memeorandum: The Placeholder President — Column: When Trump is the issue, Biden wins. And Biden's troubles begin. (Matthew Continetti/Washington Free Beacon)

9:50 AM ET, January 7, 2022

Top Items:

Susan Glasser / New Yorker:

Biden, Back Into the Breach — A year after the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol, the President delivered the speech that he never wanted to give. — He never mentioned Donald Trump by name. He didn't have to. Joe Biden gave the speech of his Presidency on Thursday …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, New York Times, NBC News, PBS NewsHour, The Daily Signal, Politico, New York Magazine, Associated Press and Los Angeles Times

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Biden finds a new Manchin whisperer — DRIVING THE DAY — The White House is looking to Sen. MARK WARNER (D-Va.) to help thaw out its frosty relationship with Sen. JOE MANCHIN (D-W.Va.) in hopes of resurrecting President JOE BIDEN's Build Back Better plan.

Discussion: ABC News

Washington Post:

Biden breaks his silence: Inside his decision to forcefully denounce Trump — Throughout the first year of Joe Biden's presidency, Donald Trump was the name that shalt not be spoken. — As the former president solidified control over the Republican Party, spread lies about the 2020 election …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Breitbart

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
The Placeholder President — Column: When Trump is the issue, Biden wins. And Biden's troubles begin.

Discussion: Al Jazeera and Roll Call

ABC News:
Biden's ‘inflection point’ in confronting Trumpism: The Note

Discussion: National Review, NPR, Times of San Diego and Daily Kos

Joseph Klein / Front Page Magazine:
Biden's January 6 Anniversary Speech - and His Big Lies

Discussion: Small Dead Animals, Townhall and Benjamin Weingarten

CNN:
Inside Biden's fiery speech and his decision to confront Trump's danger head-on

Discussion: Politics and History, Common Dreams, Washington Post, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Katie Rogers / New York Times:
Biden's Speech on the Jan. 6 Riot, Annotated

Discussion: Patrick J. Buchanan, CNN, The Hill, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, HuffPost, Missouri Independent, The Guardian, Unlicensed Punditry, William Wilder's Newsletter, Los Angeles Times, CounterPunch, Regular Order, Source New Mexico and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »

Zolan Kanno-Youngs / New York Times:
On Jan. 6 Anniversary, Biden Goes After Trump and Trumpism

Discussion: NBC News, The Bias, Today's Edition Newsletter, The Floridian, CBS Pittsburgh, Attention to the Unseen, PREVAIL and WRIC-TV

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Ted Cruz Begs Tucker Carlson's Forgiveness for Being Mean to Violent Insurrectionists — Senator Ted Cruz has tried to cling to what has become the safest ground in the Republican Party: Denouncing the violent attack on the Capitol one year ago without criticizing either the lies that inspired …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Rolling Stone, Mediaite, Townhall, BizPac Review, Washington Post, Newsweek, Alternet.org, [your]NEWS, The Daily Caller, The Texas Tribune, The Daily Beast, Summit News, The Hill, Breitbart and TheBlaze

Donald J. Trump:

Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America — To watch Biden speaking is very hurtful to many people. They're the ones who tried to stop the peaceful transfer with a rigged election. Just look at the numbers. Does anybody really think that Biden beat Obama …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, HotAir and New York Magazine

Washington Post:
Dick Cheney returns to the House and receives a warm welcome . . . from Democrats

Ben Jacobs / New York Magazine:
Republicans stay away, leaving Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene to play.

Discussion: VICE, Insider, HuffPost, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Metro.co.uk, Alternet.org and New York Times

Jim Acosta / CNN:
Trump did not want to tweet ‘stay peaceful’ during January 6 riot, key former aide says

Discussion: Letters from an American and Political Wire

Yacob Reyes / Axios:
Gaetz: “We're proud of the work we did” on Jan. 6

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

Hiring falters in December as payrolls rise only 199,000, though the unemployment fell to 3.9% — Nonfarm payrolls rose by 199,000 in December, far fewer than the 422,000 estimate. — The unemployment rate dropped to 3.9%, better than the 4.1% estimate. — Wages increased more than expected, rising 4.7% year over year.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, New York Times, HotAir, CBS News, National Review, UPI, Los Angeles Times, Deadline and Political Wire

Noah Smith / Noahpinion:
The Biden Boom — We kept ourselves out of debt, so now we're enjoying a speedy recovery.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Jacob Bogage / Washington Post:

White House, USPS finalizing plans to begin shipping coronavirus test kits to U.S. households — The White House is finalizing details with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver 500 million coronavirus test kits to households across the country, according to four people familiar with the plans …

Discussion: The Hill, Gizmodo, KRQE-TV, Wide World of News, New York Post, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, The White House and Press Herald

CNN:

CDC director turns to media consultant as Covid-19 messaging frustrations mount — (CNN)Dr. Rochelle Walensky assumed her new role as the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last January with a vow to restore trust in the agency. But last fall, several months …

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Bill Clinton, Oprah and his fellow centrists: Dems go all-out to sway Manchin — The strongest voices lobbying Joe Manchin to change Senate rules and advance elections reform aren't liberal activists or die-hard filibuster opponents. Instead, they're a small group of his friends who once shared his reluctance.

