Top Items:
New York Times:
Fight Erupts in Trump Administration Over Transgender Students' Rights — WASHINGTON — A fight over a draft order that would rescind protections for transgender students in public schools has erupted inside the Trump administration, pitting Attorney General Jeff Sessions against the secretary of education, Betsy DeVos.
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Ryan Gaydos / Fox News:
Trump administration working on new transgender bathroom directive
Trump administration working on new transgender bathroom directive
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post, IJR, Mediaite and Axios
Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:
Bill Maher, Faulted for Booking Milo Yiannopoulos, Takes Credit for His Fall — If you were disappointed that Bill Maher brought Milo Yiannopoulos onto his HBO show “Real Time” last week, Mr. Maher is not especially bothered. — In a telephone interview on Tuesday night …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Vox, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, IJR, BizPac Review, twitchy.com, Mediaite, Washington Post, Shakesville, Business Insider and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »
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Joe Concha / The Hill:
Maher takes credit for Milo Yiannopoulos's downfall — HBO's Bill Maher is taking credit for sudden and dramatic fall of former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos, declaring that his decision to book the alt-right provocateur on his Friday show led to his demise.
Discussion:
RedState, New York Times and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Alt-right influence casts cloud over CPAC
Alt-right influence casts cloud over CPAC
Discussion:
NPR, Political Wire, New York Magazine and Associated Press
Tara Palmeri / Politico:
How Trump's campaign staffers tried to keep him off Twitter — President Donald Trump's former campaign staffers claim they cracked the code for tamping down his most inflammatory tweets, and they say the current West Wing staff would do well to take note. — The key to keeping Trump's …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Mother Jones, Political Wire, Raw Story and The Week, more at Mediagazer »
Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:
Kellyanne Conway sidelined from TV after Flynn debacle — Kellyanne Conway, once the most visible spokesperson for the Trump White House, has been sidelined from television appearances for making statements that were at odds with the administration's official stance, White House sources told CNNMoney on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Raw Story, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and The Week, more at Mediagazer »
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Richard Sisk / Military.com:
McMaster Would Need Trump's OK to Bump Bannon from NSC
McMaster Would Need Trump's OK to Bump Bannon from NSC
Discussion:
The Week
New York Times:
The Pruitt Emails: E.P.A. Chief Was Arm in Arm With Industry — WASHINGTON — During his tenure as attorney general of Oklahoma, Scott Pruitt, now the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, closely coordinated with major oil and gas producers, electric utilities and political groups …
Discussion:
RedState and The Daily Caller
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EXPOSEDbyCMD:
OKLAHOMA AG RELEASES 7,564 PAGES IN RESPONSE TO CMD REQUEST — OKLAHOMA AG RELEASES 7,564 PAGES IN RESPONSE TO CMD REQUEST — Under court order, Oklahoma Attorney General's office releases previously withheld emails and holds back others; more emails expected on February 27
Discussion:
Politico, Mother Jones, Reuters, Common Dreams and The Verge
Brady Dennis / Washington Post:
Thousands of emails detail EPA head's close ties to fossil fuel industry
Thousands of emails detail EPA head's close ties to fossil fuel industry
Discussion:
Engadget
Eric Holthaus / Mother Jones:
“We Will Never Stop”: An EPA Employee Blasts the Trump Administration
“We Will Never Stop”: An EPA Employee Blasts the Trump Administration
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, National Geographic Society, Washington Post, Common Dreams and Mashable
Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Support for Obamacare is rising — The 2010 health care law is becoming more popular, even as it heads toward the chopping block — further complicating efforts by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to repeal and replace it. — While both Trump and Republicans …
Discussion:
ABC News, RedState, The Hill, Washington Post and The Week
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David Anderson / Baltimore Sun:
Rep. Harris is a no-show for Affordable Care Act town hall at Harford Community College
Rep. Harris is a no-show for Affordable Care Act town hall at Harford Community College
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Morning Call, sandiegouniontribune.com and cbs8.com
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Here you go: Pick a politician, watch them get yelled at — One of the legitimate marvels of the American political system is that regular old Americans can yell at our elected officials. It's not a particularly nice thing to do, of course, but you're not going to, say …
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Jenna Portnoy / Washington Post:
The women got up in Brat's grill, and then some
The women got up in Brat's grill, and then some
Discussion:
CNN, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, Washington Times and Business Insider
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
I Ignored Trump News for a Week. Here's What I Learned. — I spent last week ignoring President Trump. Although I am ordinarily a politics junkie, I didn't read, watch or listen to a single story about anything having to do with our 45th president. — What I missed, by many accounts …
Discussion:
Liberal Values
The Hill:
Ellison holds edge in DNC race — As Democrats head to Atlanta this weekend to vote on their party's next chair, the race to lead the Democratic National Committee chair is coming down to its two leading candidates. — Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.) has the edge over former Labor secretary Tom Perez …
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Caller and Axios
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Matt Stoller / The Intercept:
DNC Chair Candidate Tom Perez's Bank-Friendly Record Could Kneecap the Democratic Party
DNC Chair Candidate Tom Perez's Bank-Friendly Record Could Kneecap the Democratic Party
Discussion:
naked capitalism
Laurie Penny / Pacific Standard:
On the Milo Bus With the Lost Boys of America's New Right — What happens when a movement of gamers recognizes they're not players, but pawns? — Have you heard the one about the boy who cried Fake News? — This is a story about truth and consequences.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Stranger …, Balloon Juice and Unfogged, more at Mediagazer »
John Gramlich / Pew Research Center:
5 facts about crime in the U.S. — Donald Trump made crime-fighting an important focus of his campaign for president, and he cited it again during his inaugural address in January. With the White House and Justice Department announcing steps to address violence in American communities …
Discussion:
Washington Post
Curtis Tate / Lexington Herald-Leader:
McConnell gets a taste of town-hall protests at luncheon in Kentucky — LAWRENCEBURG — Mitch McConnell expected the protesters outside the Republican-friendly luncheon in heavily Republican Anderson County. He didn't expect what he found inside the American Legion hall.
