Top Items:
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Trump's dismissal of competent officials is an attack on accountability — President Trump's vengeful dismissal Friday of the intelligence community's inspector general was part of a relentless campaign — waged even in the midst of the pandemic — against people and institutions that can hold him accountable.
Discussion:
The American Independent, Law & Crime, Bloomberg, Daily Kos and The Hill
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Yahoo News:
Mattis rebukes Trump over removal of Pentagon inspector general
Mattis rebukes Trump over removal of Pentagon inspector general
Discussion:
Fox News, The Hill and Mother Jones
CNN:
Trump is desperately seeking to avoid blame
Trump is desperately seeking to avoid blame
Discussion:
New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Just The News
Steven T. Dennis / Bloomberg:
Senators to Seek Explanation From Trump of Watchdog's Firing
Senators to Seek Explanation From Trump of Watchdog's Firing
Discussion:
Politico
Rolling Stone:
John Prine, One of America's Greatest Songwriters, Dead at 73 — Grammy-winning singer who combined literary genius with a common touch succumbs to coronavirus complications — John Prine, who for five decades wrote rich, plain-spoken songs that chronicled the struggles and stories …
Discussion:
Just The News, CBS Los Angeles, Mediaite, New York Post and Balloon Juice
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William Grimes / New York Times:
John Prine, Who Chronicled the Human Condition in Song, Dies at 73 — John Prine, Who Chronicled the Human Condition in Song, Dies — The songwriter with a raspy voice and an off-beat sense of humor was revered by the likes of Bob Dylan. He was 73. — Albert Petrocelli, Fire Chief Who Lost a Son on 9/11, Is Dead at 73
Discussion:
The Mahablog, The Wrap, Lawyers, Guns & Money and alicublog
Becket Adams / Washington Examiner:
In praise of Jonathan Karl or: The virtue of not being a self-important drama queen — In a sea of self-important buffoonery, ABC News's Jonathan Karl is an island. — On Monday, during a White House press briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump berated Karl during a back-and-forth …
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Jack Shafer / Politico:
Trump Anoints a New Class of Media Stars
Trump Anoints a New Class of Media Stars
Discussion:
HuffPost, The Wrap and The Daily Beast
Peter Hasson / The Daily Caller:
Here's How Pro-Beijing Outlet Phoenix TV Made It Into The White House Coronavirus Press Briefing
Here's How Pro-Beijing Outlet Phoenix TV Made It Into The White House Coronavirus Press Briefing
Discussion:
Summit News, Redstate and NB Blog
Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:
Why Wisconsin Republicans Insisted on an Election in a Pandemic — Mask-wearing voters in endless lines. Five polling places instead of 180. Voting amid the coronavirus crisis is full of challenges — and connected to G.O.P. efforts to limit who gets a ballot in the state.
Discussion:
The American Independent, Inside Political Risk, CNN, Common Dreams, The Week, The Appeal, WisconsinWatch.org, HuffPost, Axios and The Guardian
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Rulings on Wisconsin Election Raise Questions About Judicial Partisanship
Rulings on Wisconsin Election Raise Questions About Judicial Partisanship
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, SCOTUSblog and The Atlantic
The Texas Tribune:
Texas City nursing home residents with coronavirus being treated with unproven hydroxychloroquine drug — The physician and nursing home medical director who prescribed the drug is a campaign surrogate for President Donald Trump. — *Editor's note: This story has been updated throughout.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog and Raw Story
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Kathryn Eastburn / Galveston County Daily News:
Texas City COVID-19 patients receive hydroxychloroquine
Victoria McGrane / The Boston Globe:
Ed Markey falling short of signatures ahead of May deadline — Harder to gather in-person support in coronavirus era — The e-mail subject line was notable for an incumbent United States senator: “Help get Ed on the ballot.” — That was the message the campaign of Edward J. Markey sent …
Michelle Cottle / New York Times:
Drop the Curtain on the Trump Follies — Why does the nation need to be subjected to the president's daily carnival of misinformation, preening and political venom? — Ms. Cottle is a member of the editorial board. — Even as the Trump administration slowly finds its footing in the war …
Discussion:
Kaiser Health News
Walter Shapiro / New Republic:
Stop Panicking About Joe Biden — Critics are overestimating the value of attacking Trump right now. — Add to Pocket — In early April 1992, a news headline in the Wall Street Journal captured the depressed mood surrounding a certain presumptive presidential nominee …
Discussion:
Twitchy
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Paul LeBlanc / CNN:
Biden describes his phone call with Trump about coronavirus response
Biden describes his phone call with Trump about coronavirus response
Discussion:
New York Post and Fox News
New York Times:
Coronavirus Was Slow to Spread to Rural America. Not Anymore. — Feb. 20This map shows every rural county in America, areas where the coronavirus outbreak initially was slow to spread. Humboldt County in Northern California was the first rural county to report a case, on Feb. 20, a month after the virus first reached the U.S.
Discussion:
LewRockwell
Lara Seligman / Politico:
Navy in crisis: Top leader's resignation roils service in the middle of a pandemic — An aircraft carrier sidelined by a coronavirus outbreak. A promising captain fired for requesting help as infections spread among his 5,000 sailors. And a service leaderless once more …
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Washington Post:
The coronavirus is infecting and killing black Americans at an alarmingly high rate — The Washington Post is providing this story for free so that all readers have access to this important information about the coronavirus. For more free stories, sign up for our daily Coronavirus Updates newsletter.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, HuffPost, Informed Comment, The Week, Axios, WSVN-TV, The Uptake, Politico, NBC News and New York Times
Gabby Orr / Politico:
Trump's evangelical supporters want China to pay a price for coronavirus — President Donald Trump's evangelical boosters want China to pay a price for its handling of the coronavirus — preferably before voters deliver their verdict on Trump at ballot boxes this fall.
