State Farm stands by Aaron Rodgers after his vaccine comments: ‘Respect his right’ to have his own point of view  —  Given a chance to repudiate the lies and misinformation spread last week about COVID-19 vaccines by Green Bay Packers quarterback and company pitchman Aaron Rodgers, State Farm punted.

USA-ELECTION/THREATS  —  Law enforcement has taken little action as backers of Donald Trump aim stark threats at election officials.  Reuters tracked down nine of the harassers.  Most were unrepentant.  —  This story contains text, images and audio clips with offensive language.

Indictment of Steele dossier source is more bad news for multiple media outlets  —  MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in December 2017 aired a special report on the Trump-Russia dossier compiled by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele.  That document, claimed Maddow …

Fact check: Deceptive Republican attack ad uses images from Trump presidency to depict ‘chaos’ under Biden  —  Keilar challenges Senator Scott on Trump's role in 2022 midterms  —  Washington (CNN)A new national television ad from House Republicans' campaign arm deceptively uses images …

Rep. Paul Gosar tweets altered anime video showing him killing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Biden  —  Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) shared an altered, animated video that depicts him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and swinging two swords at President Biden …

Metallurgist admits faking steel-test results for Navy subs  —  A metallurgist in Washington state pleaded guilty to fraud Monday after she spent decades faking the results of strength tests on steel that was being used to make U.S. Navy submarines.  —  Elaine Marie Thomas, 67, of Auburn …

The Man Behind the Man Behind January 6  —  In late October 2020, Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was attending the confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett when his cellphone rang.  He answered with a whisper and walked out to the hallway to take the call.

White House tells businesses to proceed with vaccine mandate despite court-ordered pause  — The White House on Monday said businesses should move forward with the requirements despite the court-ordered pause.  — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, considered …

What Moves Swing Voters  —  A creative new poll tries to understand.  —  Political pundits often talk about swing voters as if they were upscale suburbanites, like “soccer moms” or “office-park dads.”  And some are.  But many are blue-collar.  They are the successors to the so-called Reagan Democrats …

Trump makes — and loses — overnight bid to block Jan. 6 investigators  —  If you blinked you missed it.  —  Former President Donald Trump filed an emergency request to a federal judge late Monday night to prevent the National Archives from sending sensitive records to Jan. 6 committee investigators by Friday.

Gavin Newsom's wife, California Democrats bristle at questions about governor's continued absence  —  California Gov. Gavin Newsom has not appeared publicly since abruptly canceling a visit to Glasgow, Scotland on Oct. 29 for a climate change conference, stirring considerable online speculation.

House Jan. 6 committee issues subpoenas to 6 top Trump advisers, including pair involved in Willard hotel ‘command center’  —  The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection issued subpoenas Monday to six top advisers to former president Donald Trump, including two who were active …

Inside Ivy Getty's Fantasy Wedding Weekend in San Francisco  —  Artist and model Ivy Love Getty, the great granddaughter of J. Paul Getty and one of the heiresses to the oil fortune he amassed, married photographer Tobias Alexander Engel in a ceremony officiated by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at City Hall in San Francisco.

A secret tape made after Columbine shows the NRA's evolution on school shootings  —  Soon after the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, senior leaders of the National Rifle Association huddled on a conference call to consider canceling their annual convention, scheduled just days later and a few miles away.

A Conversation With a Virginia Democrat  —  Representative Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, discusses her reservations about the Biden agenda.  —  Listen to ‘Sway’  —  Casey Newton, a tech reporter, takes us inside the Facebook Papers consortium.  —  Attend the DealBook Online Summit

‘Free Joe Biden’: Sean Maloney on How Democrats Can Get Back on Track  —  In an interview, the leader of the House Democrats' campaign arm acknowledged the major challenges facing the party but defended its agenda and its continued focus on Donald Trump.  —  In the days since Democrats …

Ron DeSantis enemies list targets DNC member for “sleeping dragons” and viral tweets  —  Thomas Kennedy embarrassed Florida's governor.  DeSantis' office directed the state's top law enforcement agency to disseminate criminal intelligence about him.  —  Florida's top statewide law enforcement …

More than 360,000 U.S. children under 12 have already received a coronavirus vaccine … More than 360,000 children under 12 in the United States have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Covid-Related School Chaos Is a Problem for Democrats  —  Last Wednesday morning, Christopher Rufo, the architect of the right-wing crusade against critical race theory, sent me a message asking if I wanted to talk, I suppose because I was one of the first people to write about his project back in February.

