Top Items:
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Appeals to Nation for Wall: ‘This Is a Choice Between Right and Wrong’ — WASHINGTON — President Trump sought to go over the heads of Congress to enlist public support for his long-promised border wall on Tuesday night, raising the stakes of an ideological and political conflict …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, CNN, Politico, Washington Examiner, Raw Story, The Week, Townhall, Washington Post, The Guardian, FiveThirtyEight, NPR, Fortune, The Hill, Media Matters for America, POLITICUSUSA, Salon, Hullabaloo, USA Today, Shareblue Media, Joe.My.God., Just Security, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Splinter, The Daily Caller, Vox, The Nation, Balloon Juice, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Bloomberg, Contemptor, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite and Axios
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David Frum / The Atlantic:
Trump Has Defeated Himself — Well, that was the shortest, most easily resolved national emergency in U.S. history. Twelve hours ago, the president was preparing to set aside the regular process of law. By 9 p.m. eastern time? Not so much. — Perhaps somebody pointed …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week and Vanity Fair
Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:
Trump's Oval Office address was a pure propaganda opportunity. Networks shouldn't allow it next time. — After Tuesday night's debacle in the Oval Office, television network executives should be spending the day in their spacious offices practicing a simple word: No.
Discussion:
Daily Wire and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »
McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:
Trump's Oval Office Address Was Classic Stephen Miller — The young speechwriter has a signature style: blood, gore, and a penchant for provoking rather than persuading the president's adversaries. — Almost from the moment the camera blinked on in the Oval Office, it was clear …
Discussion:
CNN
John Harwood / CNBC:
Trump's prime-time sales pitch for a border wall didn't change anything in the shutdown fight
Trump's prime-time sales pitch for a border wall didn't change anything in the shutdown fight
Discussion:
New York Times, Washington Post and The Moderate Voice
Chris Kahn / Reuters:
A growing number of Americans blame Trump for shutdown: Reuters-Ipsos poll
A growing number of Americans blame Trump for shutdown: Reuters-Ipsos poll
Discussion:
Washington Post, ABC News, HuffPost, Politico, FiveThirtyEight, Outside the Beltway, Shareblue Media, Washington Times and IJR
Linda Chavez / The Bulwark:
There Is a Crisis at the Border. Trump Created It.
There Is a Crisis at the Border. Trump Created It.
Discussion:
New York Times, Mother Jones and Vox
Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:
Media's Angry Response To President Trump's Oval Office Speech Comes Up Short
Media's Angry Response To President Trump's Oval Office Speech Comes Up Short
Discussion:
NPR, New York Times, Politico and The Week
Pierre Thomas / ABC News:
Rosenstein expected to depart DOJ in coming weeks once new attorney general confirmed — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave his role in the coming weeks, multiple sources familiar with his plans told ABC News. — Rosenstein has communicated to President Donald Trump …
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Reuters:
Trump AG nominee Barr will let Mueller finish Russia probe: Graham
Trump AG nominee Barr will let Mueller finish Russia probe: Graham
Discussion:
Political Wire
Associated Press:
AP source: Rosenstein expected to leave Justice in weeks
AP source: Rosenstein expected to leave Justice in weeks
Discussion:
USA Today and Law & Crime
Andrew Prokop / Vox:
Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein is reportedly headed out the door. What does it mean for Mueller?
Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein is reportedly headed out the door. What does it mean for Mueller?
