Top Items:
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, BloombergQuint and Sean Hannity
RELATED:
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:
Axios, Politico, ABC News, Little Green Footballs, CNN, Breitbart, Outside the Beltway, The Crime Report and The Daily Beast
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 …
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
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
The horrifying consequences of Justice Kennedy's retirement — Donald Trump is an accidental president. He lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots. And he would be far more powerless if not for the fact that the United States Senate is an anti-democratic relic.
Discussion:
New Republic, The Federalist, Senator Mitch McConnell, NPR, CNN and The Texas Observer
Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy to Retire — WASHINGTON — Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced on Wednesday that he will retire this summer, setting in motion a furious fight over the future of the Supreme Court and giving President Trump the chance to cement a conservative judicial philosophy …
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.
Brent Kendall / Wall Street Journal:
Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy Announces Retirement — His retirement opens pivotal vacancy on the high court going into midterm elections — Anthony M. Kennedy, one of the Supreme Court's most consequential modern-day justices and author of landmark rulings on gay rights …
Discussion:
Vox and Mother Jones
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 Wall Street Journal
Jack Goldsmith / Washington Post:
Justice Kennedy's retirement leaves the future of U.S. constitutional law entirely up for grabs — Jack Goldsmith, a professor at Harvard Law School, clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy from 1990 to 1991. — Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's retirement from the Supreme Court …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Politico, New York Times and ABC News
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
McConnell Promises Fall Vote to Confirm Next Supreme Court Justice — WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell quickly promised on Wednesday a Senate vote on a new Supreme Court nominee by the fall, and Democrats will have little power to prevent confirmation of President Trump's choice on their own.
Discussion:
Shareblue Media and Outside the Beltway
Politico:
GOP plans to steamroll Dems on Supreme Court pick
GOP plans to steamroll Dems on Supreme Court pick
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, Daily Kos and Breitbart
Matt Wilstein / The Daily Beast:
Chris Matthews: ‘Hell to Pay’ If Democrats Don't Block Anthony Kennedy Replacement
Chris Matthews: ‘Hell to Pay’ If Democrats Don't Block Anthony Kennedy Replacement
Discussion:
RedState, POLITICUSUSA and Breitbart
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:
Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Signal, Washington Free Beacon, Law & Crime, The Week, NewsBusters, Raw Story, twitchy.com and Daily Wire
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:
Washington Post, The Hill, Vox, CNN, The Federalist, Hit & Run, Townhall, Breitbart and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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:
National Review, Mother Jones and HuffPost
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:
ThinkProgress, Balloon Juice, Common Dreams and Mediaite
Sam Baker / Axios:
Supreme Court deals a devastating blow to government unions
Supreme Court deals a devastating blow to government unions
Discussion:
ABC News, Politico, Washington Post, Breitbart, Outside the Beltway, twitchy.com, Raw Story, Mother Jones and Daily Kos
CNN:
Senior Democrat: Wait to consider Trump's nominee until after the election
Senior Democrat: Wait to consider Trump's nominee until after the election
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Hot Air
Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Justice Kennedy retiring; Trump gets 2nd Supreme Court pick
Justice Kennedy retiring; Trump gets 2nd Supreme Court pick
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon, Towleroad and The Hill
Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
Anthony Kennedy, Swing Vote on U.S. Supreme Court, Will Retire
Anthony Kennedy, Swing Vote on U.S. Supreme Court, Will Retire
Discussion:
BloombergQuint
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:
Political Wire
Vivian Wang / New York Times:
Who Is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? A 28-Year-Old Democratic Giant Slayer — She has never held elected office. She is still paying off her student loans. She is 28 years old. “Women like me aren't supposed to run for office,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a viral campaign video released last month.
Discussion:
Vox, CNNMoney, Washington Post, theGrio, Washington Monthly, Racked, Algemeiner.com, CNN, Politico, HuffPost, Jezebel, Taylor Marsh, Hit & Run, Townhall, AOL, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Common Dreams, The Moderate Voice, IndieWire, CBS Boston, The Guardian, VICE News, Big Think, Splinter, IJR, twitchy.com and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »
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Michael Calderone / Politico:
Times takes heat for missing Crowley's defeat
Times takes heat for missing Crowley's defeat
Discussion:
CNN, The Intercept, HuffPost, Townhall and Trevor Loudon's New Zeal Blog
CNN:
Pelosi on Crowley loss: 'I am female. I am progressive. What's your problem?'
Pelosi on Crowley loss: 'I am female. I am progressive. What's your problem?'
Discussion:
Splinter, Washington Post and HuffPost
Peter Beinart / The Atlantic:
Why Joseph Crowley's Defeat Should Scare Joe Biden
Why Joseph Crowley's Defeat Should Scare Joe Biden
Discussion:
New York Times and Daily Kos
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.
Judy Kurtz / The Hill:
Bill Clinton: Trump has poured ‘poison’ down 'America's throat' — Former President Clinton is suggesting that President Trump — is at least partly to blame for a lack of civility in politics, saying he has poured “poison” down “America's throat.” — “It started off calling Mexicans rapists …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Jezebel, Daily Wire and Fox News Insider
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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, Daily Wire, TheBlaze, Raw Story, Law & Crime and Eater
Gregory S. Schneider / Washington Post:
Outside the Red Hen, fire and ire on social media come to life
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:
RedState, MSNBC, NewsBusters, Daily Wire, The Resurgent, Breitbart, twitchy.com and Mediaite
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.
RELATED:
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:
The Daily Caller, Global Guerrillas and Clayton Cramer
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, New Republic and Engadget, more at Mediagazer »
Benjamin Haas / The Guardian:
North Korea making ‘rapid’ upgrades to nuclear reactor despite summit pledges — Monitoring group says work shows why a denuclearisation deal rather than a ‘statement of lofty goals’ is needed — North Korea has continued to upgrade its only known nuclear reactor used to fuel its weapons program …
Discussion:
CNN, ThinkProgress, The Hill, IJR, TheBlaze, The Daily Beast, Task & Purpose, The Resurgent, VICE News, POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Jonathan Cheng / Wall Street Journal:
North Korea Rapidly Upgrading Nuclear Reactor Despite Summit
North Korea Rapidly Upgrading Nuclear Reactor Despite Summit
Discussion:
Weekly Standard and Daily Wire
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
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” …
ProPublica:
We've Found $16.1 Million in Political and Taxpayer Spending at Trump Properties — Most came from political entities such as the Trump campaign, but government agencies chipped in, too. “I could offer clarity,” one federal employee explained, “but I choose not to.”
Discussion:
Shakesville
Sean Murphy / Associated Press:
GOP incumbents ousted in Oklahoma amid teacher challenges — OKLAHOMA CITY — At least six Republican incumbents were bounced from office during Oklahoma's primary election, including several who were targeted by pro-education groups. — Tuesday's primary election was the first test …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Carrie Dann / NBC News:
Battleground state polls find more voters prefer Congress as a check on Trump — Only about a third of voters in Arizona, Florida and Ohio say Trump deserves to be re-elected. — WASHINGTON — Voters in three key Senate battleground states prefer the next Congress to be a check …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Politico, Shareblue Media and Florida Politics