“Critical Race Theory” and actual education policy, part two  —  The core problem is a dangerous attack on efforts to measure learning  —  In yesterday's post I wrote about two recent trends in progressive education policy that have (rightly, I think) annoyed a lot of people …

Leonardo DiCaprio In Final Talks To Star & Produce ‘Jim Jones’ At MGM; Scott Rosenberg Writing  —  EXCLUSIVE: In a pre-emptive situation, MGM has secured a deal for the feature film project Jim Jones, with Leonardo DiCaprio in final talks to star as the 1970s religious cult leader who was behind …

Faced with soaring Ds and Fs, schools are ditching the old way of grading  —  A few years ago, high school teacher Joshua Moreno got fed up with his grading system, which had become a points game.  —  Some students accumulated so many points early on that by the end of the term they knew …

Tucker Carlson Is a ‘Manipulative Son of a Bitch’ — and Other Thoughts from Adam Kinzinger  —  The outgoing Republican lawmaker gets candid about what he was ready to do Jan. 6, his next election, and whether Republicans will pay a price for their addiction to Donald Trump

The Senate's year-end to-do list is ‘going to be a train wreck’  —  As Mark Warner considers the Senate work left undone as the holiday season dawns, he's weighing a couple of potentially ugly scenarios.  —  “Having only other senators to kiss on New Year's Eve?” the Virginia Democrat deadpanned …

Why millions of job seekers aren't getting hired in this hot job market  —  The United States has a record number of job openings, but many firms continue to favor candidates with several years of experience, availability to work evening or weekend hours, and a willingness to work in-person

Winsome Sears: The latest Black conservative to make liberals nervous  —  If there's anything that liberal elites, especially Black liberal elites, hate more than white rednecks, it's Black conservatives.  Elites see them as sell-outs, or “Uncle Toms.”  MSNBC host Joy Reid once referred …

Unscientific Method  —  An astronomer's peer-reviewed work is passed under the “equity” lens and found wanting.  —  The Social Order  —  Another day, another retraction of a scientific paper for violating the code of diversity.  On November 1, astronomer John Kormendy withdrew an article …

Children's book series hails ‘Heroes of Liberty’ like Ronald Reagan, Amy Coney Barrett, Thomas Sowell  —  Editor of new book series decries ‘garbage and indoctrination’ in children's literature  —  Alex Berenson on Dr. Seuss, China, censorship  —  EXCLUSIVE: A forthcoming children's book …

Why I'm co-founding a new university dedicated to freedom of thought and study  —  Frustrated with how modern universities stifle free thought and academic diversity, a group of writers and entrepreneurs announced Monday that they are launching their own institute of higher learning: The University of Austin.

Ted Cruz wants Texas to secede if ‘things become hopeless’ in the US  —  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that Texas should secede if Democrats “fundamentally” destroy the U.S. but added that “he is not ready to give up on America yet.”  —  “If the Democrats end the filibuster …

Red states draw GOP-friendly maps as Dems despair  —  Republican-controlled states have been cranking out new congressional maps that spell trouble for Democrats unless courts intervene.  —  Why it matters: Last week's Virginia and New Jersey results set off alarm bells for the party …

Biden seeks infrastructure bounce.  But can a nuts-and-bolts pitch overcome cultural divides?  —  The White House and congressional Democrats are preparing an aggressive sales campaign to promote the roughly $1 trillion infrastructure package soon to become law, an effort they hope will begin …