memeorandum: Is the Country Getting.... Better? (Daniel W. Drezner/Drezner's World)

4:10 PM ET, December 9, 2022

Top Items:

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema: Why I'm registering as an independent — The Arizona senator explains why she has left the Democratic Party. — There's a disconnect between what everyday Americans want and deserve from our politics, and what political parties are offering.

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Sinema switches to independent, shaking up the Senate — Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is changing her party affiliation to independent, delivering a jolt to Democrats' narrow majority and Washington along with it. — In a 45-minute interview, the first-term senator told POLITICO …

Jeremy Herb / CNN:

Sinema leaving the Democratic Party and registering as an independent — Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is leaving the Democratic Party and registering as a political independent, she told CNN's Jake Tapper in an exclusive TV interview. — “I've registered as an Arizona independent.

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Kyrsten Sinema Is Playing Chicken … The biggest loser of the 2022 election other than Donald Trump was Kyrsten Sinema. The Arizona senator and now-former Democrat desperately needed Democrats, especially fellow senator Mark Kelly, to lose. Only such a setback would make the party desperate enough …

Politico:

POLITICO Playbook PM: Sifting through the Sinema fallout — The decision triggered a bevy of questions, some which we're starting to get answers to: — Q: Will she keep her committees in the upper chamber? — A: Yes. Just before noon, Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER said in a statement …

Discussion: Associated Press

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

The politics of Kyrsten Sinema's party switch — Four days ago, we wrote about a few reasons the Georgia Senate runoff — and whether Democrats' majority would grow to 51-49 — mattered, practically speaking. One of those reasons? The possibility of a party switch.

Discussion: Fox News, Arizona Republic, ABC News, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, CNBC, New Republic, One America News Network, Balkinization, Bloomberg, PoliticusUSA and Insider

Hailey Fuchs / Politico:

Top progressive firm drops Sinema as a client — The leading progressive digital firm Authentic has dropped Kyrsten Sinema as a client, after the Arizona senator announced she was leaving the Democratic Party, according to a person close to the firm. — Sinema announced Friday …

Discussion: New Republic and Political Wire

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Sinema's decision to quit the Democratic Party jolts Arizona 2024 Senate race

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story and Inside Elections

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Schumer says Sinema can keep committee assignments after leaving Democratic Party

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Just Security, Washington Post and Washington Blade

Axios:
Kyrsten Sinema goes independent, scrambles Senate

Discussion: NBC News, Insider, The Hill, Newsbusters, Politico, New Republic, The Wrap, Raw Story, Washington Times, Morning Shots, Fox News, Human Events, Washington Examiner, HuffPost, CBS News and CNN

New York Times:
Kyrsten Sinema Says She Will Leave the Democratic Party

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Bloomberg, Algemeiner.com, Semafor, E&E, Washington Post, NBC Bay Area, Insider, Louder With Crowder, The Dispatch, New Republic, Ace of Spades HQ and The Hill

NBC News:
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema leaves Democratic Party and registers as an independent

Discussion: New York Post, Breitbart, The Daily, The Liberty Loft, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Hill, The Wrap, IJR, NPR and The 90 Degrees

Associated Press:

Brittney Griner back home in US after Russian prisoner swap — Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday, nearly 10 months after the basketball star's detention in Russia made her the most high-profile American jailed abroad and set off a political firestorm.

CNN:
Russia demanded that a spy held in Germany be freed in exchange for Paul Whelan

Discussion: New York Post, Washington Post, The Dossier and Political Wire

Julia Ioffe / Puck:
Inside the Griner Prisoner Swap

Discussion: TheBlaze, New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, The Wrap and HotAir

Alex Gangitano / The Hill:
White House responds to criticism of Griner prisoner deal

T.J. Quinn / ESPN:
The hectic final chapter to WNBA star Brittney Griner's time in Russia

Discussion: CBS News, CNBC, Metro.co.uk, New York Post, TMZ.com, Insider, CNN, Associated Press and Defector

