Welcome to the RedState Weekly Briefing  — where we take a quick look at the week’s most viewed stories in case you missed any of them. Grab a cup of coffee and sit down with this 21st Century Weekend Edition of your favorite (online) publication!

#1 – Biden Freaks out on Stage for Mysterious Reasons, Steps in It Big-Time Over Energy Policy — by Bonchie

I feel like I say this in every piece I write on a Biden public appearance, but I’m at a loss. Did he get scared by his own shadow? I’m only half joking because even though we can’t see the stage, it doesn’t appear there was actually anything in his way. Later he walks in the same spot without issue. He seems genuinely startled at that moment, shouting “it’s black” without any further explanation. It was weird, even by Biden’s standards.

“Great. Now we’re getting 6 more weeks of recession,” one Twitter user quipped in response, and I think that wins the day. The fact that the President of the United States has become a running punchline due to his senility is probably not a good thing, but we can at least have some fun in the meantime.

#2 – Mark Ruffalo Comes to AOC’s Defense, but Elon Finishes Them Both off With a Little Reality — by Nick Arama

Imagine Ruffalo — a middling actor at best– trying to tell one of the most successful men in the world what to do, as though Ruffalo has any credibility at all or anything that AOC says is to be taken seriously.

But Elon brought a little reality back to the equation. “Hot take: not everything AOC says is [100%] accurate.”

#3 – New Hope Arises in Arizona for Republicans After Ballot Update — by Bonchie

Looking at the GOP’s performance overall in this election, it’s not good. Yet, if Adam Laxalt wins the senate seat in Nevada (highly likely at this point) and Masters somehow pulls out a victory, Republicans could take the US Senate without even having to win the runoff in Georgia, which would then become a fight over a possible 52nd seat. That wouldn’t change the fact that big changes are needed in the party, but it would lessen the sting that so many of us have felt up to this point.

As to Lake, she’s so much fun to watch, and I don’t think I’m alone in wanting to see her actually get to govern. If she wins, it’ll be a big victory for the party and a bigger victory for Arizona.

#4 – Twitter User Makes Stunning Allegation That Has Elon Musk Sit up and Take Notice — by Nick Arama 

Now, we don’t know about the validity of such a claim, but that would be a huge scandal if the prior Twitter powers that be were involved in that. That might explain why some liberal blue checks are melting down if they paid out for it. But you would think we would have heard about this before.

It’s been obvious that the verification process was very arbitrary — that folks who were real media but conservative might not get a blue-check mark, but random people on the liberal side would. The whole process could use an overhaul and that’s one of the things that could be shaken out with the new $8/month system.

#5 – Bombshell: About Those FBI Informants Concerning Jan. 6… — by Nick Arama

Even the NY Times snuck in the obvious question here: If the FBI had all these contacts and they’re claiming it was some prior plot, why wasn’t it stopped beforehand, if it was a “seditious conspiracy” and not a spontaneous riot?

When the FBI got a tip from Rasheed, why didn’t they follow up on it? It would seem with something that specific you would want to follow up on it, especially if he was saying there were questions of violence. So why didn’t they?