THE SHOW NOTES: Sinema The Independent, Pesky Inflation, & Shadow Banning Conservatives

Welcome! Kyrsten Sinema is no longer a Democrat.

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HEADLINE: Pentagon concerned Bout could return to arms trafficking after Griner exchange - Politico

NEW: FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried agrees to testify at U.S. House hearing on Tuesday

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GO WATCH THIS: “Viktor Bout is one of the most dangerous men on the earth.”

Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 @ChristinaPushaw

Meet Viktor Bout, whom Biden set free today This is from years ago, back when 60 Minutes occasionally dabbled in journalism.

My take:

Erick Erickson @EWErickson

For a party that is opposed to people getting their hands on “weapons of war,” the Dems are pretty ok with trading the Merchant of Death to Russia for an NBA star, but screw the Marine in prison over there.

The Independent

In a move that shocked Washington, Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Independent just days after Democrats secured a 51-49 majority.

Perspective: While Bernie Sanders and Angus King are also technically independent, both Senators caucus with Democrats and are more progressive than the median Senate Democrat. In contrast, Sinema has one of the most moderate voting records among Senate Democrats and has defied party leadership on several occasions.

However: Sinema said she does not intend to upend the Senate composition and expects to keep her committee assignments signaling she will likely caucus with Democrats since Majority Leader Chuck Schumer decides committee appointments. Go deeper with Politico.

Josh Kraushaar @JoshKraushaar

Sinema is up for re-election in 2024, and she would have faced the possibility of a rough primary where she would have been pulled left. This move would allow her to maintain unique coalition of moderate Dems and moderate Rs, bypassing primary — tho it’s a risky one.

Pesky Inflation

Higher than expected wholesale prices will make it challenging for the Federal Reserve to slow the size and pace of rate hikes in the next 12 months. Wholesale prices rose 0.3% and 7.4% from a year ago as reported by CNBC earlier this morning.

To make matters worse: BlackRock strategist made a dire market prediction claiming a recession is coming “unlike any other” and claims “what worked in the past won't work now.” Go read the dreary story at Business Insider.

The Twitter Files: Blacklisting Conservatives

What is the Twitter Files: In an attempt to bring trust and transparency back to Twitter, Elon Musk announced the release of the Twitter Files, an episodic tweet thread that releases details of the interworkings of the company before Musk took over.

Backstory: For years, conservatives pointed to stagnant or shrinking follower counts and search abnormalities as proof they were being shadow banned or outright blacklisted. Twitter flatly denied the claims stating “We do not shadow ban” and later added, “we certainly don’t shadow ban based on political viewpoints or ideology.” They did.

Details: Bari Weiss reveals that select Twitter employees did indeed blacklist and shadow ban conservative personalities. The list included Dan Bongino, Charlie Kirk, Jay Bhattacharya, and many more who were placed on a “trending blacklist”, a “search blacklist”, or a “do not amplify” list.

This is bad: Inarguably the most egregious action was taken against the conservative Libs of TikTok account who was suspended six times this year for “hateful conduct.” However, according to newly released internal memos, Twitter executives admitted that Libs of TikTok “has not directly engaged in behavior violative of the Hateful Conduct policy.” They simply suspended the account because they disagreed with the content.

This is worse: The proprietor of The Libs of TikTok account was doxxed meaning her personal information was posted on Twitter for others to harass her and her family. Twitter refused to take the information down or suspend the account responsible. Go read the full story below:

Bari Weiss @bariweiss

THREAD: THE TWITTER FILES PART TWO. TWITTER’S SECRET BLACKLISTS.

The rest of the news:

• Biden administration awards $36 billion to save the pensions of 357,000 union workers - CNN

• Marjorie Taylor Greene's MAGA power play - Axios

• Iran hangs protester in first known execution related to mass demonstrations - CNN

• Poll: DeSantis surges to 5-point lead over weakened Trump in 2024 primary matchup - Yahoo

• Climate change sets back Winter Olympics decision for Salt Lake City - Axios

• Energy department official accused of stealing luggage from Las Vegas airport - 8News

• Who is Paul Whelan? Former US Marine left behind in Brittney Griner-Viktor Bout exchange - Fox News

• A Terrible Concession to Putin’s Russia - National Review (paywall)

• Europe Cold Snap Tests Gas Reserves After Russian Supply Cut - WSJ (paywall)

Tweets that caught my eye: