If Democrats Can Lose in Virginia, They Can Lose Almost Anywhere

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va.—The beer was flowing, the handmade potato chips were self-serve, and hope was in the air. Early in the night, the Loudoun County Democrats who gathered at the Döner Bistro in Leesburg were cautiously—anxiously—optimistic: Sure, it had been a rough year. A global pandemic, regular protests at the local school-board meetings, and the contentious governor’s race, rife with misinformation, had pitted neighbor against neighbor. But these volunteers had done the work. They were confident that Democrats could pull off the first victory of the midterm cycle and set…

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Losing Confidence in the Pillars of Our Civilization

Millions of citizens long ago concluded that professional sports, academia, and entertainment were no longer disinterested institutions, but far left and deliberately hostile to Middle America. Yet American conservatives still adamantly supported the nation’s traditional investigatory, intelligence, and military agencies—especially when they came under budgetary or cultural attacks. Not so much anymore. For the first time in memory, conservatives now connect the FBI hierarchy with bureaucratic bloat, political bias, and even illegality. In the last five years, the FBI was mostly in the news for the checkered careers of James…

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Holiday Livewire: Omar Mocks Boebert’s Racist Trolling Again

Another day, another desperate crusade for outrage: Far-right extremist Lauren Boebert (R-CO) proudly tells a Totally Real Story in a viral video about her calling Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) “the jihad squad” to her face in a Capitol elevator earlier this week. <p>Omar <a rel=”noreferrer noopener” href=”https://twitter.com/IlhanMN/status/1464037767005057024″ target=”_blank”>responded to the clip</a> on Thanksgiving via Twitter saying that Boebert is 1) making the whole thing up and 2) is actually terrified of even looking at her in the halls of Congress.</p> <p>Follow the news of the day below:</p> Talking Points Memo

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Joe Biden dogged by decision to kill Keystone XL pipeline as gas prices soar

President Biden’s decision to nix the Keystone XL pipeline has come under renewed fire as the administration struggles with rising consumer frustration over skyrocketing gas prices. Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, made another plea for Mr. Biden to reverse his Jan. 20 executive order revoking … The Washington Times stories: White House

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Schools Aren’t the Republicans’ Ticket to Victory

Schools may not be the ticket to victory that a lot of Republicans hope they will be, despite what the top-line results of last night’s election seem to suggest. For the past several months, Glenn Youngkin has blanketed Virginia cable networks, mailboxes, and radio airwaves with advertisements about dysfunction in the state’s public schools. His Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe, did not believe parents should have any say in what their children learned, Youngkin would declare. Meanwhile, he argued that Virginia students were being indoctrinated by what he and other Republicans…

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Travis And Greg McMichael, William ‘Roddie’ Bryan Guilty Of Murdering Ahmaud Arbery

The jury returned the verdict on Wednesday afternoon, finding all three white men who confronted Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was out for a jog, guilty of murder. <p>Travis McMichael, who shot Ahmaud Arbery, was found guilty on all counts, including malice murder.</p> <p>His father, Greg McMichael, and neighbor William &#8220;Roddie&#8221; Bryan were found guilty of felony murder. </p> <p>Follow reaction below:</p> Talking Points Memo

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