memeorandum: How is there no public record of Congressional insider trading? (Jazz Shaw/HotAir)

1:05 PM ET, December 17, 2021

Top Items:

Antony Sguazzin / Bloomberg:

South Africa Hospitalization Rate Plunges in Omicron Wave — Cases remain high compared with previous Covid waves — Omicron infections may have peaked in epicenter Gauteng — South Africa delivered some positive news on the omicron coronavirus variant on Friday …

Discussion: HotAir, The Daily Wire, RedState, TheBlaze, New York Post, Townhall, Washington Post and New York Post

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Omicron Threatens Red America — In many communities, most adults remain unvaccinated. — Tucker Carlson could do it. So could Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin or Donald Trump himself. — One of these conservative figures could go on the air and explain that the Omicron variant has placed much of their audience in grave danger.

Discussion: ACA Signups, CNN, POLITICUSUSA, Instapundit and New York Post

Politico:

GOP blows off Trump's bid to oust McConnell — Former President Donald Trump has hit a wall in his efforts to oust Mitch McConnell as GOP leader. — Despite months of attacks, the Trump-led campaign to depose the Senate minority leader has resulted in firm pledges from just two Republican candidates …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Post, HotAir, Reason, NBC News, The Hill, The Guardian, Alternet.org and Raw Story

Mariana Alfaro / Washington Post:

McConnell says what the Jan. 6 committee uncovers is ‘something the public needs to know’ — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) signaled support for the bipartisan House committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, saying what the panel …

Discussion: Politico, Spectrum News Kentucky, Talking Points Memo and HuffPost

Washington Post:
GOP agrees to pay up to $1.6 million of Trump's legal bills in N.Y. probes

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Rolling Stone, Insider, Political Wire, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

A glimmer of hope on Joe Manchin and voting rights? — By now, you'd be forgiven for concluding the chances of Sen. Joe Manchin III supporting a filibuster carve-out to pass democracy protections are somewhere between nonexistent and extremely nonexistent. — The West Virginia Democrat …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Schumer says Build Back Better will be delayed

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Examiner, POLITICUSUSA, Common Dreams and Washington Times

Ashraf Khalil / Associated Press:
Manchin's child tax credit stance draws criticism back home

Discussion: The Smirking Chimp and HuffPost

Associated Press:
Power of one: Manchin is singularly halting Biden's agenda

Discussion: Washington Examiner, National Review, Common Dreams, Mock Paper Scissors, New York Post, Bloomberg, RedState, NBC News, Dysfunction’s Newsletter, Associated Press, The Hill, Insider, Politico and Los Angeles Times

CNN:

House oversight committee releases report detailing efforts of Trump administration officials to ‘undermine’ Covid-19 efforts in US — (CNN)Trump administration officials made “deliberate efforts to undermine the nation's coronavirus response for political purposes,” a House oversight committee led …

Discussion: Washington Post, Insider and The Hill

House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis:
Select Subcommittee's Year-End Staff Report Highlights Oversight Work, Releases New Findings from Ongoing Investigations

Discussion: Bipartisan Report, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Anna North / Vox:

The world as we know it is ending. Why are we still at work? — From the pandemic to climate change, Americans are still expected to work no matter what happens. — For a moment in early 2020, it seemed like we might get a break from capitalism. — A novel coronavirus was sweeping the globe …

Jan Hoffman / New York Times:

Judge Overturns Purdue Pharma's Opioid Settlement — The ruling said the company's owners, members of the Sackler family, could not receive protection from civil lawsuits in return for a $4.5 billion contribution. — A federal judge on Thursday evening unraveled a painstakingly negotiated …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Law, Reuters, Associated Press, UPI, The Times of Israel, Al Jazeera, The Full Belmonte, Boston.com, One America News Network, Forbes, National Review, Lawyers, Guns & Money, NBC New York and Washington Examiner

Financial Times:

‘No evidence’ Omicron is less severe than Delta, say UK researchers — Imperial College study warns of elevated reinfection risk but notes ‘very limited’ data on hospitalisations — There is at present “no evidence” that the Omicron coronavirus variant is any less severe than the Delta strain …

Discussion: The Atlantic

Ed Yong / The Atlantic:

I Canceled My Birthday Party Because of Omicron — Here's how I thought through the decision. — I turn 40 today, and I was planning to have a party. The Delta surge made me nervous about it. The arrival of Omicron made me cancel it. — The plan was to have an extended house party …

Discussion: National Review and The US Sun

The Daily Beast:

Kanye West's ‘Independent’ Campaign Was Secretly Run by GOP Elites — The campaign took steps, experts say, to mask its connections to GOP operatives. That could violate federal election laws. — New documents show Kanye West's doomed White House campaign—styled as an “independent” …

Discussion: Raw Story

Laura Meckler / Washington Post:

Children exposed to covid can safely stay in class with in-school testing, CDC says … Students who have been exposed to the coronavirus can safely continue in-person learning if they are regularly tested for the virus at school, avoiding disruptive at-home quarantines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Bloomberg, NPR, National Review and CBS San Francisco

Erik Larson / Bloomberg:

Dominion Defamation Suit Against Fox Can Move Forward — Fox had enough information to know claims false, judge says — Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson also targets of lawsuit — Fox News probably had enough information after the 2020 presidential election to know a conspiracy theory …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Raw Story, TVNewser, Associated Press, Bipartisan Report, CNN, Deadline, Insider and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »

Reuters:
Fox News loses bid to dismiss Dominion defamation lawsuit over election coverage

Discussion: New York Times

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Herschel Walker's campaign falsely claimed he graduated from college — Republican Herschel Walker's campaign deleted a false claim that he graduated from the University of Georgia hours after it was posted on a website promoting his U.S. Senate bid. — The former football star's campaign removed …

Discussion: The Root and Political Wire

Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:

Russia Lays Out Demands for a Sweeping New Security Deal With NATO — The proposal, coming as Russia masses troops on the border with Ukraine, was directed at the United States and Ukraine's other Western allies. — KYIV, Ukraine — Russia outlined on Friday its demands for a sweeping …

Discussion: Bloomberg, CNN, Wall Street Journal, America Explained …, CBS News, TASS, NATO, Al Jazeera, Associated Press and Politico

Joseph Bernstein / BuzzFeed News:

“Corrosive Communities”: How A Facebook Fight Over Wind Power Predicts the Future of Local Politics in America — Bad vibrations abound. Many of them are obvious: We can sense them, measure the damage they do, try to counteract or avoid them. Others exist in a range outside the limit of normal human perception.

Hugh Hewitt / The Hugh Hewitt Show:

Josh Mandel, Candidate for GOP Nomination for Senate, On The 2020 Election and President Biden's Legitimacy — Former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel joined me this morning: — Audio: — 12-17hhs-mandel — Transcript: — HH: Josh Mandel, former state treasurer in Ohio, is running for Senate in Ohio.

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:

New York Times fires ‘Wirecutter’ editor accused of leaving profane voicemails for gun rights group — Erin Marquis, a staffer for the popular product-review site, had also lashed out at a gun-rights organization on Twitter. — The New York Times has fired an editor for Wirecutter …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Mary Jordan / Washington Post:

Melania Trump emerges to launch new NFT platform meant to ‘inspire’ — and earn cash — Former president Donald Trump once called bitcoin a scam that “competed against the dollar,” but on Thursday Melania Trump announced a new business venture embracing cryptocurrency and digital art.

Taylor Goldenstein / Houston Chronicle:

Texas AG Paxton's $2.2M voter fraud unit closed three cases in 2021. GOP lawmakers still boosted its budget. — Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has been one of former President Donald Trump's most reliable allies in spreading the myth of widespread voter fraud …

Discussion: Raw Story

Anemona Hartocollis / New York Times:

Harvard Won't Require SAT or ACT Scores for Admission for Several Years — The university joins many others that have eliminated the ACT and SAT requirements, adding fuel to the movement to get rid of standardized test scores. — Harvard will not require SAT or ACT scores for admission through …

Discussion: CBS News, Reason and Insider

Nick Anderson / Washington Post:
Harvard won't require SAT or ACT through 2026 as test-optional push grows

Discussion: The Daily Wire

Debra Soh / Washington Examiner:

J.K. Rowling is being erased for defending women — Those seeking to understand why the average person is too terrified to speak up against transgender activism need only to look to J.K. Rowling. In a promotional trailer for Rowling's forthcoming film, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore …

Andrew Stiles / Washington Free Beacon:

REVIEW: What I Learned From Hillary Clinton's Master Class on ‘The Power of Resilience’ — You've probably heard the saying: Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. In this day and age, those who really can't become Master Class instructors on how to fail.

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:

Disgrace: Biden abandoned over 60,000 Afghan interpreters, support personnel — along with 14,000 Americans — We found out about the 14,000 abandoned Americans almost two months ago, of whom the State Department only shows 900 exfiltrated thus far. We also knew that the US had abandoned tens …

Jessica Donati / Wall Street Journal:
More Than 60,000 Interpreters, Visa Applicants Remain in Afghanistan

Discussion: RedState, Defense One and The Daily Wire

Nick Niedzwiadek / Politico:

Trump invokes antisemitic tropes while discussing his support for Israel — Former President Donald Trump veered into several antisemitic tropes in a recent interview, claiming that Israel used to have “absolute power over Congress” and saying that American Jews — the majority of whom vote Democratic …

Discussion: Insider, CNBC, Washington Post, Raw Story and Mediaite

Wall Street Journal:

White House Considers Sending Ukraine Military Equipment Once Bound for Afghanistan — Ukraine has sought the helicopters and other military equipment to deter Russia, though White House hasn't approved the plan as it seeks diplomacy — WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is considering …

Corbin Hiar / E&E News:

The cash behind carbon removal: Big Oil, tech and taxpayers — Claudine Hellmuth/E&E News (illustration); jannoon028/Freepik (hand with money); Altayb/iStock (hand with eraser); Edin/iStock (CO2 clouds) — After making his mark in the advertising world, Andrew Shebbeare wanted to help the rest of the globe.

Tim Meads / The Daily Wire:

EXCLUSIVE: Maxine Waters Goes Maskless On Cross-Country United Flight — Talk about a “mask off” moment for Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). Today, an anonymous tipster passed along an exclusive photo to The Daily Wire that appeared to be a high-profile member of Congress not wearing …

Discussion: NOQ Report

David Remnick / New Yorker:

A Person of the Year: Jamie Raskin — How one politician devoted his fight for democracy to his lost son. — Ninety-four years ago, the editors of Time magazine declared the transatlantic aviator and anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh their first-ever Man of the Year.

Discussion: Horizons and Washington Post