Top Items:
Greg Miller / Washington Post:
No 'G'day, mate': On call with Australian prime minister, Trump badgers and brags — It should have been one of the most congenial calls for the new commander in chief — a conversation with the leader of Australia, one of America's staunchest allies, at the end of a triumphant week.
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Vivian Salama / Associated Press:
TRUMP TO MEXICO: TAKE CARE OF ‘BAD HOMBRES’ OR US MIGHT — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump threatened in a phone call with his Mexican counterpart to send U.S. troops to stop “bad hombres down there” unless the Mexican military does more to control them, according to an excerpt …
Discussion:
RedState, The Guardian, Mediaite, Washington Times, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, Politicus USA, Boing Boing, Joe.My.God. and Balloon Juice
Christopher Woody / Business Insider:
Report: In a ‘humiliating’ and ‘threatening’ tone, Trump lambasted Mexico's president during a phone call
Report: In a ‘humiliating’ and ‘threatening’ tone, Trump lambasted Mexico's president during a phone call
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Guardian, AOL and Hullabaloo
Politico:
What Could Gorsuch Mean for the Supreme Court? — On Tuesday, Donald Trump nominated conservative federal appeals court judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. After 11 days packed full of executive actions—on everything from immigration to military spending to trade …
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President Trump had the chance to select:
President Trump had the chance to select a consensus nominee to the Supreme Court. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, he failed that test. — Instead, he carried out his public promise to select a nominee from a list drawn up by far right activist groups that were financed by big business interests.
Discussion:
NARAL Pro-Choice America, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley …, New York Times, Washington Post, American Greatness, Townhall.com, The Hill, Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Week, USA Today, Taylor Marsh, twitchy.com, NPR, alan.com, The Other McCain, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Chris McDaniel / BuzzFeed:
Trump's Supreme Court Pick Determined That A Badly Botched Execution Was An “Innocent Misadventure”
Trump's Supreme Court Pick Determined That A Badly Botched Execution Was An “Innocent Misadventure”
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, Politico, Denver Post, USA Today, IJR, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Above the Law, The Daily Caller, Bloomberg, The Crime Report, Associated Press, Mother Jones, NPR, Hit & Run and New York Times
James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Supreme Court pick rewards Republicans for sticking with Trump, vindicates McConnell strategy
The Daily 202: Supreme Court pick rewards Republicans for sticking with Trump, vindicates McConnell strategy
Discussion:
The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, naked capitalism and Vox
Madeline Conway / Politico:
Pence: The media gave us no ‘honeymoon’
Lawrence K. Altman, M.D. / New York Times:
Donald Trump's Longtime Doctor Says President Takes Hair-Growth Drug — WASHINGTON — President Trump takes medication for three ailments, including a prostate-related drug to promote hair growth, Mr. Trump's longtime physician, Dr. Harold N. Bornstein, said in a series of recent interviews.
Discussion:
Axios and Oliver Willis
Bloomberg:
Republicans Rebrand Obamacare Strategy From ‘Repeal’ to ‘Repair’ — Lawmakers advised to shift to friendlier Obamacare messaging — Some try out ‘repair’ as others stick with stronger words — Some Republicans in Congress are starting to talk more about trying to “repair” Obamacare …
Discussion:
Politicus USA
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Peter Sullivan / The Hill:
GOP talk shifts from replacing ObamaCare to repairing it
GOP talk shifts from replacing ObamaCare to repairing it
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Los Angeles Times
Julian Borger / The Guardian:
Trump administration ‘officially putting Iran on notice’, says Michael Flynn — National security adviser issues statement in response to recent Iranian actions as expert warns the White House ‘could stumble into war’ — The Trump administration has said it was “officially putting Iran on notice” …
Discussion:
RedState, Business Insider and The American Conservative
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Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:
White House puts Iran ‘on notice,’ won't rule out military force
White House puts Iran ‘on notice,’ won't rule out military force
Discussion:
Political Wire, Associated Press, Power Line and New York Times
Gardiner Harris / New York Times:
Rex Tillerson Is Confirmed as Secretary of State Amid Record Opposition — WASHINGTON — Rex W. Tillerson, the former chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday in a 56-to-43 vote to become the nation's 69th secretary of state just as serious strains …
Discussion:
alan.com, Vox, The Atlantic, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air and The Week
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New York Times:
How Senators Voted on Rex Tillerson
How Senators Voted on Rex Tillerson
Discussion:
The Last Refuge, The Daily Caller and Althouse
WJBK-TV:
Man who claimed mom died in Iraq after Trump's ban lied, Imam confirms — DETROIT (WJBK) - The leader of a mosque in Dearborn has confirmed to FOX 2 that a man who claimed his mother died in Iraq after being barred from returning to the United States under a ban instituted by President Trump this weekend …
Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Two GOP senators to vote ‘no’ on Betsy DeVos — in back-to-back speeches on the Senate floor announced Wednesday that they would oppose Betsy DeVos's nomination to be Education secretary. — They are the first two Republicans to break with Trump on any of his Cabinet picks …
Discussion:
Power Line, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, Axios, Fox News Insider and Washington Post
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Kimberly Hefling / Politico:
DeVos nomination stands at 50-50
DeVos nomination stands at 50-50
Discussion:
Washington Post, Townhall.com, The Atlantic, ThinkProgress, Hot Air and Liberal Values
Hamilton Nolan / The Concourse:
A Full Transcript Of Donald Trump's Black History Month Remarks — February is Black History Month. This morning, Donald Trump held a White House event to mark the occasion. Below is an accurate transcript of his remarks. — [Daniel Dale of the Toronto Star published the first transcript …
Discussion:
New York Times, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Vox, Balloon Juice, Shakesville, Common Dreams and theGrio
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David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Donald Trump's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Donald Trump's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
Discussion:
Marginal REVOLUTION and Cafe Hayek
Nik DeCosta-Klipa / Boston Globe:
Read the full transcript of President Trump's unusual Black History Month remarks here
Read the full transcript of President Trump's unusual Black History Month remarks here
Discussion:
Toronto Star and IJR
Sarah Posner / The Nation:
Leaked Draft of Trump's Religious Freedom Order Reveals Sweeping Plans to Legalize Discrimination — If signed, the order would create wholesale exemptions for people and organizations who claim religious objections to same-sex marriage, premarital sex, abortion, and trans identity. — By ,
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Joe.My.God.
