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CITIZEN UNITED … "Michael Bloomberg Is Open to Spending $1 Billion to Defeat Trump," via NYT: Michael R. Bloomberg on Saturday did not rule out spending a billion dollars of his own money on the 2020 presidential race, even if he does not win the Democratic nomination, and said he would mobilize his well-financed political operation to help Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren win in November if either is the party nominee, despite their sharp policy differences …
His extraordinary wealth, estimated at more than $50 billion, has drawn a series of attacks from the liberal candidates in the field, who argue he is essentially trying to purchase the party nomination.
CANDIDATE OF THE KULAKS … "Bernie [Sanders] campaign slams Warren as candidate of the elite," via POLITICO: The script instructs Sanders volunteers to tell voters leaning toward the Massachusetts senator that the "people who support her are highly educated, more affluent people who are going to show up and vote Democratic no matter what" and that "she's bringing no new bases into the Democratic Party." …
At a campaign appearance Sunday, [Elizabeth] Warren responded that she was "disappointed to hear that Bernie is sending his volunteers out to trash me."
SHE’S, LIKE, TOTALLY WORTH IT … "DCCC Chair Dodges Multiple Times on Whether Ocasio-Cortez Is Good For the Democratic Caucus," by WFB’s Andrew Kugle: Asked by CNN anchor Victor Blackwell if [Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez is "good for the Democratic caucus in the House," [Rep. Cheri] Bustos offered that "she has a lot of followers. I have respect for her. She brings a new voice to Congress." Pressed by Blackwell, Bustos added, "We've got members from all different spectrums. I respect her, and she brings a new voice. I think that's always welcome." …
Bustos's comments are just the latest contribution to the controversy surrounding Ocasio-Cortez's unwillingness to fork over the $250,000 in dues expected of all House Democrats.
SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS … "Democrats Think Pelosi Holding Impeachment Articles a Failed Strategy," by WFB’s Elizabeth Matamoros: ABC's This Week anchor George Stephanopoulos on Sunday asked Washington Post reporter Rachael Bade about [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi's claim, earlier in the show, that there was benefit to keeping the impeachment articles from going to the Senate.
"She was clearly putting a positive spin on what a lot of Democrats have privately said was a failed strategy," Bade said.
SEND THE BOMBERS … "Trump tweets support for Iranian protesters as they demand Khamenei quit," via JERUSALEM POST: U.S. President Donald Trump has tweeted his support to the people of Iran, saying "I've stood with you since the beginning of my Presidency."
Hundreds of Iranian protesters demanded Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei step down on Saturday after Tehran admitted that its military had mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian plane, killing all 176 people on board.
NEVER WON A WAR, NEVER LOST A NEGOTIATION … "Iranian Commander Bragged of Unilateral Authority to Shoot Down Planes," by WFB’s Adam Kredo: A senior Iranian commander who admitted to Iran's role in the recent downing of a Ukrainian airplane bragged in 2016 that even the youngest Iranian officers have unilateral authority to conduct strikes like the one that downed the Ukrainian plane, killing every civilian aboard …
Hajizadeh's 2016 remarks bragging about Iran's desire to launch attacks is likely to raise fresh concerns about the possibility of further strikes on commercial airlines flying in and around Iranian airspace.
WELCOME TO THE GOOD SIDE … "Iran's sole female Olympic medalist says she's defected," via CNN: Iran's sole female Olympic medalist, Kimia Alizadeh, has announced that she's permanently left her country for Europe.
"Let me start with a greeting, a farewell or condolences," the 21-year-old wrote in an Instagram post explaining why she was defecting. "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran who they have been playing with for years."
SWING AND A MISS … "Rolling Stone hits Pompeo for 'military strike that left 2 children dead' when referring to ISIS leader's killing," via FOX NEWS: On Friday, [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo took a moment to reflect on 2019 "+ a few days into the new year" in a post that shared several images summarizing the past year including ones of his family, his dog, the cover of Linda Ronstadt's Greatest Hits album, last week's killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, as well as an image of [Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi, who was killed in a daring Special Operations forces mission back in October.
However, Rolling Stone reporter Ryan Bort chided the top Trump official, declaring "the secretary of state juxtaposed a military strike that left two children dead with the ‘When Will I Be Loved’ singer" towards the top of the piece.
VOX REPORTERS, EXPLAINED ...
I don’t want to sound like Alex Jones here but is this some sort of secret communication? Racking my brain to make any sort of sense of this. It nearly hit 70 degrees in DC today. https://t.co/aLwOz5HKVD
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 13, 2020
TRUE DAILY DOUBLE … "Jeopardy episode on Palestine question causes uproar," via AL JAZEERA: The incident took place in round one of the game broadcast on Friday, when Katie Needle was given the clue: "Built in the 300s A.D., the Church of the Nativity", under the category "Where's that Church?".
Needle, a retail supervisor, from Brooklyn, answered Palestine, but was told her answer was wrong.
One of the other two contestants, Jack McGuire, then buzzed in with the reply "Israel," which host Alex Trebek accepted as correct.
THE KAISER SAYS DANKE … "1917" has one major flaw - it's irresponsibly nationalistic," via SALON: "1917" is a movie that perfectly fits President Donald Trump’s agenda, even if the filmmakers did not intend for that …
As such, rewarding "1917" with awards and acclaim—at least acclaim that ignores its problematic politics in order to myopically focus on its abstract artistic merits—implicitly validates a philosophy that our world desperately, desperately needs to delegitimize.
WHAT WOULD WE DO WITHOUT THEM … "Media Blame Trump for Deadly ‘Plane Crash’ in Iran," by WFB’s Andrew Stiles: NBC News correspondent Heidi Przybyla, in a series of since-deleted tweets, said the deaths were the result of "the crossfire" between Iran and the United States, a term that (falsely) suggests the U.S. military was actively firing at targets inside Iran. CNN analyst Susan Hennessey similarly mourned the loss of those "killed in the crossfire of reckless escalation."
DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 1,128. Come back, Joe!
"You know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden." —Former President Barack Obama
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