memeorandum: New York Police Officers Remember Jason Rivera (Maureen Dowd/New York Times)

3:05 PM ET, January 29, 2022

Top Items:

Ashton Pittman / Mississippi Free Press:

Wicker: Black Woman Supreme Court Pick An Affirmative Action ‘Beneficiary’ — The first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court in history will be a “beneficiary” of affirmative action, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker told a radio show this afternoon. The senior Republican senator from Mississippi …

Discussion: CNN, HuffPost, Mother Jones, Insider, YouTube, The Guardian, Boston Herald, PolitiFact, New Yorker, New York Times and The Daily Beast

NBC News:

DNC chair Jaime Harrison has considered early exit amid White House tensions — WASHINGTON — Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison is frustrated, isolated and trapped in a job he long thought he wanted, according to party insiders, a dynamic driven by escalating tensions with the White House over his role.

John Fritze / USA Today:

Biden considering Judge J. Michelle Childs and may be casting wider net for Supreme Court vacancy — WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden is considering a federal judge in South Carolina as one of several candidates to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the White House confirmed …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Examiner, CBS News, The Daily Caller and CNBC

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Cloud of Supreme Court Confirmation Bitterness Hangs Over Coming Fight

Discussion: Associated Press, claytoonz, Against the Grain, The Western Journal, TheGrio, Mercury News and The Blue State Conservative

New York Times:
As Breyer Pondered Retirement, Biden Bet on a Hands-Off Strategy

Discussion: Insider, Washington Examiner and Off The Mall

Seung Min Kim / Washington Post:
White House confirms South Carolina judge is under consideration for Supreme Court

Discussion: UPI, Townhall, CNN, Fox News, No More Mister Nice Blog, CBS News, NPR, Washington Examiner, National Review and Politico

Aidin Vaziri / Datebook:

Spotify loses $4 billion in market value after Neil Young controversy — Spotify lost $4 billion in market value this week after rock icon Neil Young called out the company for allowing comedian Joe Rogan to use its service to spread misinformation about the COVID vaccine on his popular podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”

Discussion: Variety, The Wrap, One America News Network, Fortune and Stereogum, more at Mediagazer »

Ellise Shafer / Variety:

Joni Mitchell Says She's Removing Music From Spotify: ‘Irresponsible People Are Spreading Lies’ … Joni Mitchell has pledged to remove her music from Spotify, just a few days after fellow singer-songwriter icon Neil Young did the same. — In a note on her official website titled …

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Vanity Fair, Datebook, QTR's Fringe Finance, Outside the Beltway, HillReporter.com and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

Joni Mitchell:

News Item — I Stand With Neil Young! — I've decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue. —Joni Mitchell

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, New York Post, Mashable, NPR, The Atlantic, The Verge, The Guardian, POLITICUSUSA, Common Dreams, WSVN-TV, Bloomberg, WGN-TV, Deadline, Rolling Stone, UPI, The Daily Beast, Stereogum and Insider

Adela Suliman / Washington Post:
Joni Mitchell pulls music from Spotify in stand with Neil Young against covid misinformation

Discussion: CBS News, Bangor Daily News, The Guardian and Althouse

Timothy Snyder / Washington Post:

Putin's case for invading Ukraine rests on phony grievances and ancient myths … Last July, Vladimir Putin supplied the mythical basis for Russian war propaganda in an essay titled “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians.” The essential idea is that Russia has the right to Ukraine …

Discussion: Fox News, TL;DR'd, The Fog, Al Jazeera and Bangor Daily News

Washington Post:
U.S. and allies debate the intelligence on how quickly Putin will order an invasion of Ukraine — or whether he will at all

Discussion: The Kyiv Independent, NPR, BizPac Review and Fox News

New York Times:
U.S. Sanctions Aimed at Russia Could Take a Wide Toll

Discussion: CNN, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, New York Post, Associated Press, Fox News, Precious Things, There Will Be Trouble, Metro.co.uk, The National Interest, One America News Network and Defense One

New York Times:
White House Warnings Over Russia Strain Ukraine-U.S. Partnership

Discussion: CNN, The Guardian, Wide World of News, Japan Times, NPR, Los Angeles Times, Washington Examiner, The Continentalist, The National Interest, Voice of America and Balloon Juice

Washington Post:
U.S. says Russia ‘clearly’ now has capability to attack as Ukraine complains of Western panic

Discussion: Voice of America, Breitbart, The Halfway Cafe and Prada's Newsletter

Denise Lavoie / Associated Press:

Virginia Republicans push for changes in marijuana law — RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Newly empowered Republican lawmakers in Virginia who opposed legalizing simple possession of marijuana say they don't want to scrap the law, but they do want to make significant changes.

