02.06.24
First Amendment Strike Force – AMAZON
We remember all the way back to last…week when the press wailed about book bans.
Coming out of the House Judiciary Committee was this curious detail provided by Rep. Jim Jordan. Emails between the Biden Administration and Amazon saw the White House pressuring the company to do what it could to restrict, hide, or otherwise impact the exposure and sale of any books that questioned the efficacy of COVID vaccines.
After a string of requests and meetings, it appears the company acted immediately to restrict exposure in search results and to not promote particular titles.
It seems remarkable that after months of screeching in the press about "book bans" (which are not) in Florida, there is not anything approaching that level of response to this news.
Never-before-released internal emails subpoenaed by @JudiciaryGOP reveal that the Biden White House pressured Amazon to censor books that expressed views the White House did not approve of.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) February 5, 2024
“Is the [Biden] Admin asking us to remove books”? pic.twitter.com/ZsAN9BZAcX
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – THE NEW YORK TIMES
Washington correspondent Peter Baker seems really bothered that the Republicans are pursuing impeachments, lately of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and President Biden. He seems to think it unseemly and a political ploy that cheapens the import of the impeachment process.
It is almost as if he forgets, or did not hear, the warnings that this would be the result of Democrats pulling this move when they began impeachment talks as soon as Donald Trump came into power. That is...before he had even had time to do anything objectionable. But by Baker's measure, it was not trivial when impeachment was weaponized over Trump for an overheard phone conversation, and the process was not cheapened by the dead-on-arrival attempt just to be able to say "A twice-impeached president!"
As Republicans pursue Biden and his team, impeachment, once the most serious check on corruption and abuse of power developed by the founders, now looks in danger of becoming a constitutional dead letter, just another weapon in today’s bitter partisan wars https://t.co/iHg3k0r0zk
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) February 2, 2024
Pounce of Prevention – NBC NEWS
You are not going to believe this! A political party is noticing the negative effects of the policies enforced by the rival party, and it's willing to point this out for political gain!
It seems the Republicans are the guilty party here, daring to highlight how the lax prosecution practices in the nation's capital are leading to a severe spike in crime rates. It is almost unfair the way they use facts in an accurate fashion like this!
As violent crime continues to rise in Washington, D.C., former President Trump, Republicans in Congress, and their allies are using the capital to portray the entire Democratic Party as soft on crime ahead of the November election. https://t.co/ulQHbUbwQo
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 4, 2024
DNC PR Firm – THE ATLANTIC
Do we want to analyze what is behind the voting decisions, or not so much?
We know the game in D.C. is to set a legislative trap with your opponents by planting numerous items in a bill to either get pet projects passed or to provoke a "NO" vote and then demonize your foes by describing them as those who oppose the other aspects of the bill.
This has been the case with the Senate "Border Bill," which actually has copious elements regarding funding of Ukraine.
Anne Applebaum is dutifully demonizing the Republicans for stalling out this bill, but she has forgotten one key element in her complaint. She is focusing entirely on Ukraine and scorching the GOP over the delay, but not calling it "The Border Bill" and exposing the sham of this Senate farce.
People will die, today, because of the cynical game played by the American Republican party. Their irresponsibility is breathtaking https://t.co/7uoE9o7ZKY
— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) February 5, 2024
Cartography Studio – NEWSWEEK
Causality…correlation…do either of those come into play?
Newsweek – for reasons relatively unclear to most – is still tracking Covid cases for some reason. It provided a helpful map of the United States, showing those four with the highest rates in the country.
They…just also happen to be the four with the largest populations…
COVID map shows 4 states with highest hospital cases https://t.co/7tO8rD9ck6 pic.twitter.com/0NUf3Rc3ov
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) February 6, 2024
