New York Times: “Return-to-office dates used to be like talismans; the chief executives who set them seemed to wield some power over the shape of the months to come. Then the dates were postponed, and postponed again. At some point the spell was broken. For many companies, office reopening plans have lost their fear factor, coming to seem like wishful thinking rather than a sign of futures filled with alarm clocks, commutes and pants that actually button. The R.T.O. date is gone. It’s been replaced with ‘we’ll get back to you.’”
Civilian Deaths Mounted as Secret Unit Pounded ISIS
“A single top secret American strike cell launched tens of thousands of bombs and missiles against the Islamic State in Syria, but in the process of hammering a vicious enemy, the shadowy force sidestepped safeguards and repeatedly killed civilians,” the New York Times reports.
“The unit was called Talon Anvil, and it worked in three shifts around the clock between 2014 and 2019, pinpointing targets for the United States’ formidable air power to hit: convoys, car bombs, command centers and squads of enemy fighters.”
“But people who worked with the strike cell say in the rush to destroy enemies, it circumvented rules imposed to protect noncombatants, and alarmed its partners in the military and the C.I.A. by killing people who had no role in the conflict: farmers trying to harvest, children in the street, families fleeing fighting, and villagers sheltering in buildings.”
Chris Wallace to Exit Fox News
Chris Wallace said he is leaving Fox News, ending an 18-year-run as host of “Fox News Sunday,” the network’s flagship weekend show, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The Washington Post notes Wallace did not elaborate on why he had decided to leave Fox after 18 years except to say that he wanted to “go beyond politics.”
What Mark Meadows Is Learning the Hard Way
David Graham: “One of the emblematic phenomena of Donald Trump’s presidency was the weeks (or sometimes fortnights) of chaos, when it seemed like the administration was struck by a new crisis every day, like watching a Wile E. Coyote supercut, except occasionally with real ordnance.”
“Trump is out of the White House, and those weeks of utter turmoil left when he did, but former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is having one of those stretches all on his own. That isn’t the only way Meadows has found that he can’t escape the past. Through his travails over the past two weeks, Meadows has learned the hard way that Trump is still the king—and that even modest distancing from him won’t be tolerated.”
Biden’s Approval Sinking on Key Issues
“President Joe Biden is facing significant skepticism from the American public, with his job approval rating lagging across a range of major issues, including new lows for his handling of crime, gun violence and the economic recovery,” a new ABC/Ipsos poll finds.
“More than two-thirds of Americans (69%) disapprove of how Biden is handling inflation (only 28% approve) while more than half (57%) disapprove of his handling of the economic recovery.”
Newsom Models New Gun Law on Texas Abortion Law
“In a new approach to gun control inspired by Texas’s controversial approach to banning most abortions, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday announced that his administration will work to make it easier for private citizens to sue people who sell assault rifles and parts for untraceable ghost guns,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
“State officials will aim to craft a measure that would allow residents to seek damages of at least $10,000, plus legal fees, against anyone who manufactures, distributes or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit in California.”
Said Newsom: “If states can now shield their laws from review by the federal courts that compare assault weapons to Swiss Army knives, then California will use that authority to protect people’s lives, where Texas used it to put women in harm’s way.”
CNN Staffer Accused of Sexually ‘Training’ Young Girls
A CNN producer is facing federal charges after enticing women and their underage daughters to engage in illegal sexual activity at his home, the New Haven Register reports.
Booster Needed to Protect Against Omicron
“An early estimate published yesterday by the UK found that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine are only about 30% effective against symptomatic infection with Omicron, and the AstraZeneca vaccine isn’t effective at all,” Axios reports.
“A booster shot of the Pfizer vaccine, however, increases effectiveness to 70-75%.”
GOP Lawmaker Missing After Covid Treatment
“No information has been available for three weeks about the location or condition of Washington state Sen. Doug Ericksen (R), who was reportedly being treated for Covid-19 at a Florida hospital after testing positive for the virus in El Salvador,” the Bellingham Herald reports.
“Calls to Ericksen have not been returned recently, leading to public speculation about his condition.”
Daily Beast: “Ericksen has been a vocal opponent of Covid restrictions and mandates, saying late last year he would introduce a bill opposing vaccine mandates. It’s unknown if he was vaccinated.”
