Texas Democrats to flee state in effort to block GOP-backed voting restrictions  —  With Republican-backed voting bills moving rapidly through a special session of the state Legislature, Texas Democrats are planning to make a break for it — again.  —  At least 58 Democratic members …

Maria Bartiromo's top 10 fails  —  Former President Trump failed to secure a second term in office via lawsuits contesting the Nov. 3 election, a Capitol riot by his supporters or all this whacked-out chatter about “reinstatement.”  Yet that doesn't mean that he can't still act out one of the rituals of his years in office.

Trump Organization CFO Removed as Officer of Subsidiaries, Records Show  —  The former president's company is discussing changes in its financial leadership after an indictment accused longtime Trump finance chief Allen Weisselberg of a 15-year tax-fraud, which he denies

Tennessee fires top vaccine official as COVID-19 shows signs of new spread  —  The Tennessee state government on Monday fired its top vaccination official, becoming the latest of about two dozen states to lose years of institutional knowledge about vaccines in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawyers retreat from pro-Trump election suit  —  The legal reckoning for attorneys who pushed former President Donald Trump's spurious claims of election fraud advanced on Monday, with a federal court in Detroit holding a hearing on whether to impose sanctions over a suit filed last year seeking …

Newsmax host suggests vaccines are “against nature,” and some diseases are “supposed to wipe out a certain amount of people”  —  Rob Schmitt: “That's just kind of the way evolution goes.  Vaccines kind of stand in the way of that”

The Republican Party's top lawyer called election fraud arguments by Trump's lawyers a ‘joke’ that could mislead millions  —  The Republican Party's top lawyer warned in November against continuing to push false claims that the presidential election was stolen, calling efforts …

Statement by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. on Protests in Cuba  —  We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba's authoritarian regime.

Several tied to Haiti assassination plot were previously US law enforcement informants  —  Several of the men involved in the operation that killed Haiti's president previously worked as US law enforcement informants, according to people briefed on the matter, as US investigators grapple …

Despite Outbreaks Among Unvaccinated, Fox News Hosts Smear Shots  —  Months after Rupert Murdoch got a Covid-19 dose, one of his network's stars, Tucker Carlson, called a Biden vaccination proposal “the greatest scandal in my lifetime.”  —  Back in December, before the queen of England …

Advisor To Major Pro-Trump Group Runs Racist Newsletter  —  This article was co-published with The Informant, which covers hate and extremism in the U.S. It was an email so racist it might make a ku klux klansman blush.  An advisor for the influential conservative youth organization Turning …

‘Potentially a death sentence’: White House goes off on vaccine fear mongers  —  The Biden administration is casting conservative opponents of its Covid-19 vaccine campaign as dangerous and extreme, adopting a more aggressive political posture in an attempt to maneuver through the public health conundrum.

GOP House candidate who led disruption at Porter town hall holds extremist views  —  Republican Nick Taurus's social media feeds are full of anti-LGBTQ, white supremacist, and racist comments.  —  Nick Taurus, a Republican running for the seat in California's 45th Congressional District currently held …

Virginia Bar Association cancels debate after Youngkin chooses to skip it  —  The Virginia Bar Association has cancelled its planned gubernatorial debate after Republican Glenn Youngkin broke with recent tradition by skipping what is usually the first face-to-face matchup of the general election.

Media, critical race theory and one serious disconnect  —  Critical race theory (CRT) and education in the United States as a whole is shaping up to be a huge campaign issue for 2022 and 2024.  And that's terrible news for Democrats.  Recent polling backs up this perspective.

Doug Mataconis, RIP  —  Jazz Shaw drew my attention to a post on Doug's Facebook feed from last evening: … Alas, I have no further details and have not yet found any other confirmation of the news but have no reason to doubt that it's true.  —  Despite his long association with this blog …

Critical race theory battles are driving frustrated, exhausted educators out of their jobs  —  When Rydell Harrison started a new job as a school superintendent in southwestern Connecticut last August, he was excited to join a community that seemed committed to diversity and equity.

Anthony Fauci And Deborah Birx Warned Top Officials About The “Dangers” Of Scott Atlas Last Summer, Emails Show  —  It only took a few days for Scott Atlas to alarm top US health officials after he became a White House COVID-19 adviser in mid-August of last year.

Amid Florida COVID spike, Miami hospital's virus patients are younger, unvaccinated  —  Florida's COVID epidemic is on the rise again, driven by outbreaks in the Miami area, Jacksonville and the Panhandle.  —  Several months after highly effective and safe vaccines have been made available …

Most unvaccinated people have low incomes  —  More than half of unvaccinated Americans live in households that make less than $50,000 annually, according to the latest Census Bureau data.  —  Why it matters: Making it easier for the working poor to get the COVID-19 vaccine …

Absentee Drop Box Use Soared In Democratic Areas Before Voting Law Change  — Stephen Fowler , - Mark Niesse , - Sarah Kallis , and - Isaiah Poritz  —  In this Monday, Oct. 19, 2020 file photo, a voter submits a ballot in an official drop box during early voting in Athens …

The Kids Are Alright Why now is the time to rethink COVID safety protocols for children —and everyone else.  —  The kids are safe.  They always have been.  —  It may sound strange, given a year of panic over school closures and reopenings, a year of masking toddlers and closing playgrounds …

California to bar K-12 students from campus if they refuse to wear a mask under new rules  —  California K-12 students who refuse to wear masks inside school classrooms and buildings, as required under new state rules, will be prohibited from entering their campus, and another form of education …