memeorandum: Treasury Sanctions Milorad Dodik and Associated Media Platform for Destabilizing and Corrupt Activity (U.S. Department of the Treasury)

12:01 PM ET, January 5, 2022

Top Items:

Francis Fukuyama / New York Times:

One Single Day. That's All It Took for the World to Look Away From Us. — Mr. Fukuyama is the author of the forthcoming book “Liberalism and Its Discontents.” — The Jan. 6 attack on Congress by a mob inspired by former President Donald Trump marked an ominous precedent for U.S. politics.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Bulwark, The Colorado Sun and CounterPunch

Matt Fuller / The Daily Beast:

The Real Tragedy of Jan. 6 Is That It's Still Not Over — I had a front-row seat to the riot. A year later, one thing is clear: Nothing has changed. … It was around noon on Jan. 6, 2021, and I was already late. — I was supposed to be covering the counting of the electoral votes …

Discussion: Associated Press, email.punchbowl.news, UPI, Roll Call, OttoPolitico, The Federalist, ABC News, The Colorado Sun, NPR, The Bias, WTOP News, The Bulwark, New York Times and Political Wire

Alan Feuer / New York Times:

Prosecutors Move Quickly on Jan. 6 Cases, but One Big Question Remains — In the year since the assault on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, more than 700 people have been arrested, with little public indication from the Justice Department of how high the investigation might reach.

Discussion: CNN, NCPR Daily News, Althouse, Associated Press, Chicago Sun-Times, AFP, NBC Los Angeles and Insider

Mona Charen / The Bulwark:

Did the January 6 Coup Fail? — By warping the Republican party, Trump made another coup attempt possible. — January 6th should have been the point of no return, the pivot point at which even the most blinkered sugarcoaters of Trumpism recoiled in disgust from what they had wrought.

Discussion: NBC News, CNN, Summit News, Alternet.org, Politico, Rolling Stone, Morning Shots, Associated Press, The Guardian, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg, Instapundit and Insider

Ed Pilkington / The Guardian:

More than 1,000 US public figures aided Trump's effort to overturn election — Insurrection Index identifies those who acted as accomplices by participating in 6 January attack or spreading Trump's ‘big lie’ — More than 1,000 Americans in positions of public trust acted as accomplices …

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Insider, Bloomberg and RedState

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Real accountability for Jan. 6 requires political reform

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Hill, The Hat Tip, Media Matters for America, Rolling Stone, Daily Kos, Los Angeles Times, Blue Virginia, CNN and Boing Boing

Associated Press:
Images of chaos: AP photographers capture US Capitol riot

Discussion: Election Law Blog, Washington Post, WAMU and Forbes

New York Times:
How Trump Kept His Grip After Jan. 6

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, CNN, The Guardian, Axios, BizPac Review, ABC News, CNN, HuffPost, Washington Post, Politico, ProPublica, Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Times and USA Today

John Nichols / The Nation:
To Avert Another January 6, Expel Coup Plotters From Congress

Discussion: The Hill, Breitbart, Rochester Beacon, Unlicensed Punditry, Roll Call, PRESS RUN and NPR

CNN:
Fact check: Five enduring lies about the Capitol insurrection

Discussion: Associated Press, Washingtonian and Los Angeles Times

Mike Allen / Axios:
Jan. 6 committee may hold prime-time hearings

Discussion: The Hill, pjmedia.com, Washington Times, The Western Journal, The Daily Caller, Salon and CNN

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: Republicans dodge and deflect ahead of Jan. 6

Discussion: Good Faith, Poynter and Wall Street Journal

Politico:
Jan. 6 committee seeking phone records from Sebastian Gorka

Discussion: CBS News, NBC News, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, CNN, The Hill, IJR, Mediaite and New York Times

Emily Davies / Washington Post:
Another U.S. Capitol Police officer sues Trump for damages from Jan. 6

Discussion: New York Times, Law & Crime, Daily Kos and CBS News

Washington Post:

How Congress can fix the Electoral Count Act — Edward B. Foley is a professor of constitutional law at Ohio State University, where he heads the university's election law program. Michael W. McConnell, formerly a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit …

Discussion: Election Law Blog

Burgess Everett / Politico:
McConnell cracks door to Electoral Count Act reform

Discussion: Daily Kos

Sophia Cai / Axios:
Top Senate Republican signals support for election reform

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Election Law Blog, The Guardian, Raw Story, New York Magazine, Political Wire and Eric Thompson's Newsletter

Alayna Treene / Axios:
Omicron, snowstorm thwart Schumer's midterm year quick start

Discussion: RedState, Washington Post and The Hill

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Manchin floats modest Senate rules changes

Discussion: UPI, Washington Post, RedState, Roll Call, The Daily Wire, Ohio Capital Journal, Political Wire and ABC News

David Wasserman / Cook Political Report:

2022 House Overview: Still a GOP Advantage, but Redistricting Looks Like a Wash — The surprising good news for Democrats: on the current trajectory, there will be a few more Biden-won districts after redistricting than there are now — producing a congressional map slightly less biased in the GOP's favor than the last decade's.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Punchbowl News and The Daily Beast

