A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
Hooray You Killed People
Right-wing darling Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted on all charges last month after fatally shooting two people at a Black Lives Matter protest, was a special guest who got his own theme song at conservative group Turning Point USA’s conference in Phoenix Monday night.
- A conservative journalist got booted from the event for asking Rittenhouse why he claimed to support Black Lives Matter:
Why Manchin Tanked Everything
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) griped on Monday that the White House staff had done something to piss him off, resulting in him tanking his negotiations with Biden over the Build Back Better plan. The senator refused to elaborate on his complaint, saying only that “they know the real reason what happened.” What happened, according to Politico and the Hill, was “incivility” (a Very Valid Reason for killing Democrats’ last major shot at combating climate change indeed).
- Last week, Manchin had reportedly asked Biden to keep his name out of the President’s upcoming statement on delaying BBB and was infuriated when the White House put out the statement with his name anyway. The senator then told White House staffers he was done negotiating, according to Politico.
- Manchin, who “believes in civility above all things,” saw Biden’s statement as “a breach of process,” according to Hill columnist Steve Clemons, who cited both the senator’s associates and the White House.
- But let’s go ahead and look at Manchin’s long history of opposing climate change policies as he rakes in more campaign cash from oil, coal and gas industries than any other senator in this election cycle–instead of pretending this is all just about the West Virginia senator’s Staunch Principles and the White House not being nice enough to him.
Manchin’s Counteroffer And Demands
Before he took an axe to BBB on Sunday, Manchin approached the White House with a $1.8 trillion counteroffer last week, according to the Washington Post.
- Manchin’s reported offer: universal pre-K for 10 years, an extension of the Affordable Care Act and scaling back spending on addressing climate change to between $500 billion and $600 billion.
- What Manchin wanted to cut: the child tax credit expansion, a key component of BBB.
- The West Virginia senator has privately told his colleagues that he believes low-income parents would waste the tax credits on drugs, according to HuffPost. He’s also reportedly said that people would use BBB’s proposed paid sick leave to slack off and go on hunting trips (????).
- Still, not all hope for BBB is lost despite Manchin’s stunt. The talks between the senator and Biden aren’t over, and the two men had a cordial conversation on Sunday night, according to Politico and the Washington Post.
Jan. 6 Panel Weighs Potential Criminal Referral Against Trump
The House Jan. 6 select committee’s investigation could lead to sending a criminal referral against Trump to the Justice Department for obstructing Congress when he tried to stop the 2020 election results from getting certified, according to the New York Times.
Alex Jones Sues Jan. 6 Committee
The far-right conspiracy theorist and InfoWars host, currently embroiled in legal trouble thanks to his lies about the Sandy Hook shooting, is dragging the House Jan. 6 panel to court to block it from obtaining his phone records and compelling his testimony.
- Jones argues that his documents were part of his “journalistic activity” and are therefore protected under the First Amendment.
- Jones is also planning on pleading the Fifth, according to his lawsuit.
Michael Fanone Resigns From The Force
D.C. Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone, who was badly beaten during the Jan. 6 insurrection and became an outspoken witness of the attack, announced on Monday that he was resigning from the force and will officially depart on Dec. 31.
- Fanone will be a contributor on CNN, where he will discuss law enforcement.
- Fanone’s colleagues attacked him in private online chats for calling out MAGAland’s efforts to downplay Jan. 6, the officer told the Washington Post. He said he only has two officers he counts as friends left in the department.
Omicron Now Makes Up Nearly 75% Of New COVID Cases
The new COVID-19 Omicron variant that’s been exploding throughout the country now accounts for a stunning 73 percent of new cases in the U.S, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Biden is giving a speech today at 2:30 p.m. ET on how his administration will combat the variant, which will include:
- Expanding access to free testing by delivering rapid tests to people’s homes, which will begin in January, and by putting up new federal testing sites around the country, starting in New York City
- Offering extra relief to overrun hospitals by activating FEMA response teams to give them extra staffing and increase hospital bed capacity.
WTF Read Of The Day
“Think Santa Is Busy? Ham Sniffers Are Pushing Their Noses to the Limit” – The Wall Street Journal
Maryland Gov. Hogan Tests Positive For COVID
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), a cancer survivor, announced yesterday that he got a positive result during his regular COVID-19 testing routine but is “feeling fine.”
Trump Gets Booed After Saying He Got Booster
The crowd at Trump and disgraced ex-Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s Dallas event didn’t respond well to the ex-president admitting he got the COVID-19 booster shot (listen to a flustered Trump insist only a “tiny group” booed):
The COVID-19 spokesperson at the Health and Human Services Department jumped on the video. “Be like President Trump, and get your booster shot,” he tweeted.
A Circus Of Cringe
Seriously, can someone tell me what’s going on at this Turning Point USA griftcon here?
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