Top Items:
CNN:
FBI refused White House request to knock down recent Trump-Russia stories — Washington (CNN)The FBI rejected a recent White House request to publicly knock down media reports about communications between Donald Trump's associates and Russians known to US intelligence during the 2016 presidential campaign …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Politico, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Politicus USA, The Root, Axios, The Daily Caller, Western Journalism, CANNONFIRE, Towleroad, Business Insider, The Hill, Mediaite, Occupy Democrats, TheBlaze, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »
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NBC News:
Republicans in Congress Are Still Looking for Direction from Trump — First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter — President Trump to address CPAC after rare Steve Bannon appearance 3:09
Michelle Goldberg / Slate:
CPAC invented an alternate history of the alt-right to justify Steve Bannon's invite. — NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—On Thursday, white nationalist Richard Spencer was thrown out of the Conservative Political Action Conference. As security escorted him to the door, a college junior in a blue blazer and fashy haircut followed him.
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Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Bannon vows a daily fight for ‘deconstruction of the administrative state’ — The reclusive mastermind behind President Trump's nationalist ideology and combative tactics made his public debut Thursday, delivering a fiery rebuke of the media and declaring that the new administration …
Discussion:
John Hawkins' Right Wing News, New York Magazine and CNNMoney
Edmund DeMarche / Fox News:
Trump set to take center stage at CPAC as theme appears to be now or never
Trump set to take center stage at CPAC as theme appears to be now or never
Discussion:
TIME, The Gateway Pundit, NPR, The Guardian and The Week
Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
The Note: Priebus asks the FBI to refute Trump Russia reports
The Note: Priebus asks the FBI to refute Trump Russia reports
Discussion:
Political Wire
Jon Ward / Yahoo:
Trumpism versus conservatism at CPAC
Trumpism versus conservatism at CPAC
Discussion:
Washington Post, Media Matters for America and Vox Popoli
Bloomberg:
GOP Obamacare Plan Would Cover Fewer People; Blowback Grows — Plan expands access for those who want it, Republicans say — ‘Not everybody is going to have health care’: GOP lawmaker — Republican lawmakers expect that their Obamacare replacement will result in fewer Americans covered …
Discussion:
Axios
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Death and Tax Cuts — Across the country, Republicans have been facing crowds demanding to know how they will protect the 20 million Americans who gained health insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act, and will lose it if the act is repealed. And after all that inveighing against the evils …
Numbers / Pew Research Center:
Support for 2010 health care law reaches new high
Support for 2010 health care law reaches new high
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Axios, Business Insider and FiveThirtyEight
Samantha Schmidt / Washington Post:
He yelled ‘Get out of my country,’ witnesses say, and then shot 2 men from India, killing one — A 51-year-old man faces first-degree murder charges after shooting three men in an Olathe, Kan., bar Wednesday night, police say, reportedly telling two of them, local Garmin engineers from India, to “get out of my country.”
Discussion:
Kansas City Star and FOX2now.com
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Ian Cummings / Kansas City Star:
'It wasn't right,' says Olathe man wounded at Austins while trying to stop shooter — Ian Grillot, hiding behind a table, counted the gunshots. When he thought the gunman was out of bullets, he jumped up to pursue the man. — But the man who opened fire inside Austins Bar & Grill …
Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
State Department writes anti-leak memo, which promptly leaks — The State Department legal office prepared a four-page memo for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warning of the dangers of leaking by State Department employees. It promptly leaked, to me. That's only the latest sign …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Foreign Policy, The Week and The Gateway Pundit
New Yorker:
Trump, Putin, and the New Cold War — What lay behind Russia's interference in the 2016 election—and what lies ahead? — 1. SOFT TARGETS — On April 12, 1982, Yuri Andropov, the chairman of the K.G.B., ordered foreign-intelligence operatives to carry out “active measures” …
Discussion:
Political Wire
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Françoise Mouly / New Yorker:
Cover Story: Barry Blitt's “Eustace Vladimirovich Tilley”
Cover Story: Barry Blitt's “Eustace Vladimirovich Tilley”
Discussion:
Business Insider and Axios
Wall Street Journal:
Kim Jong Nam Killed With U.N.-Banned VX Nerve Agent, Malaysia Says — VX listed globally as weapon of mass destruction — KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—The chemical substance used to kill Kim Jong Nam last week was an extremely toxic United Nations-banned nerve agent called VX, police here said …
Discussion:
Axios and New York Magazine
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New York Times:
Kim Jong-nam Was Killed by VX Nerve Agent, Malaysians Say
Kim Jong-nam Was Killed by VX Nerve Agent, Malaysians Say
Discussion:
The Guardian and The Daily Caller
Steve Holland / Reuters:
Trump wants to make sure U.S. nuclear arsenal at ‘top of the pack’
Trump wants to make sure U.S. nuclear arsenal at ‘top of the pack’
Discussion:
Political Wire, The Week, Sputnik International, The Daily Caller, Western Journalism, ABC News and Hot Air
Tom LoBianco / CNN:
GOP congressman: Trump should release tax returns — Congress could force release of Trump's taxes — As a candidate, Trump was the first major-party nominee in decades not to release his tax returns — Pace, Florida (CNN)A conservative member of Congress called on President Donald …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, Washington Post and The Week
New York Times:
Weakened Democrats Bow to Voters, Opting for Total War on Trump — WASHINGTON — Reduced to their weakest state in a generation, Democratic Party leaders will gather in two cities this weekend to plot strategy and select a new national chairman with the daunting task of rebuilding the party's depleted organization.
