Top Items:


Conservative Revolt Endangers Deal to Avoid a Shutdown — WASHINGTON — A deal to avert a Christmastime government shutdown teetered on Thursday amid growing anger from President Trump and a conservative revolt in the House that could block a bill to keep funds flowing past midnight Friday.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Mediaite, Townhall, Fox News Insider, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Splinter and Contemptor
RELATED:


Trump ‘at this moment’ opposes deal to avert shutdown, wants more border funding — President Trump will not commit to signing legislation that would avoid a partial government shutdown on Saturday, his press secretary said, further roiling a chaotic debate that is splintering the Republican Party.
Discussion:
RedState, Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, NPR, Roll Call, Wonkette, POLITICUSUSA, CNBC, Breitbart, IJR and Balloon Juice


Dow falls 400 points as stocks continue to get hit after Fed rate hike, Nasdaq enters bear market — U.S. stocks swooned for a second day Thursday after the Federal Reserve raised benchmark interest rates and said that it would continue to let its massive balance sheet shrink at the current pace.
Discussion:
Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Chicks On The Right and The Gateway Pundit


Trump rushes into shutdown threat over wall — President Donald Trump will not sign the stopgap funding bill approved by the Senate, Speaker Paul Ryan warned Thursday afternoon, a move that dramatically increases the risk of a partial government shutdown. — It would be the third shutdown …
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, TalkLeft, ABC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Breitbart, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, CNN, Reuters, IJR and New York Times

POLITICO Playbook PM: What you need to know about the funding drama — FORECAST: Chances of a shutdown increasing exponentially by the moment. — A QUICK REVIEW: This morning, a House Republican Conference meeting went haywire, with southerners complaining about not having disaster money …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Guardian and The Week


Republican Leadership Is Slowly Backing Away From Trump
Discussion:
Shareblue Media, Mediaite, Raw Story, HuffPost, Washington Post and Hullabaloo

The Latest: Trump tells House GOP he won't sign Senate bill
Discussion:
New Republic, The Week and Chicks On The Right

Trump says he won't sign stopgap funding bill amid border wall showdown: Ryan
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, Mother Jones and Chicks On The Right

Trump won't sign current short-term funding bill, Paul Ryan says
Discussion:
Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, Chicks On The Right, Daily Wire, Washington Post and Vox

Trump torpedoes funding bill over border wall
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, The Last Refuge, AOL and KXLF-TV

Trump tells GOP leaders he won't sign short-term spending bill
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo


Vladimir Putin Welcomes U.S. Withdrawal From Syria — MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Thursday welcomed President Trump's announcement of a withdrawal of American troops from Syria, calling it “the right decision.” — Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he was ordering …
RELATED:


Putin backs Trump's move to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, says Islamic State dealt ‘serious blows’ — MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin praised President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, describing the American presence there as illegitimate and the Islamic State as largely defeated on the ground.
Discussion:
NBC News, Reuters, IJR, Politico, CNBC, Al Jazeera, RT, Mediaite, Jamie Dupree - AJC, Conservative News Today, POLITICUSUSA, twitchy.com, Fox News Insider, Washington Free Beacon and Wonkette


In a single tweet, Trump destroys U.S. policy in the Middle East — Victoria Nuland is the chief executive of the Center for a New American Security and a former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs. — With his decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Daily Wire, The Resurgent and Washington Free Beacon


Kurdish Fighters Discuss Releasing Almost 3,200 ISIS Prisoners — BEIRUT, Lebanon — America's Kurdish allies in Syria are discussing the release of 3,200 Islamic State prisoners, a prominent monitoring group and a Western official of the anti-Islamic State coalition said on Thursday …
Discussion:
Axios, Washington Post, Task & Purpose, Breitbart, National Review and ABC News



Trump Blew His Chances of Building the Wall
Discussion:
NBC News, Washington Post and Instapundit

With 2020 Democrats waiting in the wings, Trump's latest moves go beyond his base
Discussion:
Althouse, Washington Free Beacon, MSNBC, Mediaite and twitchy.com

Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria startles aides and allies
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Axios, Al Jazeera, New York Times, CNN, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Washington Examiner, Fox News, Al-Monitor, Hot Air, POLITICUSUSA, Middle East Eye, Shakesville, Wonkette, Foreign Policy, Jewish Insider, IJR, Just Security, The Week, Mediaite, Florida Politics and HuffPost, more at Mediagazer »