Discussion:
NPR and BizPac Review
RELATED:
Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:
Undocumented Woman With a Brain Tumor Locked Up by ICE — The 26-year-old undocumented woman was in a detention center in Texas when she started complaining of headaches earlier this month. — The pain was caused by a brain tumor and, today, lawyers for the woman who remains in the custody …
New York Times:
Mr. Trump's ‘Deportation Force’ Prepares an Assault on American Values — The homeland security secretary, John Kelly, issued a remarkable pair of memos on Tuesday. They are the battle plan for the “deportation force” President Trump promised in the campaign.
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Department of Homeland … and TheBlaze
Reuters:
Mexico says will ‘not accept’ unilateral U.S. immigration policies — Mexico will not accept new “unilateral” U.S. immigration proposals, and will not hesitate in approaching the United Nations to defend immigrants, the country's Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting with senior U.S. officials.
Discussion:
Politico, Political Wire and The Daily Caller
CBS News:
Woman's warning about shirt wrapped around car windshield goes viral — While getting into her car after work at Genesee Valley Mall in Flint, Michigan, Thursday night, Ashley Hardacre spotted a piece of bunched-up clothing sitting on her windshield. Someone had draped a blue flannel shirt …
Discussion:
IJR, AOL, WAVY-TV, KTLA and FOX31 Denver
John Bresnahan / Politico:
'They're trying to turn Elizabeth into a boogeyman' — Republicans need a new campaign villain — and Elizabeth Warren is looking increasingly like their choice. — With Barack Obama and Harry Reid out of office and Nancy Pelosi toiling deep in the minority, Republicans are in search …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Noah Smith / Bloomberg:
The Myth of the U.S. Immigration Crisis — With the rise of Donald Trump, anti-immigrant sentiment has reached levels not seen in decades in the U.S. Anger against illegal immigration and fear of refugees, previously confined to the fringes of the Republican base, are now at the center of public dialogue.
Discussion:
Mother Jones and NBC News
Ed Kilgore / New York Magazine:
Trump Is Unpopular, But Not As Unpopular As Liberals Think — Do you wonder why Donald Trump thinks he's wildly popular beyond the nefarious precincts of those enemies of the people, the liberal news media? The president himself offered a succinct talking point on that subject near …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
John Etchemendy / Stanford News:
The threat from within — Former Provost John Etchemendy, in a recent speech before the Stanford Board of Trustees, outlined challenges higher education is facing in the coming years. Following is an excerpt from that talk. — Universities are a fundamental force of good in the world.
Discussion:
Power Line and The Daily Caller
Lindsey Bever / Washington Post:
‘Demonic activity was palpable’ at Trump's rally, pastor says — A Florida pastor who took his 11-year-old daughter to a campaign-style rally for President Trump said he hoped the event would serve as a civics lesson — but that it turned instead into a spectacle where “demonic activity was palpable.”
Discussion:
Instapundit and Raw Story
Judy Maltz / Haaretz:
Muslim-led Campaign to Fix Vandalized Jewish Cemetery Triples Goal in Less Than One Day — A Muslim-led crowdfunding campaign to help restore a vandalized Jewish cemetery near St. Louis has been overwhelmed with donations, allowing it to reach its goal within just three hours, according to one of its organizers.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Politicus USA and Washington Post
William McGurn / Wall Street Journal:
Stop Chuck Todd Before He Tweets Again — If Twitter is hurting Trump, what is it doing to credibility of the press? — Among the commentariat, it is an article of faith that Donald Trump's fondness for Twitter only damages himself and his presidency. — That may turn out to be right …
Scott Johnson / Power Line:
American attitudes to Jews — It is somehow reported as big news that President Trump denounced anti-Semitism yesterday. Was his attitude seriously in doubt? He is a proud supporter of Israel and vocal friend of Benjamin Netanyahu. His appointed ambassador to the United Nations is Nikki Haley …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Vox and Washington Post