memeorandum: Biden at 79: Questions of age and 2024 renewed as president celebrates birthday (Naomi Lim/Washington Examiner)

2:20 PM ET, November 21, 2021

Top Items:

Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Why Democrats' ‘Talking Points Are Not Enough’ — The House progressive spoke about “demoralizing” congressional negotiations, how she was told to stay away from Virginia's elections, and what it means to excite the Democratic base.

Discussion: The Hill, One America News Network and Common Dreams

Joe DePaolo / Mediaite:

AOC Fumes Over ‘Empty Promises’ Amid Gutted Spending Bill, Calls on WH to Bypass Congress: ‘Biden Could Do This Stuff With a Stroke of a Pen’ — To hear Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tell it, Senate passage of the Build Back Better Act in something close to its current form is nothing short of a must.

CBS San Francisco:

‘It Was Insane’; Dozens Of Looters Ransack Walnut Creek Nordstrom Store — WALNUT CREEK (CBS SF) — Dozens of looters swarmed into the Nordstrom store in downtown Walnut Creek Saturday night, terrorizing shoppers, ripping off bag loads of merchandise and ransacking shelves before fleeing …

Discussion: Insider and Breitbart

Natasha Anderson / Daily Mail:
Gang of EIGHTY crowbar-wielding looters in ski masks ransack California Nordstrom and fill 25 cars with designer goods in raid lasting less than one minute

Discussion: TMZ.com

Emma Colton / Fox News:
California Nordstrom ransacked by 80 looters in ski masks with crowbars and weapons: Witness

Discussion: Breitbart

Emma Colton / Fox News:

Blackburn says it's ‘unsafe’ for US athletes to go to Beijing Olympics: ‘Disappear you’ — Sen. Blackburn voiced concern following the disappearance of a Chinese tennis star who alleged a former CCP leader sexually assaulted her — Blackburn: ‘Unsafe for our athletes’ to go to Beijing …

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg and The Western Journal

Enes Kanter / Wall Street Journal:
Move the Olympics for Peng Shuai's Sake

Discussion: HotAir, Spectator, New York Times, National Review and Newsweek

Caroline Vakil / The Hill:
Cruz: I hope US athletes ‘go over there and kick their commie asses’ at Beijing Olympics

Discussion: Bloomberg, Fox News, CBS News, Breitbart and Political Wire

Ellen Francis / Washington Post:
Olympics official warns that Peng Shuai case ‘may spin out of control’ as photos of tennis star raise questions

Discussion: Power Line, The Daily Wire and New York Times

New York Times:

Discharge of Felon's Gun Prompts Panic at Atlanta Airport — Gunfire at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Saturday was accidental, officials said, but it led to flight disruptions and a stampede of passengers. — ATLANTA — Gunfire at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport …

Discussion: CNN, tsa.gov, UPI and TheGrio

Barbara Goldberg / Reuters:
Chaos at Atlanta airport as convicted felon's gun goes off, 3 hurt - police

Discussion: Breitbart, KTLA, Insider, The Atlanta Voice, NBC Chicago, TheGrio and Joe.My.God.

Peter Nicholas / The Atlantic:

The Complicated Truth About Trump 2024 — If Donald Trump tries to run for president again, one of his former campaign advisers has a plan to dissuade him. Anticipating that Trump may not know who Adlai Stevenson was or that he lost two straight presidential elections in the 1950s …

Discussion: The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog and Raw Story

Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:

Chinese hypersonic weapon fired missile over South China Sea — Pentagon struggles to understand how Beijing mastered technology that tests constraints of physics — China's hypersonic weapon test in July included a technological advance that enabled it to fire a missile as it approached …

Brad Dress / The Hill: Space Force general: 'We're not as advanced as the Chinese or the Russians' with hypersonic missiles

Alex Horton / Washington Post:

Marine Corps compliance with vaccine mandate on course to be military's worst — Up to 10,000 active-duty Marines will not be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus when their deadline arrives in coming days, a trajectory expected to yield the U.S. military's worst immunization rate.

Daniel Dale / CNN:

Another voter fraud accusation blows up in Republicans' faces — Washington (CNN)The mysterious case of Rosemarie Hartle's vote in the last presidential election, three years after her death, was trumpeted in November 2020 by the Nevada Republican Party and various prominent conservatives.