Discussion: The Hill and USA Today

Nate Gartrell / Mercury News:

Federal judge bucks prosecutors, jails CA man who mailed 75 racist death threats to anti-Trump politicians — Cards included racist language, ‘KKK’ signature — SAN FRANCISCO — In a rare rebuke of prosecutors, a federal judge handed down a jail sentence to a California man who spent …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Mostly dead or slightly alive? Democrats don't yet know if Build Back Better can be revived — The fate of Democrats' top agenda item will not only have major policy repercussions for the country but also the party's political prospects in the midterm elections.

Discussion: Nancy Brisson's Newsletter, New York Post and Washington Examiner

Washington Examiner:
Shovel more dirt onto Build Back Better

Discussion: Chalkbeat Tennessee

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

New York Police Officers Remember Jason Rivera — We don't hear much about good cops these days. — Their stories get lost amid the scalding episodes with trigger-happy, racist and sadistic cops. — The good ones get tarred with the same brush, even though the last person who wants …

Discussion: Fox News

Michael Cavna / Washington Post:

Art Spiegelman sees the new ban of his book ‘Maus’ as a ‘red alert’ — Art Spiegelman didn't set out to write an educational aid for young-adult readers. A half-century ago, he simply wanted to better know his own origin story, discover more about his parents' histories — and hear from his father …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Forbes

Dan Mangan / CNBC:
‘Maus’ is an Amazon bestseller after Tennessee school ban - author Art Spiegelman compares board to Putin

Discussion: NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Salon

Caroline Kitchener / Washington Post:

Republican-led states rush to pass antiabortion bills before Supreme Court rules on Roe — Lawmakers in at least 29 states, anticipating a new legal landscape, have filed measures to restrict abortion. — Nebraska lawmakers kicked off the new year by introducing a bill to ban all abortions …

Jared Malsin / Wall Street Journal:

Turkey's Erdogan Fires Statistics Chief After Record Inflation — President also appoints another member of ruling party as justice minister — ISTANBUL—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan replaced the head of the state statistics agency weeks after it reported record inflation …

Discussion: Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, WTOP News and One America News Network

Ja'han Jones / MSNBC:

TikTokers spam Virginia GOP governor's tip line for snitching on teachers — Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a vocal opponent of critical race theory, encouraged parents to report “inherently divisive practices” at schools. TikTokers devised a brilliant way to troll him.

Discussion: Hackwhackers

Brooke Migdon / The Hill:

LGBTQ+ dating apps used by police in dozens of drug arrests — The six-month sting operation produced more than 60 arrests, the Polk County Sheriff's Office in Florida said. — Story at a glance — Authorities in Florida this week said they used dating apps like Grindr and Scruff to make more than 60 drug-related arrests.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, SitefinityWebApp and Los Angeles Blade

Jill Colvin / Associated Press:

Trump facing legal, political headwinds as he eyes comeback — CONROE, Texas (AP) — As he prepared to tee off at one of his Florida golf courses, a fellow player introduced Donald Trump as the “45th president of the United States.” — “45th and 47th,” Trump responded matter-of-factly, before hitting his drive.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Political Wire and Las Vegas Review-Journal

Elizabeth Findell / Wall Street Journal:

Texas GOP Governor Faces Backlash Over Problems With National Guard Deployment at Border — Gov. Greg Abbott faces challenges from fellow Republicans and Democrats over pay problems and poor morale among National Guardsmen — Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is being blamed by GOP opponents …

Discussion: Raw Story and Christopher Six's Pick Six