First on CNN: US intelligence indicates Russia preparing operation to justify invasion of Ukraine  —  Washington (CNN)The US has information that indicates Russia has prepositioned a group of operatives to conduct a false-flag operation in eastern Ukraine, a US official told CNN on Friday …

Biden's Georgia Speech Is a Break Point  —  He thought he was merely appealing to his base.  He might have united the rest of the country against him.  —  It is startling when two speeches within 24 hours, neither much heralded in advance—the second wouldn't even have been given without the first …

Sedition Charges Demolish a Right-Wing Talking Point  —  Steve Bannon and other Trump defenders had bizarrely contended that Jan. 6th was no big deal because there were no indictments for sedition.  —  Steve Bannon thought he had a really great point on his podcast last Wednesday …

Joe Biden was set up to fail  —  The Democratic president is a flawed politician in an impossible job  —  Have any voters demanded more of their leaders than modern Americans?  The thought occurred to your columnist while listening to a group of eight Georgians, Ohioans and Pennsylvanians …

A Democrat won a US House seat this week with 79 percent of the vote.  Her GOP opponent has not conceded.  —  An election in South Florida this week may serve as a marker for where the Republican Party stands in 2022, and how much American democracy has already changed since Donald Trump lost reelection.

Biden is failing politically, and not just because of Republican obstruction  —  President Biden hit a political wall this week in his push for voting-rights legislation, just as he did last year in trying to pass his Build Back Better spending package.  It's time for Biden to ask himself why he's in this morass.

Maskless and Inaccurate  —  The Supreme Court offers a window into partisan Covid fallacies.  —  When the Supreme Court justices emerged from the red drapes at the front of the courtroom last Friday and took their seats — to hear arguments about President Biden's vaccine mandate …

In days after January 6, McCarthy said Trump admitted bearing some responsibility for Capitol attack  —  (CNN)House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said publicly and privately in the days following the deadly riots at the US Capitol that President Donald Trump admitted personally bearing …

Virginia bill targeting critical race theory cites wrong Lincoln debate  —  A new measure aimed at eliminating critical race theory in Virginia schools proposes teaching students about key documents in American history — including a debate between President Abraham Lincoln and the abolitionist Frederick Douglass that never happened.

Oh my: Retail sales drop 1.9% — in Christmas shopping season  —  And that's not adjusting for the inflation that is clearly now impacting consumer behavior.  The latest Census Bureau report on retail sales shows a -1.9% retreat in December, in the season where consumer shopping usually hits its zenith.

Absentee ballot drop boxes can't be used in Wisconsin any longer, a Waukesha County judge rules  —  MADISON - A Waukesha County judge ruled Thursday that absentee ballot drop boxes can't be used in Wisconsin, potentially upending aspects of the spring elections and the fall's high-profile contests for governor and U.S. Senate.

Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal Drama Critic, Dies at Age 65  —  Missouri-born author and musician wrote biographies of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and H.L. Mencken  —  Terry Teachout, a prolific New York-based biographer and essayist who wrote exuberantly about drama for The Wall Street Journal …

Why didn't the FBI see the Capitol siege coming?  —  A year later, the bureau still won't come clean on why it ignored piles of evidence and outside warnings about political violence before the attack on January 6, 2021.  —  In the lead-up to the Capitol siege, the FBI received at least …

How NPR's Steve Inskeep cracked the code for interviewing Trump  —  The veteran host used a ‘truth sandwich’ approach to counter the former president's election lies  —  How can journalists interview Donald Trump — or other politicians who consistently spread misinformation — without magnifying their lies?

Why Rapid Covid Tests May Not Be Free Upfront at First  —  Not all health plans will be ready for the Covid tests to be free upfront at stores, relying at first on receipts and reimbursement.  —  Starting Saturday, new federal rules will require private insurers to cover the at-home coronavirus tests …

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton violated open records law, says Travis County DA  —  AUSTIN — The Travis County district attorney has determined that Attorney General Ken Paxton violated the state's open records law by not turning over his communications from last January …

Ruth Shalit Barrett sues the Atlantic and bashes this media critic  —  Ruth Shalit Barrett wrote a feature for the Atlantic's November 2020 issue on college-admissions-crazed parents — “The Mad, Mad World of Niche Sports.”  It clocked in at nearly 7,000 words.

Boris Johnson's Govt. Apologizes To Queen For Party On Eve Of Prince Philip's Funeral  —  The next day, the widowed queen sat alone in church for her husband's funeral service to adhere to social distancing rules that barred indoor mixing.  —  LONDON (AP) — Boris Johnson's office …

Australia cancels Novak Djokovic's visa again, upending tennis star's quest for record 21st Grand Slam title  —  SYDNEY — Australian authorities canceled the visa of Novak Djokovic on Friday and threatened to detain him again, reigniting the legal battle over the unvaccinated tennis star's controversial entry …

Doctors Debate Whether Trans Teens Need Therapy Before Hormones  —  Clinicians are divided over new guidelines that say teens should undergo mental health screenings before receiving hormones or gender surgeries.  —  An upsurge in teenagers requesting hormones or surgeries to better align …

Police Departments Are Making Their Own “Cops” Videos Counteracting Police Brutality Depicted On Social Media  —  KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI — “Stop the car!” a police officer yells in the video, pulling out his gun as a silver Audi minivan kicks it into reverse, swerving away from him.

Doctors call out Spotify over Joe Rogan spreading ‘false and societally harmful’ covid-19 claims  —  A coalition of hundreds of doctors and public health experts have called out Spotify for allowing Joe Rogan to spread “false and societally harmful assertions” about the coronavirus and vaccination …

GOP senator plans to introduce FAUCI Act after clash at hearing  —  Republican Sen. Roger Marshall (Kan.) plans to introduce a bill named after Anthony Fauci after he clashed with the nation's top infectious diseases expert at a Senate hearing this week.  —  Marshall will be introducing …

Former Michigan state legislator mounts challenge to Rashida Tlaib  —  Detroit native Shanelle Jackson served in the Michigan House of Representatives from 2007 to 2012  —  Shanelle Jackson, a former Michigan state legislator in Detroit who now works in the private sector …