Reuters:
Covering Trump the Reuters Way — In a message to staff today, Reuters Editor-in-Chief Steve Adler wrote about covering President Trump the Reuters way: — The first 12 days of the Trump presidency (yes, that's all it's been!) have been memorable for all - and especially challenging for us in the news business.
Discussion:
Boing Boing, The Daily Caller and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Reuters:
Exclusive: Trump to focus counter-extremism program solely on Islam - sources — The Trump administration wants to revamp and rename a U.S. government program designed to counter all violent ideologies so that it focuses solely on Islamist extremism, five people briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Times
Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:
Reddit Bans Alt-Right Group — Reddit, the enormous online community-run forum, announced on Wednesday night that it was banning the white nationalist subreddit r/altright, due to “posting of personal information,” otherwise known as doxxing. — “Reddit is the proud home …
Discussion:
Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
DNC boots candidate from chairmanship race for criticizing Ellison's Islamic faith — The Democratic National Committee is kicking a candidate out of the chairmanship race after he told The Hill that Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) should not be the party's next leader because he is a Muslim.
New York Post:
Boston Marathon bombing survivor to wed fireman who saved her — More On: — When Roseann Sdoia was laid up with an amputated leg in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, love was the last thing on her mind. — But her mother, ever the matchmaker, saw a perfect opportunity as handsome firefighter Mike Materia hovered nearby.
Discussion:
Fox News Insider, WQAD-TV and RedState
Steven Mufson / Washington Post:
Trump transition email shows initial effort to oust all inspectors general — An email from the Trump transition team on the evening of Jan. 13 instructed all transition team leaders to “reach out tonight and inform” the inspectors general in their agencies “that they are being held over on a temporary basis.”
Discussion:
Committee on Oversight …, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite
Joel Rubin / Los Angeles Times:
L.A. federal judge orders a temporary halt to Trump's travel ban — U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte Jr., in his prior job as the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times) — A federal judge in Los Angeles has added another legal challenge …
Discussion:
The Concourse, Hit & Run, KTLA and New York Times
Cameron Knight / USA Today:
Nation's bacon reserves hit 50-year low as prices rise — The country's bacon reserves are at the lowest levels in half a century. — In other words, pig farmers can't keep up with the world's sizzling appetite for those fatty, smoky strips of sheer eating pleasure.
Discussion:
RedState, The Daily Caller, NBC News, The Week and WCCO | CBS Minnesota
Caroline Stanley / Refinery29:
Exclusive: Sheryl Sandberg Is The Warrior America Needs Right Now — Here's Why — It's no secret that President Trump and many of his GOP counterparts would love to “defund” Planned Parenthood. In fact, cutting off federal funds to the 100-year-old organization — which services 2.5 million …
Discussion:
USA Today, AOL, Politico, The Verge, Axios, TheBlaze, Political Wire, Mother Jones and Business Insider
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Trump loses suit over golf club memberships — A federal judge has ordered a golf club owned by President Donald Trump to refund nearly $6 million to members who said Trump's team essentially confiscated refundable deposits after taking over the country club in 2012
Discussion:
Raw Story
Anna Palmer / Politico:
Comstock a no-show at weekend town halls — Rep. Barbara Comstock stood up constituents over the weekend who attended two townhalls with questions about an Obamacare repeal and the Trump Administration's travel ban. — The centrist Virginia Republican invited people in her districts to …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Emily Nohr / Omaha World-Herald:
Nebraska flag flew upside down at Capitol for 10 days and ‘nobody noticed,’ says senator who wants design change — This Nebraska state flag flew over Gardez, Afghanistan, when a Nebraska National Guard team served there in 2005. Here, Col. Tom Schuurmans presents then-Gov. Dave Heineman …
Discussion:
The Guardian, RedState, Mediaite and The Week