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POLITICO Playbook: McCarthy puts McConnell on notice — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — ELECTION DAY IN GEORGIA — Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. in the Senate runoff between incumbent Democrat RAPHAEL WARNOCK and Republican HERSCHEL WALKER.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Examiner and PoliticusUSA
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Aren't You All Tired of This Crap? — Are you not tired of this crap yet? … Trump's lying, of course. He said what he said, and now he's trying to back out of it. The more interesting question is why anyone is helping him do it. Week in, week out, this is what the guy does.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Raw Story, The Hill and Politico

How Trump's legacy became ‘pure poison’ for independents — The highly touted red wave in last month's midterm election failed to develop largely because it hit a wall of resistance among independent voters, especially across the key battleground states. And that presents difficult questions for Republicans looking forward to 2024.
Discussion:
Raw Story and Opinion Today

For Trump, the Constitution is malleable
Discussion:
Raw Story, NBC News, USA Today and The Daily Right
Politico:
Senate Republicans turn on Trump over suspend-the-Constitution talk
Senate Republicans turn on Trump over suspend-the-Constitution talk
Discussion:
Insider, The Hill, Yahoo Entertainment, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, Newsbusters, New Republic and Washington Post
Igor Bobic / HuffPost:
Mitt Romney Mocks ‘RINO’ Trump Over His Call To Torch Constitution
Mitt Romney Mocks ‘RINO’ Trump Over His Call To Torch Constitution
Discussion:
Boing Boing, CNN, Raw Story and Washington Examiner
Brett Samuels / The Hill:
Trump insists he doesn't want to ‘terminate’ Constitution
Trump insists he doesn't want to ‘terminate’ Constitution
Discussion:
The Hill, Raw Story, NBC News, Morning Shots, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, Just The News, Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Politico, The Daily Beast, PoliticusUSA, UPI, Forbes, Much Ado About Some …, ABC News, Blue Virginia, Occupy Democrats, The Daily Wire, New Republic, Mediaite, Vanity Fair, IJR, The Moderate Voice and Fox Business

Ukraine Targets Bases Deep in Russia, Showing Expanded Reach — Launching drones at air bases 300 miles from its own territory, Ukraine changed the geography of the war. It said it had developed drones with a range of over 600 miles. — KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine executed its most brazen attack …
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We can win a battle of production lines with Russia. But there's a better way. — The conflict in Ukraine has already lasted nearly 10 months, and it has turned into something the United States has not seen since World War II: a battle of production lines. Both Russia and Ukraine have been expending munitions at a furious rate.
Discussion:
BBC, Balloon Juice, The Drive and New York Times

Russia-Ukraine War — Drone Attacks Hit Russia for 2nd Straight Day … A drone strikes an oil depot in Russia, a local official says. — KYIV, Ukraine — A drone strike hit an oil facility near an airfield in a Russian region that borders Ukraine, the region's governor said early Tuesday …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Reuters, Al Jazeera, CNN, UPI, Cyprus Mail, Just Security, Breitbart, The Guardian, BBC, Andrew Korybko's Newsletter, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Euractiv, Futura Doctrina, Washington Examiner, New York Post, Bloomberg, Politico and TASS

Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is GOP — Herschel Walker, Bill Bennett, and Donald Trump's legacy. — Reagan-era Education Secretary William Bennett had a moment last week: On November 29, Simon & Schuster released a thirtieth-anniversary updated edition of his 1993 bestseller, The Book of Virtues.
Discussion:
Morning Shots

Trump's slow 2024 start worries allies — Back in 2015, Donald Trump's first campaign rally in Iowa as a contender for the Republican presidential nomination came just 10 hours after he declared his candidacy in New York. The following day, he was across the country in New Hampshire …
Discussion:
HuffPost, New York Post, National Review, NBC News and The Daily Wire
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Youngkin's early shine faces test as he eyes White House bid — Glenn Youngkin swept into office as a Republican sensation with a fresh formula for victory as the GOP contemplated its future beyond Donald Trump. But one year after Youngkin became the first Republican in more than a decade …

Kevin McCarthy faces debt-limit dilemma as House GOP ratchets up demands amid speaker bid — House Republicans are plotting tactics for their new majority and weighing how to use their leverage to enact a laundry list of demands, with many zeroing in on an issue with enormous economic implications: Raising the nation's borrowing limit.
Discussion:
The Hill, The Daily Caller, Wall Street Journal and HuffPost