Discussion:
The Hill
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Glenn Harlan Reynolds / USA Today:
Time to put China on lockdown for its dishonesty amid coronavirus crisis
Time to put China on lockdown for its dishonesty amid coronavirus crisis
Discussion:
Raw Story, The Texan, The Dispatch and The Federalist
Noam N. Levey / Los Angeles Times:
Hospitals say feds are seizing masks and other coronavirus supplies without a word — Although President Trump has directed states and hospitals to secure what supplies they can, the federal government is quietly seizing orders, leaving medical providers across the country in the dark …
Oliver Milman / The Guardian:
Trump order encourages US to mine the moon — Executive order says US will oppose any international effort to bar it from removing chunks of moon, Mars or elsewhere in space — The world may be racked by the coronavirus, but Donald Trump has less earthly concerns on his mind, too …
Discussion:
TechCrunch
CNN:
CNN Poll: Majority of Americans now say the federal government has done a poor job of preventing coronavirus spread — 11 times Donald Trump downplayed the coronavirus — (CNN)A majority of Americans — 55% — now say the federal government has done a poor job preventing the spread …
Will Parker / Wall Street Journal:
Nearly a Third of U.S. Renters Didn't Pay April Rent — Some tenants will be temporarily protected from eviction by a patchwork of federal and local laws — Nearly a third of U.S. apartment renters didn't pay any of their April rent during the first week of the month …
Discussion:
The Week
J. David Goodman / New York Times:
How Delays and Unheeded Warnings Hindered New York's Virus Fight — The federal response was chaotic. Even so, the state's and city's own initial efforts failed to keep pace with the outbreak, The Times found. — A 39-year-old woman took Flight 701 from Doha, Qatar …
Luke O'Brien / HuffPost:
The Far-Right Helped Create The World's Most Powerful Facial Recognition Technology — Clearview AI, which has alarmed privacy experts, hired several far-right employees, a HuffPost investigation found. — Advanced facial recognition technology poses a mortal threat to privacy.
Sharon Begley / STAT:
With ventilators running out, doctors say the machines are overused for Covid-19 — Even as hospitals and governors raise the alarm about a shortage of ventilators, some critical care physicians are questioning the widespread use of the breathing machines for Covid-19 patients …
Discussion:
Medscape and Talking Points Memo
Frances Martel / Breitbart:
Report: Wuhan Funeral Homes Burned Coronavirus Victims Alive — Locals in Wuhan, where the Chinese coronavirus pandemic originated, have heard screams coming from funeral home furnaces, and some treated in hospitals say they saw workers put living coronavirus patients in body bags, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Monday.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. to Block Iran's Request to IMF for $5 Billion Loan to Fight Coronavirus — Trump administration officials say Tehran has billion-dollar accounts still at its disposal — The U.S. plans to block Iran's requested $5 billion emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund …
Garrett M. Graff / Politico:
Trump Broke the Agencies That Were Supposed To Stop the Covid-19 Epidemic — This week, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams promised that we're entering the darkest days of the Covid-19 epidemic: “This is going to be our Pearl Harbor moment, our 9/11 moment. Only, it's not going to be localized …
ABC News:
Intelligence report warned of coronavirus crisis as early as November: Sources — “Analysts concluded it could be a cataclysmic event,” a source says. — As far back as late November, U.S. intelligence officials were warning that a contagion was sweeping through China's Wuhan region …
Gary Fineout / Politico:
Florida election officials sound the alarm ahead of November — TALLAHASSEE — Election supervisors in Florida warned Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday that he needs to change the law to give them more flexibility to avoid a presidential election meltdown in the nation's biggest swing state.
Discussion:
Raw Story and electionlawblog.org
Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Trump, Citing Hannity's Show, Claims Things Are ‘Great’ With Ventilators — CABLE NEWS PRESIDENCY — President Donald Trump told Fox News host and unofficial presidential adviser Sean Hannity on Tuesday night that he had learned partly from the prime-time star's show just how “great” …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast
Washington Post:
Even as deaths mount, officials see signs pandemic's toll may not match worst fears — U.S. authorities on Tuesday reported 29,000 more people infected with the novel coronavirus and more than 1,800 more deaths — the highest daily death toll so far. — But amid the grim data …
Mike Allen / Axios:
Ivanka Trump plans focus on coronavirus recovery for small businesses — Ivanka Trump personally lobbied top bank executives to line up the $1.5 billion in commitments to small business that were announced yesterday at a videoconference among the bank executives and President Trump …
John Cassidy / New Yorker:
Trump's “Light at the End of the Tunnel” Is a Delusion — In the past couple of days, stock markets around the world have rebounded owing to news that curves tracking the coronavirus pandemic have flattened in some of the worst-affected countries, including Italy and Spain …
Oona A. Hathaway / Slate:
After COVID-19, We Need to Redefine “National Security” — The post-9/11 era is over. — The United States national security system is the best funded, best equipped, and most powerful the world has ever seen. In the years since the Sept. 11 attacks, if a terrorist group anywhere …