THE SHOW NOTES: Brittney Griner Released, Republicans Voted Democrat, & The Missing Cartel Hitman
Welcome! A notorious cartel hitman who decapitated enemies is missing from a US prison.
NEW: Brittney Griner released from Russia.
OUTRAGE: Duke University Denies Kidney Transplant to 14-Year-Old Girl Who Refused COVID Vaccine - Life News
HEADLINE: Republicans have a post-election epiphany on mail voting - Politico
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Clip of the day:
Russian Prisoner Swap
Brittney Griner is on a plane home from Russia after a 1-for-1 prisoner swap. The United States released Viktor Bout known as “The Merchant of Death” who was serving a 25-year sentence in the United States for supporting terrorists and conspiring to kill Americans.
Missing: Notably, the prisoner swap leaves retired U.S. Marine Paul Whelan imprisoned in Russia. Whelan was arrested in Russia after attending a friend’s wedding and has been jailed for 4 years on espionage charges the US claims are illegitimate. Whelan is serving a 16 year sentence.
More: Who is Viktor Bout? - CNN
Republicans Have A Problem
Republicans voted at a higher rate than Democrats in the 2022 midterm election according to new data obtained by The New York Times. However, in many pivotal races, registered Repulicans voted for the Democrat, handing Repulicans embarrassing losses in multiple swing states. This is the paragraph that matters from The New York Times:
Instead, high-profile Republicans like Herschel Walker in Georgia or Blake Masters in Arizona lost because Republican-leaning voters decided to cast ballots for Democrats, even as they voted for Republican candidates for U.S. House or other down-ballot races in their states.
New Gun Laws
The strictest gun law in the nation is on hold after the Oregon supreme court said it would not overturn a lower court’s ruling. The law would prevent the ownership of gun magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds. Additionally, new gun purchases would require a permit that can only be obtained after taking a state-certified course.
Why it matters: The proposed law was on the November ballot and passed by a slim margin. Rural Oregon cities were worried about their ability to process the expected flood of applications for firearm permits.
The rest of the news:
Congress agrees to scrap military coronavirus vaccine mandate, advances largest troop pay increase in 20 years - Stars and Stripes
Inside the turmoil roiling No Labels’ unity ticket presidential campaign - Politico
Kirk Cameron is denied story-hour slot by public libraries for his new faith-based kids book - Fox News
‘The world changed overnight’: Zero-Covid overhaul brings joy — and fears — in China - CNN
Trump Organization found guilty on all counts of criminal tax fraud - CNN
New York Times workers go on strike - AP News
Janitors' union called a strike outside Twitter, so Elon Musk canceled its contract and fired the janitors - The Blaze
Poll: DeSantis surges to 5-point lead over weakened Trump in 2024 primary matchup - Yahoo
House Financial Services Chair Waters doesn’t plan to subpoena Sam Bankman-Fried to testify at hearing on FTX collapse - CNBC
Face masks may return amid holiday ‘tripledemic’ of covid, flu and RSV - Washington Post (paywall)
The Pentagon Marches Off to Climate War - WSJ (paywall)
Tweets that caught my eye:
Market snapshot:
I must admit that today's show notes made me feel physically sick. There's too much absurdity to absorb and it seems as though the world has lost it's collective mind. A personality gets a prison swap, while an imprisoned retired military member lingers in a Russian jail. A disgraced crypto founder gets the soft treatment while thousands suffer financial loss at his hands. And a drag queen story hour is acceptable in public libraries but not something faith based because it doesn't meet their standards. What??? Some days, I just can't...
So now that Senator Kyrsten Sinema has officially exited the Democrat Party and become Independent, let's look at the real numbers in the US Senate: 49 Republicans, 48 Democrats, 3 Independents. Saying that the Democrats have a majority in the Senate means one of two things: Either you can't count; or you admit that Independents are Democrats in sheep's clothing and nothing more than bootlickers for the Democrat party. Which one do you think it is?