Discussion: Rolling Stone

Washington Post:

Facebook's race-blind policies around hate speech came at the expense of Black users, new documents show … Last year, researchers at Facebook showed executives an example of the kind of hate speech circulating on the social network: an actual post featuring an image of four female Democratic lawmakers …

Mark Phillips / KNXV:

VIDEO: Senator Kyrsten Sinema sits down with ABC15 — PHOENIX — Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema didn't do much talking while she helped shepherd the infrastructure bill through the Senate. But on Friday she took time out during her infrastructure tour in Phoenix to speak with ABC15 exclusively.

Discussion: The Hill

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:

Exclusive — 'She's F'ing Crazy': Trump Slams Pelosi over Iconic Finger Wagging Picture in Forthcoming Photo Book — Former President Donald Trump's forthcoming photo book will include the iconic photograph of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wagging her finger at him during a White House meeting …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Sarah Fortinsky / CNN:

Jan. 6 committee member: Many of 200+ witnesses are ex-Trump admin staff who voluntarily came forward — Washington, DC (CNN)A member of the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack told CNN Saturday many of the more than 200 witnesses they have interviewed are former officials …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Rolling Stone, The Hill and Insider

Billy House / Bloomberg:
Trump Says Former Trade Aide Navarro Must Defy House Covid Probe

Discussion: HuffPost, Slate, Insider and The Hill

Roger Sollenberger / The Daily Beast:

The GOP Dark Money Group Giving Big to White Supremacists — Donors Trust raised $360 million last year. They've been spreading around that money to white supremacist organizations, Jan. 6 organizers, conservative causes, and universities. — Efforts to overturn the election. Jan. 6 organizers.

Discussion: Raw Story

Maria Cramer / New York Times:

Missouri Detective Is Convicted in Fatal Shooting of Black Man Outside His Home — A judge convicted Detective Eric DeValkenaere of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Cameron Lamb outside his home in 2019. — A Missouri police detective was found guilty on Friday in the death …

Discussion: TheGrio and Kansas City Star

Wall Street Journal:

Supply-Chain Problems Show Signs of Easing — Asian output is coming back and some bottlenecks are clearing, but labor shortages could persist into next year — Global supply-chain woes are beginning to recede, but shipping, manufacturing and retail executives say that they don't expect …

Bryan Pietsch / Washington Post:

Disney World halts vaccine requirement for workers after Florida restricts employer mandates — Disney has halted a coronavirus vaccine requirement for workers at Walt Disney World in Florida after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation last week restricting such mandates for workplaces.

Discussion: BizPac Review, The Hill, Fox News and TheBlaze

Washington Post:

A MAGA squad of Trump loyalists sees its influence grow amid demands for political purity among Republicans — The show of force from Donald Trump's staunchest congressional allies began almost immediately after 13 House Republicans voted this month in favor of a massive infrastructure bill …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Intercept and Hackwhackers

Anthony L. Fisher / Insider:

Parents of kids that couldn't go to school for a year and a half are mad as hell. That's a problem for Democrats. — Parents begged for schools to reopen, long after it became clear that it was safe to do so. — But in Democratic-run areas, the teachers unions called the shots and kept them closed.

Michael Wines / New York Times:

As Gerrymanders Get Worse, Legal Options to Overturn Them Dwindle — Persuading judges to undo skewed political maps was never easy. A shifting judicial landscape is making it harder. — Voting-rights advocates are in a North Carolina state court in Raleigh this month …

New York Times:

G.O.P. Donors Back Manchin and Sinema as They Reshape Biden's Agenda — The two Democratic senators are attracting campaign contributions from business interests and conservatives as progressives fume over their efforts to pare back the president's domestic policy bill.

Discussion: Insider

Naomi Lim / Washington Examiner:

Biden at 79: Questions of age and 2024 renewed as president celebrates birthday — President Joe Biden's 79th birthday has renewed questions about his physical health, mental acuity, and succession plans as Vice President Kamala Harris, his heir apparent, comes under even more scrutiny.

Discussion: HotAir, Conservative Brief and Power Line