Discussion: HotAir

Amber Phillips / Washington Post:
Should the filibuster stay or go? Here's how to argue about it.

Discussion: Arizona Republic, Washington Examiner, Alternet.org, The Federalist and Punchbowl News

David Brooks / New York Times:

Democrats Are Failing to Defend Democracy — When it comes to elections, the Republican Party operates within a carapace of lies. So we rely on the Democrats to preserve our system of government. — The problem is that Democrats live within their own insular echo chamber.

Discussion: Washington Post and Daily Kos

Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
Democrats Will Have to Do More to Save Democracy From Trump

Discussion: CounterPunch, RedState and Mother Jones

Salena Zito / New York Post:

Mike Pompeo tells The Post how he lost 90 pounds in six months — America isn't just seeing less of Mike Pompeo because the Trump administration is no longer in the White House. We are seeing less of the former Secretary of State because there is literally less of him — 90 pounds, to be exact.

Discussion: Insider, TheBlaze, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Axios:

Conservative social media app Parler raises $20 million — Parler, the social media app that was temporarily booted from app stores in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, has raised $20 million in new funding, according to a filing with federal securities regulators.

Philip Banks III / New York Daily News:

My call to protect and serve NYC: Philip Banks, Eric Adams' newly appointed deputy mayor for public safety, defends himself — The law is in my blood. My brothers and I grew up with it, watching my father leave the house every day from our home in Cambria Heights, off to protect the people of the city.

Washington Post:

Kazakhstan president gives shoot-to-kill order against protesters, dismissing calls for negotiations — MOSCOW — Kazakhstan's president said Friday he had ordered his troops to “shoot to kill without warning” in an effort to quash anti-government protests that have been raging since the weekend.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, CBS News, New York Times, Axios, Reuters, Voice of America, [your]NEWS, Bloomberg, WINK NEWS and Political Wire

Washington Post:

2022 is a ‘crucial year’ for Biden's climate agenda, from Congress to the Supreme Court. Here's what to know. — Good morning and welcome to The Climate 202! We always appreciate feedback from readers, and we try our best to respond to your emails. Let us know what you've enjoyed …

Discussion: New York Times and Sacramento Bee

Politico:

Harris was inside DNC on Jan. 6 when pipe bomb was discovered outside — Then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was inside Democratic National Committee headquarters on Jan. 6, 2021, when a pipe bomb was discovered outside the building, according to four people familiar with her movements that day.

Discussion: CBS News, TheGrio, Alternet.org, Insider, The Hill, National Review, New York Post, CNN, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, TheBlaze, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, ABC News, Fox News, Mediaite, National Zero, The Guardian, Townhall and Forbes

Washington Post:

Ten questions for retiring Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) — Good morning, Early Birds. President Biden heads to Colorado today to survey fire damage, and the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two cases challenging the Biden administration's vaccine mandates for companies and health care workers.

Laura Cassels / Florida Phoenix:

DeSantis admits, up to 1 million COVID test kits DID expire in FL — Quality Journalism for Critical Times — Gov. Ron DeSantis and Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management, acknowledged Thursday that 800,000 to a million COVID tests had expired in a state stockpile …

Discussion: Palm Beach Post, Florida Politics, WPLG-TV, HuffPost, Insider, Fox News, WPEC, Alternet.org, The Capitolist and CBS Miami

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

Mo Brooks was ‘cheering on’ Trump supporters invading the Capitol: Former Kevin McCarthy staffer — A former staffer for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Thursday made an explosive claim about Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) and his reaction to the January 6th Capitol riots.

Jonathan J. Cooper / Associated Press:

Cyber Ninjas faces fine over Arizona election review records — PHOENIX (AP) — A judge said Thursday he will fine Cyber Ninjas, the contractor that led Arizona Republicans' 2020 election review, $50,000 a day if the firm doesn't immediately turn over public records related to the unprecedented inquiry.

Discussion: HuffPost, Insider, The Hill and Raw Story

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Woman tied to Capitol riots was wrong-way driver in fatal crash in Franklin County — FRANKLIN COUNTY — A woman tied to the U.S. Capitol riots a year ago was drunk and driving the wrong way on Interstate 44 on Wednesday night when she killed a woman and seriously injured the man driving another car …

Discussion: CBS News, KMOV-TV, Insider, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, Insider, New York Post and Raw Story

JAMA Network:

A National Strategy for the “New Normal” of Life With COVID — Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD1; Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH2; Celine R. Gounder, MD, ScM3 — As the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 demonstrates, COVID-19 is here to stay. In January 2021, President Biden issued the …

Discussion: Washington Post, JAMA Network, HotAir, TracingCOVID, PBS NewsHour, Fox News, BizPac Review, New York Times and Twitchy

Washington Post:

Battle over Biden's vaccine rules for workers arrives at Supreme Court — The Supreme Court convenes in a special session Friday to consider challenges to the Biden administration's most significant intervention to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus and its public health impacts …