Washington Examiner:
Joe Biden made a bad, deadly deal to free Brittney Griner

Discussion: Tangle, Fox News, Twitchy, CNN, The Full Belmonte, The Liberty Loft, The Daily Caller, New York Post, The Dossier, Breitbart, The Western Journal, The Hill, Politico, Raw Story, Voice of America and The Post Millennial

Shauntel Lowe / New York Times:
Griner's Detention Showed the Strength and the Struggle in Women's Sports

Discussion: Insider, Wall Street Journal, Metro Weekly, New York Post, The Daily Caller, ESPN, Mother Jones and The Times of Israel

CNN:

House Republicans brace for doomsday scenario if McCarthy falls short of 218 votes for speaker — As a right-wing faction threatens to tank his speakership ambitions, House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy delivered a promise: “I'll never leave,” making clear he has no plans to drop out of the race …

Discussion: Raw Story and American Greatness

Nathaniel Rakich / FiveThirtyEight:
How Kevin McCarthy Could Lose The Election For Speaker Of The House

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Slate, RealClearFlorida and Fox News

New York Times:

Judge to Hear Justice Dept. Contempt Request in Trump Documents Case — The department wants the court to force a representative of Donald J. Trump to swear under oath that there are no more classified documents at any of his properties. — A federal judge in Washington was set to hear arguments …

Discussion: CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, Occupy Democrats, Raw Story, PoliticusUSA, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Fox News, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Guardian, Just The News, The Daily, Metro.co.uk and UPI

Robert Tracinski / The Bulwark:
The Lesson of Trump: Character Matters

Discussion: Raw Story

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:
Trump's 2024 Campaign So Far Is an Epic Act of Self-Sabotage

Discussion: Bloomberg, Raw Story and The Hill

Meridith McGraw / Politico:

Private RNC member emails reveal anger at Trump, frustration with McDaniel's response to him — A handful of Republican National Committee members denounced former President Donald Trump, with one pushing for fellow members and RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel to forcefully condemn his decision …

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story and Just The News

NBC News:
Ronna McDaniel locked down votes for RNC chair despite the midterm debacle. Here's how she did it.

Discussion: IJR and RedState

Adam Serwer / The Atlantic:

Why Conservatives Invented a ‘Right to Post’ — Early December might have marked the first time anyone ever asserted a First Amendment right to see the president's son's penis, an argument that the Framers likely did not anticipate. — In November, the billionaire Elon Musk purchased Twitter …

Discussion: CMary

Brian Bushard / Forbes:

GOP Jump On Biden Official Sam Brinton's 2nd Theft Allegation—Blames ‘Wokeness’ For His Job — The Biden Administration has come under fire from Republican lawmakers after Energy Department official Sam Brinton, who identifies as nonbinary, was charged in two separate instances of stealing suitcases …

Discussion: Insider, The Daily Caller and Twitchy

Allie Griffin / New York Post:
Non-binary Biden nuclear official Sam Brinton accused in second luggage heist

Washington Post:

War has tamed Ukraine's oligarchs, creating space for democratic change — Ukraine may have the opportunity to rebuild a postwar society that is more democratic, less corrupt and more economically diversified — BURSHTYN, Ukraine — Over two days in October, eight Russian cruise missiles screamed …

Bryan Curtis / The Ringer:

This Secret Society in Washington, D.C., Has One Agenda: Fly, Eagles, Fly — The most passionate fan base in D.C. political media belongs to the NFL's league-leading team — Last Sunday, while Washington, D.C., was wondering about the composition of the Senate or watching the Commanders, a dozen emails flew back and forth.

Karen Townsend / HotAir:

Judge tosses first “bounty hunter” lawsuit filed using Texas abortion law — A state judge Thursday dismissed a case against a San Antonio abortion provider that is a first. The lawsuit was the first test of a provision in Texas abortion law that allows private citizens to sue over any illegal abortion they discover.

Discussion: Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, Rolling Stone, The Daily Caller, UPI, The Texas Tribune, HuffPost, Forbes and Bloomberg

Daniel W. Drezner / Drezner's World:

Is the Country Getting.... Better? — Things have been pretty weird in the USA over the past few years. Are things returning to normalcy? — The last six years or so have felt like one of those video boxing games in which the announcer yells “body blow” on repeat, but for the entire country.