Exclusive: Whitaker told he does not need to recuse himself from overseeing Mueller investigation — (CNN)Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker has consulted with ethics officials at the Justice Department and they have advised him he does not need to recuse himself from overseeing special …
Discussion:
Washington Post, RedState, ABC News, Law & Crime, Conservative News Today, The Root, CNBC, Axios, Daily Kos, The Week and Talking Points Memo
RELATED:


Trump's Attorney General Pick Criticized an Aspect of Mueller Probe in Memo to Justice Department — William Barr said obstruction of justice inquiry by special counsel is ‘fatally misconceived’ — WASHINGTON—William Barr, President Trump's choice for attorney general …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, HuffPost, Vox, The Federalist, Fox News, New Republic, Law & Crime, RedState, Shareblue Media, New York Magazine, Washington Times, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Chicks On The Right, Shakesville, Washington Post, CNBC, KXLF-TV, Dan Bongino, emptywheel, The Week, Mediaite and NBC News


The Barr Memo Is a Commendable Piece of Lawyering
Discussion:
Just Security, Townhall and Washington Post

Trump's Attorney General Nominee Criticized Russia Investigation
Discussion:
CNN, Axios and Law & Crime

Rosenstein: AG nominee's memo had ‘no impact’ on Mueller probe
Discussion:
Raw Story and Talking Points Memo


Russian Agents Sought Secret US Treasury Records On Clinton Backers During 2016 Campaign — US Treasury Department officials used a Gmail back channel with the Russian government as the Kremlin sought sensitive financial information on its enemies in America and across the globe, according to documents reviewed by BuzzFeed News.
Discussion:
Hill Reporter, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story
RELATED:

Trump Administration to Lift Sanctions on Russian Oligarch's Companies
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week, CNN, Engadget and Raw Story

Democrats to Start Presidential Primary Debates in June 2019 — (AP) — Democrats will hold at least a dozen presidential primary debates starting in June 2019 and running through April 2020, with party Chairman Tom Perez promising rules that will give everyone in a potentially large field a fair shot at voters' attention.
RELATED:


Democrats announce a dozen 2020 presidential debates starting in June
Discussion:
Townhall and Political Wire

Perez nixes ‘undercard’ debates for 2020 primary
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Axios and twitchy.com


N. Korea says it won't denuclearize unless US removes threat — SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday it will never unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons unless the United States removes its nuclear threat first, a statement that raises further doubts on whether leader Kim Jong Un …
Discussion:
Politico, New Republic, The Resurgent, Mediaite, The Week and Shakesville


The Itsy-Bitsy, Teenie-Weenie, Very Litigious Bikini — On a sunny summer day in Montauk, Ipek Irgit was in the familiar situation of not knowing what she was doing with her life. It was 2012, and she was 34 years old. Earlier in the year, after having her heart broken …


‘Oh, no’: The day Trump learned to tweet — The content of the tweet @RealDonaldTrump posted on the night of Feb. 5, 2013, was bland: a simple thank you to the actress Sherri Shepherd for flattering comments she'd made about Trump on television. — But its implications were historic.
Discussion:
Splinter, Raw Story and Instapundit


Tucker Carlson's show has been hit by an advertiser boycott, and it's having an effect — Cuomo, Lemon slam Fox News' hateful speech — New York (CNN Business)The advertiser boycott spearheaded by liberal organizations of Fox News host Tucker Carlson is starting to have a visible effect.
Discussion:
Townhall, NewsBusters, Conservative News Today and TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »


Planned Parenthood Is Accused of Mistreating Pregnant Employees — Employers that champion women face accusations of discriminating against their pregnant workers, showing how widespread the problem is in American workplaces. — As a medical assistant at Planned Parenthood …


So Long Paul Ryan, You Won't Be Missed — He was unusually dishonest, a fraud as a wonk and a terrible match for the job. Good riddance. — Paul Ryan gave a farewell speech to the House of Representatives on Wednesday. He won't be missed. Ryan was badly cast as speaker of the House from the start …
Discussion:
Townhall, Washington Post, Raw Story and Speaker.gov
RELATED:


Writer touted by CNN as ‘Journalist of the Year’ forced to resign for fabricating stories — The German magazine Der Spiegel revealed Wednesday that one of its top award-winning journalists fabricated many of his articles, inventing characters, sources, and their quotes “on a grand scale” for many years.
Discussion:
RedState, Townhall, CNN, Geller Report, Dan Bongino, The Daily Caller and Spiegel Online
RELATED:


Trump is officially turning back asylum seekers who come to the US through Mexico — In a huge win for Trump's asylum crackdown, Central Americans and others will be forced to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed in the US. — The US is going to start forcing asylum-seekers …
RELATED: