Defeat Has Not Defanged Trump — or Trumpism  —  The fissures in the Democratic Party are on display for all to see, since it is the party in power, but the divisions in the Republican Party and the conservative movement are deeper, wider and far more threatening.

Kremlin Insiders Alarmed Over Growing Toll of Putin's War in Ukraine  —  Almost eight weeks after Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine, with military losses mounting and Russia facing unprecedented international isolation, a small but growing number of senior Kremlin insiders are quietly questioning his decision to go to war.

Trump walks out of explosive Piers Morgan interview after being pressed on 2020 election  —  Former President Donald Trump blasted Piers Morgan as “very dishonest” while walking out of an interview with the TV presenter and Post columnist after being pressed on his claims that he lost the 2020 presidential election due to voter fraud.

Inside the New Right, Where Peter Thiel Is Placing His Biggest Bets  —  They're not MAGA.  They're not QAnon.  Curtis Yarvin and the rising right are crafting a different strain of conservative politics.  —  It was Halloween in Orlando, and we had piled into a car to make a short trip …

They Know How Journalism Works!  They're Just Against It!  —  On Tuesday, Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz published a story about a repulsive creep who uses her large online following to, essentially, subject random LGBTQ people (and especially trans people) to harassment, and worse.

House Rating Changes: Eight Races Move in Republicans' Direction  —  President Biden's approval rating remains stuck at 42 percent, and if anything the political environment has deteriorated for Democrats since January as inflation concerns have soared and Build Back Better has stalled.

Abbott's border policy cost the U.S. almost $9 billion in just 10 days  —  Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's short-lived policy of requiring state troopers to conduct secondary inspections of trucks crossing into Texas from Mexico cost the United States almost $9 billion in just 10 days, Axios reported Tuesday.

A young Democrat's viral takedown demands a ‘wokeness’ rethink  —  “Wokeness is a problem and we all know it,” James Carville recently told Vox in his inimitably splenetic way.  The veteran strategist called on Democrats to distance themselves from “faculty lounge bulls—” and to undo their image as an …

US unveils latest sanctions targeting Russia  —  The United States on Wednesday unveiled its latest round of sanctions going after Russia over its war on Ukraine, this time targeting a key commercial bank and “a global network of more than 40 individuals and entities led by U.S.-designated Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev.”

A$AP Rocky detained at LAX in connection to November 2021 shooting  —  Rakim Mayers, better known as A$AP Rocky, was detained on Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport in connection to a November 2021 shooting, according to multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the matter.

Sanders ‘has not ruled out another run for president’ if Biden doesn't  —  ‘In the event of an open 2024 Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Sanders has not ruled out another run for president,’ writes a top adviser  —  Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is open to running for president in 2024 …

Florida surgeon general warns against youth transgender procedures in rebuke of Biden  —  Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo said Wednesday that minors should not undergo gender transition procedures, along with puberty blockers and hormone treatments, and harshly criticized recent guidance …

Ginni Thomas also texted Meadows about another friend who shared election fraud conspiracy theories  —  (CNN)A day before the 2020 presidential election, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas mugged for the camera wearing a Trump baseball cap with her friend Connie Hair, chief of staff to GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas …

Former Intelligence Officials, Citing Russia, Say Big Tech Monopoly Power is Vital to National Security  —  When the U.S. security state announces that Big Tech's centralized censorship power must be preserved, we should ask what this reveals about whom this regime serves.

This firm made Republicans go viral — now it's falling apart … In the breathless world of conservative online politics, Arsenal Media is here to help you go viral.  Co-founded by gadfly meme enthusiast Benny Johnson, the firm lists clients like Rep. Madison Cawthorn and Dana Loesch …

Jan. 6 panel piecing together details of final Trump-Pence call  —  Congressional investigators entering the last stage of their probe are gathering new evidence about a crucial moment on the Jan. 6 timeline: the final, fateful phone call between Donald Trump and Mike Pence before a pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol.

Tennessee GOP kicks Trump-backed Morgan Ortagus, Baxter Lee and Robby Starbuck out of primary  —  Adam Friedman Melissa BrownNashville Tennessean  —  The Tennessee Republican Party on Tuesday voted to remove three congressional hopefuls from the primary ballot in the new-look 5th Congressional District …

New Mexico fines film company over Alec Baldwin shooting  —  SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico workplace safety regulators on Wednesday issued the maximum possible fine of nearly $137,000 against a film production company for firearms safety failures on the set of “Rust” …

Majority of Americans want masks for travelers: AP-NORC poll  —  FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A majority of Americans continue to support a mask requirement for people traveling on airplanes and other shared transportation, a new poll finds.  A ruling by a federal judge has put the government's transportation mask mandate on hold.

Russia's Chernobyl seizure seen as nuclear risk ‘nightmare’  —  CHERNOBYL, Ukraine (AP) — Here in the dirt of one of the world's most radioactive places, Russian soldiers dug trenches.  Ukrainian officials worry they were, in effect, digging their own graves.

Trump Campaign Ordered to Pay $1.3 Million to Omarosa Manigault Newman in NDA case  —  An arbitrator found Mr. Trump's campaign owes the former White House aide and “Apprentice” star for legal fees, after he sued her for writing a tell-all book.  — Give this article- - - Read in app

EXCLUSIVE Ex-CIA analyst says she ‘got bloodied’ in tangled U.S. war on Al Qaeda  —  In the 2012 Hollywood hit “Zero Dark Thirty,” a red-haired Central Intelligence Agency analyst played by Jessica Chastain travels to a secret CIA prison and watches a colleague waterboard a screaming Al Qaeda suspect …

Report: Wimbledon to bar Russian players  —  Russian tennis players will not be permitted to compete at Wimbledon, the prestigious third Grand Slam of the season, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sportico reported Tuesday night.  —  The All England Club would become …

Exclusive: Sergei Lavrov and Oleg Deripaska Traveled With a Sex Worker to Japan in 2018  —  On official business in Tokyo, Russia's foreign minister was with its most notorious oligarch in the company of the former's mistress and the latter's escort  —  Michael Weiss is news director at New Lines

Court halts South Carolina plan for firing squad execution  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's highest court on Wednesday issued a temporary stay blocking the state from carrying out what was set to be its first-ever firing squad execution.  —  The order by the state Supreme Court puts …

Tucker Carlson and the Crisis of Masculinity  —  America needs more—and better—male role models.  —  Tucker Carlson's foray into testicle toasting is only the latest (and possibly most amusing) example of the right-wing's masculinity obsession.  The manliness theme keeps reappearing.