Top Items:
Justin Amash / Washington Post:
Our politics is in a partisan death spiral. That's why I'm leaving the GOP. — Justin Amash, an independent, represents Michigan's 3rd Congressional District in the House. — When my dad was 16, America welcomed him as a Palestinian refugee. It wasn't easy moving to a new country, but it was the greatest blessing of his life.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Spectator USA, The Last Refuge, CNN, USA Today, NPR, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, The Daily Beast, Hullabaloo, Daily Wire, ThinkProgress, myfox8.com, The Guardian, WPIX 11 New York, The Resurgent, UPI, RedState, Reason, ABC News, Splinter, Roll Call, Law & Crime, Cafe Hayek, Townhall, TheBlaze, Political Wire, KTLA, Fox News, Liberty Unyielding, Michigan Advance, Common Dreams, Politico, The Daily Caller, New York Post, Washington Times, Mediaite, Axios, twitchy.com and The Nation
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Melissa Nann Burke / Detroit News:
Amash leaves the Republican Party, saying politics is ‘trapped in a partisan death spiral’
Amash leaves the Republican Party, saying politics is ‘trapped in a partisan death spiral’
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and Political Wire
David Montgomery / Washington Post:
John Kasich: ‘I think members of the Republican Party are in a coma right now’
John Kasich: ‘I think members of the Republican Party are in a coma right now’
Discussion:
The Hill
Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:
Trump Needs His Base to Burn With Anger
Axios:
Scoop: Trump considers executive order on citizenship question — President Trump is considering an executive order to try to move forward with a citizenship question on the 2020 census, top sources tell Jonathan Swan and me. — “We didn't come this far just to throw in the towel,” …
Discussion:
Splinter, Law & Crime, Breitbart, New York Times and Conservative News Today
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Nicholas Bagley / The Incidental Economist:
The Justice Department's New Brief in Texas v. United States — Last week, the Fifth Circuit asked the parties to Texas v. United States—the broadside challenge to the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act—to submit letter briefs on whether anyone had standing to appeal.
Discussion:
ACA Signups
Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:
It's Not Nice to Lie to the Supreme Court — The decision in the census case suggests President Trump can no longer take the court for granted. — A cynic might say that with his two major decisions on the last day of the Supreme Court term a week ago, Chief Justice John Roberts saved …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Robespierre's America — We need to reclaim the spirit of 1776, not the certitudes of 1789. — I was walking through an airport terminal trying to catch a connecting flight last Saturday when I spotted a writer I had never met but whose work I admire. He greeted me with a look of fatherly concern …
Discussion:
alicublog, The American Conservative and Althouse
Philip Kennicott / Washington Post:
Forget the tanks. Trump's violation of the Lincoln Memorial is the real offense. — The Mall is a place of public reconciliation. — Although originally conceived as a wide avenue in Pierre L'Enfant's 1791 plan for the city, the Mall and its surrounding parks were configured …
Discussion:
Power Line
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Washington Post:
Inside the effort to build suspense — and crowds — for Trump's Fourth of July
Inside the effort to build suspense — and crowds — for Trump's Fourth of July
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Politico, Althouse, Grist, KTLA, Fortune, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, DCist and ABC News
Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:
This July 4th Has Everything: Tanks, Trump—and Scandal
This July 4th Has Everything: Tanks, Trump—and Scandal
Discussion:
Washington Post, UPI, DCist and IJR
Associated Press:
Harris says busing should be considered, not mandated — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Kamala Harris said Wednesday that busing students should be considered by school districts trying to desegregate their locations — not the federal mandate she appeared to support …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, RedState, Outside the Beltway, The Resurgent, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Fox News, more at Mediagazer »
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Anna Kaplan / The Daily Beast:
Harris, Like Biden, Comes Out Against Federal Busing Mandate
Harris, Like Biden, Comes Out Against Federal Busing Mandate
Discussion:
Mediaite
Megan Sheets / Daily Mail:
Pentagon officials 'are concerned Trump's July 4 parade could be too political' - despite the president's claim that military chiefs are ‘thrilled’ to be taking part in the event — An insider says the military's top brass have been hesitant about accepting Trump's invitation to the event at the National Mall on Thursday
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Mediaite, CNN and PJ Media Home
Holly Otterbein / Politico:
Bad news for Bernie has his backers getting antsy — Bernie Sanders keeps getting bad news. — After Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren seized the spotlight in the first primary debate, the Vermont senator dropped to fourth place in two polls in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa.
Olivia B. Waxman / TIME:
‘What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?’: The History of Frederick Douglass' Searing Independence Day Oration — After the Independence Day military parade in the nation's capital on Thursday, President Donald Trump will give a speech at the Lincoln Memorial, the most recognizable memorial …
Discussion:
The Root, American Greatness, The Gateway Pundit, Mercury News and Jacobin
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David Waldstreicher / The Atlantic:
The Fourth of July Has Always Been Political
NPR:
A July 4 NPR Tradition: A Reading Of The Declaration Of Independence — In 1989, Morning Edition launched what has become an Independence Day tradition: hosts, reporters, newscasters and commentators reading the Declaration of Independence. — Church bells rang out over Philadelphia 243 years ago today …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Patricia Cohen / New York Times:
Southerners, Facing Big Odds, Believe in a Path Out of Poverty — HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A widening income gap and sagging social mobility have left dents in the American dream. But the belief that anyone with enough gumption and grit can clamber to the top remains central to the nation's self-image.
Tracy Jan / Washington Post:
Why nearly 350,000 workers in mostly red states aren't seeing wage increases, even though their local lawmakers passed them — For most of her 13 years working the grill and cash register at McDonald's, Bettie Douglas earned just over $7 an hour. Then in 2017, the St. Louis resident's hourly pay rose …
Washington Post:
After Confederate statues, America's culture war targets Betsy Ross and a founding father — As the nation has celebrated its birthday with displays of its contemporary power and prestige this week, two of its cherished historic symbols came under fire — its first flag and its third president.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and Conservative News Today
Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Democrats Grapple With a Sprawling Primary Field, and No One to Shape It — WASHINGTON — John Deeth is the sort of Iowa activist who keeps up with every new twist in the Democratic presidential primary, but there was no way he was going to devote two evenings to watching the first round of debates last week.
George WillMax Boot / Washington Post:
Trump's Fourth of July salute to himself will only hurt him — It's no surprise that President Trump has hijacked the Fourth of July ceremony on the Mall. He wants to turn a celebration of America's founding into a celebration of himself. Obscene, yes, but entirely in character.
David Alexander / Reuters:
Trump administration loses bid to lift bar on funds for border wall — (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Wednesday refused to lift an injunction barring the Trump administration from using $2.5 billion intended for the fight against illegal narcotics to build a wall along the southern U.S. border with Mexico.
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Zolan Kanno-Youngs / New York Times:
Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Blocking Trump From Using Defense Funds for Border Wall
Elliot Spagat / Associated Press:
Appeals court: Trump can't use Pentagon cash for border wall
Appeals court: Trump can't use Pentagon cash for border wall
Discussion:
The Daily Caller