Top Items:
The White House:
Statement by President Donald J. Trump on Signing the “Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act” — Today, I signed into law the “Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act,” which enacts new sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Washington Post, National Review, The Guardian, Shareblue, NPR, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Magazine, IJR, TheBlaze and The Week
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Margaret Talev / Bloomberg:
Trump Signs Russia Sanctions Bill, But Lays Out His Concerns About the Law — President to add signing statement as legislation becomes law — Congress restricted president's ability to ease penalties — President Donald Trump has signed the Russia sanctions bill Congress forced on him …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Los Angeles Times, Shareblue, Weekly Standard, Shakesville, Washington Free Beacon and ABC News
Facebook:
To see more from on Facebook, log in or create an account. — or — The US President's signing of the package of new sanctions against Russia will have a few consequences. First, it ends hopes for improving our relations with the new US administration. Second, it is a declaration of a full-fledged economic war on Russia.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Boing Boing and Mediaite
Abby Phillip / Washington Post:
Trump signs what he calls ‘seriously flawed’ bill imposing new sanctions on Russia
Trump signs what he calls ‘seriously flawed’ bill imposing new sanctions on Russia
Donald J. Trump / The White House:
Statement by President Donald J. Trump on the Signing of H.R. 3364
Statement by President Donald J. Trump on the Signing of H.R. 3364
Discussion:
Raw Story, Hit & Run, RedState, IJR and National Review
Donald Trump / ABC News:
Trump signs Russia sanctions bill he blasts as ‘clearly unconstitutional’
Trump signs Russia sanctions bill he blasts as ‘clearly unconstitutional’
Discussion:
Politico, twitchy.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Axios and Washington Free Beacon
Rosie Gray / The Atlantic:
An NSC Staffer Is Forced Out Over a Controversial Memo — A top official of the National Security Council was fired last month after arguing in a memo that President Trump is under sustained attack from subversive forces both within and outside the government who are deploying Maoist tactics …
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Shane Savitsky / Axios:
McMaster reshuffles National Security Council
McMaster reshuffles National Security Council
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller
David Crary / Associated Press:
Boy Scouts: Top leaders didn't call Trump to praise speech — https://apnews.com/aedbaf4543ea464dbcef 78491ba281b9 — Link copied! — NEW YORK (AP) — The Boy Scouts denied Wednesday that the head of the youth organization called President Donald Trump to praise his recent, politically aggressive speech to its national jamboree.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Politicus USA and Political Wire
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CNBC:
As the lies and contradictions mount, federal officials are deciding to simply ignore Trump — Evidence arrives every day of the government treating the man elected to lead it as someone talking mostly to himself. — The phenomenon has grown more pronounced as Trump keeps struggling …
Adam Gabbatt / The Guardian:
Boy Scouts and Mexico both deny claims of calling Trump to offer praise
Boy Scouts and Mexico both deny claims of calling Trump to offer praise
Discussion:
Raw Story, IJR, Splinter and The Daily Caller
NBC News:
Trump Says U.S.'Losing' Afghan War in Tense Meeting With Generals — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has become increasingly frustrated with his advisers tasked with crafting a new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and recently suggested firing the war's top military commander during …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Politicus USA
Mike Allen / Axios:
John Kelly closes the Oval Office door — The door to the Oval Office used to be wide open, with favored officials drifting in and out — even in the middle of meetings — to kibitz with Trump. — Now, the door is closed. Gen. John Kelly, the new White House chief of staff …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Mashable, Daily Kos, IJR, Shakesville, New York Magazine, AOL, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Daily Caller
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Bloomberg:
Trump Is Considering Perry for Homeland Security Chief — Energy Secretary among names discussed for Kelly replacement — Perry's views on immigration don't align with those of Trump — The Trump administration is considering Energy Secretary Rick Perry as one possible replacement …
Discussion:
RedState, Axios, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and E&E News
Dara Lind / Vox:
What John Kelly's final ICE raid tells us about Trump's new chief of staff
What John Kelly's final ICE raid tells us about Trump's new chief of staff
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed:
Here Is Anthony Scaramucci's “Communications Plan” From Before He Was Fired — “Make it clear that horn tooting and denigrating colleagues is unacceptable,” Scaramucci's memo notes. — Recently ousted White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci had big plans for the job …
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Mike Cernovich:
Exclusive — Scaramucci Memo Showed Content Focused Vision for White House Communications Team
Exclusive — Scaramucci Memo Showed Content Focused Vision for White House Communications Team
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and Political Wire
Vicky Ward / HuffPost:
Why The Mooch Lost His Cool
Why The Mooch Lost His Cool
Discussion:
Business Insider, TMZ.com, Washington Post, theGrio, Mashable, AOL, New York Magazine, Jezebel, The Daily Caller, American Prospect, RedState, Washington Examiner, Talking Points Memo, Politico, TVNewser, ABC News, Mediaite, Althouse, The Moderate Voice, The Hill and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »
Rebekah Entralgo / ThinkProgress:
Stephen Miller attacks Statue of Liberty poem, echoing popular white nationalist talking point — Online racists celebrated Miller's performance. — At Wednesday's White House press briefing, White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller was pressed on whether Trump's new immigration policy …
