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5:30 PM ET, December 31, 2020

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Peter Wehner / The Atlantic:
The Unbearable Weakness of Trump's Minions  —  Those hoping for a quick snapback to sanity for the Republican Party once Donald Trump is no longer president should temper those hopes.  —  The latest piece of evidence to suggest the enduring power of Trumpian unreality is yesterday's announcement …
RELATED:
Politico:
McConnell: House's $2,000 stimulus checks are ‘socialism for rich’  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell dubbed the effort to increase direct payments to $2,000 “socialism for rich people,” eliciting an incredulous reaction from Sen. Bernie Sanders as the GOP Senate continued to decline to take up the matter on Thursday.
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Josh Hawley reminds us that the GOP is the sedition party  —  The Republican Party yet again provides us with reason for its own demise.  The Post reports: “Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) announced Wednesday that he would object next week when Congress convenes to certify the electoral college vote …
Washington Post:
Sen. Sasse calls effort to overturn electoral college vote a ‘dangerous ploy’
Burgess Everett / Politico:   Elizabeth Warren's next chapter
RELATED:
CNN:
Georgia GOP senator to quarantine just days ahead of runoff  —  (CNN)Republican Sen. David Perdue of Georgia will quarantine after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, his campaign announced Thursday, with just days to go before the state's runoff race for his seat.
Paul Steinhauser / Fox News:
GOP looks for big Georgia runoff-election turnout to top Dems' early-voting advantage  —  Both Trump and Biden to campaign in Georgia on the eve of the runoff elections, where the Senate GOP majority is up for grabs  —  Trump, Biden to make final push in Georgia
Cleve R. Wootson / Washington Post:
Georgia's Perdue to quarantine after possible coronavirus exposure, on weekend before Senate runoffs  —  ATLANTA — Sen. David Perdue, one of the Republican candidates in the pair of Georgia runoffs that will determine the trajectory of Congress for the next two years, is quarantining …
CNBC:
Sen. David Perdue quarantines after contact with someone infected with Covid, days before Georgia runoff
Hannah Miao / CNBC:
Often overlooked, Asian American Christian voters could be key in Georgia Senate runoffs
Discussion: The American Independent and Vox
New York Times:
‘Covid, Covid, Covid’: In Trump's Final Chapter, a Failure to Rise to the Moment  —  As the U.S. confronted a new wave of infection and death through the summer and fall, the president's approach to the pandemic came down to a single question: What would it mean for him?
Discussion: Forbes, Mediaite and Raw Story
Los Angeles Times:
Some healthcare workers refuse to take COVID-19 vaccine, even with priority access  —  They are front-line workers with top priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine, but they are refusing to take it.  —  At St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Tehama County, fewer than half …
Discussion: Raw Story
RELATED:
Soumya Karlamangla / Los Angeles Times:
Bodies pile up, patient care falters as COVID-19 devastates L.A. County hospitals  —  Los Angeles County's healthcare system was buckling Wednesday under the unprecedented surge of COVID-19 patients, with bodies piling up at morgues and medical professionals resorting to increasingly desperate measures …
Steve Inskeep / NPR:
Biden's Incoming Press Secretary: Briefings Won't Be A Platform For Right-Wing Spin  —  Toggle more options  —  President-elect Joe Biden's choice for White House press secretary says she will restore a tradition.  Unlike her immediate predecessors in the Trump administration …
Zeynep Tufekci / The Atlantic:
The Mutated Virus Is a Ticking Time Bomb  —  Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers.  Find the collection here.  —  A new variant of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe.  It was first identified in the United Kingdom …
Discussion: New York Times and National Memo
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Microsoft says Russians hacked its network, viewing source code  —  Russian government hackers engaged in a sweeping series of breaches of government and private-sector networks have been able to penetrate deeper into Microsoft's systems than previously known, gaining access …
RELATED:
Robert Burns / Associated Press:
US to move aircraft carrier out of Mideast amid Iran tension  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has decided to send home the only Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Middle East, a move that would reduce U.S. firepower in the region amid heightened tensions with Iran, officials said Thursday.
Discussion: Reuters
RELATED:
Billie Kanfer / Data For Progress:
Republicans Don't Know Anything About Their Party.  That's Very Bad for American Democracy.  —  By Ethan Winter  —  While the packaging of Republican Party politics has evolved since 2000, what remains unaltered is a bedrock commitment to regressive tax cuts, a sharp curtailment of worker power …
Discussion: Raw Story
J. Clara Chan / The Wrap:
