Top Items:
Eliana Johnson / Politico:
Why Trump didn't stop a GOP revolt on his border emergency — On Thursday morning, President Donald Trump sent out a pointed missive ahead of the Senate's vote to block his emergency declaration: “A vote for today's resolution by Republican Senators is a vote for Nancy Pelosi, Crime, and the Open Border Democrats!”
Discussion:
Washington Post, ABC News, National Review, Hit & Run and Raw Story
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Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Tillis's reversal sums up state of Senate Republicans — few willing to cross Trump — Sen. Thom Tillis took every possible position on President Trump's declaration of a national emergency to build a wall along the Mexican border. — At first, Tillis (R-N.C.) stood defiantly …
Discussion:
NPR, The Ringer, Mediaite, Test Feed Using Fields, Spectator USA and Slate
Washington Post:
Trump tried to make the GOP border emergency fight about him. He lost anyway. — President Trump tried to marshal his most potent weapon — himself — to stave off what eventually became an embarrassing rejection from his own party over his declared national emergency on the border.
Discussion:
Vox, BuzzFeed News, Fox News and LifeZette
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Again Threatens Violence If Democrats Don't Support Him
Trump Again Threatens Violence If Democrats Don't Support Him
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Politico and Raw Story
Denver Post:
Editorial: Our endorsement of Cory Gardner was a mistake — We endorsed Sen. Cory Gardner in 2014 because we believed he'd be a statesman. We knew he'd be a conservative voice in Congress, to be certain, but we thought his voice would bring “fresh leadership, energy and ideas.”
Discussion:
Raw Story
Simon Rogers / Radio New Zealand New Zealand Headlines:
Live: ‘Blood everywhere’ as shots fired at mosque in central Christchurch — Armed police have been deployed after shots were fired at a mosque where hundreds of people were praying near Hagley Park in Christchurch. — An eyewitness inside the mosque says he heard shots fired …
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Richard James / BuzzFeed:
A Gunman Has Opened Fire At Mosques In Christchurch, Causing “Multiple Fatalities” — A suspect is in custody after shootings at two mosques in Christchurch. “This is one of New Zealand's darkest days,” said prime minister Jacinda Ardern. — BuzzFeed News Director, Australia — What We Know So Far
Discussion:
Radio New Zealand … and Balloon Juice
The Montgomery Advertiser:
Southern Poverty Law Center fires co-founder Morris Dees … The Southern Poverty Law Center has fired Morris Dees, the civil rights organization's co-founder and former chief litigator. — In a statement attributed to SPLC president Richard Cohen, the Montgomery-based organization confirmed Dees' dismissal …
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Michael Scherer / Washington Post:
Beto O'Rourke's political career drew on donations from the pro-Republican business establishment — EL PASO — Before Beto O'Rourke became the darling of liberal online donors, his top financial backers hailed from a different set entirely — wealthy businessmen who have sought political influence …
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Jack Shafer / Politico:
The Semigoguery of Beto O'Rourke
The Semigoguery of Beto O'Rourke
Discussion:
New York Times, Splinter and NB Blog
Erin Murphy / Quad City Times:
O'Rourke calls for unity during Iowa visit
Katie Galioto / Politico:
Trump calls O'Rourke ‘crazy’ for his hand gestures
Trump calls O'Rourke ‘crazy’ for his hand gestures
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, CNN, twitchy.com, National Review, Big League Politics, Althouse and Patterico's Pontifications
Nate Cohn / New York Times:
Why Texas Is Nearing Battleground Status (It's Not Just About Beto)
Why Texas Is Nearing Battleground Status (It's Not Just About Beto)
Discussion:
The Nation, FiveThirtyEight, YouTube, Common Dreams and Towleroad Gay News
Matthew Rosenberg / New York Times:
Tech Firm in Steele Dossier May Have Been Used by Russian Spies — WASHINGTON — Aleksej Gubarev is a Russian technology entrepreneur who runs companies in Europe and the United States that provide cut-rate internet service. But he is best known for his appearance in 2016 in a dossier …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, The Week and The Guardian
Simon Denyer / Washington Post:
North Korea threatens to suspend denuclearization talks with the United States, reports say — TOKYO — North Korea is considering suspending denuclearization talks with the United States unless Washington changes its stance after the breakdown of a summit meeting in Hanoi between President Trump …
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Eric Talmadge / Associated Press:
NKorea official: Kim rethinking US talks, launch moratorium — PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will soon make a decision on whether to continue diplomatic talks and maintain the country's moratorium on missile launches and nuclear tests, a senior North Korean official said …
Daniel Dale / Toronto Star:
Trump issues warning to opponents: ‘It would be very bad’ if his military, police and biker supporters got ‘tough’ — WASHINGTON—U.S. President Donald Trump has issued what seems to be a warning of armed pushback against his political opponents, telling a right-wing website on Monday that …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Joe.My.God., Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Shareblue Media, Contemptor, Outside the Beltway, New York Post and The Gateway Pundit
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TMZ.com:
Rosario Dawson Confirms She's Dating Cory Booker, Says They're in Love — Rosario Dawson's all in on Cory Booker for President in 2020, but she might be a little biased ... because she just confirmed with us ... they're in a serious, loving relationship!!! — The actress was at the Reagan …
Discussion:
New York Times, Mercury News, Joe.My.God., Splinter, The Daily Caller, CNN, Politico, The Wrap, Vanity Fair, Fox News, CBS Philly, Page Six and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Facebook:
A Note From Mark Zuckerberg — Today Mark Zuckerberg shared the following post with employees. — Hey everyone — I want to share some important updates as we organize our company to build out the privacy-focused social platform I discussed in my note last week.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Wired, New York Times, Fortune, Snopes.com, TechCrunch, The Verge, The Wrap, KTLA, Variety, Financial Times, Engadget, Mashable, The Week, CNN, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze, more at Techmeme »
John Solomon / The Hill:
The damning proof of innocence that FBI likely withheld in Russian probe — View Latest Opinions >> — If President Trump declassifies evidence in the Russia investigation, Carter Page's summer bike ride to a Virginia farm and George Papadopoulos's hasty academic jaunt to London may emerge …
New York Times:
Sandy Hook Massacre: Remington and Other Gun Companies Lose Major Ruling Over Liability — [What you need to know to start the day: Get New York Today in your inbox.] — The Connecticut Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the firearms industry on Thursday, clearing the way for a lawsuit …
Discussion:
Slate, USA Today, Hit & Run, The Root, Common Dreams, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Townhall and Big League Politics
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Associated Press:
Institute founded by Sanders' wife, son is shutting down — CONCORD, N.H. — The Sanders Institute, a think tank founded by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' wife and son, is shutting down, at least for now, amid criticism that the nonprofit has blurred the lines between family, fundraising and campaigning.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, New York Post, New York Times and Axios
NBC News:
Mnuchin says he'll protect Trump privacy if taxes requested — A rarely used nearly 100-year-old law allows a few congressional officials to seek individual tax returns from the Treasury Secretary. — WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested Thursday he will protect …
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Jason Lange / Reuters:
Mnuchin says U.S. government would shield Trump tax returns from Congress
Mnuchin says U.S. government would shield Trump tax returns from Congress
Discussion:
Breitbart and The Daily Caller
BuzzFeed News:
Reddit Has Become A Battleground Of Alleged Chinese Trolls — Last week, a Reddit user posed a question on the Canadian news subreddit /r/onguardforthee: “Ever Wonder Why Canadian Subreddits Are Becoming Littered With Chinese Propaganda?” — In their view, the reason is that Chinese …
Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
John McCain Associate Had Contact With A Dozen Reporters Regarding Steele Dossier — David Kramer, a former State Department official, revealed in a court deposition that he had contact with a dozen reporters regarding the infamous Steele dossier. — Kramer, a longtime associate of John McCain …
Discussion:
Washington Times and The Lid
Christine Hauser / New York Times:
Formerly Homeless Student Gets Into 17 Colleges, on His Own — The odds were stacked against Dylan Chidick in the summer of 2017. The Jersey City high school student's family was homeless and he was struggling to study in a shelter. His twin brothers had heart conditions and needed extra care.
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
How can you defend a president who is a danger to democracy? — A friend just returned from some time with a group of wealthy conservative donors. “They were ambivalent about Donald Trump two years ago,” he said. “Now they are vociferously pro-Trump. There's a psychological study to be done here.”
Discussion:
Raw Story
Joe Lockhart / CNN:
Trump's thuggish threat of violence against his critics — Joe Lockhart was White House press secretary from 1998-2000 in President Bill Clinton's administration. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN. — (CNN)How deeply has President Trump taken our politics into the gutter?
Discussion:
Raw Story
Daily Mail:
EXCLUSIVE: Trump's border agency admits he has built ZERO new walls despite claiming otherwise for months — as the president prepares to veto lawmakers' attempt to kill his emergency declaration and keep his signature campaign promise alive — President Trump has boasted that he has built new walls …
Emily Singer / Shareblue Media:
Graham vows to hold Mueller report hostage over his Hillary email obsession — This South Carolina Republican is still living in 2016, apparently. — Sen. Lindsey Graham — the South Carolina Republican who's morphed into one of the bgigest Trump apologists in Congress …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, TheBlaze and Politico
Pew Research Center:
Political Independents: Who They Are, What They Think — Most ‘lean’ toward a party; ‘true’ independents tend to avoid politics — Independents often are portrayed as political free agents with the potential to alleviate the nation's rigid partisan divisions.
Discussion:
CNN, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post and National Review
Alexis Soloski / New York Times:
‘Billions,’ ‘Succession’ and the Making of Wealth Porn — Two years ago, Aidan Sleeper needed to find an apartment. — Sleeper, the locations manager for “Billions,” returning Sunday for its fourth season on Showtime, scouted more than 100 places that list for tens of millions of dollars, but he couldn't find the right one.