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Pope Francis Suggests Donald Trump Is ‘Not Christian’ — ABOARD THE PAPAL AIRLINER — Inserting himself into the Republican presidential race, Pope Francis on Wednesday suggested that Donald J. Trump “is not Christian” because of the harshness of his campaign promises to deport more immigrants …
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DONALD J. TRUMP RESPONSE TO THE POPE — If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS's ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened.


MSNBC's Town Hall With Donald Trump Was Disgraceful — The media's coverage of Trump has been soft, insufficient, and without substance. — Is Donald Trump in trouble? After facing hostile questions from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Wednesday night—they comprehensively laid out his flip-flops …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Politicus USA, Washington Post and Mother Jones


Pope Francis Rips Capitalism, American Immigration Policy at Mexican Border — Pope Francis, apparently desperate to reach out to the Catholic Church's growing base in Latin America, spent the day slapping Americans in the face from across the US-Mexico border.
Discussion:
Daily Wire and Reuters


Trump: I'll be ‘neutral’ on Israel and Palestine — GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday refused to pick sides in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. — “You know, I don't want to get into it,” he told hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski during a MSNBC town hall in Charleston, S.C.
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RedState, Yahoo Politics, Daily Wire, Betsy's Page, Hot Air, American Spectator and Mondoweiss

Pope says Trump ‘not Christian’ in views, plans over immigration
Discussion:
Washington Post and Politico

Trump goes to war with the pope
Discussion:
Yahoo Politics, Washington Post and New York Times


Pope on Trump: Anyone who wants border walls isn't Christian
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Daily Wire

Trump Mistakenly Thinks Description Of Sanders Is About Himself (VIDEO)
Discussion:
MSNBC, Daily Wire and The Week

Pope Francis decries ‘human tragedy’ that forces migration in landmark Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, New York Times, ImmigrationProf Blog and KTLA

Donald Trump Promises: As President, I Will Sign a Bill to De-fund Planned Parenthood
Discussion:
RedState, CBN.com, Hot Air and Right Wing Watch


CBS News poll: Trump maintains commanding lead over GOP field — Donald Trump (35 percent) continues to hold a commanding lead over the rest of the field, with a 17 point lead over his closest rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz (18 percent). John Kasich (11 percent) has now risen to a virtual third-place tie with Marco Rubio (12 percent).
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NBC News, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Hot Air, Politico and USA Today
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CBS News poll: The next Supreme Court justice, Obama, and the economy — The U.S. Supreme Court — With an unexpected vacancy on the Supreme Court as a result of Justice Antonin Scalia's death, it's unclear if he will be replaced before the November election.
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ABC News, Politico, NBC News, mprnews.org, Wall Street Journal, BizPac Review, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, abc11.com, The Week and Washington Post


The Republicans' Scalia Hysteria — A half-century ago, the brilliant British comedy troupe Beyond the Fringe produced “The End of the World,” a skit in which a group of cultists gather atop a mountain to greet the Apocalypse, prophesied for that very day. “Now is the end!” they chant.
Discussion:
New York Times, BloombergView.com, SCOTUSblog, Fusion, Prairie Weather and PrawfsBlawg


White House: Obama ‘regrets’ his filibuster of Supreme Court nominee — President Obama “regrets” filibustering the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in 2006, his top spokesman said Wednesday, though he maintains that the Republican opposition to his effort to replace Justice Antonin Scalia is unprecedented.
Discussion:
American Spectator, ABC News, Politico, The Daily Signal, CNBC, Power Line and The Week


Outside Groups Warn GOP: Don't Even Think About Holding A SCOTUS Hearing
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

Controversy Erupts At A T14 Law School Over How (Or Even Whether) To Mourn Justice Scalia
Discussion:
Independent Journal Review, Althouse, Instapundit, Campus Reform, The Daily Caller and The College Fix

Scalia's death has landed Republicans in a nasty trap
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Politico, CBS News, Politicus USA and Political Insider blog

Summing Up Scalia — Getting right to the point:
Discussion:
Balkinization

Republicans weigh denying Supreme Court nominee a hearing
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Politicus USA, Daily Kos and Washington Post

The Potential for the Most Liberal Supreme Court in Decades
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Prairie Weather, ACS Blog and BloombergView.com

