January 1, Hillary’s Shadow Darkens 2020

This Day in History | 1983

The U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut Lebanon are blown up by a suicide bomber killing 241 military personnel.

Good Morning Middle Americans. 

There are signs within the Democratic that some of the elite are starting to panic. Joe Biden has looked weak in debates and on the campaign trail. And as soon as Elizabeth Warren rose to the front runner’s position, corporate American started getting nervous about her wealth tax, and her healthcare plan, estimated to cost upwards of $30 trillion dollars.  That’s why some people can’t seem to let go of the idea that Hillary Clinton might run again. But seriously, why tho? 

Do you remember the “anonymous” member of the Trump White House that penned an op-ed saying they were working for the resistance from within the West Wing? That column has been expanded into a book.  The question is, without a name attached to it – does it have any credibility? 

Finally today, it’s clear members of the GOP don’t feel like they have to defend president Trump’s tweet about impeachment that referenced ‘lynching’. But that didn’t stop the Washington press corps from wasting a whole day on the tweet.

Read all about it. 

– Fraser Dixon

Republicans Quit Trying to Rein in Trump After ‘Lynching’ Tweet

(Politico) – Many Congressional Republicans are done trying to defend President Donald Trump after he said he was the victim of a lynching on Tuesday — but that doesn’t mean they’re trying to rein him in, either.

Trump’s tweet comparing the impeachment process to a “lynching” set off a firestorm of Democratic criticism but largely a wrist slap from Republicans, who have grown frustrated but accustomed to the president’s inflammatory rhetoric.

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), the lone African-American GOP senator, said he “wouldn’t use” the term but largely supported the president’s broader frustrations.

“This is the political version of a death row trial. The president is up in arms in anger about it,” said Scott, who met privately with Trump in 2017 after the president defended white supremacists rallying in Charlottesville. “He’s putting his political life on trial. His comments reflect it.”

Read more about the GOP response to Trump’s “lynching tweet”

Anonymous Author of Trump ‘Resistance’ Op-Ed to Publish a Tell-all Book

(The New York Times) – The author of an anonymous column in the New York Times in 2018, who was identified as a senior Trump administration official acting as part of the “resistance” inside the government, has written a tell-all book to be published next month.

The book, titled “A Warning,” is being promoted as “an unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of the Trump presidency” that expands upon the Times column, which ricocheted around the world and stoked the president’s rage because of its devastating portrayal of Trump in office.

Learn more about the forthcoming “Resistance” book from the New York Times here

Democrats’ 2020 Race Has a New Shadow: Hillary Clinton

(AP) – Some Democrats are putting up caution signs for Hillary Clinton as she wades back into presidential politics by casting 2020 candidate Tulsi Gabbard as a “Russian asset,” mocking President Donald Trump’s dealings with a foreign leader and drawing counterattacks from both.

Bernie Sanders, who lost the 2016 nomination to Clinton and is running again in 2020, took to Twitter with implicit criticisms of his erstwhile rival. “People can disagree on issues,” Sanders wrote Monday, “but it is outrageous for anyone to suggest that Tulsi is a foreign asset.”

Larry Cohen, one of Sanders’ top supporters, was more conciliatory but warned in an interview that Clinton could harm the eventual 2020 nominee by weighing in against specific candidates, even a longshot like Gabbard.

Read more about Hillary Clinton’s prospects for 2020 from the AP here