Top Items:
Ben Smith / BuzzFeed News:
A Top White House Reporter Is Taking Over The Washington Free Beacon — A leading political reporter is leaving Politico to lead the neoconservative flagship Washington Free Beacon, the latest move in a conservative media world attempting to adjust to the age of Donald Trump.
Discussion:
New Republic and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »
Miriam Lord / The Irish Times:
How Mike Pence shat on the new carpet in Ireland's spare room — Stoical smiles as US vice-president delivers strong endorsement of Johnson and Brexit — The hospitable hosts buttered up their important guest and made a big fuss of his family and hoped he would say nice things …
RELATED:
Megan McArdle / Washington Post:
Boris Johnson is presiding over Britain's stupidest hour
Boris Johnson is presiding over Britain's stupidest hour
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Business Insider and New York Times
Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:
The Trump Voters Whose ‘Need for Chaos’ Obliterates Everything Else — Political nihilism is one of the president's strongest weapons. — Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C. on politics, demographics and inequality. — Over the four years during …
Discussion:
National Review, Raw Story and Althouse
Andre Castro / Flores:
Bill Flores Announces Intent to Not Seek Re-election in 2020 — f t # e — U.S. Representative Bill Flores (R-Texas) announced today that he will not seek another term in Congress. Flores is currently serving his fifth term representing the 17th Congressional District of Texas …
Discussion:
New York Times, National Review, ThinkProgress, Townhall, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, Politico, Axios, UPI, Shareblue Media and The Daily Caller
RELATED:
Ben White / Politico:
‘They are riding a rubber ducky into alligator-infested waters’ — President Donald Trump is staring down a series of trigger points that will determine whether he enters the 2020 campaign backed by his most valuable asset — a healthy U.S. economy — or empty-handed and further on the defensive.
Discussion:
Raw Story
RELATED:
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Trump is in serious danger, and his own advisers know it — There is one aspect of Donald Trump's presidency that continues to be under-appreciated: the extraordinary lengths to which he and his propagandists regularly go to mask his political weakness and record of profound failure.
Discussion:
New York Times, New York Post and BizPac Review
Richard L. Hasen / Slate:
Conflicting Rulings on the Electoral College Could Throw the Next Election Into Chaos — Since the 2016 election, some Democrats have raged against the Electoral College as an anti-democratic institution that does not reflect the will of the people. Some Republicans have defended the institution …
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Washington Post:
Top Interior official who pushed to expand drilling in Alaska to join oil company there — Joe Balash, a Trump appointee, had served as assistant secretary for land and minerals management until Aug. 30. — Last summer, Scott Pruitt left his job heading the Environmental Protection Agency …
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, Talking Points Memo, National Review, Daily Kos, Common Dreams, Shareblue Media, Raw Story and Splinter
New York Times:
Hong Kong's Leader, Carrie Lam, to Withdraw Extradition Bill That Ignited Protests — HONG KONG — Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's chief executive, said Wednesday that the government would withdraw a contentious extradition bill that ignited months of protests in the city, moving to quell …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, CNBC, The Week, Common Dreams and Townhall
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CNBC:
‘Hundreds of other people could be implicated’ in Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell court documents — KEY POINTS — Secret court filings related to Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged procurer Ghislaine Maxwell could implicate “hundreds of other people,” Maxwell's lawyer said.
Discussion:
New York Post, Bloomberg, UPI, Big League Politics and Political Wire
Dan Lamothe / Washington Post:
Mattis's former speechwriter faces warning from Pentagon as he prepares book, memos show — The Pentagon has warned former defense secretary Jim Mattis's onetime speechwriter that he could face “a range of potential consequences” if he reveals classified information in a forthcoming book …
RELATED:
Yahoo News:
Exclusive: Document reveals the FBI is tracking border protest groups as extremist organizations — WASHINGTON — The FBI is monitoring groups on the border that are protesting U.S. immigration policy, according to a document obtained by Yahoo News. — The FBI has gathered intelligence from people with …
Amelia Nierenberg / New York Times:
A Tomato Grows in the East River — A single tomato plant has sprouted on a piling by the Brooklyn Bridge. Who knows how it got there? — On a wooden piling in the waters off Brooklyn Bridge Park, a lone red fruit grows between Pier 1, right next to the Brooklyn Bridge, and Pier 2.
Anne Applebaum / Washington Post:
21 British Conservatives put country over party. Why can't 21 Republicans do the same? — Among them are two former chancellors of the exchequer, an array of former cabinet ministers, and many old and familiar stalwarts of Conservative party conferences and Conservative think tanks.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo and BBC
Los Angeles Times:
Trump's schedule shows a president with plenty of downtime this summer — President Trump's daily Twitter feed in recent weeks has been a torrent of personal attacks, news commentary, weather reports, unfounded claims and congratulatory notes. But when it comes to his day job, the American people have seen little of him.
Discussion:
Mediaite
Rebecca Keegan / Hollywood Reporter:
The Season of Scarlett Johansson: Two Hot Films, Her Marvel Future, Woody Allen and a Pick for President — With Noah Baumbach's ‘Marriage Story’ and Taika Waititi's ‘Jojo Rabbit’, her Avengers spinoff ‘Black Widow’ and the mantle of the world's highest-grossing actress …
Discussion:
Breitbart, Rolling Stone, Daily Wire, NB Blog, Axios, Jezebel, VICE, The Guardian, Mediaite, The Wrap, Page Six, twitchy.com, Vanity Fair and The Independent
New York Times:
The Secret History of the Push to Strike Iran — Hawks in Israel and America have spent more than a decade agitating for war against the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Will Trump finally deliver? — In july of 2017, the White House was at a crossroads on the question of Iran.
Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times:
US offers cash to tanker captains in bid to seize Iranian ships — Four days before the US imposed sanctions on an Iranian tanker suspected of shipping oil to Syria, the vessel's Indian captain received an unusual email from the top Iran official at the Department of State.
Jesse McKinley / New York Times:
Why the Internet Thinks Cuomo Rigged N.Y.'s License Plate Contest — The theory: Four choices featuring the Statue of Liberty would split the vote, allowing the Cuomo Bridge design to prevail. — ALBANY — It seemed, at first glance, to be an innocuous idea.
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Four Things That Are Not White Nationalism — Conservatism's racism problem is real. So is a pattern of media smears against non-racist conservatives. — The American right in the Trump era has a racism problem. It's fed by a Republican president who race-baits, a media ecosystem whose guardrails …
Reid Wilson / The Hill:
The 10 counties that will decide the 2020 election — Three years after a presidential election that came down to 77,000 votes in three Midwestern battlegrounds, Democrats and Republicans are eyeing a much larger battlefield ahead of the 2020 contests, one that stretches from the picturesque coastline …
Discussion:
Raw Story and Daily Wire
Jared Holt / Right Wing Watch:
Infowars Loses Appeal in Sandy Hook Defamation Lawsuit — Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist proprietor of Infowars, and his attorneys were denied an appeal regarding a lawsuit that alleges Infowars broadcast defamatory comments regarding the father of a child murdered in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Associated Press:
US watchdog: Separated migrant children suffered trauma — WASHINGTON (AP) — Migrant children who were separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border last year suffered post-traumatic stress and other serious mental health problems, according to a government watchdog report Wednesday.
Discussion:
Law & Crime
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The White House thinks The Post ignored Trump's summertime successes. So, about that. — On Sunday, The Post's Philip Rucker and Ashley Parker assessed President Trump's summer. It wasn't a particularly flattering review, noting several toxic political fights Trump launched out of the blue …
Discussion:
CNN, Breitbart and GovExec.com
Mary Margaret Olohan / The Daily Caller:
EXCLUSIVE: Video Shows Anti-Kavanaugh Lawyer Saying Christine Blasey Ford Wanted ‘Asterisk’ By Justice's Name — Video footage obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation shows Christine Blasey Ford's lawyer Debra Katz discussing Ford's motivations for making accusations against Justice Brett Kavanaugh public.
Discussion:
National Review, twitchy.com, Hot Air, WayneDupree.com and Washington Examiner
John Schwartz / New York Times:
Trump Administration Is Rolling Back Rules Requiring More Energy-Efficient Bulbs — The Trump administration announced new rules on Wednesday to roll back requirements for energy-saving light bulbs, a move that could contribute to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.
Discussion:
Political Wire
Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Marianne Williamson suggests using ‘the power of the mind’ to change Hurricane Dorian's course — Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson on Wednesday offered an unorthodox suggestion for dealing with Hurricane Dorian: using “the power of the mind” to will the storm elsewhere.
Discussion:
Politico, Political Wire, The Daily Caller and The Week
CNN:
Joe Biden says he opposed the Iraq War soon after it started. A check of his record shows otherwise — Biden ‘loose with facts’ on the campaign trail — The Democratic presidential frontrunner, in explaining his 2002 vote to authorize military force in Iraq, told NPR in an interview …
Discussion:
Bern Notice, The American Conservative, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Common Dreams
BuzzFeed:
The Brexit Crystal Ball, Explained For People Who Want To Know What The Hell Is Going On — Today in Westminster is one of the busiest days in recent political history. — The UK prime minister Boris Johnson is facing Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister's Questions, Chancellor Sajid Javid …
Steve Benen / MSNBC:
Why Trump's hurricane antics are so terribly odd — In recent years, American presidents have routinely been evaluated on their administrations' responses to hurricanes. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, George W. Bush created a low standard, and there's a broad expectation …
Discussion:
Associated Press, New York Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Root and NBC News
Brian Schwartz / CNBC:
Joe Biden will return to Wall Street for fundraisers after climate town hall — KEY POINTS — Former Vice President Joe Biden is heading back to Wall Street for two fundraisers Thursday, the day after he participates in a climate change town hall. — Biden has shown a willingness …
Discussion:
Political Wire and Associated Press
Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Life Off the Democratic Debate Stage: Sparse Crowds, Daily Indignities — Some low-polling Democrats who didn't make this month's debate are soldiering on, but fewer voters seem to be tuning in. — CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Dozens of reporters and photographers descended on the Hawkeye Downs speedway …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Ryan Cooper / The Week:
The deadly hidden risks within the most prominent economic model of climate change — Is climate change a crisis demanding immediate aggressive action to smash down carbon emissions, or is it an annoying inconvenience that can be dealt with slowly over decades?
Concepción de León / New York Times:
You Know Emily Doe's Story. Now Learn Her Name. — For four years, the woman whose Stanford University sexual assault case caused a public outcry, has been known only as “Emily Doe.” In her new memoir, “Know My Name,” which charts her life since then, she reveals her real name: Chanel Miller.
Discussion:
Rolling Stone, Law & Crime, The Week, Mediaite, Jezebel and ABC7
Mairav Zonszein / NYR Daily:
How the Right Has Tried to Rebrand Anti-Semitism — On August 20, after President Donald Trump told a reporter that any American Jew who casts a “vote for a Democrat... shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty,” outraged reactions flooded social media …