memeorandum: Bill Gates Goes Full Captain Planet, Wants To Change ‘Every Aspect Of Economy’ While We Dine On Fake Meat (Tyler Durden/ZeroHedge News)

7:40 PM ET, February 15, 2021

Top Items:

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Support for Third U.S. Political Party at High Point — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' desire for a third party has ticked up since last fall and now sits at a high in Gallup's trend. Sixty-two percent of U.S. adults say the “parties do such a poor job representing the American people …

Discussion: Slate, Florida Politics, Mediaite, Fox News, National Review, The Daily Caller, The Week, Forbes, Washington Examiner and Los Angeles Times

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Impeachment's Over. Bring On the Criminal Investigations. — After Mitch McConnell's cynical speech, Republicans can't complain. — A few hours after the Senate voted in Donald Trump's impeachment trial on Saturday, I spoke to the lead impeachment manager, Jamie Raskin. He was crushingly disappointed.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Mediaite and Mother Jones

Siobhan Hughes / Wall Street Journal:

McConnell Doesn't Care About Trump Brand in 2022, He Just Wants Electable Candidates — Minority leader's strategy to GOP regaining Senate: channeling Trump energy while limiting extremist hopefuls — WASHINGTON—Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, facing the prospect of campaigns …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, The Federalist, Digby's Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, Al Jazeera, The Last Refuge and Breitbart

QU Poll:
3 Out Of 4 Republicans Want To See Trump Play A Big Role In GOP, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; 68% Of Americans Say Trump Didn't Do Enough To Stop Insurrection

Discussion: USA Today, No More Mister Nice Blog, Forbes, New Jersey Globe and Political Wire

Christopher Hahn / Occupy Democrats: 43 Senators just convicted the GOP at Trump's impeachment trial [Opinion]

Kathy Frankovic / YouGov: Republicans used to call Ronald Reagan the best president in US history. Now it's Donald Trump.

Kendall Karson / ABC News:
Impeachment trial solidified views on Trump conviction: POLL

Discussion: Ipsos, Washington Post, Breitbart, The Hill, Fox News, The Guardian, Bangor Daily News, RedState, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Politico, NBC News, IJR, Slate and USA Today

Bryan Schott / mailchi.mp:

with an assist from Marina McNairy — 🌨 Good morning from Salt Lake City. We're expecting snow throughout the day, with a high of 37°. — 🇺🇸 Today is President's Day, the day we celebrate George Washington's and Abraham Lincoln's birthday.

Discussion: Forbes, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Patterico's Pontifications, The American Independent, Raw Story, Washington Times and New York Times

Bryan Schott / Salt Lake Tribune:

Mitt Romney accused of being ‘deep state’ agent in proposed censure motion — Utah Republicans seeking to punish Romney for voting to convict former President Donald Trump. — (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) Some Utah Republicans are seeking to censure Sen. Mitt Romney for voting …

Discussion: Insider, Bangor Daily News, CBS Pittsburgh, CNN, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, The Daily Caller and Forbes

The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Pat Toomey is facing a Republican backlash in Pennsylvania for voting to convict Donald Trump

Discussion: ABC News, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, CBS Philly, Washington Times, NBC10 Philadelphia, CBS Pittsburgh and WHYY

Charlie Sykes / Bulwark+:
Trump's Party, But Worse

Discussion: Chicago Sun Times, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Bloomberg and Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:
Trump's Non-Vindication — He may run again, but he won't win another national election.

Discussion: Political Flare, The Wrap, UPROXX, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Guardian, Reason, Associated Press and The Western Journal

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

Adam Kinzinger's Lonely Mission — Censured by his party and shunned by family members, Mr. Kinzinger, a six-term Illinois Congressman, is pressing Republicans to leave Donald Trump behind — and risking his career doing so. — WASHINGTON — As the Republican Party censures …

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
GOP Rep. Kinzinger Receives Stunning Letter from Relatives Over His Trump Opposition: ‘You Have Lost the Respect of Lou Dobbs...’

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and New York Times

Molly Beck / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Ron Johnson on Jan. 6 Capitol attack: 'This didn't seem like an armed insurrection to me' — MADISON - Two days after members of the U.S. Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump on charges of inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Wisconsin's senior senator is questioning whether an armed insurrection even occurred.

Discussion: The Hill, madison.com, Forbes, WTOP, Law & Crime and The American Independent

Meredith Shiner / New Republic:

The Capitol Riot Killed “Both Sides” Journalism — On January 6, terrorists—encouraged by former President Donald Trump and enabled by his Republican supporters in Congress—attacked the United States Capitol. And as they came for the republic, they also came for something else: Beltway journalists.

Discussion: RedState, more at Mediagazer »

Amanda Carpenter / The Bulwark:

The Strategic Silence of Mike Pence — Complicity, cowardice, or nihilism? — On January 6, a horde of pro-Trump rioters breached the United States Capitol with one bloodthirsty mission in mind: to stop Vice President Mike Pence from carrying out his constitutional obligation to certify Joe Biden's 2020 presidential victory.

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Al Jazeera, USA Today, Raw Story and NBC News

Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

Dear Colleague: Security, Security, Security — Today, we celebrate the birthdays of America's two greatest presidents: George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. — George Washington was the patriarch of our country, who with his courage, fought for and won our independence at great odds …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, NPR, Insider, CNN, Politico, Slate, Talking Points Memo, CBS San Francisco, The American Independent, Law & Crime, Political Flare, UPI, New York Post and Raw Story

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
Pelosi's office pushes back on House GOP questions about Capitol security ahead of riot, deflects blame

Discussion: Reuters, The Daily Caller and The Moderate Voice

Brooke Singman / Fox News:
House Republicans demand answers from Pelosi on security decisions leading up to Capitol riot

Discussion: New York Post, Washington Examiner, TheBlaze, Breitbart, National Review, The Daily Caller and BizPac Review

Brandon Mulder / Austin American-Statesman:

Frozen wind turbines hamper Texas power output, state's electric grid operator says — Nearly half of Texas' installed wind power generation capacity has been offline because of frozen wind turbines in West Texas, according to Texas grid operators. — Wind farms across the state generate up to a combined 25,100 megawatts of energy.