Election Denier Met with Meadows at White House
“A retired U.S. Army colonel who circulated a proposal to challenge the 2020 election, including by declaring a national security emergency and seizing paper ballots, said that he visited the White House on multiple occasions after the election, spoke with President Donald Trump’s chief of staff ‘maybe eight to 10 times’ and briefed several members of Congress on the eve of the Jan. 6 riot,” the Washington Post reports.
“Phil Waldron, the retired colonel, was working with Trump’s outside lawyers and was part of a team that briefed the lawmakers on a PowerPoint presentation detailing ‘Options for 6 JAN.’”
Peter Navarro Refuses Subpoena
“Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has refused to comply with a subpoena for documents related to the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus, saying the former president ordered him not to,” Reuters reports.
Washington Post: “The showdown with Navarro is the first time a witness has rebuffed a subpoena issued by the select subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis amid attacks from Trump and his allies that the probe is politically motivated.”
California Medical Official Stalked by Anti-Vaxxers
The president of California’s medical board said she was “followed and confronted” by members of a group under investigation by a U.S. House of Representatives panel for promoting dubious Covid-19 treatments, saying they flew a drone over her family’s home and “ambushed” her outside her office, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Still Not Free of QAnon
Jitarth Jadeja: “I left QAnon back in 2019, but I don’t seem to be able to walk away. I talk about my experience a lot — to the Washington Post, CNN and Rolling Stone magazine among many others. I even apologized to Anderson Cooper on his show for having once thought that he ate babies.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Well, not anymore. I paid attention when they were in the mid-60s. Now it’s in the mid-40s; I don’t pay attention anymore.”
— President Biden, when asked by Jimmy Fallon if he pays attention to his approval ratings.
DeSantis Seeks to Remove ‘Unauthorized Aliens’
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ fight with the Biden administration over immigration has led to a $1.6 million state-funded border mission in Texas, a lawsuit against the federal government and an executive order enlisting the state’s law enforcement agency to collect information on ‘potential illegal immigrants’ relocated to Florida by the federal government,” the Miami Herald reports.
“Now, the Republican governor wants $8 million to create a new program that would allow the state to contract with private companies to transport ‘unauthorized aliens’ out of Florida.”
Quote of the Day
“If I were a betting person right now, I’d say Trump is going to run again. But I want people to understand that this is a make-or-break point.”
— Hillary Clinton, on the Today Show.
GOP In Texas County to Run Its Own Election
“The Republican Party in the second-largest county in the Texas Panhandle is planning to conduct its own election during the state primary in March, breaking away from a nonpartisan county election board in a highly unusual move,” the New York Times reports.
“Under Texas law, county parties are allowed to run their own primary elections, but the vast majority have contracted with local boards of election for decades. The decision, which was reported by Votebeat, an election news website, comes as Republicans nationally have continued to push baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election and sow doubts about the reliability of election machinery.”
Biden Struggles to Sell Strong Growth and Job Gains
“President Biden and his top aides are struggling to bridge the gap between the economy they want to celebrate and the one that has left many Americans anxious and frustrated, as a record-setting recovery collides with prolonged inflation and an ongoing pandemic that has left consumers deeply pessimistic,” the New York Times reports.
“The challenge begins with a disbelief of sorts among Mr. Biden’s economic advisers. They insist the job market, with a 4.2 percent unemployment rate, has never been better, delivering wage gains for lower-paid workers that Mr. Biden believes will help lift more people into the middle class. They say those benefits will endure for years, even once inflation, which last-month accelerated at its fastest pace in 40 years, cools down.”
“The struggle is also entwined with Mr. Biden’s fight against Covid. Administration officials say that the anxiety voters are expressing to pollsters is less about the economy and the president’s handling of it and more an expression of pent-up frustration with a pandemic that has persisted for nearly two years.”
Washington Post: “Rising prices throughout the economy threaten to swamp the White House’s legislative agenda during a critical moment for President Biden, as persistently high inflation spooks both voters and lawmakers.”
Axios: “Inflation is bursting almost everywhere — a warning that rapid price spikes may stick around.”
