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- The Week
Why Trump's insistent dominance of the Republican Party could be a real 'gift' to Biden
President Biden isn't exactly coated in political Teflon, but he's "well regarded by voters" and "even Donald Trump, the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog of electoral politics, has had troubles landing a punch," Sam Stein writes at Tuesday's Politico Nightly. "His latest nickname for the president — 'Saintly Joe Biden' — was debuted to donors over the weekend. It was meant as derisive … we think." But the bigger concern for the Republican Party, and a future Trump restoration campaign, is the lack of any real "grassroots movement emerging to confront the White House," Stein reports, noting that the Tea Party was already in full swing at this point in Barack Obama's presidency. "Biden’s perceived benignness — the difficulty in actually getting people to despise the guy" — is one reason, he argues, but the other big factor is Trump himself. Proto-Tea Partier former Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and other Republicans told Politico that "a movement like the Tea Party emerges when people galvanize around ideas. When they galvanize around an individual, they're really just waiting for that individual to act or guide them. Put another way: While the Tea Party exploited a GOP leadership vacuum in 2009, there is a need for a vacuum in 2021." And "that may very well be the gift that Trump has given Biden," Stein said. "As the former president sits in Mar-a-Lago, plotting his next move, he has brought stasis to the Republican Party." Read more at Politico. More stories from theweek.comThe girl at the center of the Matt Gaetz investigation also reportedly went on his scrutinized Bahamas tripTrump finally jumps the sharkLate night hosts list things more dangerous than Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, including COVID-19
- Reuters
Kremlin coy on Putin-Biden summit, warns against U.S. sanctions
MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia said on Wednesday it was too early to talk tangibly about U.S. President Joe Biden's proposal to meet President Vladimir Putin, and the Kremlin told Washington not to impose any new sanctions on Moscow, according to the RIA news agency. Biden, in a phone call on Tuesday, proposed a summit of the estranged leaders to tackle a raft of disputes and told Moscow to reduce tensions over Ukraine triggered by a Russian military build-up. Moscow's U.S. ties slumped to a new post-Cold War low last month after Biden said he thought Putin was a "killer" and Moscow recalled its ambassador to Washington for consultations.
- Business Insider
Pfizer is ramping up vaccine production and will meet its goal of 300 million doses 2 weeks early, its CEO says
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Twitter that his company was ramping up production of its COVID-19 vaccine.
- LA Times
Jordan's powerful tribes on collision course with monarchy over alleged royal plot
Jordan's tribes have long been the kingdom's bedrock and a source of support for the monarchy. But accusations of seditious scheming may change that.
- USA TODAY
'Prime suspect' and his father arrested in 1996 disappearance of California college student Kristin Smart
Two men were arrested in Southern California Tuesday in connection to the 1996 disappearance of Kristin Smart, according to authorities.
- BBC
Louisiana ship capsize: Search for survivors from 'lift' vessel
Rescuers have so far saved six of the commercial ship's reported 18 crew members from the water.
- The Independent
Trump caught on audio mocking Michelle Obama’s looks to giggling GOP hierarchy at Mar-a-Lago
Leaked recording from RNC fundraiser reveals ‘uproarious’ laughter from sponsors for ridicule of former first lady
- The Daily Beast
The Truth About Philip and Fergie’s Bitter Feud
Christopher Furlong - WPA Pool/Getty ImagesPrince Philip was often said to have vowed never to be in the same room as Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of his son Andrew, after photographs appeared in a newspaper in 1992 of Sarah topless and having her toes sucked by a lover in the South of France.Gyles Brandreth, Philip’s official biographer whose book The Final Portrait will be published later this month, has confirmed that long-standing rumor today in the second lengthy excerpt from his book.Even as a Corpse, Prince Philip Has to Take Second Place to the QueenPhilip, he said, declared “enough was enough” after the pictures appeared. He told Brandreth Fergie was “simply beyond the pale,” and resolved not to have anything more to do with her.At the time when the pictures were first published, Sarah was staying at the queen’s Scottish country estate of Balmoral. Philip put his resolution into immediate action, as Ferguson herself recalled to Brandreth, saying: “It was ridiculous. As soon as I came in through one door, he’d be falling over the corgis to get out of the other. It was very funny. Except, of course, it wasn’t.”Although the queen continued to receive Fergie even after her separation and subsequent divorce from Prince Andrew, Philip made it clear that he had no desire to ever see her again.Sarah plaintively told Brandreth, “Of course I want to see him. I am the mother of his granddaughters, after all.”Brandreth said when he raised this with Prince Philip, he just shrugged and said, “But the children come and stay,” adding, “I am not vindictive, but I don’t see the point.”He described Andrew and Sarah’s post-divorce arrangements which have seen them continue to share a home as “truly bizarre,” adding, “I don’t pretend to understand it.”Brandreth writes that Fergie and Philip held diametrically opposed views on “bottling up your feelings” which she believed was positively harmful.Brandreth writes that when her daughters were children she would tell them to stand in the middle of the extensive grounds of their home, Sunninghill Park, and scream.Brandreth wrote that Sarah then demonstrated, catching him by surprise as she let out a blood-curdling scream.He writes, “The prospect of encountering his former daughter-in-law screaming in the middle of Sunninghill Park could have been one of the reasons the Duke of Edinburgh decided to give her a wide berth after her separation from Prince Andrew. He regarded reticence as a virtue and self-control as a quality to be admired.”Philip did not sit down for the 2011 six-parter on the Oprah Winfrey Network Finding Sarah, in which Fergie wept on screen with a TV psychiatrist. He told Brandreth he was in favor of “self-awareness” but against “the endless introspection that seems to be so prevalent these days.” As reported on Monday, he regarded Harry and Meghan’s decision to do a similar interview as “madness.”Fergie, Brandreth reports, tried to repair relations with Philip but was constantly rebuffed.For Philip’s 80th birthday, she sent him “a handsome dinner service.” But even here, fate conspired against her, Brandreth writes: “It was supposed to have 12 settings, but it arrived with 13: the ‘sample’ had been included with the set. With Sarah, somehow, something always goes wrong.”Philip’s alleged vow to never be in the same room as Fergie was broken only when they both attended the wedding of Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in May 2018.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
- The Independent
White nationalist website calls Tucker Carlson’s ‘replacement’ rant ‘one of the best things Fox News has ever aired’
The Fox News host has won the praise of an officially designated hate group after appearing to endorse the racist ‘replacement’ theory
- Business Insider
GOP senator says bipartisan infrastructure group wants to double Biden's spending on roads and bridges
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana said he was in the midst of drafting an "alternative" to President Joe Biden's multitrillion-dollar jobs package.