Discussion: CNN, ABC13, RedState, Breitbart, The Dickinson Press, TheBlaze, The Gateway Pundit and Dallas Morning News

The Texas Tribune:
2 million Texas households without power as massive winter storm drives demand for electricity

Discussion: Washington Post, The Big Lead and KSAT-TV

Bloomberg: Millions Lose Power in Texas as Deep Freeze Sows Market Chaos

Washington Post:

A GOP donor gave $2.5 million for a voter fraud investigation. Now he wants his money back. — Like many Trump supporters, conservative donor Fred Eshelman awoke the day after the presidential election with the suspicion that something wasn't right. His candidate's apparent lead in key battleground states had evaporated overnight.

Discussion: The Progressive Pulse, Juanita Jean's and Raw Story

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:

The FBI Wants You To Make These Photos Of Capitol Insurrectionists Go Viral — Inside the bureau's evolving strategy to get photos of the Trump supporters who invaded the U.S. Capitol on your social media feed. — The search for the insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol last month isn't your typical FBI manhunt.

Kevin Liptak / CNN:

Inside the new President's routine: Oval Office fires and early bedtimes — (CNN)When President Joe Biden flew aboard Air Force One for the first time this month, he did not spend much time soaking in the moment. — The flight, after all, was only 25 minutes long.

Jonathan V. Last / The Triad:

Ask Every Republican These Two Questions — Over and over again. — 1 hr ago — Before we start: As of today we have four years to fortify American Democracy before the next authoritarian tide comes in. — This is the time to roll up our sleeves and work. I hope you'll labor with us.

Ebony Bowden / New York Post:

Lincoln Project's fundraising page shut down as scandals mount — The Lincoln Project's fundraising page has been shut down, following a wave of scandals which continue to engulf the organization. — The donation page on the Lincoln Project website has listed as inactive since Saturday …

Discussion: HotAir, The Daily Caller, Breitbart and driftglass

Noah Smith / Noahpinion:

The U.S.' vaccine rollout is world-beating — That doesn't mean it's good enough. But let's take a moment to appreciate it. — 4 hr ago — The U.S. vaccine rollout is not going fast enough. Currently, about 1.7 million shots are being put into arms per day:

Discussion: HotAir and Twitchy

Karoli Kuns / Crooks and Liars:

Fox News Lie: Teachers' Unions Are ‘Power-Hungry Science Deniers Who Clearly Hate Kids’ — First they went after Fauci, and then headed on to hit the teachers' unions for protecting their members' health. — Views: — Fox News is fighting for relevance in today's extreme right-wing media Hunger Games …

Discussion: The Federalist

Daniel Newhauser / Raw Story:

Exclusive: GOP governor Kristi Noem, potential Trump successor, used state aircraft for tens of thousands of dollars in political travel — Newly unearthed flight logs show South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem used a state airplane to travel to right wing political events around the country …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and The Daily Beast

Tom Balmforth / Reuters:

Exclusive: Russia in prisoner swap talks with U.S. over detained American - lawyer — MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and the United States are in talks on a possible prisoner swap that could secure the release of Paul Whelan, a former U.S. marine jailed for spying, within two to three months, his lawyer told Reuters on Monday.

Paul Steinhauser / Fox News:

Trump drives past jubilant supporters at impromptu rally in Florida — Trump marks Presidents Day by waiving to supporters near his south Florida residence — Trump acquitted after media blitz — Former President Trump marked President's Day by waiving to a throng of supporters gathered near his south Florida home.

Discussion: ABC News

Timothy Puko / Wall Street Journal:

Interior Secretary Nominee on Collision Course With Oil Industry — Deb Haaland, poised to be first Native American cabinet secretary, has joined pipeline protests and opposed fracking — WASHINGTON— Deb Haaland is poised to make history on two fronts, as both the first Native American cabinet secretary …

Bari Weiss / Common Sense with Bari Weiss:

Gina Carano and Crowd-Sourced McCarthyism — Talking with the Star Wars actress about her cancellation and a meme. — 1 hr ago — It used to be possible to follow the allegations and cancellations. Remember when the cooking columnist Alison Roman lost her job at The New York Times because she criticized Chrissy Teigen?

New York Times:

The Taliban Close In on Afghan Cities, Pushing the Country to the Brink — The Taliban have positioned themselves around several major population centers, including the capital of Kandahar Province, as the Biden administration weighs whether to withdraw or to stay.

Discussion: Progress Pond

Nick Corasaniti / New York Times:

Pennsylvania G.O.P.'s Push for More Power Over Judiciary Raises Alarms — After fighting the election results, state Republicans are trying to increase their control of the courts. Outraged Democrats and good government groups see it as a new kind of gerrymandering.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

David Frum / The Atlantic:

The Founders Were Wrong About Democracy — If there was one idea shared by just about every author of the Constitution, it was the one articulated by James Madison at the convention on June 26, 1787. — The mass of the people would be susceptible to “fickleness and passion,” he warned.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, CNN, Just Security, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway and Commentary Magazine

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Perdue explores Senate comeback bid against Warnock in 2022 — Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue took the first steps toward a potential comeback bid by filing campaign paperwork on Monday to explore a challenge against Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock.