Good morning,

Let’s start our day by casting an eye toward Rand Paul, who is famous for his history of voting against federal disaster relief bills but is suddenly singing a different tune now that his home state of Kentucky has been ravaged. When it was Puerto Rico or Texas, he sneered about how easy it is for Congress to spend “other people’s money.” In the first place, that’s not even true. It’s a truly demented way of thinking about tax dollars, which come from people in Texas and Puerto Rico and Kentucky and everywhere into one pool from which funds are dispensed, so it’s not other people’s money, it’s our money. And of course, his hypocrisy as he now writes to Joe Biden seeking federal assistance is just off the charts.

Lots of news on Mark Meadows, who has turned over a PowerPoint to the House select committee on January 6. It’s not clear who wrote the PowerPoint, which made several recommendations to Donald Trump and advisers for how they could block Biden’s inauguration. The most, um, dramatic suggestion: Declare a state of emergency and announce that all electronic voting was invalid. Think about it. These people were actually going to do this if Mike Pence had gone along. That’s how close we were.

In addition, we get news that Meadows sent an email to an unknown person the evening of January 5 saying that “the National Guard would be present to ‘protect pro Trump people’ and that many more would be available on standby.” Wait. What?!? These were insurrectionists. They were supposed to be arrested, not protected (as indeed many were). And finally, the select committee is going to cite Meadows with contempt for failing to appear last week. Things are heating up nicely on this front.

On Capitol Hill, Punchbowl News (subscription) greets us with the delightful headline “It’s Manchin Time.” Great. The West Virginia senator still hasn’t reacted to Friday’s grim inflation news. That may be all the excuse he needs to vote against Build Back Better. He’s talking with Biden today. Then on Tuesday, interestingly, he’s meeting with a group of moderate Democrats on voting rights. Is there suddenly a little wiggle room there?

A certain disgraced reality-show host and a certain disgraced cable news host kicked off their joint speaking tour over the weekend near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Things did not go as planned. Loads of empty seats. 

Chris Wallace can’t take it any more at Fox News. The last actual newsperson is headed for the door. According to the Daily Beast, last month, the Financial Times asked him about Tucker Carlson, and it wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy: “I am only responsible for and only have control over my piece of real estate. I’m proud of what we do.… I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to my audience and to the truth. Truth is non-negotiable. There’s no spin to truth. Truth is truth.” Somebody who talks like that obviously has no future at Fox News.

At NewRepublic.com today, Daniel Strauss dives into the recent drama surrounding Kamala Harris, who, Strauss reports, is making an announcement today about new migration funding to try to right the ship. Lindsay Beyerstein looks at why the rumors about how Covid-19 was started in a Chinese lab just won’t die. And Matt Ford explains why you should take Matt Gaetz’s crazy-pants idea that Donald Trump should be the next speaker of the House seriously. 

And is this the first of the 12 days of Christmas, today being December 13? Or does that start on Christmas Day? Actually, Wikipedia says the latter: In 567 (!), the Council of Tours declared that the 12 days of Christmas run from Christmas Day to January 5 inclusive. Bet you didn’t know that!

Best wishes,

—Michael Tomasky, editor

Every day, our journalists are exposing the right’s assaults on our democracy—and pushing the Democrats to go bold to preserve the republic. Here’s a special offer from The New Republic so you won’t miss their scoops and sharp analysis.

Friday’s politics question: Who said, in 1783, on the topic of what was then called “alien suffrage”: “The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent and respectable stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges”?

Answer: The big fella himself—George Washington.

Friday's bonus pop culture question: Debuting in Larry Clark’s Kids and thereafter appearing in everything from Sonic Youth music videos to fashion runways, this actress is known for eclectic roles ranging from the unassuming—a secretary in American Psycho—to the grisly—the eponymous serial killer in Lizzie. Who is she?

Answer: Chloë Sevigny.

Today’s politics question: Speaking of Joe Manchin, why is West Virginia a state, anyway? What year did it happen, and what was the main issue that drove its creation?

Today’s Christmas carol question: Good King Wenceslas was a real guy. In what country did he live, and what day, speaking of the 12 days of Christmas, is the “feast of Stephen”?