Top Items:


Poll: Trump Approval Down, Slips With Base — While the longest government shutdown in U.S. history continues, President Trump's approval rating is down, and there are cracks showing with his base. — A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll finds Trump's approval rating down and his disapproval rating up from a month ago.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Week and Political Wire
RELATED:


57 percent of voters say they won't support Trump in 2020 — With the 2020 presidential election already underway, 57 percent of registered voters said they would definitely vote against President Donald Trump, according to the latest poll from the PBS NewsHour, NPR and Marist.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God.

The Shutdown Is Hurting Trump's Approval Rating. But Will It Hurt Him in 2020?
Discussion:
Raw Story


Rudy Giuliani just contradicted nearly all the Trump team's past collusion denials — This is at least the 10th time the denials have been watered down. It might be the most significant rollback. — President Trump's legal spokesman Rudolph W. Giuliani on Wednesday night appeared to grant …
Discussion:
Vox, Daily Kos, Patterico's Pontifications and twitchy.com
RELATED:


Rudy Giuliani says Trump didn't collude with Russia but can't say if campaign aides did — (CNN)Rudy Giuliani said Wednesday that he never denied President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 campaign, only that the President himself was not involved in collusion.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Joe.My.God., Shakesville, Law & Crime, Media Matters for America, The Week and Lawyers, Guns & Money


Giuliani: ‘I never said there was no collusion’ between the Trump campaign and Russia
Discussion:
National Review, Power Line, ABC News, Mother Jones, Axios, Daily Wire and Politico

POLITICO Playbook: Crisis
Discussion:
The Guardian, New York Times and Raw Story, more at Techmeme »

Rudy Giuliani's New Story: I ‘Never Said’ There Was No Collusion Between Campaign and Russia
Discussion:
Common Dreams, Just Security, The Week and New York Magazine

Rudy Giuliani: ‘I never said there was no collusion’ between Trump campaign and Russia
Discussion:
Spectator USA, The Week, POLITICUSUSA and Joe.My.God.

Trump Must Be a Russian Agent; the Alternative Is Too Awful
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Roll Call, Raw Story, Law & Crime, American Greatness and The Nation


Poll-Rigging for Trump and Creating @WomenForCohen: One IT Firm's Work Order — Behind the scenes, Michael Cohen hired RedFinch Solutions, then allegedly stiffed it—and his boss — In early 2015, a man who runs a small technology company showed up at Trump Tower to collect $50,000 …
Discussion:
CNN, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Politico, Axios, The Daily Beast, New York Times, Political Wire, FOX6Now.com, Daily Kos, Friendly Atheist, Shakesville, Washington Times, FOX31 Denver, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, The Guardian, Contemptor, The Week, Gizmodo, Joe.My.God. and The New Civil Rights Movement


Impeach Donald Trump — On January 20, 2017, Donald Trump stood on the steps of the Capitol, raised his right hand, and solemnly swore to faithfully execute the office of president of the United States and, to the best of his ability, to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Discussion:
The Week, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and Daily Kos


In a West Wing in Transition, Trump Tries to Stand Firm on the Shutdown — In a West Wing in transition, President Trump is trying to stand firm on the shutdown. — White House Redefines Who Is Essential to Get Parts of Government Moving Again — The administration is opening …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Splinter


Trump is fraying nerves inside the Pentagon — Washington (CNN)Two years into his presidency, Donald Trump is fueling unprecedented uncertainty and anxiety inside the Pentagon. In private conversations over the past month, many of them unsolicited, more than a dozen key military officers …
Discussion:
Defense One, Townhall, FOX59 and Vox
RELATED:

Fox's Griffin: Was told by diplomat that Syria attack was ‘direct result’ of US pullout decision
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite and New York Times


Key Justice Department officials, including Mueller deputy, knew about dossier — Testimony last year before a House task force investigating the Trump-Russia affair confirmed that top Justice Department officials knew about the Trump dossier earlier than first thought …
Discussion:
twitchy.com
RELATED:


GOP Congressmen Meet With Holocaust-Denying Troll Chuck Johnson — The two Republican lawmakers say they didn't know about the alt-right troll's past. — Notorious alt-right figure and Holocaust denier Chuck Johnson met with two Republican lawmakers in Congress on Wednesday.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo


Kamala Harris Was Not a ‘Progressive Prosecutor’ — The senator was often on the wrong side of history when she served as California's attorney general. — Ms. Bazelon is a law professor and the former director of the Loyola Law School Project for the Innocent in Los Angeles.
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon
RELATED:

Potential 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris shares advice for young women: 'Don't let …
Discussion:
twitchy.com


