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New poll: Donald Trump still leads, but Ben Carson makes strong gains — Shares - — At 27 percent nationally, Donald Trump maintains his frontrunner status among Republican primary voters, but Ben Carson is now close behind him, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds.
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Can Donald Trump Be Stopped? — Like almost everyone I know who is working on, covering, or closely following the presidential election, I spend about 60 percent of my waking hours talking about Donald Trump. People want to know if he can win, if he will win, and what might possibly derail his candidacy.


Joe Biden Decries Donald Trump's ‘Sick Message’ on Hispanic Immigrants — Vice President Joe Biden took aim at Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday, blasting the real estate mogul for “absolutely denigrating an entire group of people.”
Discussion:
Reuters, CNN and The Gateway Pundit


Today in Politics: In New Poll, Ben Carson Pulls Up Alongside an Idling Donald Trump
Discussion:
CNN, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, FOX News Radio, Guardian, Daily Kos, Fox News and Morning Consult

Conservative pundit Bill Kristol: If Trump wins, I'd support a third-party choice
Discussion:
Salon, The Texas Observer, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hot Air and Mock Paper Scissors

Halperin Gets His Thug On
Discussion:
Business Insider and Booman Tribune


McConnell threatens to bring Israel amendment into Iran debate — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is warning Democrats that if they block a resolution disapproving the Iran nuclear deal, he will force a vote on a contentious amendment related to Israel and U.S. prisoners.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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Conservatives press GOP leaders on Planned Parenthood — Washington (CNN)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell believes it's an “exercise in futility” to try and defund Planned Parenthood this month. — Not all of his Senate Republican colleagues agree.
Discussion:
RedState


White House open to short-term funding bill to prevent shutdown
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo

Anti-Abortion Hardliners Not Budging In Shutdown Fight With GOP Leaders
Discussion:
New York Times, US News, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, Live Action, Guardian and Washington Post


FINALLY: You'll soon be able to ‘dislike’ things on Facebook, says Mark Zuckerberg — Mark Zuckerberg announced today that Facebook is finally working on a “Dislike” button. — " I think people have asked about the dislike button for many years. Today is a special day because today …
Discussion:
Mashable, Engadget, abc7ny.com, Guardian and CBS Detroit
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Facebook Says It's Introducing a ‘Dislike’ Button — For more than six years, every Facebook status, photo, or page has had a little “Like” button hovering next to it. Want to show your approval? Click that button. — But not everything in the world is meant to be approved.
Discussion:
Bloomberg Business, Re/code, US News and Balloon Juice

Facebook is working on a ‘dislike’ button
Discussion:
The Verge, 89.3 KPCC, Refinery29 and Your EDM


Jeb Bush video about America uses stock footage from foreign countries — Jeb Bush's super PAC Right to Rise used stock video images from England and Asia for its new video, which seeks to contrast the former Florida governor's optimism about America's future with Donald Trump's pessimism about its present.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and No More Mister Nice Blog
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Thrasher fires back at Rubio
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, Business Insider, USA Today and SBNation.com

Florida Down on Bush, Rubio Campaigns
Discussion:
Hot Air, Daily Kos and Orlando Sentinel


Conservatives need to say what we are thinking: Donald Trump is a madman who must be stopped. Failure to speak out against Trump is an endorsement of Clinton. — We do need to Make America Great Again. We do need to burn down Washington. We do need to eradicate political correctness.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Daily Mail, BobbyJindal.com, Mediaite and ImmigrationProf Blog

Having sex with robots is really, really bad, Campaign Against Sex Robots says — Imagine: It's 2030, or 2040, or 2050. You're at home with your robot. It's a hot night, and there's not much to do. You're feeling a little romantic. So you sidle on over ... Stop.
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Intelligent machines: Call for a ban on robots designed as sex toys — A campaign has been launched calling for a ban on the development of robots that can be used for sex. — Such a use of the technology is unnecessary and undesirable, said campaign leader Dr Kathleen Richardson.
Discussion:
Daily Mail, Mediaite, NBC News and The Daily Caller


No, Bernie Sanders is not going to bankrupt America to the tune of $18 trillion — The big policy headline today comes from the Wall Street Journal, which delivers this alarming message: … Holy cow! He must be advocating for some crazy stuff that will bankrupt America!
Discussion:
Politico, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Hit & Run, The Stranger …, Daily Kos, FOX News Radio, American Spectator and Hot Air


Obama hits ‘coddled’ liberal college students — President Obama is weighing in on the discussion over political dialogue on college campuses, saying students shouldn't be “coddled” from opposing views. — “It's not just sometimes folks who are mad that colleges are too liberal that have a problem.
Discussion:
The Daily Banter, American Spectator, Mediaite and The Daily Caller
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Was Sanders Actually Fishing For Votes at Liberty University? — When I heard about Bernie Sanders choosing to speak at one of Liberty University's famous “convos” where so many right-wing figures have spoken in the past, my initial reaction was probably the same as pretty much everybody's: “Huh!
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, CNN and ThinkProgress
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Bernie Sanders Isn't Crazy to Court Evangelicals. But Here's Why It's a Tough Sell.
Discussion:
Slantpoint

Remember Jade Helm 15, the controversial military exercise? It's over. — The military exercise Jade Helm 15 generated enough conspiracy theories this year that it garnered mockery on late-night television, commentary from presidential candidates and reaction from the Texas governor.
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler, Addicting Info, Raw Story and Right Wing Watch


Obama won't watch second GOP debate — President Obama will follow news coverage of the second Republican presidential primary debate on Wednesday night, but he won't be tuning in. — “He has better things to do,” press secretary Josh Earnest said when asked why Obama is skipping the debate, which will air on CNN.


West 'ignored Russian offer in 2012 to have Syria's Assad step aside' — Exclusive: Senior negotiator describes rejection of alleged proposal, since when tens of thousands have been killed and millions displaced — Russia proposed more than three years ago that President Bashar al-Assad …
Discussion:
Hot Air and War in Context
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Fecklessness 101 — Apparently the Obama administration turned …
Discussion:
Questions and Observations, Guardian and Power Line