America Is An Idea  —  It's time for respected leadership on the world stage—and dignified leadership at home.  It's time for equal opportunity, equal rights, and equal justice.  It's time for an economy that rewards those who actually do the work.  It's time for a president who will stand up for all of us.

North Korea issued $2 million bill for comatose Otto Warmbier's care  —  BEIJING — North Korea issued a $2 million bill for the hospital care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, insisting that a U.S. official sign a pledge to pay it before being allowed to fly the University of Virginia student from Pyongyang in 2017.

FBI raids Baltimore City Hall, home of Mayor Catherine Pugh, offices of job training center  —  FBI and IRS agents are raiding Baltimore's City Hall and the home of Mayor Catherine Pugh.  —  Dave Fitz, an FBI spokesman, confirmed agents from the Washington field office were executing search warrants …

Why Won't Twitter Treat White Supremacy Like ISIS?  Because It Would Mean Banning Some Republican Politicians Too.  —  A Twitter employee who works on machine learning believes that a proactive, algorithmic solution to white supremacy would also catch Republican politicians.

Biden hires strategist Symone Sanders, adds diversity to bid  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden has hired Symone Sanders, a prominent African American political strategist, as a senior adviser to his newly launched presidential campaign.  —  The move adds a younger, diverse voice to Biden's cadre …

Trump is terrified that his aides might not lie for him  —  President Trump's current position on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III's report is as follows:  —  1) it proved beyond all doubt that Trump is completely innocent;  —  2) it was illegal, biased and full of lies;

Judge Andrew Napolitano: Did President Trump obstruct justice?  —  When the Department of Justice designated Robert Mueller as special counsel to take over the FBI investigation of the Trump campaign in May 2017, Mueller's initial task was to determine if there had been a conspiracy …

How angry pilots got the Navy to stop dismissing UFO sightings  —  A recent uptick in sightings of unidentified flying objects — or as the military calls them, “unexplained aerial phenomena” — prompted the Navy to draft formal procedures for pilots to document encounters, a corrective measure that former officials say is long overdue.

Trump's Chief of Staff Is Having a Great Time  —  Here's the thing, Mick Mulvaney says, sitting in his West Wing office on Wednesday afternoon: He knows that Donald Trump's administration doesn't always make good on conservative ideals.  He knows that they're “spending a bunch of money …

Boston-area judge charged with helping undocumented immigrant escape courthouse to elude ICE  —  Judge Shelley Joseph and court officer Wesley MacGregor were hit with obstruction of justice charges for their role in aiding the defendant in April 2018.  —  A Massachusetts judge conspired …

The Daily 202: The U.S. Chamber wants to disentangle its brand from the GOP and hopes to rebuild the center  —  THE BIG IDEA: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, navigating dramatic cultural change that's transforming the worlds of politics and business, plans to become less aligned with the Republican Party than it has been for decades.

The Scruton tapes: an anatomy of a modern hit job … Sometimes a scandal is not just a scandal, but a biopsy of a society.  So it is with the assault on Sir Roger Scruton, who in recent weeks has been smeared in the media, fired by the government and had his life's work assailed.

We found 85,000 cops who've been investigated for misconduct.  Now you can read their records.  —  USA TODAY is leading a national effort to obtain and publish disciplinary and misconduct records for thousands of police officers.  —  At least 85,000 law enforcement officers across the USA …

Mueller report shows Trump campaign left itself wide open to Russians, officials say  —  “The Russians found a group of people who were not intelligence savvy” and didn't listen to U.S. intel officials, said a CIA veteran.  —  WASHINGTON — The Mueller report's narrative of secret meetings between members …

Sarah Sanders's 2019 briefings: 82 minutes for reporters, 28 minutes for young children  —  I honestly don't understand why White House press secretary Sarah Sanders invited children into the press briefing room to answer questions on Thursday.  —  I mean, I understand it in theory …

NYC To Ban Hot Dogs and Processed Meats To Improve Climate  —  New York City is the first city in the United States to eliminate processed meats.  —  Mayor Bill de Blasio approved an ambitious $14 billion Green New Deal on Monday, April 22, to combat climate change.

New York Attorney General to Investigate Facebook Email Collection  —  SAN FRANCISCO — The New York State attorney general's office plans to open an investigation into Facebook's unauthorized collection of more than 1.5 million users' email address books, according to two people briefed on the matter.

Is the Government Required to Count the Number of Citizens in Each State?  —  I don't myself have any expertise on the Census citizenship question case (which has mostly been litigated as an administrative law case), but I thought Prof. Blackman's query was intriguing, and wanted to post it:

Trump team wants to let doctors refuse to treat patients they don't like  —  New proposed rules from Trump's health department would let bigoted health care professionals discriminate against patients.  —  The Trump administration is trying to allow doctors and health care professionals …

IRS Commissioner Charged with Releasing Trump Tax Returns Profits from Trump-Branded Property  —  President Trump's hand-picked IRS Commissioner, Charles Rettig, earns as much as $1 million in rental income from the Trump-branded properties he co-owns while facing demands from Congress to release Trump's tax returns.

Maria Bartiromo's stock has risen at Fox Business Network and Fox News  —  As an anchor at Fox Business Network, Maria Bartiromo can lay claim to the title of hardest working person in TV business news.  Five days a week she is front and center at “Mornings With Maria,” a three-hour mix of financial news …

How Trump has changed white evangelicals' views about morality  —  So what if Mayor Pete Buttigieg calls him a “porn star president”?  —  Recently, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has been criticizing religious conservatives — especially Vice President Pence …

Facebook fact-checker has ties to climate doubt  —  Facebook's newest fact-checking partner is connected to an enterprise that was founded by a conservative Fox News host and that routinely promotes climate doubt.  —  The social media giant is partnering with CheckYourFact.com …

Deb and John … Priorities USA is a voter-centric progressive advocacy organization and service center for the grassroots progressive movement.  —  We're committed to standing up to the Trump administration and its allies in order to build an economy that provides real opportunity …