Top Items:
John Hudson / Washington Post:
Key impeachment witness Gordon Sondland sues Mike Pompeo and U.S. for $1.8 million in legal fees — President Donald Trump's former ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, is suing former secretary of state Mike Pompeo and the U.S. government for $1.8 million to compensate …
Discussion:
NBC News, Raw Story and Political Wire
Shawn Boburg / Washington Post:
Commerce Department security unit evolved into counterintelligence-like operation, Washington Post examination found — An obscure security unit tasked with protecting the Commerce Department's officials and facilities has evolved into something more akin to a counterintelligence operation …
Discussion:
The Hill
Washington Post:
E.U. promises swift retaliation after Belarus forces airliner to land and detains dissident — RIGA, Latvia — European leaders on Monday were considering a plan to sever Belarus from the rest of the continent's airspace, a day after Belarusian authorities forced a commercial airliner to land …
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Antony J. Blinken / United States Department of State:
Diversion of Ryanair Flight to Belarus and Arrest of Journalist
Diversion of Ryanair Flight to Belarus and Arrest of Journalist
Liudas Dapkus / Associated Press:
Belarus opposition figure detained when flight diverted
Belarus opposition figure detained when flight diverted
Discussion:
CNN, Reuters, New York Post, Washington Examiner, CBS News, Al Jazeera and KTAR.com
Edmund DeMarche / Fox News:
US condemns Belarus regime over ‘shocking act’ to divert commercial flight
US condemns Belarus regime over ‘shocking act’ to divert commercial flight
Craig Mauger / Detroit News:
Whitmer apologizes after photo shows her at bar violating her own order — Lansing — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an apology Sunday after a photo emerged showing her at a restaurant with 12 other people gathered around tables pushed together in violation of her health department's current epidemic order.
Discussion:
The Guardian, National Review, New York Post, The Hill and Breitbart
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Zach Montellaro / Politico:
They tried to overturn the 2020 election. Now they want to run the next one. — Republicans who sought to undercut or overturn President Joe Biden's election win are launching campaigns to become their states' top election officials next year, alarming local officeholders and opponents …
Discussion:
The Guardian, Insider, CNN, Fox News, Raw Story, Daily Kos, KTAR.com and Political Wire
Ben Smith / New York Times:
It's the Media's ‘Mean-Too’ Moment. Stop Yelling and Go to Human Resources. — In public radio, there is either an epidemic of bullying or an epidemic of whining, depending on whom you ask. — For 20 years, the WNYC radio show “On The Media” has been the sort of place where the hosts …
Discussion:
The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »
Wall Street Journal:
Intelligence on Sick Staff at Wuhan Lab Fuels Debate On Covid-19 Origin — Report says researchers went to hospital in November 2019, shortly before confirmed outbreak; Adds to calls for probe of whether virus escaped lab — WASHINGTON—Three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute …
Discussion:
CNN, Reason, HotAir, National Review, IJR, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Post, Power Line, Florida Politics, Mediaite, Townhall, Raw Story, NOQ Report, RealClearPolitics, Twitchy, The Daily Caller, RedState and Instapundit
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Edna Mohamed / The Guardian:
BLM activist Sasha Johnson in critical condition after gunshot to the head — Shooting in Southwark, London came after numerous death threats, says her Taking the Initiative party — The Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson is in a critical condition after sustaining a gunshot wound …
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Matti Friedman / The Atlantic:
The Americanization of the Israeli-Palestinian Debate — Rereading Exodus, the schmaltzy 1958 best seller about Israel that became a Hollywood movie starring Paul Newman, I was surprised by something I hadn't noticed as a teenager. The author, Leon Uris, describes a utopia of brave young pioneers …
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Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
How Joe Biden Can Win a Nobel Peace Prize
NBC News:
Biden's non-Covid agenda takes center stage as virus starts to subside — WASHINGTON — Back in January, the United States was seeing, on average, about 200,000 new daily Covid-19 cases and 3,000 related deaths per day. — By April, those numbers had dropped to about 70,000 new cases and some 700 fatalities per day.
