Statement by President Joe Biden  —  Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place.  Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces …

CNN insider says network ‘needs to step up and fire Brian Stelter’ for not exposing Jeff Zucker affair: report  —  The network employee said Stelter's 'been sitting on his moral high horse doing Jeff's biddling'  —  Zucker's actions an ‘embarrassment’ for CNN: Kurtz

Josh Hawley seeks to be Putin's new favorite pet  —  In a body full of MAGA sycophants and Ivy League-educated senators spewing anti-elite rhetoric, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) manages to stand out.  From his fist-pumping approval of the Jan. 6 mob to his whining that his canceled book deal amounts …

Unmasking Of Rudy Giuliani On Fox's ‘The Masked Singer’ Prompts Judges Ken Jeong & Robin Thicke To Walk Off In Protest  —  EXCLUSIVE, SPOILER ALERT: Rudy Giuliani was last week unmasked as an exiting costumed contestant in the taping of the first episode of Fox's popular prime time show The Masked Singer.

Memo circulated among Trump allies advocated using NSA data in attempt to prove stolen election  —  The proposal to seize and analyze “NSA unprocessed raw signals data” raises legal and ethical concerns that set it apart from other attempts that have come to light.

Inside Mississippi's only class on critical race theory  —  As Republican lawmakers push to ban critical race theory, here's how the class changed the mind of one conservative Mississippian.  —  Brittany Murphree was born and raised in Rankin County, Mississippi, one of the most Republican counties …

Biden, Adams strike up alliance as Democrats face new threat: Rising violent crime  —  NEW YORK — One likes to go out at night before waking up early.  The other keeps a compressed schedule and enjoys weekends on the Delaware shore.  —  One is a former cop who ran for office with the support of rank-and-file officers.

L.A. Mayor Garcetti Says He Held His Breath For Maskless Photo With Magic Johnson  —  Los Angeles Mayor — and Biden Administration ambassadorial nominee — Eric Garcetti today defended his actions after maskless photos surfaced of him and Lakers great Magic Johnson, along …

Lewandowski's New Gig: Get Rid of Gov. Sununu  —  On the Howie Carr radio show Wednesday, Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski said his old boss has given him a new job: Get rid of Gov. Chris Sununu.  —  “When we spoke earlier in the day, you told me that [President Trump] assigned you a couple …

Take The Hint, John Roberts — It's Time For You To Retire, Too  —  “Judges are like umpires,” John Roberts famously said at his confirmation hearing as Chief Justice.  “Umpires don't make the rules, they apply them ... They make sure everybody plays by the rules, but it is a limited role.

Memos Show Roots of Trump's Focus on Jan. 6 and Alternate Electors  —  Just over two weeks after Election Day, lawyers working with the Trump campaign set out a rationale for creating alternate slates of electors as part of an effort to buy time to overturn the results.

So long, Omicron: White House eyes next phase of pandemic  —  The White House is preparing to move on from Omicron.  —  Emboldened by falling case counts, the Biden administration is plotting a new phase of the pandemic response aimed at containing the coronavirus and conditioning Americans to live with it.

Facebook lost daily users for the first time ever last quarter  —  A metaverse pivot isn't going to fix the social network's main problems: slowing user and ad growth  —  Since its inception, Facebook's user growth has essentially been up and to the right.

When the Pope Hits Your Eye Like a Big Pizza Pie, That's Ahmari  —  From neoconservatism to integralist cosplay to active worship of China and Russia, the ‘post-liberal’ right has had a giddy five years  —  I first met Sohrab Ahmari, one of the most influential and controversial writers …

Tax-Free Inheritances Fuel America's New $73 Trillion Gilded Age  —  Americans can expect to inherit $72.6 trillion over the next quarter century, more than twice as much as a decade ago, in the latest indication of how soaring markets are poised to bolster the next generation of the ultra-rich.

How much 2022 candidates are paying after endorsements  —  Some big-name 2022 candidates are cutting checks to high-profile backers who endorsed their campaigns, records show.  —  Why it matters: Key endorsements are a known boon to campaigns battling for support, especially among ideologically committed primary voters.

National Butterfly Center on Texas border closing indefinitely after attacks from right-wing conspiracy theorists  —  The National Butterfly Center on the Texas border is closing “for the immediate future” after conspiracy-fueled attacks against the center on social media escalated in recent days.

NORTH KOREA HACKED HIM.  SO HE TOOK DOWN ITS INTERNET  —  Disappointed with the lack of US response to the Hermit Kingdom's attacks against US security researchers, one hacker took matters into his own hands.  —  For the past two weeks, observers of North Korea's strange and tightly restricted corner …

It Might Be Time for the Democrats to Move On From Chuck Schumer  —  Not great, Bob!  —  Ever since my pivot to becoming a content man, I keep a list of half-baked takes and stray ideas in my notes app.  —  One in particular has been staring at me for a long time now: Chuck/Nancy Move On.

Requiescat in Pace, Alma  —  Covid took my sister, a compassionate, tough soul who always put others first.  —  Tuesday morning, the hospital wouldn't let me say goodbye to my sister.  Covid restrictions, they said.  Only Alma's two daughters, masked and gowned, were allowed in with their mother …