Today’s edition of quick hits:
* It was only a matter of time before we saw our first such case: “The omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in California, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday.”
* The latest from Michigan: “A 17-year-old student is the fourth victim to die in a shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan as murder charges were announced against the teenage suspect. The suspected shooter, Ethan Crumbley, 15, was charged Wednesday with four counts of first-degree murder, one count of terrorism causing death, seven counts of assault with intent to murder, and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.”
* A serious foreign-policy challenge: “The Biden administration warned on Wednesday that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would trigger ‘high impact’ U.S. sanctions that would surpass any previously imposed on Moscow.”
* Of course it was a Trump-appointed judge who made this misguided move: “A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Tuesday to halt the start of President Biden’s national vaccine mandate for health care workers, which had been set to begin next week.”
* The Fed’s plans: “Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank was prepared to quicken the pullback of its easy-money policies, opening the door to raising interest rates in the first half of next year as it grapples with inflation and a potential new virus wave that could exacerbate supply-chain disruptions.” * File this story away for future reference: “Gov. Greg Abbott promised that the state’s electric grid would be able to withstand pressures caused by any potential winter storm that occurs this year in a television interview Friday. ‘Listen, very confident about the grid. And I can tell you why, for one: I signed almost a dozen laws that make the power grid more effective,’ Abbott said. ‘I can guarantee the lights will stay on.’” * So much avoidable suffering: “Marcus Lamb, a co-founder and the CEO of the conservative Christian Daystar Television Network who vocally opposed Covid-19 vaccines, has died at 64, weeks after he contracted Covid-19, the network said.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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