Sandra Day O'Connor: Obama should name Scalia's replacement
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Vox, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Above the Law, addictinginfo.org and The Week

JCN Launches “Let the People Decide” Campaign
Discussion:
Politico and Talking Points Memo


Mainstream G.O.P. Field of Three Faces Brutal Delegate Math — If the Republican Party remains divided for much longer, it will start getting more difficult for a mainstream candidate to win the nomination. — Yet Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and John Kasich all have incentives to stay in the race …
Discussion:
Shakesville
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Fox News Poll: Trump leads in South Carolina
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Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Politico and Hot Air

Donald Trump Falls Behind Ted Cruz in National NBC/WSJ Poll
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Salon, Mediaite, The Right Scoop, Hullabaloo, New York Times, CNN, TPNN, Politico, Refinery29, The Week, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, The Last Refuge, Talking Points Memo, Charleston City Paper, MSNBC, The Daily Caller, National Review, AOL, Daily Wire, Hot Air, RedState, Washington Post, Conservative Review, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Fox News, Bloomberg Business, Florida Politics, Political Insider blog, New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice and Taylor Marsh

Jeb Bush confronted like never before by worried supporters
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addictinginfo.org, FiveThirtyEight, Marco Rubio, Florida Politics, Yahoo Politics, BostonGlobe.com and Politico

Trump leads Republican field nationally by more than 20 points: poll
Discussion:
Power Line

Is Jeb Bush Preparing Himself to Drop Out?
Discussion:
Power Line, RedState, The Resurgent, Guardian and Hot Air


Obama ‘Hope’ designer endorses Sanders — Artist and activist Shepard Fairey, who designed the iconic “Hope” poster during then-Sen. Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, is backing Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. — “I'm supporting Bernie Sanders …
Discussion:
Daily Wire, Politico, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Caller
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Tightening race rattles Clinton World's nerves
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CNN, Instapundit and Common Dreams


President Obama is going to Cuba. Here's why: — Cuba is only 90 miles from Florida, but for a long time the distance between our two countries seemed a lot greater. — For more than fifty years, the United States pursued a policy of isolating and pressuring Cuba.
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President Obama to Visit Cuba in Historic Trip Next Month
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CNN, abc11.com, Guardian, The Right Scoop, Weasel Zippers, New York Magazine and The Week

Oregon Occupier Countersues For $666 Billion, Citing ‘Works Of The Devil’ — Shawna Cox, one of the last militants to be arrested for occupying an Oregon wildlife refuge last month, has filed a counter-suit against the U.S. government and others in which she alleges “damages from the works of the devil in excess of 666,666,666,666.66.”
Discussion:
Friendly Atheist
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Cliven Bundy indicted by federal grand jury
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Mashable and The Atlantic


A note from the editorial director — Earlier today, SB Nation posted a story called “Who is Daniel Holtzclaw?” that attempted to find out the backstory of convicted serial rapist Daniel Holtzclaw. The story focused on his football background in particular.
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New York Times, Deadspin, Jezebel, Talking Points Memo, Slate, archive.is, Shakesville, FanSided and Slantpoint, more at Mediagazer »

How to Break a Party — Beginning with the Tea Party wave and continuing through the not-Romney musical chairs of the 2012 Republican primary and the battles over debt limits and fiscal cliffs, most coverage of the Republican Party's internal divisions during the Obama era fell into an easy groove …


Apple Unlocked iPhones for the Feds 70 Times Before — A 2015 court case shows that the tech giant has been willing to play ball with the government before—and is only stopping now because it might “tarnish the Apple brand.” — Apple CEO Tim Cook declared on Wednesday that his company …
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The Moderate Voice, The Atlantic, Guardian, TechCrunch, Hit & Run, Washington Post, Common Dreams, KTLA, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Jihad Watch, USA TODAY College, The Week, Infowars, Defense One, New York Times, Sputnik International, Slantpoint, blog maverick, Vox, CBS Boston, New York Magazine, Ars Technica UK, The Verge, VentureBeat, Fox News, LawNewz, Investor's Business Daily, The People's View, protein wisdom, alec.org, Mashable, Mother Jones, The Next Web, NPR and Associated Press