Republicans' Jan. 6 Responsibility  —  The GOP has a duty to condemn the riot and those who refuse to acknowledge it.  —  We're in an acrimonious period of partisan tribalism and have been for some time.  Both parties are guilty of overwrought denunciations of their political opponents.

Mike Pence's team helping Jan. 6 committee  —  People in and around former Vice President Mike Pence's office have been particularly cooperative as the Jan. 6 select committee focuses on what former President Trump was doing during the more than three hours the Capitol was under attack, sources familiar with the testimony tell Axios.

McConnell cracks door to Electoral Count Act reform  —  Mitch McConnell is signaling he's open to reforming the Electoral Count Act, one year after a mass of Republicans objected to certification of President Joe Biden's win ahead of an attempted insurrection.

Seattle police improperly faked radio chatter about Proud Boys as CHOP formed in 2020, investigation finds  —  At a crucial moment during 2020's racial justice protests, Seattle police exchanged a detailed series of fake radio transmissions about a nonexistent group of menacing right-wing extremists.

For C.D.C.'s Walensky, a Steep Learning Curve on Messaging  —  Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has stumbled in explaining her policy decisions.  —  WASHINGTON — Two days before Christmas, with the Omicron variant driving a near-vertical rise …

F.B.I. Arrests Man Accused of Stealing Unpublished Book Manuscripts  —  Filippo Bernardini, an Italian citizen who worked in publishing, was charged with wire fraud and identity theft for a scheme that prosecutors said affected hundreds of people over five or more years.

Secret maps, now gone, were used to draw parts of NC election map  —  North Carolina map-makers used “concept maps” unseen by the public to draw parts of the new state House map now under scrutiny in an ongoing gerrymandering lawsuit, according to a key lawmaker's deposition in the case.

Eric Swalwell goes maskless in Florida after slamming Republicans  —  Rep Eric Swalwell of California was apparently able to go ahead with his holiday travel plans and ditch his mask on Tuesday when he was spotted hanging out at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

Kazakh Protesters Burn Government Offices as Unrest Sweeps Country  —  An uprising sparked by a gas price increase in the resource-rich Central Asian nation has taken on a political dimension despite concessions from the ruling party.  —  MOSCOW — The revolt began on Sunday in western Kazakhstan …

Right wing brain worms are a real thing  —  This is a followup to Scott's post about the fresh martyrdom of yet another academic right winger.  —  I've known Larry Alexander for 30 years.  I used to talk to him quite a bit back in the day — we have overlapping interests in regard …

LA's First Case Of Flurona Detected At COVID Testing Site Near Getty Center  —  LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The first case of flurona - the combination of both influenza and coronavirus - has been detected at the COVID-19 testing center across the street from the Getty Center.

‘Shut the whole system down’: S.F. teachers plan sickout as schools struggle amid omicron surge  —  A group of San Francisco teachers has organized a “sickout” Thursday, saying they will skip school because they feel the district failed to adequately protect them during the pandemic.

J.D. Vance Versus Film Twitter  —  How film critics helped send the ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author off the cliff.  —  I'd be remiss if I didn't note, briefly, that the online collective known as Film Twitter—critics, Letterboxd users, and sundry others—managed to completely break Ohio Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance's brain.

Choosing pets over babies is ‘selfish and diminishes us’, says pope  —  Pontiff laments ‘denied parenthood’ and people who ‘substitute cats and dogs for children’  —  In a move likely to raise the hackles of millions of cats, dogs and their human cohabitees, Pope Francis has suggested …

Djokovic stuck in airport, Serbian president demands Australian entry  —  Novak Djokovic was left stranded at a Melbourne airport overnight, caught in a internatonal political maelstrom over whether Australia would honour the World No. 1's medical exemption from vaccine requirements or send him home due to a visa blunder.

Imagine Virginia's icy traffic catastrophe — but with only electric vehicles  —  Sometime after 3 a.m. Tuesday, as an epic 48-mile winter traffic jam on Interstate 95 in Virginia dragged on, a long-haul trucker from Canada heard a knock at the door of his cab.

4th resident of The Villages arrested for allegedly casting multiple ballots  —  Charles Franklin Barnes was not affiliated with a political party when allegedly voted twice  —  THE VILLAGES, Fla. - A fourth resident of The Villages has been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into voter fraud.

Joe Manchin Is Tired of Your Tiresome Questions  —  But he'll keep talking anyway because he loves the sound of his own voice.  Happy Senate New Year!  —  The US Senate returned to work Tuesday, commencing a bright new year in which all things seemed possible.

Man arrested on charges of attacking vaccination clinic, injuring staffers he called ‘murderers’  —  A Southern California man was arrested after he recently attacked workers at a coronavirus vaccination clinic, allegedly calling them “murderers” and falsely accusing the staffers of causing …

Accused Capitol Rioter Edward Jacob Lang Blasts Trump and Begs For His Help in Jailhouse Call  —  Calling in to a right-wing show, Edward Jacob Lang told Trump that “We are rotting in jail because we stood up for what you told us to stand up for!”  —  On the eve of the first anniversary …

Divided Sixth Circuit Panel Refuses to Stay Injunction Against Vaccine Mandate for Federal Contractors  —  The panel rejects the argument that the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act allows the federal government to require vaccination for nearly one-fifth of the American workforce.