Top Items:
Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
2016 is looking like the new normal … If you wanted to predict the results of Tuesday's gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, you would have been wise to ignore the flurry of polls and campaign events. You would have paid no heed to the conventional wisdom that Republican Kim Guadagno …
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Wall Street Journal:
The Anti-Trump Wave — Democrats come out in droves and the GOP is caught in the undertow. — Republicans took a thorough beating in Tuesday's elections, and no one should sugar coat the results because the voting was confined to a few states. Democrats came out in droves to send a message …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard and Washington Free Beacon
Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:
Trump blames predecessors, not China for unfair trade practices — President Trump in China on Thursday blamed past administrations instead of Beijing for “unfair” trade practices, offering a starkly different tone from the rhetoric he used during his campaign.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, CNBC, Joe.My.God. and New York Times
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Joe McDonald / Associated Press:
Trump cooperates with Chinese effort to control image
Trump cooperates with Chinese effort to control image
Discussion:
Axios
David Nakamura / Washington Post:
In Beijing, Trump declines to hit President Xi Jinping on trade: 'I don't blame China'
In Beijing, Trump declines to hit President Xi Jinping on trade: 'I don't blame China'
Discussion:
The Week
Antony J. Blinken / New York Times:
Trump Is Ceding Global Leadership to China
CNN:
Flynn worries about son in special counsel probe — Washington (CNN)Former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn has expressed concern about the potential legal exposure of his son, Michael Flynn Jr., who, like his father, is under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller …
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Brandon Carter / The Hill:
GOP lawmaker calls for Mueller to be fired in speech on House floor
GOP lawmaker calls for Mueller to be fired in speech on House floor
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and Politicus USA
John Harwood / CNBC:
Gary Cohn: Trickle-down is good for the economy — Gary Cohn says, “I don't believe that we've set out to create a tax cut for the wealthy. If someone's getting a tax cut, I'm not upset that they're getting a tax cut.” — Gary Cohn, 57, was in some ways an unlikely choice for Donald Trump's White House.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Axios and Raw Story
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CNN:
Roy Moore was removed from 1990s divorce case after he barred lesbian from seeing her children unsupervised — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — (CNN)Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for Senate in Alabama, ruled in a 1990s divorce case that a woman who had a lesbian affair couldn't visit …
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Kevin O'Leary / American Prospect:
Could Alabama Be Next? — Jeronimo Nisa /The Decatur Daily via AP — Candidate Doug Jones chats with constituents before a Democratic Senate candidate forum at the Princess Theatre in Decatur, Alabama — The hill country of northern Alabama holds one of the keys to next month's special election …
Louis Nelson / Politico:
Rand Paul retweets stories casting doubt on ‘landscaping dispute’ reports — Sen. Rand Paul seemed to call into question Wednesday evening media reports that the man who assaulted him had been motivated by a feud over landscaping. — Paul was attacked last week as he mowed the lawn at his Bowling Green, Kentucky, home.
Discussion:
Political Wire and Wall Street Journal
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Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
Rand Paul's neighbors rip media ‘landscaping dispute’ reports
Rand Paul's neighbors rip media ‘landscaping dispute’ reports
Discussion:
Axios, The Hill, RedState, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Post, IJR and 105.9 FM and AM 630
CNN:
Academic at heart of Clinton ‘dirt’ claim vanishes, leaving trail of questions — Poll: Americans concerned about Russia probe — (CNN)Joseph Mifsud, the Maltese academic suspected of being a link between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, was once a regular on the foreign policy circuit, attending conferences the world over.