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Adam Entous / New Yorker:
Are U.S. Officials Under Silent Attack? — The Havana Syndrome first affected spies and diplomats in Cuba. Now it has spread to the White House. — During the final weeks of the Trump Administration, a senior official on the National Security Council sat at his desk …
Discussion:
Insider
Luke Savage / The Atlantic:
If Democracy Is Dying, Why Are Democrats So Complacent? — If you've followed recent Democratic messaging, you'll have heard that American democracy is under serious attack by the Republican Party, representing an existential threat to the country. If you've followed Democratic lawmaking …
Discussion:
Politico and Media Matters for America
Marc Caputo / Politico:
Top MAGA ally under fire for ‘squishiness’ on Trump — During Jane Timken's tenure as Ohio's GOP chair, Donald Trump won the one-time bellwether state by a whopping 8 percentage points. She put 150,000 miles on her car driving to the state's 88 counties as a surrogate for the president.
Discussion:
Raw Story
New York Times:
What the Tulsa Race Massacre Destroyed — THE MARQUEE BLOCK — More than 70 businesses operated in mostly one-, two- and three-story red brick buildings clustered along the block. All but a couple were owned by Black entrepreneurs. — In this stretch alone, there were four hotels …
Ashley Parker / Washington Post:
Weightlifting, Gatorade, birthday calls: Inside Biden's day — During a speech in Pittsburgh in March, President Biden held up the index card he keeps in his right breast pocket to track the nation's covid deaths, inadvertently revealing a glimpse of his private schedule on the back side.
Discussion:
Insider
Lisa Rein / Washington Post:
Biden administration moves toward making the pandemic work-from-home experiment permanent for many federal workers — As the Biden administration contemplates how to return the massive federal workforce to the office, government officials are moving to make a pandemic experiment permanent …
Discussion:
Insider
Jeremy Stahl / Slate:
What if the Unorthodox Arizona Audit Declares Trump Won? — Sitting in the press booth at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, several rows above where some two dozen tables of counters were retallying the 2020 presidential votes of the citizens of Maricopa County …
Discussion:
IJR
Washington Examiner:
It's time to get impatient about lingering COVID lockdowns — The pandemic is over, as far as the United States is concerned. The brief period during which we should be expected to tolerate continued restrictions on our freedom, and especially on our children, is coming to an end, too.
Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
Why Arkansas Is a Test Case for a Post-Trump Republican Party — Sarah Huckabee Sanders seems likely to bring the Trump brand to Arkansas politics in a big way. But the state is a testing ground for different possible futures for the party. — LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — For decades …
Andrew Marantz / New Yorker:
Are We Entering a New Political Era? — The neoliberal order seems to be collapsing. A generation of young activists is trying to insure that it's replaced by progressive populism, not by the fascist right. — Last June, when most Americans could agree that their country was in crisis …
Anita Kumar / Politico:
Conservatives have a new target: Biden's IRS plan — Add another obstacle to the growing list President Joe Biden faces in his negotiations over his massive spending plans: mounting opposition to one of the ways to pay for his proposal — growing the IRS. — Conservative groups have launched …
Discussion:
Washington Post, IJR and Washington Monthly
Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:
45 + 2022 = 0 — #38: Why the GOP's new Trumpless Tower will collapse — Republicans seem to be coalescing around a delusional midterm strategy: The idea that they can get through the 2022 election while more or less ignoring Trump. Hey, they have all these great issues: Crime! Immigration!
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, The Nation and Althouse
Ryan Leas / Stereogum:
80 Artists Pick Their Favorite Bob Dylan Song For Bob Dylan's 80th Birthday — ULTIMATE PLAYLIST — In the almost 60 years since Bob Dylan released his debut album, countless words have been spilled on his singular legacy. There are books and movies and over half a century's worth …
Christina Maxouris / CNN:
An 8th US state just reached a critical Covid-19 vaccination milestone — (CNN)As US officials push for more vaccinations amid slowing demand across the country, another state has now crossed an important milestone. — Rhode Island is now the eighth state to have administered at least …
Discussion:
IJR, KEYT-TV, The Daily Beast, HuffPost, Joe.My.God., Associated Press, KTLA and Just The News
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