5 NY1 Anchors Exit As Part of Age, Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Settlement  —  Roma Torre, Kristen Shaughnessy, Jeanine Ramirez, Vivian Lee and Amanda Farinacci have “mutually agreed to part ways” with the station  —  Five Spectrum NY1 anchors who sued Charter Communications for age …
Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:
Trump Fears That His Influence Is Waning  —  The president is plotting retribution.  Not just because he's mad about his election loss.  But because he wants to keep folks in line.  —  As his days in office come to a close, President Donald Trump has hinted to those close to him that he's worried …
Discussion: Raw Story
Nancy Cook / Bloomberg:
Trump Budget Chief Hampers Biden Transition With Ban on Meetings  — Agency director Russ Vought wants focus on last-minute rules  — Biden has complained OMB, Pentagon are hampering transition  —  President Donald Trump's budget office is blocking Joe Biden's transition team …
Mike Allen / Axios:
Biden asks nation for bell ringings, light shows to remember those lost to COVID  —  To set the tone for his inauguration the next day, President-elect Biden will lead a memorial to remember and honor lives lost to COVID-19, with church-bell ringings and light shows across the country on Tue., Jan. 19, at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Amanda Macias / CNBC:
Trump boasts about his Covid response after largely ignoring crisis during deadliest month yet  — December was the deadliest month for America during the pandemic.  Yet President Donald Trump barely uttered a word about Covid-19's tragic toll.  — Instead, the president spent …
Bethany Barnes / Tampa Bay Times:
Federal agency knew Garda was “really bad” at safety.  It took little action.  —  Three more people have died since the Times revealed safety problems at the Florida-based armored truck company.  —  By the time Johnathon Lue burned alive in the back of a GardaWorld armored truck in May …
Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:
West Virginia clinic gave 42 people an antibody treatment instead of the coronavirus vaccine  —  Forty-two people in West Virginia received an antibody treatment rather than Moderna's coronavirus vaccine in an error Wednesday at a vaccination clinic hosted by a county health department.
Discussion: CNBC, The Hill and WV MetroNews
Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Trumpist Lawyer Lin Wood Goes on Unhinged Rant Suggesting Justice John Roberts Is a Murderous Pedophile  —  Wood has recently been in touch with President Trump, who has encouraged his election-stealing lawsuits and behavior.  —  Pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood ramped up the crazy on Wednesday night …
Monica Hesse / Washington Post:
This terrible year taught me something about hope  —  The first month of the pandemic was also supposed to be the month I got pregnant, but my clinic closed and plans changed.  Doctors and nurses needed personal protective equipment to tend to patients with covid-19, not women with recurrent miscarriages.
Oliver Traldi / Arc Digital:
Nobody Reads  —  People who pretend to read as a status symbol are certainly obnoxious — but are they on to something?  —  When you first hear about a store called “Books by the Foot,” you might think: The name tells me they've got a whole lot of books to sell me.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Reuters:
China reports first case of new coronavirus variant - CDC publication
Rodney Jefferson / Bloomberg:
Trump's Scottish Golf Course Loses More Money and Warns About Brexit
Noah Smith / Noahpinion:
Shots.  Into arms.  NOW.  —  The top priority in America right now is getting vaccines into arms as quickly as possible.
Jim Galloway / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss suffers ‘minor stroke’
Discussion: The Hill, WMAZ-TV and The Daily Caller
Suzanne Bartlett Hackenmiller / Des Moines Register:
Joni Ernst receiving vaccine so quickly rankles the health care providers she insulted
 Earlier Items: 
Jessica Goodheart / capitalandmain.com:
Perdue's Time as Dollar General CEO Marked by Charges of Wage Theft, Race and Sex Discrimination
Jay Heflin / Washington Examiner:
Trump's legacy: $8 trillion-plus in added debt in one term
David Folkenflik / NPR:
Trump Appointee Seeks Lasting Control Over Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia
Alex Yablon / New Republic:
This Year's Underground Sensation: Modern Monetary Theory
Jill Lawrence / USA Today:
A Republican in Joe Biden's Cabinet? The president-elect should just say no.
John F. Harris / Politico:
2020 Shatters the Myth of American Exceptionalism
Dave Philipps / New York Times:
The Small Colorado Town Shrugged Off the Pandemic. Then Came the Coronavirus Variant.
Discussion: Denver Post
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Arasu Kannagi Basil / Reuters:
OpenAI and Reddit partner to bring Reddit content to ChatGPT and more via Reddit's Data API, bring new AI tools to Reddit, and make OpenAI a Reddit ad partner

Mia Sato / The Verge:
Memo: Gannett is adding AI-generated summaries to the top of some stories, with a disclaimer at the bottom; some USA Today stories already show the summaries

Steven Waldman / @stevenwaldman:
The California Senate Appropriations Committee approves a bill imposing fees on Alphabet, Meta, and Amazon to pay for local news through employment tax credits

 
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