Top Items:
New York Times:
Obama Says U.S. Lacks Leadership on Virus in Virtual Commencement Speech — The virus has “torn back the curtain on the idea that the folks in charge know what they're doing,” the former president said. “A lot of them aren't even pretending to be in charge.”
Discussion:
Townhall, Mother Jones, Bloomberg, The Wrap, Blue Virginia, Fox News, Variety and CBS New York
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Katie Mettler / Washington Post:
Obama speaks on systemic racism for virtual HBCU commencement, citing covid-19 and Ahmaud Arbery — Former president Barack Obama headlined a virtual commencement ceremony Saturday afternoon for graduates of the 74 historically black colleges and universities across the United States …
Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Donald Trump Jr. Smears Biden With Baseless Instagram Post — Signaling the increasingly dark tactics of the Trump campaign, the president's oldest son falsely accused Mr. Biden of preying on children. — WASHINGTON — President Trump's eldest son on Saturday posted a social media message …
USA Today:
Democrats launch investigation into Mike Pompeo's firing of State Department inspector general — WASHINGTON - Top congressional Democrats opened an inquiry Saturday into Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's ouster of a government watchdog and accused Pompeo of trying to shield himself from an internal probe.
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Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:
Top Democrats launch investigation into late-night firing of State Department inspector general
Top Democrats launch investigation into late-night firing of State Department inspector general
Discussion:
Politico and Mother Jones
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump's slow-motion Friday night massacre of inspectors general
Trump's slow-motion Friday night massacre of inspectors general
Discussion:
New York Post, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Raw Story and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Politico:
Trump ousts State Department watchdog
Trump ousts State Department watchdog
Discussion:
Law & Crime, Common Dreams, New York Post, Raw Story, Vanity Fair, Redstate, Rolling Stone, Townhall, Daily Kos, Vox, The Hill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, New York Times, Letters from an American, Slate, Mother Jones, The Guardian, IJR, House Foreign Affairs …, Axios, Associated Press, NBC News, Breitbart, Balloon Juice and Mediaite
Mike Barnes / Hollywood Reporter:
Fred Willard, Master of Comic Cluelessness, Dies at 86 — The actor was great at improvisation and brilliantly amusing on ‘Fernwood 2 Night,’ ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ and in Christopher Guest mockumentaries. — Fred Willard, the clever comic actor who played clueless characters to perfection …
Discussion:
NPR, Breitbart, The Wrap and CBS Los Angeles
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Daniel Kreps / Rolling Stone:
Fred Willard, ‘Best in Show’ and ‘A Mighty Wind’ Actor, Dead at 86 — Prolific comic actor and master of mockumentaries starred in Modern Family and Everybody Loves Raymond alongside Waiting for Guffman and This Is Spinal Tap — Fred Willard, the prolific and beloved comic actor and master …
Discussion:
Gothamist, Deadline, /Film, Vanity Fair, Chicago Sun-Times and The Wrap
ProPublica:
Two Coasts. One Virus. How New York Suffered Nearly 10 Times the Number of Deaths as California. — California's governor and San Francisco's mayor worked together to act early in confronting the COVID threat. For Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio, it was a different story, and 27,000 New Yorkers have died so far.
David Weigel / Washington Post:
Rep. Justin Amash says he won't run for president — Rep. Justin Amash, the Michigan congressman who left the Republican Party last year, said on Twitter that he will not run for president this year after saying last month that he would seek the Libertarian Party's nomination.
Discussion:
Vox, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, NPR and Politico
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Matt Welch / Reason:
Justin Amash Drops Out of Presidential Race
Justin Amash Drops Out of Presidential Race
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Breitbart and Raw Story
Jeff Elder / Business Insider Nederland:
Cybergang behind Lady Gaga data dump leaks hacked law firm's emails and contracts mentioning President Trump, says it is posting ‘most harmless information’ first — The cybergang behind this week's Lady Gaga data dump have posted a new ransom note and more stolen documents from a hacked law firm on their site on the dark web.
Discussion:
Wired, Law & Crime and Page Six
James Brooks / Anchorage Daily News:
Alaska legislator compares pandemic safety measures at Capitol to Nazi treatment of Jews — JUNEAU — A Nikiski Republican lawmaker opposed to pandemic safety measures at the Alaska Capitol compared them to Nazi Germany's labeling of Jews in an email exchange Friday with fellow members of the Alaska House of Representatives.
