Biden defies expectations.  Again.  —  The Senate on Tuesday passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal with 19 Republican votes.  Had someone polled the White House press corps a month ago, few would have expected any bipartisan deal possible.  —  Journalists at mainstream media outlets are creatures of habit laced with cynicism.

How Cuomo's flexing of political power became his undoing  —  Hours after the state attorney general released a scorching report last week that found New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo had sexually harassed 11 women and his staff had unlawfully retaliated against an alleged victim …

Inside the Biden administration as Afghanistan collapses  —  The Taliban has stunned even some seasoned military and national security officials in the U.S. government with the speed of its conquests over the past week, sources with direct knowledge of the developments tell Axios.

It's the end of the world as the IPCC knows it, and we feel fine  —  In response to the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on global warming, the Western world's newspapers seemed to be competing to publish the most apocalyptic headlines possible.

Republicans are seizing on backlash to new mask and vaccine mandates  —  'You do not know what you're talking about': Fauci excoriates Rand Paul  —  (CNN)Republicans have found a new boogeyman in t he battle for the House: the nation's top public health agency.

Neal Conan, Longtime Host Of NPR's ‘Talk Of The Nation,’ Dies At 71  —  Neal Conan, who spent 36 years with National Public Radio and 11 years as the host of the network's Talk of the Nation died Tuesday in Hawaii of glioblastoma at the age of 71.  —  I met Neal almost 50 years ago …

Federal prosecutors came to suspect Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg lied, and considered charging him with perjury  —  New York (CNN)New York federal prosecutors came to suspect the Trump Organization's chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, lied in testimony during their investigation …

CA college professor held in arson spree near Dixie Fire |  The Sacramento Bee  —  A college professor suspected in a series of arson fires in remote forested areas of Northern California near the massive Dixie Fire has been charged in connection with one of the blazes in Lassen County …

Secret IRS Files Reveal How Much the Ultrawealthy Gained by Shaping Trump's “Big, Beautiful Tax Cut”  —  The Secret IRS Files … In November 2017, with the administration of President Donald Trump rushing to get a massive tax overhaul through Congress, Sen. Ron Johnson stunned his colleagues by announcing he would vote “no.”

‘No One I Know Is Vaccinated’: Sturgis Rally Bikers Are Coming for America  —  SUM OF ALL FEARS  —  Thousands of unvaccinated, unmasked people traveling across the country.  An ultra-contagious new variant.  Overloaded hospitals.  If you thought it could get no worse, think again.

The NSA's Inspector General Opens Investigation Into Allegations of Illegal Spying on Tucker Carlson  —  The NSA's independent investigator, Robert Storch, is a long-time D.C. bureaucrat, making it unlikely he'd formally investigate frivolous allegations of “unmasking.”

WNDB official: Radio host Marc Bernier hospitalized with COVID-19  —  Jim AbbottThe Daytona Beach News-Journal  —  DAYTONA BEACH — Longtime radio talk-show host Marc Bernier has been hospitalized with COVID-19, according to a top official at WNDB (1150 AM, 93.5 FM).

White House plans to fund Florida schools who defy DeSantis' order against mask mandates  —  You have been added to Daily News Newsletter  —  WASHINGTON, D.C., (WFLA) — The White House announced Tuesday that it is planning to support schools who defy Gov. Ron DeSantis' executive order and enact mask mandates for student s.

The con is winding down  —  Allow me to present to you the evidence that China stole the 2020 election.  Please sit down; I don't want you to be injured when you faint.  —  So: voilà.  —  Yes, you're reading that right.  Looks like you owe MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell an apology.  —  Hm?

Tax the Unvaxxed  —  People who refuse the Covid vaccine are imposing costs on society.  Time to make them pay.  —  More than 700,000 people are flooding the South Dakota badlands this week for what will surely be the COVID-19 superspreader event of the year, the 81st annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

President Biden to Convene Leaders' Summit for Democracy  —  The President has said that the challenge of our time is to demonstrate that democracies can deliver by improving the lives of their own people and by addressing the greatest problems facing the wider world.

‘The Rundown’: Gov. Cox gets letter demanding he change his ‘foul, dirty name’  —  Your Monday morning Utah political cheat sheet  —  Good Monday morning Utah!  Thanks for reading “The Rundown”.  —  Got a news tip?  Some interesting political gossip?  Just want to chat about politics?

See the Data on Breakthrough Covid Hospitalizations and Deaths by State  —  Serious coronavirus infections among vaccinated people have been relatively rare since the start of the vaccination campaign, a New York Times analysis of data from 40 states and Washington, D.C., shows.

Why I Am Not A Progressive  —  And Why, From Climate Change to Homelessness, Liberal People Are Giving Up  —  For all of my adult life I have identified as a progressive.  To me, being a progressive meant that I believed in empowerment.  In 2002, when I co-founded a labor-environmental coalition …

‘It Was Just Disbelief’: Parent Files Complaint Against Atlanta Elementary School After Learning the Principal Segregated Students Based on Race  —  An Atlanta mom filed a federal complaint against her daughter's Atlanta elementary school after she learned that the school was separating students on the basis of race.

Mask bullies don't want to persuade you — but to humiliate and rule you  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's rather confused masking advice is thinly supported by science.  And by now, everyone who wants a COVID jab can get one.  Yet elite shaming of ordinary people keeps ratcheting up.

KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: Parents and the Pandemic  —  , Mellisha Stokes , and Mollyann Brodie … Key Findings  — As children around the country head back to school, nearly half of parents of children ages 12-17, the age group currently eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine …

61% Say Biden Likely To Raise Middle Class Taxes  —  Sixty-one percent (61%) of voters believe it is likely that the Biden Administration will raise taxes on middle class Americans.  A Scott Rasmussen national survey found that 27% consider it unlikely and 12% are not sure.