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The World's Richest Man Wants to Burn It All Down — Per NBC News, the Republicans who welcomed Elon Musk into their tent as a key decision-maker and thought leader are having an excellent time: … Happy Thursday. — The Kent Brockman Republicans — by William Kristol
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The Chaos Monkeys Have Already Taken Over the Zoo — The peddlers of misinformation are high on their own supply — Well, I was going to post about proposals for bank deregulation, but I think that can wait for a bit. The news of the moment is the looming prospect that the federal government will shut down over the weekend.
Discussion:
Digby's Hullabaloo and Diane Ravitch's blog


Behind the Curtain: Musk's America … - A Trump source told us this is the new playbook: Republican lawmakers got “instant and overwhelming feedback. … You should never bet against Trump or Elon.” — Now, the two are a combined force blanketing culture, media and governance.
Discussion:
The Federalist, New York Times, The Guardian, Black Wall Street Times, Alternet.org and New Jersey Online


Trump says Mike Johnson will ‘easily remain speaker’ if he acts ‘decisively and tough’ on spending bill — Trump told Fox News Digital anyone who supports a bill that doesn't take care of debt ceiling should be ‘primaried and disposed of’ — EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump told Fox News Digital …
Discussion:
ABC News, HotAir, NOTUS, New York Magazine, Washington Post, New York Post, Mediaite, acecomments.mu.nu, Raw Story, Daily Mail, USA Today, Townhall, RedState, The Hill, Breitbart, The Post Millennial, Washington Examiner, CBS News, New Jersey Online, The Gateway Pundit, Semafor, New Republic, Politico and Joe.My.God.


Trump calls for abolishing the debt ceiling — In a phone interview with NBC News, Trump said getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely would be the “smartest thing [Congress] could do. I would support that entirely.” — President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that Congress should get rid …


Republicans Turn Eating Their Own Into A Spectator Sport — INSIDE: Elon Musk ... Mike Johnson ... Matt Gaetz … Welcome To Trump II — MAGA Republicans led by Elon Musk and under pressure from Donald Trump are now poised to ruin Christmas with a government shutdown and New Year's …
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Vanity Fair and Fox News


Trump's demands leave Republicans flailing with no plan on eve of shutdown — GOP leaders have kept both chambers waiting as they privately discuss a Plan B after President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk torched their bipartisan funding deal. — WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson …


Jeffries shuts down raising the debt ceiling
Discussion:
The Hill, Bloomberg, CBS News, The Texas Tribune and Fox News

Rand Paul floats Elon Musk for House Speaker
Discussion:
Fox News, WNEP-TV, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Twitchy, Mock Paper Scissors and Mediaite

Dems Troll Trump by Calling Elon the Real President
Discussion:
New Republic, New York Times, The Hill, El País and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

Spending Deal Debacle Threatens Johnson's Tenuous Hold on His Job
Discussion:
Axios, The Hill, Raw Story, Bloomberg and New York Daily News

GOP senator suggests Trump come to Washington to unite party
Discussion:
Fox News, Washington Examiner, Townhall and RedState

‘President Elon Musk!’ MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell And Dem Dan Goldman Taunt Trump Over Musk Taking Lead
Discussion:
Raw Story

12/19/24 ☀️ AM: … At first, the House Republican Conference was aghast …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Politico, WNEP-TV, Semafor, Blaze Media, Daily Mail, The Daily Caller, New York Times, The Hill and BizPac Review, more at Techmeme »

Trump Tossed a Debt Limit Grenade Into Spending Talks. Here's Why.
Discussion:
ABC News, New York Magazine, Associated Press, New Jersey Online, The Guardian and The Hill

Can the Muskrat shut the United States government?
Discussion:
The Hill, USA Today, Daily Kos, Fortune, Raw Story, American Thinker, Washington Examiner, Alternet.org, The Gateway Pundit and HuffPost

Trump and Musk unleash a new kind of chaos on Washington
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Politico, New Jersey Online, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story and Daily Kos

Hawley: “We need to have a serious look at who is leading this Congress”
Discussion:
Breitbart, Washington Examiner and Mock Paper Scissors

Johnson and Trump team floating stopgap plan with disaster aid, debt limit, farm bill
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Associated Press, Bloomberg, The Hill, Breitbart, ABC News, New York Magazine, The Federalist and Washington Times

Democrats rage at “unelected co-president” Elon Musk
Discussion:
RedState, The Guardian, Townhall and The Hill


