Top Items:
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The Republican Court and the Era of Minority Rule — Democrats have won the national vote in six of the last seven presidential elections, which, with the retirement of Anthony Kennedy, will have resulted in the appointment of eight of its nine justices. And yet four of those justices …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Justice Kennedy deserves this nasty, unflinching sendoff — One of my favorite genres of writing is the charitable obituary written about a political opponent. My remembrance of Judge Robert Bork, the conservative icon President Ronald Reagan tried and failed to put on the Supreme Court …
Richard L. Hasen / Slate:
The Only Thing That Might Stop Trump From Replacing Kennedy With a Scalia Clone — Buckle up, folks. If you did not like what the Supreme Court has done in the last few weeks on voting rights, public-sector unions, and Trump's travel ban, things are going to get a whole lot worse …
Discussion:
Vox, No More Mister Nice Blog, Sean Hannity, BloombergQuint and Law & Crime
Politico:
GOP plans to steamroll Dems on Supreme Court pick — Senate Republicans will move quickly to replace Anthony Kennedy before the midterm elections. — Senate Republicans plan to confirm a new Supreme Court justice to replace retiring Anthony Kennedy before the midterm elections …
Discussion:
Axios, Daily Kos, Shareblue Media and Breitbart
Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Justice Kennedy, the pivotal swing vote on the Supreme Court, announces retirement — Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced Wednesday that he is retiring from the Supreme Court, a move that gives President Trump the chance to replace the court's pivotal justice and dramatically shift …
Discussion:
Politico, Fox News, Axios, Breitbart, The Atlantic, ABC News, CNN, Little Green Footballs, Outside the Beltway, NPR, The Crime Report, The Daily Beast, The Hill and NewsBusters
Joshua Matz / Washington Post:
The Supreme Court will now fall to chaos — Joshua Matz, publisher of the Take Care legal blog, was a law clerk to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy from 2014 to 2015. — The Supreme Court teaches us about liberty, dignity and democracy. It safeguards those principles and helps make the Constitution real in our lives.
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Conservative group launches SCOTUS ad to pressure Dems — A leading conservative group is going up immediately with a million-dollar ad buy to pressure vulnerable Senate Democrats to support President Donald Trump's next Supreme Court nominee. — The Judicial Crisis Network is beginning …
Discussion:
YouTube, Bloomberg, VICE News and New York Times
Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:
Chris Matthews: ‘Hell to Pay’ If Democrats Don't Block Anthony Kennedy Replacement … MSNBC's Chris Matthews did not mince words in reacting to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's surprise retirement announcement on Wednesday. — “I don't think the Democrats should allow meetings …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, RedState and Breitbart
Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Mitch McConnell's politics of shamelessness have won — Nobody likes him, but he's the most effective politician of his time. — When Justice Antonin Scalia died unexpectedly, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pulled a new rule of American politics out of thin air and said there could be no vote …
Discussion:
Washington Post, HuffPost and Common Dreams
Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:
Anthony Kennedy Just Destroyed His Legacy as a Gay Rights Hero — It's no secret that Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced his imminent retirement on Wednesday, always had an eye toward his legacy. During this 30-year tenure on the Supreme Court, Kennedy often wrote grandiose opinions …
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, New Republic, Vox, SCOTUSblog, Constitution Daily, Law & Crime, Washington Free Beacon and twitchy.com
Jack Goldsmith / Washington Post:
Justice Kennedy's retirement leaves the future of U.S. constitutional law entirely up for grabs
Justice Kennedy's retirement leaves the future of U.S. constitutional law entirely up for grabs
Discussion:
New York Times, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian and Bloomberg
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
The horrifying consequences of Justice Kennedy's retirement
The horrifying consequences of Justice Kennedy's retirement
Discussion:
Bloomberg, New Republic, Reuters, Senator Mitch McConnell, The Federalist and The Daily Signal
Stephanie Ebbs / ABC News:
Here are 25 names Trump could nominate to replace Justice Kennedy
Here are 25 names Trump could nominate to replace Justice Kennedy
Discussion:
RedState, Hit & Run, Fox News, Catholic World Report, Mediaite, New York Times, Breitbart, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Federalist and Hot Air
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
McConnell Promises Fall Vote to Confirm Next Supreme Court Justice
McConnell Promises Fall Vote to Confirm Next Supreme Court Justice
Discussion:
Friendly Atheist
Bill Hutchinson / ABC News:
Anthony Kennedy, crucial Supreme Court swing vote, retiring after 3 decades
Anthony Kennedy, crucial Supreme Court swing vote, retiring after 3 decades
Discussion:
Associated Press, Townhall, Breitbart, IJR, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Signal, Raw Story, Towleroad, twitchy.com, Law & Crime, The Week and Daily Wire
Jeffrey Rosen / The Atlantic:
The Justice Who Believed in America
The Justice Who Believed in America
Discussion:
CNN, Refinery29 and The Daily Signal
Washington Post:
Republicans plan to confirm Trump's Supreme Court pick before the November elections
Republicans plan to confirm Trump's Supreme Court pick before the November elections
Discussion:
Politico, HuffPost, National Review, The Hill and New York Times
Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal:
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy Announces Retirement
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy Announces Retirement
Discussion:
Vox and Mother Jones
Matt Shuham / Talking Points Memo:
LIST: Dem Senators Call On GOP To Wait Until After Election To Fill Kennedy Seat
LIST: Dem Senators Call On GOP To Wait Until After Election To Fill Kennedy Seat
Discussion:
CNN, ThinkProgress, HuffPost and Balloon Juice
Kyle Sammin / The Federalist:
The Four Dissenting Votes In The Travel Ban Ruling Are A Dangerous Sign
The Four Dissenting Votes In The Travel Ban Ruling Are A Dangerous Sign
Discussion:
Lawfare
Justin Wise / The Hill:
Bernie Sanders: Sarah Sanders has the right to ‘go into a restaurant and have dinner’ — (I-Vt.) on Wednesday came to the defense of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, saying individuals should “have the right to go into a restaurant and have dinner.”
