VICTORIA TAFT: Facebook Is Taking Over Local News the Way It Took Over Local Voting Offices. “Big Tech is doubling down on it all by embedding its like-minded children in local papers to do to journalism what Big Tech is doing to free speech and what Zuckerberg did to elections.”

#RESIST: Texas Files Suit Against Biden Administration Over National Guard Vaccine Mandate.

CHANGE: For the First Time Ever, the Best-Selling Carmaker in America Isn’t an American Carmaker.

YET ANOTHER RED-PILL POPPER: Dr. Drew Channels Trump: The Press Is the Enemy of the People.

GLEICHSCHALTUNG: Starbucks Serves Its Employees a Cup of Joe Biden. “Starbucks is requiring its America-based employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to comply with Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate on private companies with 100 or more employees.”

NOTHING TO SEE HERE, MOVE ALONG: Biden Withholds Annual Report on Deportations.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not release its annual report in 2021, a departure from standard agency practice since at least 2011. In each of the last nine years, ICE released the report in the final weeks of the calendar year, most recently on Dec. 23, 2020 during the Trump administration.

It is unclear whether ICE has completed the report, which provides a lengthy summary of the agency’s enforcement and removal operations, as well as immigration-related security threats. A spokeswoman for the immigration agency told the Washington Free Beacon a release date for the report has not been determined.

The absence of the 2021 annual report has prompted outrage on Capitol Hill. Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) questioned the motives behind the White House’s secrecy on the topic of immigration.

Oh, I think we understand their motives.

HMM: Could Retirements and Redistricting Doom Rashida Tlaib in Michigan?

COME SEE THE ANTISEMITISM INHERENT IN THE LEFTISM: USC’s Very Different Treatment of Ben Shapiro and a Muslim Student Who Urged Killing Jews. “This student has personally threatened to murder Jews and anyone who supports the Jewish state of Israel. She has publicly praised the murder of Jews. And she has publicly praised Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group whose charter calls for Israel’s destruction and the murder of every Jew. USC’s leadership admits that it has known about her life-endangering conduct since last summer, yet its response has been slow and virtually meaningless.”

WOW: ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Gains for GOP in Florida as COVID Refugees Register RED.

“COVID’S COUCH POTATOES”: Teens eat more, exercise less. “Only 9 percent of teenagers are physically active for an hour a day — the recommended amount — says a new study. That’s down from 16 percent before the pandemic, reports Chris Melore.”

“CASES” WAS ALWAYS A SCAREMONGERING METRIC: Doctors Finally Get Real About Covid Hospitalizations Amid Omicron Spike. “An exacerbation of a chronic illness is not a Covid hospitalization. If a person with diabetes goes into diabetic ketoacidosis because of a viral infection, you treat the diabetic complication. Hospitals frequently see these complications in people with chronic conditions with influenza, pneumonia, and other acute illnesses. This phenomenon is not unique to Covid. However, it seems everyone has forgotten.”

WHEW: NASA successfully deploys complex sunshield on James Webb Space Telescope. “The telescope was far too large to launch to space in its final configuration, so mission designers crafted the telescope to unfold after launch. The deployment relies on hundreds of mechanisms and moving parts, and everything has to go right in order for JWST to function. Along the way, there are up to 344 single-point failures, deployments without any backups that must execute as designed or else they could jeopardize the entire mission.”

IT ISN’T A HEALTH EMERGENCY IF YOU HAVE THE LUXURY OF FIRING HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS: Michigan Getting Pummeled by COVID After Firing Unvaxxed Healthcare Workers.

DON’T TRUST CHINA. CHINA IS ASSHOLE: China mass harvesting Americans’ Facebook, Twitter data to bolster spying, propaganda. “The Chinese Internet-monitoring tools, known as public opinion analysis software, were reportedly developed over the past decade to warn of sensitive information being spread online to help China find sources of criticisms against the Chinese government. The tools were originally used to monitor internal dissent, but are now being used to gain information on foreign targets.”

RED-PILLED: Canadian Journalist Wakes Up to Wokeism.

KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEF: ‘Democracy’ Is the Dems’ New Code Word for ‘Communism.’ “What the Democrats are referring to as democracy is anything but. They want elections to be taken over by the federal government. They want one-party rule. They are big fans of government control of the media and censorship.”

STAND FAST, SENATOR: Manchin Deflates Democrats’ Hopes of Changing Filibuster, Passing Election Bills.

In comments to reporters Tuesday, Mr. Manchin said he was engaged in talks about possible changes to the filibuster rule, which currently requires the votes of 60 senators to advance most bills. But, he said, any changes should have the buy-in of Republicans as well, and he was leery of Democrats going it alone.

“Any way you can do a rules change to where everyone’s involved and basically that’s a rule that usually will stay—that’s what you should be pursuing,” Mr. Manchin told reporters on Tuesday. “Being open to a rules change that would create a nuclear option; it’s very, very difficult,” he said about lowering the filibuster threshold. “So it’s a heavy lift.”

His comments came as many Senate Democrats have stepped up their calls for altering the filibuster to make it easier to pass legislation. On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said that Democrats would put elections legislation on the floor and then would attempt to enact rules changes if Republicans again filibustered the legislation.

Flashback: Schumer Called Eliminating Filibuster ‘A Doomsday for Democracy.’

IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA: Cuomo Gets Free Pass from Manhattan DA for COVID Nursing Home Deaths Cover-up.

MEGAN FOX: Montana Judiciary Caught Lobbying Against Judicial Accountability in Email Scandal. “In April, the Montana judiciary was caught red-handed lobbying against bills that would lead to more accountability for judges. This comes right on the heels of the scathing Wall Street Journal report that found hundreds of judges refusing to recuse themselves from hearing cases in which they had financial investments — a story that reached even the Supreme Court — as the judiciary is being exposed.”

THIS ASSUMES HE CAN REMEMBER THEM: More Words That Will Haunt Joe Biden Forever.

YOU DON’T SAY: State Adopts ‘Alderperson’ To Describe Chicago City Council Members — But Some Alderpeople Aren’t Thrilled.

IS THERE ANYTHING IT CAN’T RAISE? Viagra Lifts Woman Out of COVID Coma. “Before being put into the coma, Almeida agreed to partake in experimental COVID treatments if necessary. She was 72 hours away from having her ventilator turned off when her doctors decided to inject her with a large dose of Viagra.”

GOOD: Judge Stays Biden Vax Mandate For Dozens Of Navy SEALs Seeking Religious Exemption.

HMM: Ted Cruz: If Republicans Take Back the House, Biden Could Be Impeached.

DAVID DEAVEL: Desmond Tutu (1931-2021): Remembering Heroes and their Limitations. “The death of South African archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu at the age of 90 on December 26, 2021, marks the definitive end of an era. With Nelson Mandela, his moral witness and advocacy helped to end the reign of South Africa’s Apartheid regime that kept black South Africans separate and desperately unequal. In today’s age in which free speech and colorblind policies are labeled as ‘white supremacist,’ it’s good to be reminded that real white supremacy as embodied in the South African regime actually happened and has largely been removed from the globe. It is also good to be reminded of the very real heroism Tutu exhibited. But, finally, it’s also good to be reminded of Tutu’s post-Apartheid misjudgments. Unlike the woke left, we don’t need to tear down the statues of heroes with feet of clay or clouded minds. We do, however, need to be able to notice that heroes have these traits—and don’t need to be followed at all times.”