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Ted Cruz's Cancún Trip: Family Texts Detail His Political Blunder — The Texas senator faced fierce blowback for fleeing his state as a disaster unfolded. Text messages sent by his wife revealed a hastily planned trip away from their “FREEZING” family home.
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Ted Cruz flew to Cancun with his family amid power crisis in Texas: source — Millions in Texas without power, at least 20 dead — Texas outages is proof we need to expand energy options: Wesley Hunt — Sen. Ted Cruz flew to Cancun, Mexico, with his family this week as Texas dealt …
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Ted Cruz has repeatedly slammed politicians for vacationing during crisis — (CNN)Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is facing backlash for traveling to Mexico as a winter disaster ravages his home state, has repeatedly criticized politicians who vacationed or took part in leisure activities during times of crisis, a CNN KFile review finds.
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AP source: Sen. Cruz went to Mexico on vacation amid storm — DALLAS (AP) — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has traveled to Mexico for a family vacation as his home state struggles with a weather crisis that has left much of Texas without power. — The high-profile Republican lawmaker went with his family …


Cruz responds to fury over his Cancun trip — (CNN)Sen. Ted Cruz and his family flew to Cancun, Mexico, he confirmed in a statement to CNN, as a winter disaster in his home state left millions without power or water. — Analysis: Cruz's Cancun trip violates an unwritten rule of politics.
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13 Curses to Mutter Against Ted Cruz While You Boil Snow to Drink — May you make direct eye contact with your neighbor during your yard pee. — NOTES — This week, as millions of Texans were left without power and water as temperatures dropped to record lows, one man said no—not me.


Ted Cruz Is No Hypocrite. He's Worse. — Nero fiddled while Rome burned; Ted Cruz jetted to Cancún. And although the emperor was at least ensconced in a lavish, louche palace, the senator from Texas was stuck in economy class with the peasantry. — Cruz's appeal as a politician …
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Politico, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Fox News and Twitchy


Ted Cruz's Cancun scandal is a second Alamo for Texas Republicans
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Washington Post

Live updates: Power restored to 2 million homes in Texas; death toll tops 30
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The Hill, NPR, CNN and Washington Examiner

Barbs fly at Ted Cruz for heading to Cancun as millions in Texas freeze without power
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Senator Ted Cruz left Texas for Cancún as the state was battered by a brutal winter storm.
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Ted Cruz honestly surprised so many people want him around
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Insider, The American Independent and The Big Lead

‘Complete and utter hypocrites’: Ted Cruz chided Austin mayor for Cabo trip. Then he flew to Cancun.
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Raw Story, UPROXX, Occupy Democrats and Washington Post

Sen. Ted Cruz comes under fire after photos show him traveling to Cancún as Texans freeze
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Sen. Ted Cruz faces storm of controversy for flying to Cancun as Texas grapples with power outages caused by severe weather

Sen. Ted Cruz comes under fire after photos purportedly show him traveling to Cancún as Texans freeze
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Discourse Blog, Vanity Fair and Crooks and Liars


Manhattan D.A. Recruits Top Prosecutor for Trump Inquiry — The Manhattan district attorney has enlisted a former federal prosecutor who is an expert on white-collar crime to join the team investigating the Trump family business. — As the Manhattan district attorney's office steps …
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CNN, Law & Crime, Political Wire and Raw Story
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Texas was “seconds and minutes” away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say — Officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said that grid operators implemented blackouts to avoid a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months. — Copy link
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Texas Gov Abbott fire at each other over deadly winter storm, Green New Deal
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NBC News, The Texas Tribune and IJR


6 Capitol Police officers suspended, 29 others being investigated for alleged roles in riot — (CNN)Six US Capitol Police officers have been suspended with pay, and 29 others have been placed under investigation, for their actions in the January 6 riot, a department spokesman said Thursday.
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Liberty Unyielding
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6 Capitol police officers suspended, 35 under investigation after Capitol riot, spokesperson says
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Washington Examiner

AP source: Police suggest keeping Capitol fence for months
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Washington Examiner, Townhall and Twitchy


