Top Items:
CNN:
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 …
Discussion:
HotAir, Politico, UPI, Balloon Juice, Metro.co.uk, The Drive, Raw Story, Washington Times, TASS and New York Times
RELATED:
Helene Cooper / New York Times:
U.S. Considers Backing an Insurgency, After Battling One — Conversations about supporting Ukrainian insurgents in the event of a Russian invasion has revived the specter of a new Cold War. — WASHINGTON — For years, U.S. officials have tiptoed around the question of how much military support …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Orange County Register and Wall Street Journal
Washington Post:
Russia planning potential sabotage operations in Ukraine, U.S. says — The Russian government has sent operatives into eastern Ukraine in preparation for potential sabotage operations that would serve as a pretext for invasion, the Biden administration said Friday.
Discussion:
Insider, Associated Press and Atlantic Council
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
U.S. Charges Russia Sent Saboteurs Into Ukraine to Create Pretext for Invasion
U.S. Charges Russia Sent Saboteurs Into Ukraine to Create Pretext for Invasion
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, Radio Free Europe/Radio … and Anti-bellum
Conor Finnegan / ABC News:
US accuses Russia of ‘fabricating a pretext’ to invade Ukraine
US accuses Russia of ‘fabricating a pretext’ to invade Ukraine
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Fox News, Bloomberg and The Guardian
Wall Street Journal:
Russia Moves More Weaponry Toward Ukraine, Keeps the West Guessing
Russia Moves More Weaponry Toward Ukraine, Keeps the West Guessing
Discussion:
CBS News, Insider, The Guardian, New York Times, Reuters, The National Interest, csis.org, Financial Times, Bloomberg, CBS News, One America News Network, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, UPI, One America News Network, Voice of America, Washington Post, Insider, WTOP News, MyNorthwest.com, MyNorthwest.com and Political Wire, more at Techmeme »
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
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 …
Discussion:
The Daily Signal, Daily Kos, IJR, Townhall, National Review, The American Spectator and BuzzFeed News
RELATED:
The Economist:
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 …
The Columbus Dispatch:
Redistricting: Ohio Supreme Court strikes down congressional map, forcing another round of drawing — Jessie Balmert Laura A. BischoffThe Columbus Dispatch — The Ohio Supreme Court struck down the state's congressional district map, saying Republicans violated the Ohio Constitution by drawing districts that favored GOP candidates.
Discussion:
Salon and FiveThirtyEight
RELATED:
Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post:
Ohio Supreme Court rejects GOP-drawn congressional map as unfairly partisan — The Ohio Supreme Court on Friday rejected a new congressional map drawn by state Republican lawmakers as unconstitutional and ordered it redrawn, marking a major victory for Democrats in a state where lopsided districts …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Politico, NBC News, New York Times, Insider, The Hill, CNN, Associated Press and Tom Lynch's Letters …
Amanda Carpenter / The Bulwark:
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 …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Reuters, Raw Story and Morning Shots
RELATED:
Madeline Peltz / Media Matters for America:
Tucker Carlson repeatedly hosted an Oath Keeper charged with seditious conspiracy
Tucker Carlson repeatedly hosted an Oath Keeper charged with seditious conspiracy
Discussion:
America, America, emptywheel and Associated Press
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The accountability-free world of Tucker Carlson
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Byron York's Daily Memo: The LARP rebellion
Byron York's Daily Memo: The LARP rebellion
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Beast, littlegreenfootballs.com and File411's Newsletter
CNN:
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 …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Insider, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Alternet.org, Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA
RELATED:
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
The Racket News, CNBC and BuzzFeed News
RELATED:
Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:
The Conservative Justices Have Drunk the Anti-vax Kool-Aid — If you read the legal language in the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which authorizes the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to act in an emergency capacity when workers face “grave danger from exposure to substances …
Discussion:
CBS News and Kaiser Health News
James Pindell / The Boston Globe:
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.
Gillian Brockell / Washington Post:
Hey, Virginia lawmakers, the Lincoln-Douglas debates did not involve Frederick Douglass — Of all the paragraphs in a bill to ban “divisive concepts” from being taught in Virginia public schools, Section B3 may have seemed the most innocuous. After all, it was in the part of the proposal …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Insider and The Wrap
RELATED:
Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Virginia bill targeting critical race theory cites wrong Lincoln debate
Virginia bill targeting critical race theory cites wrong Lincoln debate
Discussion:
Townhall
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
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.
Discussion:
TheBlaze, Axios, Roll Call, Wide World of News, Washington Examiner, Townhall, HuffPost, WTOP News, The Floridian, Washington Times, NBC News, Insider, Bloomberg and New Republic
RELATED:
Christopher Cadelago / Politico:
With Biden's signature legislation stalled, Democrats stare into political void
With Biden's signature legislation stalled, Democrats stare into political void
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Insider, New York Post and New Republic
Jason Paladino / Grid News:
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 …
Politico:
What Joe Manchin told Steve Clemons at dinner — Steve Clemons is a D.C. institution — an operator who connects some of the biggest power players in the capital. He also happens to be the confidant of the most powerful senator in Washington, Democrat Joe Manchin.
Discussion:
HotAir
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
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?
Monica Hesse / Washington Post:
Prince Andrew's titles were ridiculous. But it matters that he no longer has them. — The British prince was ‘Chief Commodore of the Fleet Air Arm.’ He'll face sexual-abuse allegations as a ‘private citizen.’ — On Wednesday, Buckingham Palace released a statement that the Andrew formerly known …
Discussion:
Telegraph
Houston Chronicle:
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 …
Discussion:
The Texas Tribune, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Insider and Political Wire
Washington Post:
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 …
Discussion:
Al Jazeera, The Guardian, BBC, Bloomberg, Reuters, The Daily Beast, Washington Examiner, CBS News, Euractiv, Voice of America, Deadline, UPI and NBC Chicago
Azeen Ghorayshi / New York Times:
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 …
Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Covid Live Updates: Treasury Threatens to Hold Relief Funds From Arizona Over School Mask Fight — The state is using some of the money to undercut mask requirements in schools. Hospitals are filling up in two dozen U.S. states as Omicron spreads. — Here's what you need to know:
Discussion:
The Hill, Forbes, The Guardian, UPI, The White House and Political Wire
Ema O'Connor / BuzzFeed News:
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.
Lexi Lonas / The Hill:
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 …
Patrick Marley / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
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.
Discussion:
VICE, Common Dreams, Human Events, NPR, UPI and The Hill
Nathalie Baptiste / HuffPost:
It's Time For Democrats To Accept That Norms Are Dead — The GOP has no problem being completely unmoored from reality. — When members of the House Select Committee on Jan. 6 asked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) to meet with them, they probably should've known that he wouldn't comply with their request.