Top Items:
David Siders / Politico:
Democratic insiders: Bernie could win the nomination — Suddenly, Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign is being taken seriously. — For months, the Vermont senator was written off by Democratic Party insiders as a candidate with a committed but narrow base who was too far left to win the primary.
Discussion:
Breitbart and Progress Pond
Mike Dorning / Yahoo News:
Trump Senate Impeachment Trial Finds Scant Precedent in History — (Bloomberg) — Bill Clinton's impeachment two decades ago set the modern template for President Donald Trump's upcoming trial in the Senate. But the process may be even more contentious this time given sharper tribal divisions in Washington.
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Rachel Frazin / The Hill:
Trump lashes out at Pelosi on Christmas, decries ‘scam impeachment’ — President Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a pair of tweets Christmas night, decrying what he called a “Scam Impeachment.” — “Why should Crazy Nancy Pelosi, just because she has a slight majority …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The American Independent, JONATHAN TURLEY, Alternet.org, Mediaite, The Week, Joe.My.God. and IJR
Sadie Gurman / Wall Street Journal:
Murkowski ‘Disturbed’ by McConnell's Senate Impeachment Strategy
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
McConnell flexes reelection muscle with $1B gift for Kentucky
Meg Cunningham / ABC News:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she's ‘disturbed’ by McConnell's comments on White House coordination
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she's ‘disturbed’ by McConnell's comments on White House coordination
Discussion:
National Review, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, VICE, The Hill and The Gateway Pundit
James Arkin / Politico:
Democrats seize on anti-Obamacare ruling to steamroll GOP in 2020 — A court ruling last week putting the Affordable Care Act further in jeopardy may provide the opening Democrats have been waiting for to regain the upper hand on health care against Republicans in 2020.
Discussion:
Raw Story
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George F. Will / Washington Post:
Democrats' denial on health care may produce Trump's reelection — As this shabby year, and with it a dispiriting decade, sags to an end, there is an interesting symmetry. In 2010, passage of the Affordable Care Act signaled the nation's domestic policy preoccupation: health care.
Maggie Fitzgerald / CNBC:
Trump stock market rally is far outpacing past US presidents — The S&P 500 has returned more than 50% since President Trump was elected, more than double the average market return of presidents three years into their term, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
Rebecca Klar / The Hill:
Trump ‘Home Alone 2’ scene reportedly cut from Canadian Christmas broadcasts — President Trump's cameo scene in the holiday classic “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York” was reportedly cut from showings of the movie on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) this month.
Discussion:
Joe.My.God., Mediaite, The Post Millennial, Summit News and The Daily Caller
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Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
The Year of Batshit Crazy at One America News, Trump's New Favorite Cable-News Channel — Trump in 2019 began attacking Fox News when its news side seemed insufficiently loyal to him. Such an opportunity presented itself for OAN to vie for the president's affections.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Jay Rosen / PressThink:
The Christmas Eve Confessions of Chuck Todd — That disinformation was going to overtake Republican politics was discoverable years before he says he discovered it. — 'Round midnight on Christmas eve, Rolling Stone posted a short interview with Chuck Todd, host of “the longest running show on television,” NBC's Meet the Press.
Tamar Lapin / Page Six:
Ari Behn, Norwegian princess' ex and Kevin Spacey accuser, dead at 47 — Ari Behn, a former member of Norway's royal family who was one of Kevin Spacey's sexual assault accusers, died by suicide on Wednesday, his manager said. He was 47. — “It is with great sadness in our hearts …
Discussion:
Breitbart, The American Mirror and Joe.My.God.
Associated Press:
At each end of Pacific, skepticism over China farm purchases — OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — President Donald Trump likes to joke that America's farmers have a nice problem on their hands: They're going to need bigger tractors to keep up with surging Chinese demand for their soybeans …
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Amanda Marcotte / Salon:
Hallmark movies are fascist propaganda — Forget “Triumph of the Will” — the most insidious authoritarian propaganda comes in the form of schmaltz — The Hallmark Channel has been having a rough go of it in the past few weeks. The cable TV behemoth, which has been minting money …
Discussion:
Althouse
Isabelle Khurshudyan / Greenwich Time:
Raids and conscription: Russian authorities crack down on Kremlin critics — MOSCOW - In Russian authorities' latest crackdown this week on Kremlin critics, opposition leader Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation office was raided Thursday, just days after one of his top aides …
Eric W. Dolan / Raw Story:
Psychiatry expert says Trump's rambling Merry Christmas rant includes three signs of serious mental impairment — President Donald Trump's speech in Florida over the weekend provides evidence that he is suffering from cognitive decline, according to a psychiatric expert.
Discussion:
Alternet.org and Althouse
Lauren Fruen / Daily Mail:
Now a new picture of the famed Wall of Sound producer — taken at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton on November 19 and exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com - shows him sporting a new look. — Spector looks to be in good spirits ahead of turning 79 on Thursday.
Discussion:
Althouse