- The Telegraph
Elon Musk's SpaceX satellite comes within 60m of crash with another owned by British-backed firm
Elon Musk's SpaceX satellite prompted a 'red alert' warning after coming within 60m of smashing into another satellite owned by a British-backed firm. Engineers at OneWeb and SpaceX scrambled to avoid what could have been a disastrous collision last month after the United States Space Force sent multiple "red alert" warnings that the two companies' satellites were about to crash. Both SpaceX and OneWeb are in direct competition to establish an infrastructure of satellites that can provide high-speed and low-latency internet access to remote or rural locations around the world that were left behind by traditional cable-based providers. OneWeb, which was founded in 2012, was bought out of bankruptcy in late 2020 for $1 billion in a joint investment by the UK government and Bharti Global, an Indian telecoms company. SpaceX, which was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, the world's second-richest man and chief executive of Tesla Motors, has already started providing broadband for customers in Britain using its Starlink network of satellites. Starlink has a network of 1,378 satellites operating in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 550km. By comparison, OneWeb's 148 satellites in orbit operate at a higher altitude of around 1,200km, and as a result have to pass through Starlink's constellation on their way up.
- Business Insider
Biden issues warning to Putin, proposes summit as Russian troops amass along the Ukrainian border
Biden proposed a summit in a third country in the near future as relations between Washington and Moscow hit their lowest point in decades.
- INSIDER
Justin Bieber says bodyguards would check his pulse while he was sleeping at height of drug use
Justin Bieber said that his faith and his wife Hailey Bieber helped him through these dark moments when he used drugs as a "numbing agent."
- INSIDER
Zack Snyder doesn't think he'd survive a zombie apocalypse despite directing 2 movies in the genre - and there's a logical reason why
During an "Army of the Dead" event, Snyder said he probably wouldn't fare so well against zombies because it's tough to predict how they'd really be.
- Business Insider
John Boehner calls Trump 'a guy who's unemployed' and 'has nothing else to do but cause trouble'
"The president abused the loyalty and the trust that voters placed in him by perpetuating this noise," Boehner said of Trump's false election claims.
- INSIDER
Aaron Rodgers had another great moment on 'Jeopardy!' and is making a strong case to become the permanent host
Aaron Rodgers has been sharp as a guest host of "Jeopardy!" and made a strong case to continue in the role.
- Miami Herald
DeSantis is seeking to advance his career at the expense of Black lives in Florida | Opinion
The nation is focused on voter-suppression bills advancing through state legislatures, but there is another wave of bills that are just as much of a threat to voting rights: blatant attempts to raise the penalty for protesting that could harm our ability to vote.
- Business Insider
Companies that have containers on the Ever Given could have to help pay the up to $1 billion Egyptian authorities are demanding before the ship leaves the Suez Canal
Three weeks after getting stuck, the Ever Given is still anchored in the Great Bitter Lake at the Suez Canal.
- Miami Herald
When our ‘house’ is on fire, it makes no sense to keep washing the dishes | Opinion
There is nothing sacred about nine.
- The Telegraph
Kate could act as peacemaker between William and Harry on day of Prince Philip's funeral
The Duke of Cambridge will not be reunited with Prince Harry until the day of their grandfather's funeral, when the Duchess of Cambridge is expected to act as peacemaker between the royal brothers. The siblings are understood to have spoken on the telephone since Harry landed in the UK on Sunday, and hope to finally see each other in the flesh on Saturday morning, ahead of the 3pm ceremony at Windsor Castle. It will be their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year and comes after Harry and Meghan gave an interview to the US chat show host Oprah Winfrey suggesting an unnamed royal had queried Archie's skin tone and describing William as "trapped" in the monarchy. Sources close to both couples insist that they will be putting their differences aside for the sake of the Queen as the family gathers at St George’s Chapel to remember the Duke of Edinburgh, who died on Friday, aged 99.