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Surprise: Democrats dodged a gerrymandering fiasco. A top analyst explains why. — The long-awaited, long-feared Gerrymandering Apocalypse of 2021 has not materialized for Democrats after all. — Throughout last year, many analysts and panicked Democrats alike concluded that Republicans …

Discussion: Sacramento Bee

Tony Romm / Washington Post:

Lawmakers begin early talks about another round of coronavirus relief targeting businesses — Democrats and Republicans have discussed setting aside billions to help restaurants, gyms and performance venues, though GOP concerns about spending could scuttle the effort

Discussion: CNN, HotAir, Associated Press, Breitbart, Chalkboard Review and Wall Street Journal

Politico:
White House embraces a manage-not-contain Omicron game plan

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Chicago Business, The Western Journal, Associated Press, Wide World of News, Politico, Twitchy, WSVN-TV, FOX 11 Los Angeles, New York Times, National Zero and The Daily Caller

Marty Makary / New York Post:
Colleges take COVID testing way too far and spread hysteria

Discussion: Cafe Hayek and Common Sense

Leila Abboud / Financial Times:

Macron says his strategy is to ‘piss off’ France's unvaccinated as Covid surges — Parliament suspends vaccine pass debate and rivals criticise president for ‘vulgar’ expression and ‘lack of empathy’ — President Emmanuel Macron has come under fire from political rivals for saying he wanted to …

Discussion: Axios, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times and Politico

Reuters:
Boos, cheers greet Macron pledge to ‘piss off’ unvaccinated

Discussion: CBS News, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Townhall, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Balloon Juice, Bloomberg and The Guardian

Alejandro Alvarez / WTOP News:

I-95 in Va. reopens as motorists battle bailout traffic jam on Route 1 — Have you or someone you know been stuck on I-95? Tell WTOP about your experiences. — Listen to WTOP live online and on the radio at 103.5 FM. Download the free WTOP News app for Android and Apple phones to sign up for custom traffic and weather alerts.

New York Times:
Stranded Drivers Are Freed After 24-Hour Snowy Ordeal on I-95 in Virginia

Discussion: WTOP News, Associated Press, Breitbart, Mediaite, RedState, CNN, WRIC-TV and Rolling Stone

U.S. Department of the Treasury:

Treasury Sanctions Milorad Dodik and Associated Media Platform for Destabilizing and Corrupt Activity — Dodik's Destabilizing and Corrupt Activities Undermine 26 years of Progress Since the Dayton Peace Accords — WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control …

Discussion: OFAC and Politico

Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:

Don't Look Up Doesn't Get the Climate Crisis — Don't Look Up is an obscenely overlong, occasionally funny satire of American media and politics. But it aspires to be something more. — As he has emphasized in interviews, director Adam McKay conceived of the film as an allegory for the climate crisis.

Discussion: The Dispatch

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

The GOP isn't even trying to sound coherent anymore — We must stop pretending the GOP is a real political party made up of coherent adults. To understand why, let's examine a single day this week. — On Tuesday, former president Donald Trump, the undisputed head of the party …

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Sen. Ted Cruz says Republicans are likely to impeach Biden if they retake House

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Jihad Watch, The Texas Tribune, Twitchy, New York Post, LifeSite, The Daily Wire, Metro.co.uk, BizPac Review, POLITICUSUSA, Juanita Jean's, The Hill, The Western Journal and IJR

Brooke Staggs / Orange County Register:

Husband: Kelly Ernby wasn't vaccinated when she died of COVID-19 complications — GOP leaders say Ernby's death won't deter them from speaking out against coronavirus vaccine mandates. — Deputy District Attorney and GOP activist Kelly Ernby wasn't vaccinated when she died early this week …

Discussion: FOX 11 Los Angeles, Breitbart, Fox News, NBC Los Angeles, SFGATE and Daily Kos

American Greatness:

The Ridiculous Fantasy of a National Divorce — The solution is not some sort of secession or civil war. The solution is for the Right to stop being rank amateurs when it comes to politics and governance. — Every now and then an absurd idea enters the discourse and picks up a sort of memetic traction in spite of itself.

Clare Malone / New Yorker:

Ben Smith Can't Say What His New Media Venture Is — The departing Times media columnist and former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News wants to push the envelope but isn't yet ready to say just how. — Ben Smith had a hundred-and-forty-four unread text messages when we talked …

Discussion: Puck, Poynter, Indigenous Wire, DNyuz, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, more at Mediagazer »

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Try Canceling Joan Didion — If it's really true, as Michael Wolff reported on Monday for Richard Rushfield's Hollywood newsletter The Ankler, that Random House will not be releasing a planned compilation of Norman Mailer's writings on some sort of political-correctness grounds …

Discussion: New Republic, Associated Press and Althouse

Douglas Murray / Common Sense:

When the Right Plays With Jew-Hate — Given today's political environment—in which the left seems unhinged from reality, unable to say that there is one thing that is a man and another thing that is a woman, or to articulate the most basic defense of liberalism and the West—one might imagine that the right is sitting pretty.