Discussion:
BuzzFeed News and ABC News
Marianne LeVine / Politico:
Schumer calls on Trump to withdraw Barr nomination
Schumer calls on Trump to withdraw Barr nomination
Discussion:
ABC News, Vox, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller
John R. Schindler / Observer:
Exclusive: Mueller Is Holding Top Secret Intelligence That Will Sink the Trump Presidency — Another day, another bombshell emanating from the Special Counsel investigation into President Donald Trump and his links to the Kremlin. We now have more proof that Robert Mueller really does …
Discussion:
Raw Story, CNN and Talking Points Memo
RELATED:
Chris Cillizza / CNN:
Why the latest Paul Manafort news is a very big deal
Why the latest Paul Manafort news is a very big deal
Discussion:
National Review, Raw Story, Power Line, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite and Associated Press
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
The ‘Collusion’ Debate Ended Last Night
The ‘Collusion’ Debate Ended Last Night
Discussion:
Lawfare, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and Media Matters for America
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
One more Russian contact: Here's why it matters
One more Russian contact: Here's why it matters
Discussion:
Law & Crime, Raw Story, ThinkProgress and Boing Boing
Washington Post:
Reduced inspections ‘put our food supply at risk’ — The furloughing of hundreds of Food and Drug Administration inspectors has sharply reduced inspections of the nation's food supply — one of many repercussions of the partial government shutdown that make Americans potentially less safe.
Discussion:
Axios
Rick Porter / Hollywood Reporter:
TV Ratings: Democrats' Response to Trump Speech Outdraws President in Early Numbers — The response by Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer has slightly larger preliminary numbers than the president's address. — President Trump's televised Oval Office address on immigration Tuesday drew a big audience.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and USA Today
RELATED:
Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Democrats Focus on Shutdown's Cost and Steer Away From Trump's Wall
Democrats Focus on Shutdown's Cost and Steer Away From Trump's Wall
Discussion:
Politico
Associated Press:
White House tries to hold jittery GOP in line on shutdown
White House tries to hold jittery GOP in line on shutdown
Discussion:
Washington Times and Associated Press
Freddy Gray / Spectator USA:
Wrinkled, white, and wrong — this is the face of the Democratic party
Wrinkled, white, and wrong — this is the face of the Democratic party
Discussion:
Breitbart and NTK Network
CNN:
Law firm that represented Russian interests part of mystery Mueller subpoena case — Supreme Court rules against mystery company — Washington (CNN)One law firm involved in a foreign government-owned company's challenge of a mysterious grand jury subpoena related to the Robert Mueller investigation …
Claudia Koerner / BuzzFeed News:
People Bet On How Much Trump Would Lie In His Oval Office Address And Won $276,424 — A gambling site is paying out thousands of dollars to people who correctly bet that President Donald Trump would tell more than 3.5 lies in his Oval Office address on Tuesday.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., VICE, Raw Story and Washington Post
Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
Proud Boy Accused of Murdering ‘Lizard’ Brother With Sword — Prosecutors say Buckey Wolfe was convinced his sibling was a lizard. — A self-proclaimed member of the far-right Proud Boys group who also believes in the QAnon conspiracy theory allegedly murdered his own brother with a sword.
Discussion:
KIRO and The Seattle Times
CNN:
Cracks emerging among Senate Republicans as Murkowski calls for end to shutdown — (CNN)Patience is beginning to wear thin among Senate Republicans for a prolonged government shutdown, with a growing number at risk of revolting if the fight over funding President Donald Trump's border wall drags out indefinitely.
Discussion:
Politico, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and Joe.My.God.
RELATED:
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
A few Republicans defend Article I of the Constitution. So far, Romney isn't one of them.
A few Republicans defend Article I of the Constitution. So far, Romney isn't one of them.
Discussion:
CNN
Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:
House Dems to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. first in Russia probe — House Democrats probing allegations that the Trump presidential campaign worked with Russian operatives to win the 2016 election plan to issue their first subpoena to Donald Trump Jr., according to a top lawmaker.
Discussion:
Daily Wire and The Daily Caller
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Chelsea Davis / Hawaii News Now:
Tensions rise between 2 of Hawaii's Congressional leaders over ‘religious bigotry’ comments — HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard appears to have “called out” Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono over her questioning of a judicial nominee, accusing her and others of religious bigotry.