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:
White House aide blasts CNN reporter for ‘cosmopolitan bias’ in bizarre exchange
CNN:
Trump nominee Sam Clovis blasted progressives as ‘race traders’ and ‘race traitors’ in old blog posts — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)Sam Clovis, President Donald Trump's nominee to be the Department of Agriculture's chief scientist, maintained a now-defunct blog for years in which he accused progressives of …
Discussion:
Boing Boing and The Daily Caller
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Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Trump's USDA pick referred to progressives as ‘race traders’ and ‘race traitors’
Trump's USDA pick referred to progressives as ‘race traders’ and ‘race traitors’
Discussion:
RedState
Jacey Fortin / New York Times:
Baltimore Drops Dozens of Cases After Video Casts Doubt on Officers — State attorneys are dismissing dozens of cases in Baltimore after reviewing a video that appears to show a police officer planting evidence while two other officers look on. — Over a hundred criminal cases …
Discussion:
Vox, The Root, The Verge and Baltimore Sun
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Kevin Rector / Baltimore Sun:
Attorney for woman in drug case says body-camera footage shows officers planting drugs
Attorney for woman in drug case says body-camera footage shows officers planting drugs
Discussion:
Gizmodo, The Daily Caller, WCMH-TV, CityLab, Daily Kos, VICE News, Splinter, Sputnik International and Boing Boing
Andy Shain / Post and Courier:
South Carolina governor candidate Catherine Templeton's ‘proud of the Confederacy’ remarks stir controversy — COLUMBIA — Catherine Templeton made waves in her first public forum as gubernatorial candidate by saying she is “proud of the Confederacy” and pledged “we're not going to rewrite history” by removing Confederate monuments.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Raw Story and Splinter
David Nakamura / Washington Post:
Trump, GOP senators to introduce bill to slash legal immigration levels — President Trump will appear with a pair of conservative Republican senators at the White House on Wednesday to unveil legislation aimed at slashing legal immigration levels over a decade, a goal Trump endorsed on the campaign trail.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, CNN, Mother Jones, Business Insider, Shakesville, The National Interest, Right Wing Watch, AOL, New York Magazine, Daily Kos and Mediaite
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Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Supports Bill That Would Cut Legal Immigration by Half
Trump Supports Bill That Would Cut Legal Immigration by Half
Discussion:
CityLab, Above the Law, Politico and Gothamist
Seth Abramovitch / Hollywood Reporter:
How ‘Sharknado’ Casts Its C-Listers and Nearly Landed Trump as President — Months before he declared himself a candidate, Trump was set to play commander-in-chief in the schlocky Syfy film franchise that has lured everyone from Ann Coulter to Charo for cameos while regular Tara Reid makes a quarter of one male co-star's pay.
Discussion:
The Hill, Mashable, AOL, Washington Times, Raw Story, Business Insider, Refinery29, The Daily Caller and The Week
Ian Cummings / Kansas City Star:
NAACP issues first-ever travel advisory for a state — and it's Missouri — NAACP officials say their recent travel advisory for Missouri is the first that the civil rights group has issued for any state. — But the warning follows a recent trend of similar alerts issued by other groups …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, RedState, NBC News, Refinery29 and AOL
Hillel Italie / Associated Press:
JAMES COMEY HAS BOOK DEAL, PUBLICATION SET FOR NEXT SPRING — NEW YORK (AP) — Former FBI Director James Comey has a book deal. — Flatiron Books told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Comey is writing a book about leadership and decision making that will draw upon his career in government.
Discussion:
The Hill, IJR, Axios, The Daily Caller, Political Wire, Washington Post and myfox8.com, more at Mediagazer »
Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Tillerson spurns $80 million to counter ISIS, Russian propaganda — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is resisting the pleas of State Department officials to spend nearly $80 million allocated by Congress for fighting terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation.
Ed Kilgore / New York Magazine:
Democrats Could Have a 2020 Presidential Field As Wide As an Iowa Cornfield — It's the early, silly season of 2020 presidential speculation. So there's nothing unusual about speculation surrounding two fairly obscure Democratic House members, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Tim Ryan of Ohio.
Discussion:
Des Moines Register, Politico, Washington Times and Political Wire
Claudia Koerner / BuzzFeed:
Trump Has Launched A “Real News” Program On His Facebook, Hosted By His Daughter-In-Law — In one video, Lara Trump said she'd be back every week to provide updates on the president's accomplishments. — After months of denigrating the media as fake news, President Trump has launched …
Discussion:
Refinery29, Boing Boing and Vox, more at Mediagazer »
Ryan Knutson / Wall Street Journal:
Millennials Unearth an Amazing Hack to Get Free TV: the Antenna — Cord-cutters accustomed to watching shows online are often shocked that $20 ‘rabbit ears’ pluck signals from the air; is this legal? — Dan Sisco has discovered a technology that allows him to access half a dozen major TV channels, completely free.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, more at Mediagazer »
Joshua Holland / The Nation:
Medicare-for-All Isn't the Solution for Universal Health Care — The health-care debate is moving to the left. But if progressives don't start sweating the details, we're going to fail yet again. — Within the broad Democratic coalition, it's pretty clear that the discussion of health care has shifted to the left.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Jacobin Magazine and The Guardian
Peter Hancock / The Lawrence Journal-World:
Kobach had duty to publicize new voting schedule; it appears that he didn't — Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach presides over Kansas' Electoral College vote for the President of the United States in the Senate chambers of the Kansas Statehouse on Monday, Dec. 19, 2016 in Topeka, Kan.