Top US general rejected Trump suggestions military should ‘crack skulls’ during protests last year, new book claims  —  General's response to Gaetz's question leaves him shaking his head  —  Washington (CNN)The top US general repeatedly pushed back on then-President Donald Trump's argument …

POLITICO Playbook: Graham: Biden made GOP look like ‘f—ing idiots’  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION — President JOE BIDEN, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER and Speaker NANCY PELOSI unveiled a rather daring new strategy Thursday for getting the president's agenda passed.

New Details Suggest Senior Trump Aides Knew Jan. 6 Rally Could Get Chaotic  —  Text messages and interviews show that Stop the Steal leaders fooled the Capitol police and welcomed racists to increase their crowd sizes, while White House officials worked to both contain and appease them.

Nearly all COVID deaths in US are now among unvaccinated  —  Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who weren't vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day — now down to under 300 — could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine.

Wendy Davis, others sue law enforcement and Trump supporters over “Trump Train” harassing Biden bus in Texas  —  The plaintiffs argue the Trump supporters engaged in political intimidation when they surrounded the Biden campaign bus in October, in violation of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 …

They Seemed Like Democratic Activists.  They Were Secretly Conservative Spies.  —  Operatives infiltrated progressive groups across the West to try to manipulate politics and reshape the national electoral map.  They targeted moderate Republicans, too — anyone seen as threats to hard-line conservatives.

More than 50 unaccounted for in deadly Surfside, Florida, building collapse, official says  —  Video shows moment building collapses in Florida  —  Surfside, Florida (CNN)An intense search and rescue effort is underway after part of a 12-story residential building collapsed early Thursday …

America's continued move toward socialism  —  Just half of younger Americans now hold a positive view of capitalism — and socialism's appeal in the U.S. continues to grow, driven by Black Americans and women, according to a new Axios/Momentive poll.  —  Why it matters: The pandemic …

Afghan government could fall within six months of U.S. military withdrawal, new intelligence assessment says  —  A new U.S. intelligence assessment says that the Afghan government could fall within six months of the American military departing, according to U.S. officials familiar with the information.

Congressmen Squirm as ‘World-Class Sleazeball’ Gaetz Continues to Roam  —  Members of Congress—Democrats and Republicans—are pretending like nothing is wrong, like their colleague isn't credibly accused of paying for sex with a minor.  —  Matt Gaetz is currently stuck somewhere between …

A heart transplant at 18.  The White House at 31.  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With help from Allie Bice and Daniel Payne  —  White House deputy director of photography CHANDLER WEST wears his heart on his sleeve …

Vatican ‘foreign minister’ doubts speaking out on Hong Kong ‘would make any difference whatever’  —  A senior Vatican official said Friday that he and many of his colleagues at the Secretariat of State have yet to be convinced that speaking out on the situation in Hong Kong “would make any difference whatever.”

Tennessee locales rank poorly in analysis of best-run cities  —  A new report from WalletHub ranks Chattanooga, Tennessee, as the fourth-worst run large city in the country, behind Washington, D.C., San Francisco and New York.  —  Not far behind, at No. 133, was Memphis while Knoxville was 113th and Nashville ranked 111th.

Trump set to reemerge on the trail with revenge on his mind  —  Former President Donald Trump is bronzed, rested and politically bloodthirsty.  —  Having spent months in semi-retirement after his election loss in 2020, Trump is set this weekend to kick off a series of political events.

The Perils of 180ism  —  Stop blindly opposing your adversaries.  Stick to your values and think for yourself.  —  A few months after I first moved to the United States, “The Colbert Report” premiered on television.  In his very first episode, in October 2005, Stephen Colbert defined “truthiness.”

Exclusive: 48 Republican Senators Demand Withdrawal of Pistol Brace Ban That Would Affect Millions  —  Forty-eight Republican senators signed a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday slamming the Biden Administration's plan to ban most pistol braces.

Illinois Man Arrested for Assault on Law Enforcement, and First to be Arrested for Assault on Members of News Media during Jan. 6 Capitol Breach  —  Defendant Tripped and Pushed Officer to the Ground, Breached Media Staging Area and Tackled Cameraman  —  An Illinois man was arrested today …

U.S. to Search Former Native American Schools for Children's Remains  —  Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a new initiative that would delve into the records of the federal schools to which Native American children were forcibly relocated for 150 years.

How I Liberated My College Classroom  —  I created a special seminar to discuss controversial issues freely, and the results were eye-opening.  —  Durham, N.C.  —  The conservative critique of American higher education is well known to Journal readers: The universities are run by intolerant progressives.

Meetings.  Why?  —  Does this conversation need to be a meeting?  Does anything?  —  Humanity has spent millenniums confined within the earthly limbo of meetings.  —  Ancient Egyptians, to name one subset of mankind, had multiple hieroglyphs to convey the concept of “council.”

Democrats' partisan power grab fails — for now  —  On Tuesday, the Democrats' bill to federalize elections failed.  Our constitutional republic was the big winner.  —  S. 1 fell short of the 60-vote threshold required.  Thank goodness for the filibuster.