Immigration Overhaul Would Offer 8-Year Path to Citizenship for Millions — The proposal offers an eight-year path to citizenship for most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, eliminates restrictions on family-based immigration and expands worker visas.
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Ivanka Trump will not run against Marco Rubio for one of Florida's Senate seats.
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White House announces sweeping immigration bill
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What Rush Limbaugh Discussed on His Final Radio Show — After Rush Limbaugh's heartfelt message to his audience before the holiday season, longtime listeners feared it would be the last time they heard from him. He told them how he outlived his diagnosis many times over and was grateful to have been alive to hear his eulogies.
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National Review, Fox News and Crooks and Liars
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Don't Read This If You Were a Rush Limbaugh Fan
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Why We're Taught to Not Speak Ill of the Dead
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Three Martini Lunch, RedState and Issues & Insights


Biden Administration Formally Offers to Restart Nuclear Talks With Iran — President Biden campaigned on restoring an accord limiting Iran's nuclear program. It remains unclear if Tehran, which is demanding that sanctions be lifted, will accept the offer to talk.
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Politico, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Latest MENA News Today and Associated Press
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AG Jason Ravnsborg charged with three misdemeanors in crash that killed Highmore man — South Dakota's Attorney General will face misdemeanor charges for his role in a crash that killed a Highmore man more than five months ago. — The Hyde County State's Attorney's Office announced Thursday …
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South Dakota's AG charged with 3 misdemeanors in fatal crash
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Talking Points Memo, Law & Crime, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth and The Daily Caller

South Dakota Attorney General Charged in Fatal Car Crash
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Raw Story


Trump snubs Haley — SCOOP: NIKKI HALEY reached out to former President DONALD TRUMP on Wednesday to request a sit-down at Mar-a-Lago, but a source familiar tells Playbook that he turned her down. The two haven't spoken since the insurrection on Jan. 6, when Haley blasted Trump for inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol.
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White House announces $4 billion in funding for Covax, the global vaccine effort that Trump spurned — The White House is throwing its support behind a global push to distribute coronavirus vaccines equitably, pledging $4 billion dollars to a multilateral effort the Trump administration spurned.


Trump Can Still Be The Republican Party's Future. Just Look To Arizona. — Arizona Republicans keep losing. But the Arizona Republican Party has already turned itself into a Trump machine, still trying to win an election that's long over. And that might be the future of conservatism.
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Common Dreams


Republicans think they've found Biden's big weakness. But there's a problem. — In recent days, Republicans have tried to project confidence that they've found a killer attack line on President Biden: They can use the increasing anger of parents over the failure of schools to reopen to win back the suburban voters they've lost.
Discussion:
Raw Story


Ella Emhoff Drops a Small (Very Small) Collection of Knits — The second daughter turned model released a five-piece collection. Only one of each item was made. — Ella Emhoff, the 21-year-old knitwear designer who signed a major modeling contract in January, has released …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and Washingtonian


‘Recipe for disaster’: Dem fears mount over immigration overhaul — “Biden is going to be dealing with a minority in Congress if he continues down some of these paths,” said one Democratic congressman. — Migrants are loaded onto a bus by U.S. Border Patrol agents after being detained …


School Board Mocks Parents Who Support Reopening: ‘They Want Their Babysitters Back’ — A northern California school board discussed ways to limit the public's ability to speak at meetings and mocked parents who desperately want schools to reopen. — “They want their babysitters back,” …
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Power Line, CBS San Francisco and HotAir


The Grim Consequences of a Misleading Study on Disinformation — An influential study relies too heavily on news media reporting—which has only recently acknowledged the social media manipulation problem at all. — LAST MONTH THE esteemed Oxford Internet Institute announced a major report …


“My Job Is Not to Protect ‘the Squad’”: Briahna Joy Gray Wants to Upend Democrats' Political Strategy — The Bernie Sanders vet and progressive host envies the right-wing media's ability to drive messages and corral Republican lawmakers—as a recent “Medicare for All” podcast push showed the limits of the left's clout in Congress.