memeorandum: Jan. 6 wasn't the end of a failed plot. It was a new salvo in an unfolding uprising. (Michael Gerson/Washington Post)

12:45 PM 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, Raw Story, New York Times, Washington Post, NBC News, PBS NewsHour, The Daily Signal, New York Times, Patriot Fetch, Associated Press, New York Magazine, Los Angeles Times and Politico

Tara Palmeri / Politico: POLITICO Playbook: Biden finds a new Manchin whisperer

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
The Placeholder President — The most impassioned speech of Joe Biden's presidency …

Discussion: New York Times, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Western Journal and Associated Press

Washington Post:
Biden breaks his silence: Inside his decision to forcefully denounce Trump

Discussion: Washington Examiner, HuffPost, New York Times and Breitbart

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

Discussion: NBC News, New York Times, National Review, Times of San Diego and Daily Kos

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

Discussion: Daily Kos, Small Dead Animals, Townhall and ABC News

Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:
Last Jan. 6, our institutions held — except the media

Discussion: CMary:The Resistant …, NPR, New Republic, DCReport.org, The Uprising, Michigan Advance, The Root and CNN

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

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

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: Washington Free Beacon, New York Times, HotAir, Wall Street Journal, CBS News, KNSD-TV, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze, KTLA, 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. — The official numbers aren't in yet, but In the 4th quarter of 2021, the United States economy is believed to have grown by about 5.5% or 6%. That's a pretty incredible number …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

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 and Insider

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:

Politico: Dems call in Epstein frequent flier to convince Manchin to kill the filibuster — Among others, that is, which prompts the question: just how popular are the Clintons in West Virginia? Or for that matter Barack Obama? Oprah Winfrey might have a bigger TV fan base in the Mountain State …

Discussion: Louder With Crowder

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

Discussion: The Hill, Arizona Republic, Patrick J. Buchanan, Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast, The Federalist, Los Angeles Times, Punchbowl News and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »

William Grimes / New York Times:

Sidney Poitier, Who Paved the Way for Black Actors in Film, Dies at 94 — The first Black performer to win the Academy Award for best actor, for “Lilies of the Field,” he once said he felt “as if I were representing 15, 18 million people with every move I made.”

Discussion: ScreenRant, Deadline, The A.V. Club, Lawyers, Guns & Money, FOX 5 San Diego, Deseret News and Variety

Daniel Arkin / NBC News:

Sidney Poitier, trailblazing Hollywood icon who broke barriers for Black actors, dies at 94 — Remembering Oscar-winning actor Sidney Poitier, dead at 94 — Sidney Poitier, the renowned Hollywood actor, director and activist who commanded the screen, reshaped the culture and paved …

Discussion: Daily Mail, CBS News, USA Today, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, The Wrap, Reuters, Deadline, Us Weekly, Raw Story, Mercury News, Variety, TheGrio, NBC New York, CBS Los Angeles, KXAN-TV, New York Post and KTVX-TV

Richard L. Hasen / New York Times:

No One Is Coming to Save Us From the ‘Dagger at the Throat of America’ — Mr. Hasen is the author of several books about elections and democracy. In 2020, he proposed a 28th Amendment to the Constitution to defend and expand voting rights. … The saturation coverage of the anniversary …

Discussion: Washington Times, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, CounterPunch and NPR

David Brooks / New York Times:
Democrats Are Failing to Defend Democracy

Discussion: The Liberal Patriot and Washington Post

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

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, CounterPunch, RedState and New York Post

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: New York Magazine, Letters from an American, Wall Street Journal, HotAir, Axios, Digby's Hullabaloo, Political Wire and CNN

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Ted Cruz Begs Tucker Carlson's Forgiveness for Being Mean to Violent Insurrectionists

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

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

Washington Post:

Supreme Court hears challenges to Biden's vaccine rules for workers — The Supreme Court is holding 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 …

Discussion: Reuters, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Insider, Politico, Daily Kos, CBS News, The Daily Caller, CNN, Jacobin, KXAN-TV, NPR, ABC News, The Daily Poster, LifeSite, Talking Points Memo and Todd Starnes

Ed Morrissey / HotAir:

Today's deep question: Will Twitter suspend Sotomayor for COVID misinformation? — A wise axiom warns us not to deduce Supreme Court decisions based on the questions asked by its justices during oral arguments. Perhaps, however, we can deduce their relative wisdom and grasp of reality from the questions they pose.

Discussion: Associated Press, National Review and Townhall

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 …

Discussion: Mediaite

Kylee Zempel / The Federalist:

8 Times Left-Wing Protesters Broke Into Government Buildings And Assaulted Democracy — Left-wing demonstrators have long made a habit of attacking, infiltrating, and occupying government buildings. — Self-absorbed congressional Democrats held a group therapy session on Capitol Hill …

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, Insider, TheGrio, The Root, KTVX-TV, Wide World of News, Gizmodo, New York Post, Fox News, The White House, Press Herald and Wall Street Journal

Amy Walter / Cook Political Report:

What Role Will January 6 Play in The 2022 Midterms? — The following things can be true at the same time. First, the attack on the Capitol on January 6 was a dark moment in American history and one in which the former president bears responsibility. Second, the attack on the Capitol …

Discussion: Arizona Republic, Dame Magazine, Raw Story, The Signorile Report, The Morning Edition, Democrats, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Alternet.org and BizPac Review

Ed Yong / The Atlantic:

Omicron Isn't Mild for the Health-Care System — When a health-care system crumbles, this is what it looks like. Much of what's wrong happens invisibly. At first, there's just a lot of waiting. Emergency rooms get so full that “you'll wait hours and hours, and you may not be able …

Washington Post:

Thompson says some of the Jan. 6 protesters met with members of Congress — The Chair of the House committee investigating the Jan 6. attack on the Capitol said Thursday that the committee has received information showing that members of Congress met with people who came to Washington …

Discussion: Deadline, CNN, Talking Points Memo and PBS NewsHour

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: Washington Examiner, Rolling Stone, Metacurity, HuffPost, Insider, The Hill and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Do Republicans really believe Trump won the 2020 election? Our research suggests that they do. — All credible evidence tells us that the 2020 election was very secure. Experts on both sides of the political aisle, and even President Donald Trump's own Justice Department, have confirmed that 2020 was a free and fair election.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight and Mediaite

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

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, HuffPost, Florida Politics, WPLG-TV, Insider, Fox News, WPEC and Alternet.org

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.

Discussion: New York Times