Discussion:
The Hugh Hewitt Show and Mother Jones
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Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
2020 race lures sprawling Democratic field
Soumya Karlamangla / Los Angeles Times:
Why therapists are having such a hard time talking about Trump — Therapists such as Dr. Arlene Drake, who practices in West L.A., say that many of their patients are talking about President Trump, presenting a challenge for a group of professionals who have been trained not to expose their own political beliefs.
Discussion:
The Week
Sarah K. Burris / Raw Story:
Marsha Blackburn claims out of state people infiltrated her town hall — records seem to show she's lying — DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY! — In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said that her recent town hall was overwhelmed by angry people that were not from her district.
Discussion:
Dow Jones Newswires and The Week
Francis Wilkinson / Bloomberg:
Yes, Mass Deportations Are Coming. And We Know Why. — There are two main questions about President Donald Trump's recently issued immigration policies. First, is the administration embarking on a campaign of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants? Second, if so, why?
Discussion:
The Week, Washington Post and The Guardian
Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
The New Nationalism in America — Decades of intellectual and political activity preceded the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. William F. Buckley Jr. founded National Review in 1955. A little less than a decade later, National Review publisher William Rusher helped orchestrate Barry Goldwater's presidential nomination.
Discussion:
The Week
Wall Street Journal:
Kushner, Ivanka Trump Pushed to Remove Words Critical of Climate Deal From Executive Order — Trump plans to issue orders aimed at rolling back Obama climate agenda soon; language critical of Paris accord removed — WASHINGTON—At the request of President Donald Trump's son-in-law …
Discussion:
The Week, The Daily Caller and Axios
Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge:
French Voters Call On Obama To Run For President To “Give French People Hope” — As French voters look set to make a massive swing to the right in their upcoming presidential election (see our notes on the topic here and here), a group of frightened liberal protesters have decided …
Discussion:
The Verge, Shot in the Dark, NPR and ABC News
Eliza Collins / USA Today:
Where in the world is Sarah Palin? Her political star is fading — NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — As the Conservative Political Action Conference kicked off just outside of Washington this week, there was one name noticeably missing from the roster of speakers: Sarah Palin.
Ryan Cooper / The Week:
Ivanka Trump wants to help the wealthy pay their au pairs — One of the biggest lingering questions about the Donald Trump presidency is the degree to which his campaign shtick of being a working-class populist was an open fraud. So far, all signs point towards “completely.”
Discussion:
Red Alert Politics, AOL, Mother Jones and Bloomberg
Kyle Stock / Bloomberg:
Why La La Land Worked Better Than Anyone Dreamed — How value investing, mixed with a contrarian streak, helped Lions Gate beat the blockbuster model. — by — Brassy love ballads, Technicolor dialogue, and a smattering of soft-shoe-La La Land had all the makings of a blockbuster, in the 1940s at least.
Rumana Ahmed / The Atlantic:
I Was a Muslim in Trump's White House — In 2011, I was hired, straight out of college, to work at the White House and eventually the National Security Council. My job there was to promote and protect the best of what my country stands for. I am a hijab-wearing Muslim woman …
Discussion:
BizPac Review, twitchy.com, The Guardian, Raw Story and Shakesville
Reed Tucker / New York Post:
Nobody cares about any recent Best Picture Oscar winners — The film that walks away with the Best Picture statue at Sunday's Academy Awards will earn a place forever in the history books — but perhaps not on viewers' screens. — More On: — The cream of the crop of Hollywood's golden age gained immortality.
Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:
Border Patrol Agents Stop Domestic Travelers at New York Airport — A search for a deportation target leads to a demand for travelers' “papers” at JFK — Passengers of a domestic Delta flight from San Francisco to New York were told to show their identity documents to uniformed agents …
Discussion:
BizPac Review, Gothamist, Washington Post, New York Magazine, Hit & Run, Daily Kos and Shakesville
PRRI:
47% of the Country Say Trump Has Violated the Constitution, but Few Support Impeachment — PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FAVORABILITY, COMPARED TO OBAMA AND BUSH — President Trump's Favorability, Compared to Obama and Bush — Americans continue to hold more negative than positive views of President Donald Trump.