Top Items:
NBC News:
Esper on Trump church photo-op: I thought we were going to ‘talk to the troops’ — Defense Secretary Mark Esper says he was given no notice before President Donald Trump led him and other senior administration officials to St. John's Episcopal Church for a widely criticized photo opportunity.
Discussion:
The American Independent, Politico, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, The Nation, Raw Story, Fox News, Defense One, IJR, The Hill, Mediaite, Breitbart and Axios
RELATED:
James N. Miller / Washington Post:
Secretary Esper, you violated your oath in aiding Trump's photo op. That's why I'm resigning. — I resign from the Defense Science Board, effective immediately. — When I joined the Board in early 2014, after leaving government service as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy …
Discussion:
Fox News, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Daily Beast, UPI, Gizmodo, IJR, Mediaite, The Hill and KTVZ-TV
New York Times:
How Trump's Idea for a Photo Op Led to Havoc in a Park — When the history of the Trump presidency is written, the clash with protesters that preceded President Trump's walk across Lafayette Square may be remembered as one of its defining moments. — 阅读.体中 …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Daily Mail, Mediaite, Bloomberg, Breitbart, Washington Post, NPR, Defense One, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money, KTVZ-TV and Politico, more at Mediagazer »
Robert Kagan / Washington Post:
The Battle of Lafayette Square and the undermining of American democracy — Anyone concerned about the state of America's democracy ought to have been troubled Monday at the sight of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, striding behind Donald Trump during his presidential show of force at Lafayette Square.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Slate, Disrn, Vanity Fair and The Hill
Zachary Cohen / CNN:
Defense chief breaks with Trump on response to protests — Washington (CNN)Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Wednesday that he does not support using active duty troops to quell the large-scale protests across the United States triggered by the death of George Floyd and those forces …
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, New York Times and The Guardian
The Daily Beast:
‘Uncomfortable Mission’: Pentagon Tries to Retreat From Trump's Call to ‘Dominate’ Protests — Pentagon officials say it was the White House, not the Defense Department, pushing for military might in the streets—with Trump seeking details on “tanks” that could be used.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Business Insider, Reuters, CBS News, Raw Story, Common Dreams, IJR and ABC News
Ursula Perano / Axios:
Esper catches White House off guard with opposition to military use, photo op
Esper catches White House off guard with opposition to military use, photo op
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller and Big League Politics
Associated Press:
AP sources: White House softens on sending troops to states
AP sources: White House softens on sending troops to states
Discussion:
KLAS - 8 News Now, Defense One, The Hill and Raw Story
Abigail Hauslohner / Washington Post:
Trump demands journalists correct stories on the use of tear gas. According to the CDC, it was tear gas. — President Trump's reelection campaign sent a message out to news organizations Tuesday night, demanding a correction to articles that described security forces' use of tear gas …
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NPS.gov:
Statement from United States Park Police acting Chief Gregory T. Monahan about the actions taken …
Statement from United States Park Police acting Chief Gregory T. Monahan about the actions taken …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Al Jazeera, IJR, Mother Jones, Disrn, The American Independent, The Hill, Mediaite, NBC News, Redstate, Breitbart, Fox News, Gizmodo, Deadline, Vox, CNN, Just The News and Axios
Mollie Hemingway / The Federalist:
Media Falsely Claimed Violent Riots Were Peaceful And That Tear Gas Was Used Against Rioters
Media Falsely Claimed Violent Riots Were Peaceful And That Tear Gas Was Used Against Rioters
John Daniel Davidson / The Federalist:
The Media Are Lying To You About Everything, Including The Riots
Mike Baker / New York Times:
Corrosive Effects of Tear Gas Could Intensify Coronavirus Pandemic
Corrosive Effects of Tear Gas Could Intensify Coronavirus Pandemic
Discussion:
NBC News
Monmouth University Polling Institute:
More Voters Trust Biden on Race Relations — Increase in views that outbreak is hurting Trump — West Long Branch, NJ - Joe Biden currently holds an 11-point lead over Donald Trump in the presidential race as more voters say they trust the challenger to handle race relations in the country.
Discussion:
NBC News, The Hill and Political Wire
RELATED:
Monmouth University Polling Institute:
Protestors' Anger Justified Even If Actions May Not Be
Protestors' Anger Justified Even If Actions May Not Be
Discussion:
Washington Post, KTVZ-TV, The Daily Caller, Fox News and CBS News
Steven Shepard / Politico:
Americans think America is in bad shape
Americans think America is in bad shape
Discussion:
The Hill, New York Times, Washington Post and Digby's Hullabaloo
Associated Press:
Police shove, make AP journalists stop covering protest — NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police officers surrounded, shoved and yelled expletives at two Associated Press journalists covering protests Tuesday in the latest aggression against members of the media during a week of unrest around the country.
