Top Items:
New York Times:
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.
Discussion:
Washington Post, New York Post, Common Dreams, Fox News, Austin American-Statesman, New York Daily News, Twitchy, The Daily Beast, The Week, Forbes, Insider, UPROXX, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, New York Magazine, Political Flare, Mediaite, Roll Call, Talking Points Memo, Earther, Lawyers, Guns & Money, IJR, Occupy Democrats, Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, spectator.us, FOX 46 Charlotte, Texas Democratic Party, The Big Lead, Law & Crime, The Wrap, Bloomberg, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, The Texas Tribune, Deadline, Daily Mail, Political Wire, Vox and The American Independent
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Michael Hardy / New York Magazine:
Ted Cruz Abandons Millions of Freezing Texans and His Poodle, Snowflake — After jaunting off to Cancún with his family Wednesday night, Senator Ted Cruz explained that he was merely escorting his teenage girls on a vacation trip with their friends. In an apparent bid for sympathy …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Wrap, UPROXX and Raw Story
CNN:
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.
Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Reince reemerges as Cruz crashes — DRIVING THE DAY — SCOOP: REINCE PRIEBUS has been calling key GOP officials and operatives in Wisconsin the past week and signaling he's seriously exploring a bid for governor of his home state in 2022, two sources with knowledge of the calls told Playbook.
Discussion:
Fox News, POLITICUSUSA and Mediaite
Lauren Larson / Texas Monthly:
13 Curses to Mutter Against Ted Cruz While You Boil Snow to Drink
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Christopher Hahn / Occupy Democrats:
Ted Cruz's Cancun scandal is a second Alamo for Texas Republicans
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid, Insider and The Hill
Houston Chronicle:
As Texans froze, Ted Cruz got a ticket to paradise. Paradise can have him.
Discussion:
New York Post, CNBC and Daily Kos
David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Ted Cruz Is No Hypocrite. He's Worse.
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post, PREVAIL, The Week, Salon, Politico and The Guardian
New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
New York Daily News, CNN, Grand Forks Herald, Washington Examiner, Law & Crime, Political Wire and Raw Story
Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic:
Don't Read This If You Were a Rush Limbaugh Fan — As a radio broadcaster, Rush Limbaugh, who died yesterday, was a great success: He pioneered his genre, attracted millions of listeners for several decades, and grew fantastically wealthy. Many good people were used to his daily company …
Discussion:
CNN, The Week, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Raw Story, Human Events, Newsbusters, Hollywood in Toto, Vox, The 19th and Real Clear Politics, more at Mediagazer »
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Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
Rush Limbaugh's Complicated Legacy — He was a gifted entertainer and advocate, but in his later years certain flaws became more evident. — I meant to talk about something else this week, but my thoughts keep circling back to Rush Limbaugh. His obituaries in the mainstream press were mostly judgment, no mercy.
Leah Barkoukis / Townhall:
What Rush Limbaugh Discussed on His Final Radio Show
Discussion:
National Review, Fox News and Crooks and Liars
Whitney Wild / CNN:
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.
Discussion:
HuffPost, New York Magazine, TheBlaze, UPI, Political Wire, The Week and Liberty Unyielding
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Lindsay Watts / WTTG-TV:
6 Capitol police officers suspended, 35 under investigation after Capitol riot, spokesperson says — Member of Congress suing Trump over Capitol riot — A member of Congress is suing former President Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani and members of the far-right Proud Boys group over the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner
Stephen Groves / Associated Press:
GOP's Thune says Trump allies engaging in ‘cancel culture’ — PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — U.S. Sen. John Thune on Thursday criticized Republican activists and party leaders for engaging in “cancel culture” by rushing to censure GOP senators who found former President Donald Trump guilty of inciting an insurrection.
