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Revoke my security clearance, too, Mr. President — William H. McRaven, a retired Navy admiral, was commander of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014. He oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. — Dear Mr. President:
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Axios, Hot Air, Shareblue Media, Daily Kos and Mediaite


“Death Spiral”: Why Omarosa Totally Triggered Trump — The perceived betrayal of a longtime female ally, and her perfectly executed Trumpian tactics, made the feud too personal to ignore. — In the days before Omarosa Manigault Newman rolled out her White House tell-all, Unhinged …
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Omarosa releases secret tape of Lara Trump offering her $15K/month campaign job — The tape, which was broadcast on MSNBC, was made just days after the former “Apprentice” contestant left her White House job. — Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former reality TV star who became a top White House aide …
Discussion:
New Republic, Axios, Fox News Insider, The Root, Splinter, Common Dreams, Taylor Marsh and MSNBC


The Los Angeles Times is not participating in today's nationwide editorial page protest against Trump's attacks on the press. Here's why — More than 300 newspapers around the country will participate today in a group protest of President Trump's frequent attacks on the news media.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, KTLA, BloombergQuint and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »


John Brennan: President Trump's Claims of No Collusion Are Hogwash — That's why the president revoked my security clearance: to try to silence anyone who would dare challenge him. — Mr. Brennan was director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2013 to 2017.
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, Townhall, Vox, NPR, CNBC, Breitbart, Politico, KTLA, IJR, Washington Free Beacon, Shareblue Media, Defense One, The Guardian, ThinkProgress, VICE News, Althouse, DC Tribune, The New Neo, Outside the Beltway, Washington Times, Balloon Juice, The Week, Mediaite, POLITICUSUSA, HuffPost, Raw Story, Power Line, Talking Points Memo, Axios, The National Memo, WTKR-TV, TheBlaze and Wall Street Journal, more at Techmeme »
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Trump blurts out another Lester Holt moment — It really was the Russia investigation all along. — In an interview with the Wall Street Journal posted late Wednesday, President Trump once again gave away the ballgame when it comes to his efforts to impact the probe and tear down its leaders (both current and former).
Discussion:
National Review, CNN, Hit & Run, Hullabaloo, Breitbart, Politico, Shakesville, Hot Air, New York Times and The National Memo


Gen. Tata: ‘Communist John Brennan’ Never Should Have Had a Security Clearance — A ‘clear and present danger’ to the nation. — U.S. Army Brigadier Gen. Anthony Tata (Ret.) said President Trump was justified in revoking the security clearance of John Brennan, who Tata described as a “clear and present danger” to the nation.
Discussion:
Telegraph, Yahoo, Breitbart, CNN, Sara A. Carter, The Daily Caller, Front Page Magazine, Townhall and IJR

Once again, Trump blows up his own lies
Discussion:
ABC News, Daily Caller News Foundation, Law & Crime and Washington Monthly


Trump's military parade is now estimated to cost $92 million - $80 million more than earlier estimate — President Donald Trump's military parade is estimated to cost $92 million, according to a U.S. defense official with firsthand knowledge of the assessment.
Discussion:
New Republic, Politico, ABC News, Washington Post, AOL, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Political Wire, Task & Purpose, Daily Kos, VICE and Splinter


‘If they take the House, he wins big’: Trump loyalists see upside in impeachment — Why some Trump allies think his path to reelection runs through an effort to kick him out of the Oval Office. — There's a new way of demonstrating loyalty to Donald Trump and his Republican Party …
Discussion:
New Republic, Raw Story and The Week
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Aretha Franklin: A Legacy in Music — Aretha Franklin's voice was a pure, painful, and unforgettable expression of American history and American feeling, the collective experience of black Americans and her own life. The Queen of Soul, who died Thursday morning, was the daughter …
Discussion:
The Atlantic, IJR, Vox, Consequence of Sound and The Ringer
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Aretha Franklin Is As Immortal As Can Be
Discussion:
The Atlantic, New York Times and Vox

Aretha Franklin, the ‘Queen of Soul,’ Dies at 76
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Shakesville, Gothamist, France 24, LifeZette, AOL, BloombergQuint and Power Line

Argument over Aretha Franklin leads to Suffolk shooting, witnesses say
Discussion:
CBS Baltimore, Law & Crime, FOX31 Denver, Raw Story, KFOR-TV and WPIX 11 New York

Trump: ‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin ‘will be missed’
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, New York Daily News, Politico, Detroit Metro Times, Vox, CNN and Talking Points Memo


Detroit Rep. Bettie Cook Scott on Asian opponent: 'Don't vote for the ching-chong!' — More than a dozen community groups have called on Rep. Bettie Cook Scott (D-Detroit) to apologize for a series of racial slurs sources say she used to describe her primary election opponent, Rep. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit).
Discussion:
twitchy.com