Washington Post:
We could stop the pandemic by July 4 if the government took these steps — A $74 billion investment in testing, tracing and isolation could rescue the economy — quickly — With the unemployment rate at its highest level since the Great Depression — 14.7 percent and climbing …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Balloon Juice and Marginal REVOLUTION
ABC News:
Texas COVID-19 cases rise, governor's office says more testing being done — The deaths are also steadily increasing. — Texas has seen a steady rise in novel coronavirus cases and fatalities since reopening just over two weeks ago. — There are now 45,198 confirmed cases of COVID-19 …
Discussion:
Breitbart and New York Post
Harmeet Kaur / CNN:
A salon owner who reopened despite Oregon's stay-at-home orders has been fined $14,000 — An Oregon salon owner defied the governor's quarantine order because she says she needs to feed her family — (CNN)A salon owner who reopened her business in defiance of Oregon's stay-at-home order has been fined $14,000.
Eric Spitznagel / New York Post:
Why American life went on as normal during the killer pandemic of 1969 — Patti Mulhearn Lydon, 68, doesn't have rose-colored memories of attending Woodstock in August 1969. The rock festival, which took place over four days in Bethel, NY, mostly reminds her of being covered in mud and daydreaming about a hot shower.
Hunter Walker / Yahoo News:
Amid reports of White House clashes with CDC, experts raise alarms about lack of coronavirus screening at airports — WASHINGTON — As the nation begins to reopen amid — the coronavirus pandemic, some people are looking to the skies — and experts don't necessarily like what they see …
Discussion:
Gizmodo
Corey Williams / Associated Press:
Man charged in death threats to Michigan governor, AG — WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A man accused of making credible death threats against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel has been charged on a terrorism count, the Wayne County prosecutor's office said Friday.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller and New York Times
Jon Levine / New York Post:
YouTube censors epidemiologist Knut Wittkowski for opposing lockdown — Big Tech companies are aggressively tamping down on COVID-19 “misinformation” — opinions and ideas contrary to official pronouncements. — Dr. Knut M. Wittkowski, former head of biostatistics, epidemiology …
Discussion:
Just The News
Dánica Coto / Associated Press:
Puerto Rico to hold statehood referendum amid disillusion — FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2019 file photo, Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vazquez speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at the official residence La Fortaleza, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Vazquez announced on Saturday, May 16 …
Rory Appleton / Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Horsford admits to extramarital affair after podcaster discloses relationship — Congressman Steven Horsford is seen at Kiel Ranch Historic Park on May 29, 2019. (El Tiempo) — Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford on Friday acknowledged that he'd carried on a longstanding affair with a former intern …
Discussion:
Fox News
Chris Joyner / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Georgia candidates embrace group with extremist ties — A Georgia state representative running for Congress is facing criticism from across the political spectrum for a photo showing him alongside a longtime white supremacist activist from Dahlonega. — The photo shows Rep. Matt Gurtler …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Trump's GOP ‘party of health care’ has no coverage plan for millions amid pandemic — President Trump left no doubt what he wanted his GOP allies to focus on, diverting to the TV cameras before he entered a private huddle of Senate Republicans. — “Let me tell you exactly what my message is …
Karolina Modig / NBC News:
Lockdown protesters shout ‘be like Sweden’ — but Swedes say they are missing the point — “The Swedish strategy is very much relying on the individual's trust in the state,” one Swede told NBC News. — STOCKHOLM — Known for its socialized health care, progressive tax system and liberal social policies …
Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Trump pushes McConnell to embrace ‘Obamagate’ — “Time is running out. Get tough and move quickly, or it will be too late,” the president tweeted. — Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell. Alex Wong/Getty Images — President Donald Trump is appealing directly …
Discussion:
ABC News, Washington Times, Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit
WSMV-TV:
Tennessee to lift capacity restrictions on restaurants & retail, to allow large attractions to open — NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - The governor's office announced Tennessee will lift capacity restrictions on restaurants and shops and instead focus on social distancing best practices.
Elaina Plott / New York Times:
Stacey Abrams Wants More Than the Vice Presidency — She wants the Democrats to reach a different kind of swing voter — those who otherwise stay home. And she says she can help Joe Biden do it. — The clapping hands appeared on the screen one, two, a flurry of emojis flashing under …