Discussion:
Mediaite
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Elizabeth Tyree / WSET-TV:
West Virginia man charged after police said he threw chicken feces at the Red Hen
West Virginia man charged after police said he threw chicken feces at the Red Hen
Discussion:
USA Today, Splinter, Daily Wire, TheBlaze, Raw Story, Law & Crime and Eater
Judy Kurtz / The Hill:
Bill Clinton: Trump has poured ‘poison’ down 'America's throat'
Bill Clinton: Trump has poured ‘poison’ down 'America's throat'
Discussion:
Breitbart, Mediaite, Jezebel, Daily Wire and Fox News Insider, more at Mediagazer »
Michael Calderone / Politico:
Times takes heat for missing Crowley's defeat
Times takes heat for missing Crowley's defeat
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, The Intercept, HuffPost, Hit & Run and Townhall
Vivian Wang / New York Times:
Who Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? A 28-Year-Old Democratic Giant Slayer
Who Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? A 28-Year-Old Democratic Giant Slayer
Discussion:
CNNMoney, Washington Post, Vox, Politico, HuffPost, theGrio, CNN, Townhall, AOL, Algemeiner.com, Racked, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, IndieWire, CBS Boston, The Guardian, Big Think, Jezebel, Washington Monthly, IJR, Daily Kos, VICE News, Taylor Marsh, Common Dreams, Splinter, twitchy.com and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez / americamagazine.org:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on her Catholic faith and the urgency of a criminal justice reform
Reuters:
Manafort had $10 million loan from Russian oligarch: court filing — (Reuters) - A search warrant application unsealed on Wednesday revealed closer links than previously known between President Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort and a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin.
Discussion:
The Week and Political Wire
New York Times:
Bill Shine Likely as Next White House Communications Director — WASHINGTON — Bill Shine, a former Fox News executive who was close to Roger E. Ailes, the network's ousted chairman, is expected to be offered the job of White House communications director, according to two people familiar with the decision.
Dan Diamond / Politico:
Federal officials launch two reviews into Trump's handling of migrant children — The GAO and the Health and Human Services inspector general both launched reviews Wednesday into the Trump administration's handling of thousands of migrant children separated from their families at the border.
Discussion:
POLITICO's Pulse Check, MSNBC and Politico
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Sara Fischer / Axios:
92% of Republicans think media intentionally reports fake news — Nearly all Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (92%) say that traditional news outlets knowingly report false or misleading stories at least sometimes, according to a new Axios/SurveyMonkey poll.
Discussion:
MSNBC, RedState, The Resurgent, Daily Wire, Breitbart, NewsBusters, twitchy.com and Mediaite
Rasmussen Reports:
31% Think U.S. Civil War Likely Soon — Most voters fear that political violence is coming from opponents of the president's policies, just as they did in the second year of Barack Obama's presidency, and nearly one-in-three think a civil war is next. — Thirty-one percent (31%) …
Discussion:
Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, Global Guerrillas and Clayton Cramer
Will Oremus / Slate:
The Great Facebook Crash — The social giant is retreating from the news business. It's been a painful transition for publications that had come to depend on it—including Slate. — The first months of Donald Trump's presidency were a fraught and chaotic time in American politics.
Washington Post:
Man accused of driving into crowd at ‘Unite the Right’ rally charged with federal hate crimes — The Justice Department charged James Alex Fields Jr, the driver accused of murdering a counterprotester at last year's white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, with multiple hate crime counts Wednesday.
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Tony Romm / Washington Post:
Inside Facebook and Twitter's secret meetings with Trump aides and conservative leaders who say tech is biased — Twitter and Facebook are scrambling to assuage conservative leaders who have sounded alarms — and sought to rile voters — with accusations that the country's tech giants are censoring right-leaning posts, tweets and news.
Discussion:
Politico, Engadget and New Republic, more at Mediagazer »
Harron Walker / Jezebel:
Private Messages Reveal the Cis Journalist Groupthink Behind Trans Media Narratives — Over the past few years, Jesse Singal has become a leading public intellectual and one of the most prominent journalists covering trans issues, including but not limited to adolescent transition.
Discussion:
The Atlantic
Robbie Gramer / Foreign Policy:
Ahead of NATO Summit, U.S. President Exhorts Allies to Pay Up — European officials worry that Trump could roil yet another international summit. — Organizers of this year's NATO summit in Brussels are worried that U.S. President Donald Trump might spoil the event with a single boorish tweet …
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Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Obama expected to hit the campaign trail for Democrats with help from Pelosi and Schumer — Obama is expected to hit the campaign trail to help the Democrats flip Congress and win governorships, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter, and receive guidance from Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.
Meena Venkataramanan / ABC News:
Trump is the ‘most effective uprooter of liberalism’: Newt Gingrich talks GOP, midterms, space — Asked about criticism that President Donald Trump has a tendency to mislead, former House Speaker and presidential candidate Newt Gingrich acknowledged that the president “often says things you can catch him on” …