Discussion:
The Hill, Political Wire and WTOP
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HuffPost:
Trump Ramps Up Efforts To Retain Control Of The Republican Party By Attacking McConnell
Discussion:
Political Flare, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, Mother Jones, Raw Story and Forbes
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
It's still too soon to suggest that Jan. 6 prompted any massive GOP exodus
Politico:
Trump snubs Haley
Discussion:
The Week, The Daily Caller, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Hill, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Cincinnati.com, Washington Times, National Review, Twitchy, Liberty Unyielding, Mediaite, The Last Refuge, IJR, Vox, Townhall, HotAir, Mock Paper Scissors, Political Wire, Insider, Bloomberg and Raw Story
Andrew Blankstein / NBC News:
California investor who donated nearly $1M to Trump inauguration sentenced to 12 years in prison — A Federal Judge in California on Thursday sentenced a venture capitalist who donated nearly $1 million to former President Donald Trump's inaugural committee to 12 years in prison …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times and Raw Story
Erin Douglas / The Texas Tribune:
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
Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Biden aides debate how, or if, to save original Iran deal — President Joe Biden has repeatedly said that the United States will rejoin the original Iran nuclear deal if Tehran resumes complying with the terms of the agreement, with the goal of laying the groundwork for an even stronger follow-up non-proliferation pact.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, NPR, Washington Post, Axios, The Times of Israel, Washington Examiner, Los Angeles Times and Associated Press
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Michelle Nichols / Reuters:
U.S. rescinds Trump White House claim that all U.N. sanctions had been reimposed on Iran
Barak Ravid / Axios:
Blinken tells EU counterparts U.S. is ready to open talks with Iran
Discussion:
Breitbart, Forbes, GOV.UK, UPI and Middle East Monitor
Joe Cirincione / Responsible Statecraft:
Why hasn't Biden returned to the Iran nuclear deal?
Discussion:
NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
After Years of Chaos, the White House Is Definitely in Different Hands — Biden's new chief of staff, like the new President, is a serious Washington lifer. — Donald Trump made numerous outrageous but not necessarily consequential decisions throughout his Presidency …
Discussion:
CBS News, Politico and Informed Comment
New York Times:
Cracked Pipes, Frozen Wells, Offline Treatment Plants: A Texan Water Crisis — Electricity was restored to most Texans who had lost power after a winter storm, but water systems for nearly two-thirds of residents were disrupted, leaving millions without drinkable water.
Discussion:
CNN, Eater and AustinGO RSS
Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Biden can't negotiate with Iran as its proxies attack U.S. troops — On Monday, armed militants launched rockets at a U.S. air base in northern Iraq. The Biden administration still hadn't weighed in on who was responsible as of Thursday evening, even though an Iranian-linked Iraqi Shiite militia quickly claimed credit.
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Wire and Brookings
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Laura Krantz Globe / The Boston Globe:
Cornel West threatens to leave Harvard again — Harvard University professor Cornel West, the well known philosopher, progressive political activist, and outspoken social critic, is threatening to leave Harvard University after he said the administration disrespected him by denying his request to be considered for tenure.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Wall Street Journal:
Nursing-Home Death Data Was Sought From Cuomo by U.S. Prosecutors — Request came after governor's top aide told lawmakers information was delayed out of fear Trump would politicize it — Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn sought data this month on nursing-home deaths from New York …
Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
James Murdoch, Who Publicly Broke With Family Over Climate Change, Took $2.2 Million In ‘Personal’ Flights On Corporate Jet — James Murdoch, the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, took $477,000 in personal flights on his family company's corporate jet in 2018, his last year as CEO of 21st Century Fox, records show.
CNN:
Allegations of shackled students and gang rape inside China's detention camps — Hong Kong (CNN)On the first day of her new teaching job at a Chinese government-run detention center in Xinjiang, Qelbinur Sidik said she saw two soldiers carry a young Uyghur woman out of the building on a stretcher.
Discussion:
DFRLab
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
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.
Robby Soave / Reason:
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,” …
Discussion:
Power Line, NBC Bay Area, CBS San Francisco and HotAir
Politico:
Biden privately tells governors: Minimum wage hike likely isn't happening — When Joe Biden met with a group of mayors and governors last week he bluntly told them to get ready for a legislative defeat: his proposed minimum wage hike was unlikely to happen, he said, at least in the near term.
Discussion:
Forbes, Townhall and Washington Examiner
Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
Head Of Blue-Ribbon COVID Commission Has History Of Praising China, Criticizing US — The Lancet COVID-19 Commission, which is working with the United Nations and the World Health Organization to investigate the coronavirus outbreak, is chaired by a Columbia professor who has called the U.S. a …
Discussion:
Instapundit
Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:
Trump probably should be allowed back on social media, Bill Gates says — Bill Gates told CNBC that social media companies should eventually take their muzzles off former President Donald Trump, despite his “corrosive” election fraud conspiracy theories. — He said the sites could slap Trump's future false posts with labels.
Discussion:
Sara A. Carter, The Hill, RedState, Breitbart, IJR and New York Post
Jessica Testa / New York Times:
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
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