'The world is full of surprises, but not in Venezuela'

'Venezuela's Maduro tricks Biden — again'

The Wall Street Journal editorial board

Venezuela's decision to bar popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado from running for president "was predictable," says The Wall Street Journal editorial board. The Biden administration temporarily "lifted Trump-era oil and gas sanctions" after Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro pledged in October to work with the opposition toward free elections. Machado would be "a heavy favorite" in any fair vote, given Maduro's destruction of the economy. The White House was "naive" to think Maduro would keep his word.

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'The audacity of E. Jean Carroll'

Jessica Bennett in The New York Times

E. Jean Carroll once "blazed trails as a gonzo-style journalist," writes Jessica Bennet in The New York Times. Ever since she accused Donald Trump of a 1990s sexual assault, he called her a liar, and she sued for defamation, people see her, at best, as a former advice columnist. At worst, she's "the crazy Trump rape lawsuit lady." Beyond defamation, her case was about a woman, "long past middle age, who dared to claim she indeed still had value."

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'MAGA has TDS — Taylor Derangement Syndrome'

A.B. Stoddard at The Bulwark

The romance between Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has "destabilized MAGA," says A.B. Stoddard at The Bulwark. With the Chiefs advancing to the Super Bowl, "addled Trumpers" insist the game will be fixed to help "brainwash" Swifties into liberalism and prop up the "woke NFL." What really "has MAGA filling up its diapers" is the fear Swift will encourage her 450 million social media followers to vote for Biden.

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'The United Nations doesn't deserve a role in Gaza's future'

Sean Durns in the Washington Examiner

A dozen United Nations workers "allegedly helped carry out the Oct. 7 massacre of Jewish civilians," says Sean Durns in the Washington Examiner. If true, their United Nations Relief and Works Agency deserves no "role in Gaza after the war." The agency already had a "troubled history." Created in 1949 to resettle Palestinian Arabs, it views all Palestinians as refugees until they return to Israel, meaning it thinks the conflict can "only end with the Jewish state's destruction."

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