missions …
Discussion:
UPI, Defense One and Raw Story
Transition / President-Elect Joe Biden:
FACT SHEET: President-elect Biden's Day One Executive Actions Deliver Relief for Families Across America Amid Converging Crises — Actions Address the COVID-19 Pandemic, Provide Economic Relief, Tackle Climate Change, and Advance Racial Equity — Today, hours after taking the oath of office …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Fox News, KIFI-TV, Common Dreams, ACLU, The Texas Tribune, GovExec.com, CNN, Daily Kos, Sputnik News, Al Jazeera, Cyprus Mail, The Gateway Pundit, Axios and Complex
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fmprc.gov.cn:
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Announces Sanctions on Pompeo and Others — Over the past few years, some anti-China politicians in the United States, out of their selfish political interests and prejudice and hatred against China and showing no regard for the interests of the Chinese and American people …
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump's swampiest pardons, ranked — President Trump came into office pledging to drain the swamp. He exits having extracted a bunch of allies who were neck-deep in the muck from it. — As I've regularly noted with Trump's pardons, it's not unheard-of for a president to pardon an ally.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Vanity Fair and Outside the Beltway
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Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Trump extended Secret Service protection for 14 members of his family as he left office — In the days before he left office, then-President Donald Trump instructed that his extended family get the best security available in the world for the next six months, at no cost — the protection of the U.S. Secret Service.
Discussion:
The Hill and Political Wire
Grant Stern / Byline Times:
Still Faces ‘We Build the Wall’ State Investigation — Joe Biden's presidency has just begun and the Donald Trump era has just come to an end - with its chief enabler the recipient of a last-minute pardon for federal felony charges. But new reporting shows that Steve Bannon is still staring …
Discussion:
Law & Crime and Crooks and Liars
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Dan Diamond / Washington Post:
Biden to ask Surgeon General Adams to resign — Ouster is regarded as a break with the Trump administration's covid-19 response, which the president-elect has called a failure — The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free.
Discussion:
Politico, Forbes, Washington Examiner, CNN, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA and The Week
The Pillar:
Updated: Vatican intervened to spike US bishops' Biden statement release — A Pillar Post special edition — The U.S. bishops' conference held back a statement on incoming President Joe Biden Wednesday morning, after officials from the Vatican Secretariat of State intervened before the statement could be released.
Natasha Korecki / Politico:
Writing a speech for Biden can be hell. And that was before the inaugural. — Joe Biden paces as he dictates long portions of his speeches to aides, spinning out thoughts that quickly pile into six, seven or eight paragraphs of copy, only to later be scrapped.
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, ABC News, Washington Monthly, The Rush Limbaugh Show, National Review, RedState and Power Line
Kevin D. Williamson / National Review:
Witless Ape Rides Helicopter — Goodbye to Donald J. Trump, the man who wanted to be Conrad Hilton but turned out to be Paris Hilton. — W — ell, that sucked. — Memo to MAGA and all its myriad fellow-travelers: Maybe Death of a Salesman as presented by Leni Riefenstahl …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, KIFI-TV, Reason, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Las Vegas Review-Journal and Raw Story
Michael Weiss / Newlines Magazine:
Little Man, What Now? — MAGA should be properly understood as the product of a bored and restless middle class — Michael Weiss is a senior editor at Newlines — One of the strangest arguments to account for Donald Trump's presidency and the personality cult it engendered is one advanced …