As they head to Harvard, Gary Cohn and Heidi Heitkamp criticize shutdown — Gary Cohn, President Trump's former top economic adviser, and Heidi Heitkamp, a former Democratic senator from North Dakota, got to know one another when he was president of Goldman Sachs and she was on the Senate Banking Committee.
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post and Political Wire


Removing Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior from Russia — Today we removed multiple Pages, groups and accounts that engaged in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook and Instagram. The two operations we found originated in Russia, and one was active in a variety of countries while the other was specific to Ukraine.
Discussion:
New York Times, DFRLab, Axios, Joe.My.God., The Week, RAPPLER, ABC News, VICE News, Gizmodo, Engadget, News Agency UNIAN and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:


House Judiciary chair says they'll subpoena Mueller report if necessary — Barr promises skeptical Democrats he'll be an independent AG — (CNN)The House Judiciary Committee chairman said Wednesday that his panel would subpoena special counsel Robert Mueller's final report if William Barr …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA and KAJ-TV
RELATED:


The Integrity of William Barr
Discussion:
Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight and The Guardian


'She's satin and steel': Pelosi wages war on Trump — Her move to derail Trump's State of the Union address underscores her aggressive challenge to the president. — Donald Trump may have finally met his match in Nancy Pelosi. — As the partial government shutdown grinds on with no end in sight …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Colorado Independent, No More Mister Nice Blog and Daily Wire
RELATED:


Top HUD official's departure follows disagreements over housing policy and Puerto Rico disaster funds — A top Department of Housing and Urban Development official is leaving the agency Thursday following disagreements with other members of the Trump administration over housing policy …


I'm Prepared to Talk About the Things I Did in Iraq. Are People Ready to Listen? — In Iraq I had a device called a Phraselator, an unwieldy specimen of 2004 military technology that resembled a cross between a fancy walkie-talkie and an early model PalmPilot.


You Deserve Privacy Online. Here's How You Could Actually Get It — We all deserve control over our digital lives. That's why we must rein in the data brokers — In 2019, it's time to stand up for the right to privacy—yours, mine, all of ours. Consumers shouldn't have to tolerate another year …
Discussion:
CNBC, Washington Post, Mashable, East Bay Times, Engadget, The Hill, The Verge, AOL and 9to5Mac, more at Techmeme »


Tyler Congressman Louie Gohmert says Steve King raised a fair question — A congressman from East Texas says his colleague raised a fair question about Western civilization and is being treated unfairly. — U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert said that U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Roll Call, Media Matters for America, RightWisconsin, Bleeding Heartland and FiveThirtyEight


Trump administration separated thousands more migrants than previously known — The Trump administration separated thousands more migrant kids at the border than it previously acknowledged, and the separations began months before the policy was announced, according to a federal audit released Thursday morning.
Discussion:
The New Civil Rights Movement


Presidential Profiteering: Trump's Conflicts Got Worse in Year Two — INTRODUCTION — President Trump's January 11, 2017 announcement that he would not divest from his interests in the Trump Organization while serving as president caused an ethics uproar.


Generation Z may be most liberal demographic yet — A generation of post-Millennials is poised to enter the electorate as perhaps the most liberal age cohort ever, fueled by unprecedented diversity and expansive views of the role of government. — On issues ranging from the treatment …
Discussion:
Pew Research Center


Trump Goes MIA in Effort to Win Dems Over in Shutdown Fight — The president sold himself as a great deal-maker. But hardly any Democrat from a district he won has heard from him in weeks. — As Donald Trump tries to pass legislation to fund the government and finance the construction of a border wall …
Discussion:
Contemptor, Raw Story and Washington Free Beacon


White House inches toward allowing Cuban Americans to sue for island properties left behind — A street scene in Havana's district of Regla. — MATIAS J. OCNER — WASHINGTON — The White House took a step closer to allowing thousands of Cuban Americans to sue foreign companies …
Discussion:
Babalú Blog


A controversial startup that charges $8,000 to fill your veins with young blood now claims to be up and running in 5 cities across the US — A startup called Ambrosia that charges $8,000 to fill your veins with the blood of young people is now accepting PayPal payments for the procedure online.
Discussion:
AOL


Science advocacy group bids to draft astronaut Mark Kelly for Arizona's 2020 Senate race — A pro-science group that helped elect nine federal candidates in 2018 has launched an effort to recruit retired astronaut Mark Kelly to run for the Democratic nomination for Arizona's 2020 Senate race.


Louis C.K. Jokes About Sexually Harassing Women: 'I Like to Jerk Off, and I Don't Like Being Alone' — The disgraced comic, who masturbated in front of comediennes, continued to offend on the latest leg of his new tour. — SAN JOSE, California—When Louis C.K. stepped onstage to a standing ovation …
Discussion:
East Bay Times and Mediaite