GA appeals court disqualifies DA Fani Willis from Trump election case, lets indictment stand … A Georgia appeals court on Thursday disqualified Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from overseeing the criminal election interference prosecution of President-elect Donald Trump and other defendants.
Discussion:
Axios, The Guardian, Daily Mail, New York Post, The Daily Caller, Fox News, OPB, RedState, Megyn Kelly, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Hill, Al Jazeera, Forbes, The Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, IJR, Reuters, The Federalist, JONATHAN TURLEY, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, NBC News, The Post Millennial, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Washington Times, Law & Crime, Townhall, USA Today, Washington Examiner, UPI, Rolling Stone, New Republic, Blaze Media, American Greatness, CBS News, Mediaite and Twitchy
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Prosecutor Fani Willis is removed from the Georgia election case against Trump and others — A state appeals court on Thursday removed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the Georgia election interference case against Donald Trump and others, the latest legal victory …
Discussion:
WAGA-TV, HotAir, Breitbart, CNN, Hollywood Life, Forbes, RedState, Associated Press, The Independent, Florida Phoenix, The Hill, Alternet.org, BizPac Review, Fox News and freebeacon.com


How the White House Functioned With a Diminished Biden in Charge — Aides kept meetings short and controlled access, top advisers acted as go-betweens and public interactions became more scripted. The administration denied Biden has declined. — During the 2020 presidential primary …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Breitbart, The Independent, IJR, Megyn Kelly, Daily Caller News Foundation, American Thinker, Commentary Magazine, The Federalist, New York Post, The Daily Sceptic, Daily Mail, The Gateway Pundit, The Post Millennial, Reason, Mediaite, HotAir, BizPac Review, Instapundit, Power Line and Election Law Blog


Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump met for dinner at Mar-a-Lago, joined by Elon Musk — After feuds during Trump's first term, Trump and Bezos have both noted their recent evolving relationship. — President-elect Donald Trump had dinner Wednesday with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos …
Discussion:
Business Insider, TMZ.com, New York Times, The Information, New York Magazine, Page Six, Joe.My.God., The Independent and The Post Millennial
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GOP strikes a new spending deal — Republicans have struck a deal on a short-term government spending patch and potential debt limit increase, according to two GOP lawmakers meeting in Speaker Mike Johnson's office Thursday afternoon. “There is an agreement,” said Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.).
Discussion:
Townhall, New York Post, RedState, Joe.My.God. and CBS News


How Liberal America Came to Its Senses … A decade ago, cultural norms in elite American institutions took a sharply illiberal turn. Professors would get disciplined, journalists fired, ordinary people harassed by social-media mobs, over some decontextualized phrase or weaponized misunderstanding.


Closures, Social Security checks, furloughs: What a government shutdown might mean — Congress has until midnight Friday to come up with a way to fund the government or federal agencies will shut down, meaning hundreds of thousands of federal employees could be sent home — or stay on the job without pay — just ahead of the holidays.
Discussion:
USA Today, Bloomberg, NBC News, Axios, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Fox News, PolitiFact, ABC News, CBS News, Liberal Democracy, Raw Story, HuffPost and The Daily Caller
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GOP lawmakers prepare to carry out Gaetz's revenge, expose harassment settlements — Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, the focus of a House Ethics Committee report that may soon become public, is planning to inflict fresh pain on some of his old colleagues. A number of Republican lawmakers are preparing to help.


Amazon Delivery Drivers at Seven Hubs Walk Out — The retail giant said it expected its operations to be largely unaffected by the strike of some drivers at contracting firms Amazon uses to deliver packages. — Workers who deliver packages from seven Amazon facilities across the country went …
Discussion:
CNN, Alternet.org, Ars Technica, International Brotherhood …, CBS News, Fox Business, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, ABC News, TMZ.com, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, abc7NY, WHDH-TV, Blaze Media, Wired, UPI, The Information, One America News Network, NPR, Hollywood Life, Truthout, Axios and The Verge


Top aide to Eric Adams indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges — The aide's son and two developers were also charged. — NEW YORK — Prosecutors charged New York City Mayor Eric Adams' closest confidant in a conspiracy, bribery and money laundering case Thursday.
Discussion:
Associated Press, freebeacon.com, The Hill, The Guardian, UPI, Manhattan District …, The City, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times, New York Post and Gothamist


Even some in the pro-Trump media environment are wary of his plans — They are much less worried, though, about Trump trying to become a dictator. — President-elect Donald Trump is an unusual politician, to understate the obvious. He has a vision for what he'd like to see happen in the country …