The First Lady Of Grift
Melania Trump is getting in on the NFT action.
- The best part:
Trump’s first NFT offering is a watercolor depiction of her “cobalt blue eyes” called “Melania’s Vision.” She said it would provide “the collector with an amulet to inspire.” Each NFT will cost about $187.
- Trump says some of the proceeds from the sales will go toward helping “children aging out of the foster care system,” but her office didn’t respond to questions about how much of the proceeds will go to good causes.
- Petri: “Melania Trump’s new NFT is the perfect holiday g(r)ift“
- But but but …. what would Nancy Reagan say?!?
BBB On Life Support
President Biden in a written statement Thursday evening conceded what had become obvious in recent days: BBB isn’t getting a Senate vote before the holidays.
- Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) remains the biggest roadblock to passing the centerpiece of the Biden agenda.
- It no longer seems safe to assume that Senate Democrats will eventually reach some kind of agreement on BBB.
- Punting BBB into an election year doesn’t inspire confidence that a deal is within reach anytime soon.
More Bad News On BBB Front
Senate parliamentarian rules that latest immigration proposal in BBB violates reconciliation rules.
This Guy!
Retired Army Col. Phil Waldron, the creator of the Big Lie PowerPoint, has been subpoenaed by Jan. 6 committee.
- Note: Earlier this week, Waldron was an invited speaker at an official meeting of the state commission charged with revamping Louisiana’s voting system.
Insurrectionist Still Serving In National Guard
The National Guard has been slow in booting Jan. 6 defendants. Here’s the latest example.
The holy grail of this line of inquiry is whether any National Guard members participated on Jan. 6 then were deployed to defend the Capitol in the following days, but so far I don’t think anyone has turned up such a case.
Crazytown
The RNC has committed to paying up to $1.6 million of President Trump’s legal bills in the New York civil and criminal investigations of his business practices.
Texas Abortion Ban Gets A Boost From Gorsuch
The Texas abortion providers who won a narrow victory at the Supreme Court last week wanted the case sent back to the trial court. But instead Justice Neal Gorsuch referred it back to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the case is expected to languish through additional procedural hurdles.
- The upshot: The Texas case may be stalled long enough to be rendered moot by the pending Supreme Court decision on Mississippi’s abortion ban, which is expected to gut Roe.
FDA Approves Abortion Pills By Mail
The lifting of the restrictions that required obtaining the pills in person is a win for reproductive rights in an otherwise bleak legal and political landscape.
Welcome To The College Admissions Revolution!
Harvard will not require standardized tests in admissions for at least another four years.
Get Ready To Resume Your Student Loan Payments
Here’s how it’s going to work.
All In On Voting Rights
Students hold hunger strike at White House to advocate for voting rights legislation.
Omicron For The Holidays
Ed Yong: “America Is Not Ready for Omicron“
CNN: “A Covid-19 ‘viral blizzard’ is about to hit the US, expert says“
NYT: “Scientists Are Racing to Gauge the Threat of Omicron“
CNN: “What can the world learn from countries where Omicron is surging?“
CDC recommends Moderna and Pfizer vaccines over J&J.
Must Read
DMN: How prison gerrymandering in Texas dilutes Democratic power and boosts the GOP
Bizarre
The Muslim civil rights group CAIR has fired the most senior official in its Ohio chapter, alleging that he was secretly recording meetings and passing confidential information to an anti-Muslim group for 13 years.
An additional twist, from the CAIR statement:
In the wake of Iqbal’s termination, the Columbus office of CAIR-Ohio has discovered suspicious purchases from ammunition and gun retailers made in recent weeks using a CAIR-Ohio credit card that Iqbal administered. Yesterday, CAIR-Ohio staff also found a suspicious package mailed to the CAIR-Ohio Columbus office containing parts for an AR-15 rifle. CAIR-Ohio has shared this information with law enforcement, which is currently investigating the matter.
Purdue Pharma Opioid Settlement In Jeopardy
A federal judge in Manhattan ruled that the billion dollar settlement could not legally release members of the Sackler family from civil liability.
In Other News
Police obtain search warrant for Alec Baldwin’s iPhone as part of the “Rust” shooting investigation.