Mona Charen / The Bulwark:
A Tale of Two Church Visits — The president's fear of seeming weak makes the whole country weaker. — US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP HOLDS UP A BIBLE OUTSIDE OF ST JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH ACROSS LAFAYETTE PARK IN WASHINGTON, DC ON JUNE 1, 2020. - US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP WAS DUE …
Discussion:
The Bulwark Podcast, Slate and New York Magazine
RELATED:
Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:
Biden's Old-Time Liberalism Finds Its Moment
Biden's Old-Time Liberalism Finds Its Moment
Discussion:
The Atlantic and National Review, more at Mediagazer »
Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
Steve King, House Republican With a History of Racist Remarks, Loses Primary — Mr. King, one of the nation's most divisive elected officials, saw his power in Congress curtailed last year after he questioned why white supremacy was considered offensive. — Representative Steve King of Iowa …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, NPR, Breitbart, Politico, KTVZ-TV, CNN, The Root, Slate, Outside the Beltway, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The New Civil Rights Movement and Contemptor
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Rafaela Lindeberg / Bloomberg:
Man Behind Sweden's Controversial Virus Strategy Admits Mistakes — Sweden's top epidemiologist has admitted his strategy to fight Covid-19 resulted in too many deaths, after persuading his country to avoid a strict lockdown. — “If we were to encounter the same illness with the same knowledge …
Discussion:
The Guardian and Politico
Washington Post:
'This can't be happening': An oral history of 48 surreal, violent, biblical minutes in Washington — On Monday evening, over the course of 48 minutes, Donald Trump put on a show that may have changed America, yet again. It involved an overture to the nation, a physical attack on Americans and a Bible.
Telegraph:
Boris Johnson says 3m people in Hong Kong will get path to British citizenship — PM offered to make what he says would be one of the “biggest changes” in the history of the British visa system — Boris Johnson is ready to open the door to nearly three million Hong Kong citizens …
Reuters:
Exclusive: Most Americans sympathize with protests, disapprove of Trump's response - Reuters/Ipsos — NEW YORK (Reuters) - A majority of Americans sympathize with nationwide protests over the death of an unarmed black man in police custody and disapprove of President Donald Trump's response to the unrest …
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Hill and 444
Shirin Ghaffary / Vox:
Mark Zuckerberg on leaked audio: Trump's looting and shooting reference “has no history of being read as a dog whistle” — Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before the House Financial Services Committee in October 2019. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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Siva Vaidhyanathan / Wired:
Mark Zuckerberg Believes Only in Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg Believes Only in Mark Zuckerberg
Discussion:
Protocol, TheStreet and New York Times, more at Techmeme »
Tim Miller / The Bulwark:
Thank You Mister Trump! — Our Great President is crushing it. — This is not the sort of article you normally see here at The Bulwark, the world's largest superspreader of Trump Derangement Syndrome. — And to be honest with you, I didn't want to write it. But somebody had to.
New York Times:
Minneapolis Police Use Force Against Black People at 7 Times the Rate of Whites — Black people in Minneapolis as a share of ... Population — Police officers use of force Population — Police officers use of force — Video of George Floyd's last conscious moments horrified the nation …
Discussion:
The Hill
The Guardian:
Governments and WHO changed Covid-19 policy based on suspect data from tiny US company — Surgisphere, whose employees appear to include a sci-fi writer and adult content model, provided database behind Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine hydroxychloroquine studies
Discussion:
STAT
Politico:
Rod Rosenstein blames FBI for FISA errors, defends Mueller — Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein defended his actions on Wednesday as part of the federal investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible ties between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign …
Michael M. Phillips / Wall Street Journal:
Last Person to Receive Civil War-Era Pension Dies — Irene Triplett collected $73.13 from Department of Veterans Affairs, benefit for her father's military service in Civil War — Irene Triplett, the last person receiving a pension from the U.S. Civil War, has died at the age of 90.
Discussion:
Althouse
Greg Miller / Washington Post:
CIA veterans who monitored crackdowns abroad see troubling parallels in Trump handling of protests — The scenes have been disturbingly familiar to CIA analysts accustomed to monitoring scenes of societal unraveling abroad — the massing of protesters, the ensuing crackdowns …
Keisha Lance Bottoms / New York Times:
The Police Report to Me, but I Knew I Couldn't Protect My Son — Even as mayor, I know what every other parent to a black boy in America knows: My son is simply who he is, a young black man. — Ms. Bottoms is the mayor of Atlanta. — ATLANTA — I frantically screamed into the phone to my teenage son: “Lance, WHERE ARE YOU?!”
Kim Bell / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Retired police captain shot to death at St. Louis pawn shop in slaying caught on Facebook Live — ST. LOUIS — A retired police captain was shot to death by looters at a St. Louis pawn shop early Tuesday and his killing apparently was broadcast on Facebook Live.
George Joseph / Gothamist:
The Mount Vernon Police Tapes: In Secretly Recorded Phone Calls, Officers Say Innocent People Were Framed — In hours of secretly recorded telephone conversations, police officers in Mount Vernon, New York, reveal widespread corruption, brutality and other misconduct in the troubled Westchester County city just north of the Bronx.
New York Times:
The C.D.C. Waited ‘Its Entire Existence for This Moment.’ What Went Wrong? — The technology was old, the data poor, the bureaucracy slow, the guidance confusing, the administration not in agreement. The coronavirus shook the world's premier health agency, creating a loss of confidence and hampering the U.S. response to the crisis.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Stuart Rothenberg / Roll Call:
Is the 2020 fight for the House already over? — ANALYSIS — Of the major political handicappers, not even one of them thinks the House is likely to flip in November. — Not the folks at the Cook Political Report. Not the analysts at Sabato's Crystal Ball.