National Enquirer:
HIV Charlie Sheen Raped 13-Year-Old Corey Haim — Shocking Claim — Dying child star named monster who assaulted him on ‘Lucas’ film set! — HIV-infected Charlie Sheen is finally being unmasked by The National ENQUIRER as a twisted child molester — the ruthless adult rapist …
Discussion:
Decider, The Daily Caller, The Last Tradition, Blunt Force Truth, RedState, bizpacreview.com, viraltop1, Boing Boing, twitchy.com and IndieWire
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Ryan Parker / Hollywood Reporter:
Charlie Sheen Denies Corey Haim Sexual Assault Allegation
Charlie Sheen Denies Corey Haim Sexual Assault Allegation
Discussion:
The Guardian, Towleroad, AOL, Decider, The Daily Caller and viraltop1
Jane Lytvynenko / BuzzFeed:
InfoWars Has Republished More Than 1,000 Articles From RT Without Permission — The conspiracy site also copied content from many other mainstream publications. — Over the past three years, conspiracy site InfoWars has copied more than 1,000 articles produced by Russian state-sponsored broadcaster RT …
Gregg Re / Fox News:
More layoffs planned at Carrier plant Trump promised to save — Carrier Corp., the HVAC manufacturer that had planned to move its operations to Mexico before President Trump staged a much-heralded intervention, said Tuesday it is gearing up for yet another round of layoffs.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Suzy Khimm / NBC News:
Trump's Chinese Gas Deal Raises Ethics Issues for Wilbur Ross — WASHINGTON — On Sunday, thanks to a consortium of investigative journalists, the public learned that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross never fully divested himself of ownership in a big global shipping company …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Intercept and San Antonio Business Journal
New York Times:
After Night of Drinking, F.B.I. Supervisor Wakes to Find a Woman Stole His Gun — WASHINGTON — An F.B.I. counterterrorism supervisor is under internal investigation after a woman stole his gun following a night of heavy drinking in a North Carolina hotel, according to documents and government officials.
Mike Allen / Axios:
Sean Parker unloads on Facebook: “God only knows what it's doing to our children's brains” — Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook, gave me a candid insider's look at how social networks purposely hook and potentially hurt our brains. — Be smart: Parker's I-was-there account …
Robert Costa / Washington Post:
‘Canary in the coal mine’: Republicans fear Democratic wins mean more losses to come — Virginia republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie pauses in his concession speech Tuesday night in Richmond, Va. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) — A wave of Democratic victories ignited …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Mike Fleming / Deadline:
Shocker: Kevin Spacey Dropped From ‘All The Money In The World;’ J Paul Getty Role Recast With Christopher Plummer — EXCLUSIVE: In an unprecedented bold move, director Ridley Scott, along with Imperative Entertainment's Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas have decided to remove Kevin Spacey …
Megan Cerullo / New York Daily News:
Palm Springs City Council now entirely queer after election of transgender, bisexual women — The Palm Springs, Calif., City Council is entirely LGBT or queer after two new members were elected to the council Tuesday. — Lisa Middleton made history Tuesday as the first openly transgender candidate elected …
Discussion:
Advocate, Desert Sun, The Daily Caller and Los Angeles Blade
John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Is the National Anthem Racist? — There are several possible answers to this question: — 1) Of course, because everything is racist. — 2) It's anyone's guess. The word “racist” has no meaning. — 3) Don't be stupid. — “Yes” isn't really on the list.
Discussion:
Snopes.com, CBS13, CBS San Francisco, RT and Washington Free Beacon
Ben Collins / The Daily Beast:
Twitter Verifies Charlottesville Rally Boss Jason Kessler, Who Called Slain Protester's Death ‘Payback Time’ … On Tuesday, Twitter gave its preferred status, a verified check mark, to Jason Kessler, the creator of the white supremacist Charlottesville rally in August that left one dead.
Discussion:
The Root, twitchy.com, Little Green Footballs and Mashable
Jason Schwartz / Politico:
Fox, facing new competitors, clings tighter to Trump — During the Republican primary contest, Donald Trump feuded frequently with Fox News, going after Megyn Kelly and, at the height of his pique, even skipping one of the network's debates. That now seems like eons ago.
ESPN:
OTL: Jerry Jones threatens to sue NFL if Roger Goodell's contract extension is approved — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has threatened to sue the National Football League if a contract extension for commissioner Roger Goodell is approved by the league's compensation committee, sources told Outside the Lines.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, New York Times, ProFootballTalk and The Guardian
Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
The New Washington Drama: Treasury Secretary Versus Treasury Secretary — WASHINGTON — It is an unwritten rule that if a former Treasury secretary has nothing nice to say about one of his successors he does not say anything at all. But in the nation's capital these days, the rules of political comity are meant to be broken.
Discussion:
Political Wire