Forecasting the race for the House — Our forecast for every district — The chance of each candidate winning, with all 435 House districts shown at the same size — CartogramMap — Dem. — Solid — Likely — Lean — Rep. — ≥95% — ≥75% — ≥60% — Toss-up
Discussion:
CNBC, ABC News, Political Wire and DC Tribune


CNN Poll: Brett Kavanaugh nomination has lowest public support since Robert Bork — Trump's SCOTUS pick could change America — Washington (CNN)Donald Trump's second Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, receives a cooler public reception than nearly every nominee for the last four administrations …
Discussion:
MSNBC
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Dems threaten to sue over release of Kavanaugh documents
Discussion:
One America News Network and SCOTUSblog


Corey Stewart used racist stereotypes to disparage NFL players in 2017 campaign event — (CNN)Corey Stewart, the Republican nominee for US Senate in Virginia, used racist stereotypes to disparage NFL players who protest during the National Anthem in an online exchange with his supporters last year.
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Mediaite and Vox


Scientists have a forecast for the rest of California's fire season. It isn't pretty. — WASHINGTON — Bad news for the West: Even after firefighters have already battled 101 large blazes this year, the remainder of wildfire season is expected to be hotter and drier than normal …
Discussion:
Watts Up With That?, The Daily Caller and FOX40
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Terrified of the Blue Wave, Georgia Republicans Shut down 75% of Black Voting Sites — Republicans have little to no use for democracy. We've known this for decades. It's why we had to pass the Voting Rights Act in the first place and why the extremists of the Republican controlled Supreme Court gutted it.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune
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GOP leader criticizes Republican senators for not showing up to work — (R-Ky.) scolded Senate Republican colleagues on Thursday for skipping a Wednesday night vote, warning them that attendance needs to improve if anything is to get done in August, according to sources.
Discussion:
Political Wire

Millennial Couple Bikes Through ISIS Territory to Prove ‘Humans Are Kind’ and Gets Killed — “Evil is a make-believe concept we've invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans.” — An idealistic young American couple was killed in an Islamic State-claimed terrorist attack …


Rick Scott killed a high-speed rail plan. Then All Aboard rolled up and he bought it. — TALLAHASSEE — As one of his first acts in office in 2011, Gov. Rick Scott canceled a $2.4 billion federally funded and shovel-ready bullet train from Orlando to Tampa because it carried …
Discussion:
CBS Miami and Florida Politics


Botched CIA Communications System Helped Blow Cover of Chinese Agents — The number of informants executed in the debacle is higher than initially thought. — It was considered one of the CIA's worst failures in decades: Over a two-year period starting in late 2010, Chinese authorities …


‘Queer Eye’ Star Jonathan Van Ness Under Fire After Saying ‘Not All Republicans Are Racist’ — “Ah, yes... ‘mutual understanding’ with racists,” says one commenter after Bravo reality star advocates for “center left candidates” — “Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness had to defend himself …
Discussion:
RedState, The Federalist, TheBlaze, Front Page Magazine, Daily Wire, Gay Star News and twitchy.com


Baker claims religious persecution again — this time after denying cake for transgender woman — Add another layer to the legal drama surrounding the Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple — and took his case all the way to the Supreme Court.
Discussion:
Vox, SCOTUSblog, 89.3 KPCC and Daily Caller News Foundation
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A New Battle for Masterpiece Cakeshop
Discussion:
BuzzFeed News and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion


Democrats cautious about judging one of their own amid misconduct allegations — Democrats have found themselves once again in the uncomfortable position of trying to determine how to judge one of their own accused of misdeeds. — For now, at least, Rep. Keith Ellison's fellow Democrats …
Discussion:
WCCO | CBS Minnesota and Washington Free Beacon


Children poisoned by lead on U.S. Army bases as hazards go ignored — Privatizing U.S. military housing was supposed to protect service members' families. Instead, some of their children are being poisoned by lead. A Reuters investigation unearths dangers in base homes, lapses in military oversight …
Discussion:
Axios


Manafort trial Day 13: Jury deliberations begin, verdict timing unknown — Jurors began deliberating Thursday in Paul Manafort's trial on bank- and tax-fraud charges, but the possible timing of a verdict remains unknown. — U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III sent the 12-person jury off …


The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issues new name guidelines, dropping term Mormon in most uses — SALT LAKE CITY — President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement Thursday afternoon regarding the name of the church:
Discussion:
fox13now.com


In setback for TransCanada, judge orders Keystone XL pipeline review — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge in Montana on Wednesday ordered the U.S. State Department to do a full environmental review of a revised route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, possibly delaying the project's construction …
Discussion:
Daily Caller News Foundation