Trump's committee paying for lawyers of key Mar-a-Lago witnesses — Save America PAC has spent millions on Trump-related legal fees, filings show; some say paying for witness's lawyers poses a conflict — Former president Donald Trump's political action committee is paying legal bills …
Discussion:
Political Wire
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Kimberly Wehle / The Bulwark:
Court Implodes Trump's Mar-a-Lago Defense (and the Errant Judge Who Bought It)
Court Implodes Trump's Mar-a-Lago Defense (and the Errant Judge Who Bought It)
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Daily Caller, USA Today and Reason

Rupert Murdoch to be deposed in $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox — The Fox Corp chairman is the highest-profile individual to be questioned in the case, which hinges on Fox's coverage of the 2020 presidential election. — Rupert Murdoch, the 91-year-old chairman …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Insider, WSAV-TV, Forbes, Raw Story, CNN, Political Wire and NPR, more at Mediagazer »

Top evangelicals are backing away from Donald Trump — Call it a crisis of faith. Despite appointing the conservative judges who ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade — and fervently courting the religious right during his presidency — prominent evangelicals are beginning to shy away …
Discussion:
OnlySky Media, The Daily Beast, Raw Story and HuffPost
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Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:
The Empty Gestures of Disillusioned Evangelicals
The Empty Gestures of Disillusioned Evangelicals
Discussion:
Joel Mathis and Raw Story

In Sweeping New Law, Indonesia Outlaws Sex Outside of Marriage — An earlier version of the bill was shelved in 2019 after tens of thousands of young people protested in the streets, arguing that the law threatened their civil liberties. — Indonesia, the world's third-largest democracy …
Discussion:
Semafor, Bloomberg, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Associated Press and UPI

U.S. Government Told Spy to Stay Home From British Teen Death Trial — Anne Sacoolas will be sentenced Thursday after admitting she drove her Volvo down the wrong side of the road when she hit teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn, killing him. — Correspondent-At-Large
Discussion:
Bloomberg

Mike Lee, Burgess Owens are raising money for Herschel Walker's Senate campaign — and keeping half of the cash — The Utah politicians join other Republicans, including Donald Trump, who are using Walker's campaign to boost their own campaign coffers. — Utah Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Burgess Owens …
Discussion:
Mediaite and Kenneth's Musings

Why Is Marjorie Taylor Greene Like This? — This article was featured in One Story to Read Today, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a single must-read from The Atlantic, Monday through Friday. Sign up for it here. — I. — She was very late.

Capitol Police chief: Jan. 6 failures ‘largely’ fixed but extremism threat persists — Congressional leaders will bestow their highest honor — the Congressional gold medal — to the United States Capitol Police and Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department for defending …
Discussion:
The Hill, CBS News and Associated Press

GOP senators tune out House conservatives' impeachment calls — House conservatives want their party to go big on impeachment next year. Across the Capitol, Senate Republicans on their would-be jury are not ready to convict. — While House GOP leaders feel intense pressure …
Discussion:
Raw Story

Second Oath Keepers sedition trial presents new challenges for prosecutors — One week after the historic seditious conspiracy conviction of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, federal prosecutors will try to once again prove that other members of the far-right militia were planning …

Major Break Coming in the JFK Assassination Story — The CIA is concealing a secret operation that involved accused assassin Oswald. — Many Americans wonder why the CIA is still concealing records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which happened nearly 60 years ago.

FBI Ramps Up Spending to Fight MAGA Terrorism — The FBI is conducting three times as many domestic terrorism investigations than it was five years ago, with 70 percent of its open cases focused on “civil unrest” and anti-government activity, according to FBI documents and government specialists.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Talk show host and Georgia House candidate accused of illegal voting — Brian K. Pritchard allegedly voted nine times while on felony probation — Conservative North Georgia talk show host Brian K. Pritchard, a candidate for the state House who rails against election fraud …
Discussion:
New York Daily News, Boing Boing, Occupy Democrats and Raw Story

Twitter's Duty to Protect Free Speech — Censorship of the Hunter Biden story might have helped my party, but it was bad for our democracy. — WSJ Opinion: Elon Musk's Bumpy Landing at Twitter — YOU MAY ALSO LIKE — Created with sketchtool. — Defending free speech is easy when it's speech you agree with.
Discussion:
NOQ Report, Reason, MurderPM and Insider

The Far-Right Attacked Drag Events in 4 States This Weekend — Protests against drag events have been an almost weekly occurrence this year. This weekend was no different. — Neo-Nazis, Proud Boys, militiamen, Christian nationalists, and culture warriors in at least four states mobilized …
Discussion:
Mid-American Free Press and Washington Post