Discussion:
The Hill
Bryan Lowry / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Josh Hawley to furloughed federal workers: No comment — Josh Hawley, Republican U.S. senator from Missouri — Josh Hawley has a message to federal workers in Kansas City who won't receive paychecks this week: No comment. — Wednesday, the freshman Republican Missouri senator was asked …
Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed News:
Elizabeth Warren Knows Something Other Presidential Hopefuls Don't: Exactly Why She's Running For President — In Council Bluffs, her mic went dead. — “No sound!” someone in the back yelled. — “I know!” she yelled back in a laugh, before continuing on with her speech.
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump is still considering an emergency declaration to get the funds to build a border wall — A source close to President Trump tells Jonathan Swan that he thinks a declaration of a national emergency at the border — which Trump stopped short of last night — remains the most likely ultimate option …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, CCN, Lawfare, Daily Kos, The Week, No More Mister Nice Blog and Bloomberg
Eric Levitz / New York Magazine:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Critique of Fact-Checking Is Valid — Early last month, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did a bad tweet. After misreading an article in the Nation on the Pentagon's accounting errors, Ocasio-Cortez falsely claimed that the Defense Department had wasted enough money …
Discussion:
National Review, The Week and Liberty Unyielding
Tina Nguyen / Vanity Fair:
The G.O.P.'s Plan to Take Down Beto: Unleash the Bernie Bros — Republicans are digging into O'Rourke's voting record and Big Oil ties in an attempt to isolate him from progressives. — In the run-up to Texas's closely watched Senate election, Republicans' attempts to smear Beto O'Rourke centered …
Zachary Basu / Axios:
Trump formally nominates Andrew Wheeler to head EPA — President Trump has formally sent Andrew Wheeler's nomination for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to the Senate for confirmation, the White House announced Wednesday. — Why it matters: Wheeler …
Discussion:
ABC News, Politico, Joe.My.God. and Washington Post
Tom Metcalf / Bloomberg:
Jeff, MacKenzie Bezos Say They're Divorcing After 25 Years — Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, the world's richest person, and his wife MacKenzie are divorcing after 25 years. — “After a long period of loving exploration and trial separation, we have decided to divorce and continue …
Discussion:
Fortune, East Bay Times and GeekWire, more at Techmeme »
Daniel Gordis:
The American ‘Zionist’ assault on Israel — Less hubris and more interest in why Israelis think what they do would go a long way to helping this relationship survive — “American Jews and Israeli Jews Are Headed for a Messy Breakup,” a column by Jonathan Weisman announced in the New York Times earlier this week.
Discussion:
Instapundit and New York Times
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
The Green New Deal Rises Again — It was a good idea that didn't catch on in 2007. Now we're running out of time. — Back in 2007, I wrote a column calling for a “Green New Deal,” and I later expanded on the idea in a book, “Hot, Flat and Crowded.” Barack Obama picked up the theme …
Nicole Hong / Wall Street Journal:
Cocaine Inside Jalapeño Cans and a Tunnel From Mexico to Arizona: Highlights From the El Chapo Trial — Mexican drug lord's U.S. trial has detailed the inner workings of a narcotics empire — The trial of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the infamous Mexican drug lord …
Henry J. Gomez / BuzzFeed News:
Is John Kasich Still A Republican? He Won't Quite Say. — The Ohio governor is spending his final days in office reflecting on his legacy, fussing with his Instagram, and FaceTiming Arnold Schwarzenegger. What's next? “Bread's in the oven.” — When Mitt Romney unleashed …
Anna North / Vox:
Louis C.K. and Aziz Ansari have an opportunity for redemption. They're squandering it. — Their post-#MeToo comedy is a loss for us all. — “God, I love being white,” said Louis C.K. — “Here's how great it is to be white,” the comedian went on: “I could get in a time machine …
Discussion:
IndieWire
WRAL-TV:
Two women charged with assault on transgender person at Glenwood South bar — RALEIGH, N.C. — Two women have been charged with assaulting a 29-year-old transgender person in a bathroom at a popular Glenwood South bar last month. — According to investigators, the victim was inside …
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Daily Beast and TheBlaze