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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.

Trump goes to war with the pope — Pope Francis may have picked a fight with the wrong bully. — After months of taking subtle swipes at Republican politicians, the pontiff went for a direct punch at Donald Trump on Thursday, suggesting the GOP poll leader is “not Christian” …


Pope suggests Trump ‘is not Christian’ — (CNN)Thrusting himself into the combative 2016 presidential campaign, Pope Francis said Thursday that GOP frontrunner Donald Trump “is not Christian” if he calls for the deportation of undocumented immigrants and pledges to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.
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Washington Post, National Review, The San Diego Union … and CRUX


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


Pope on Trump: Anyone who wants border walls isn't Christian — ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Francis said Thursday that Donald Trump is “not Christian” if he wants to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border. Trump immediately fired back, saying it is disgraceful for a religious leader to question a person's faith.
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Talking Points Memo, National Review and Daily Wire

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


Pope Francis Says Contraception May Be ‘Lesser of Two Evils’ During Zika Virus Outbreak
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ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, The Atlantic, CRUX and abc11.com

Pope Francis Says Donald Trump Is ‘Not Christian’
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Vox, Washington Post, addictinginfo.org, abc11.com and Associated Press


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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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, New York Times, Politico, NBC News, mprnews.org, BizPac Review, Wall Street Journal, 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.
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New York Times, BloombergView.com, SCOTUSblog, Fusion, Prairie Weather and PrawfsBlawg


Scalia's death has landed Republicans in a nasty trap — THE MORNING PLUM: — A new CBS News poll out this morning finds that Donald Trump continues to dominate among Republican voters nationally: He's backed by 35 percent; Ted Cruz has 18 percent; and Marco-Mentum has 12 percent.
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Washington Monthly, NBC News, CNN, ABC News, Mediaite and Politicus USA


White House: Obama ‘regrets’ his filibuster of Supreme Court nominee
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CNN, Business Insider, American Spectator, Politico, ABC News, The Daily Signal, CNBC, Power Line and The Week

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

Summing Up Scalia — Getting right to the point:
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Balkinization

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

Glenn Beck: God took Scalia to give America Ted Cruz as president
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TPNN, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

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

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


Exclusive — SC Blogger: Marco Rubio's Campaign Manager Pushed Story That Nikki Haley Had An Affair With Me — COLUMBIA, S.C. — The campaign manager of 2016 GOP presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) once pushed out the story that South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had an affair …
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Fox News Poll: Trump leads in South Carolina
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Talking Points Memo, Power Line, Political Wire, Politico and Hot Air


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 …
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The Daily Beast, Politicus USA, Washington Post and Mother Jones
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Trump: I'll be ‘neutral’ on Israel and Palestine
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RedState, Daily Wire, Yahoo Politics, Betsy's Page, Hot Air, American Spectator and Mondoweiss

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


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, Guardian, abc11.com, 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.”
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Friendly Atheist
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Cliven Bundy indicted by federal grand jury
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New York Magazine, Politicus USA, Mashable and The Atlantic

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 …


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 …
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Daily Wire, Politico, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller and Vox


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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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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Deadspin, New York Times, Slate, Jezebel, Talking Points Memo, Shakesville, FanSided, archive.is and Slantpoint, more at Mediagazer »