GOP crushes Manchin's hopes for elections compromise  —  Senate Republicans spent months praising Joe Manchin for his insistence on cross-party compromise.  Next week they will almost surely end his hopes for a bipartisan deal on elections.  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell …

Op-Ed: Giving people a license to discriminate because of their religious beliefs  —  Under long-standing constitutional law, religious beliefs do not provide an exemption from civil rights laws and cannot be used as an excuse for discrimination.  —  Yet the Supreme Court on Thursday …

Putin polls higher than Biden among Trump voters  —  In new Economist/YouGov polling, Russian President Vladimir Putin polls higher than President Biden among Trump voters.

The Company Eric Adams Keeps He's the candidate of old political-machine guys like Democratic fixer Frank Carone.  What would that mean in City Hall?  —  Heading into Memorial Day weekend, a poll had just shown Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams with his largest lead of the contest …

Parents who opposed critical race theory on Fox News are GOP activists, report says … Fox News failed to fully disclose the professional conservative ties of 11 guests featured in numerous segments about the teaching of critical race theory in schools, according to a new report from Media Matters …

Where was the FBI before the attack on the Capitol?  —  Ryan Goodman, a former special counsel at the Defense Department, is a law professor at New York University and co-editor-in-chief at Just Security.  Andrew Weissmann, a law professor at New York University, previously served as general counsel of the FBI.

In first, U.S. charges Jan. 6 defendant with bringing firearms to Capitol under controversial federal rioting law  —  U.S. prosecutors for the first time have charged a defendant in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach with violating a federal law that makes it a crime to transport a firearm or explosive for unlawful use in a riot.

Pack-a-day puffer Kathryn Garcia would be first cigarette-smoking mayor since '65 … City Hall hasn't had a cigarette smoker-in-residence since Mayor Robert Wagner left office in 1965 — but that would change if former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia wins the June 22 Democratic primary.

Blade, the Uber for helicopters and chartered jets, had a fake spokesperson for 3 years  — Before Blade went public, spokesman Simon McLaren would rep the helicopter service in publications.  — When Insider sought to confirm McLaren's identity, a Blade employee initially said McLaren was real.

Rumors of U.S. Secretly Harboring Top China Official Swirl  —  Reports that a top Chinese official defected to the U.S. have swept Chinese-language media this week.  The alleged reason?  Sharing sensitive information about COVID-19 origins.  —  Chinese-language anti-communist media …

How To End Up Serving The Right … Journalists Glenn Greenwald and Matt Taibbi have a long track record of work that exposes the crimes of the powerful.  Both were early intellectual heroes of mine; Taibbi was one of the first writers to see through Barack Obama's hollow rhetoric …

Biden signs bill making Juneteenth, marking the end of slavery, a federal holiday  —  Kamala Harris, the nation's first Black vice president, spoke at the ceremony.  —  President Joe Biden signed a bill Thursday making Juneteenth a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States …

Washington's Dangerous New Consensus on China … The unprecedented global challenges that the United States faces today—climate change, pandemics, nuclear proliferation, massive economic inequality, terrorism, corruption, authoritarianism—are shared global challenges.

Here's what $15,000 will buy lobbyists on Sen. Mike Crapo's pay-for-access price list  — Crapo is the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee.  — He offers prospective donors three levels of access at different donation price points.  — One reform advocate called …

Records link big business group to Florida elections probe  —  Investigators searching for the source of more than half-a-million dollars spent last year in support of spoiler candidates that helped Republicans win three key state Senate races have obtained bank records for an organization tied …

Taiwan Wants German Vaccines.  China May Be Standing in Its Way.  —  The two sides have traded accusations about whether political motivations are keeping the Taiwanese people from receiving immunizations amid the island's first major Covid-19 outbreak.  —  TAIPEI, Taiwan — This is the age of “vaccine diplomacy.”

We Won the Cold War, Right?  Right?  —  The state trudges on while the soul of the nation atrophies.  —  6 hr ago … - Leo Strauss, Natural Right and History  —  Leo Strauss wrote those lines in 1949 referring to the depressing fact that though Germany had been defeated in war …

Democracy Is Surprisingly Easy to Undermine  —  Here's a quiz: Which world leader made the following statements? … If you guessed Donald Trump, you are only one-third right.  The first statement was made by Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Israeli prime minister, soon after his opponents formed a parliamentary coalition to oust him.

Nicaragua Denies Entry to New York Times Journalist Amid Escalating Crisis  —  The refusal to admit the reporter comes amid a nationwide crackdown on journalists, opposition politicians and civil society groups.  —  MEXICO CITY — A New York Times journalist was denied entry into Nicaragua …

Have Journalists Ever Met the People They Write About?  —  The latest explanation of why workers are staying home is astounding.  —  any business owners," records Axios, “argue that COVID-era enhanced unemployment benefits of $300 a week are keeping would-be workers at home.

St. Louis gun-waving couple pleads guilty to misdemeanors  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — A St. Louis couple who gained notoriety for pointing guns at social justice demonstrators last year pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges and agreed to give up the weapons they used during the confrontation.

Open Letter to Every Dad in America: Please Join #DadsForGunSafety  —  A personal Father's Day plea from Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the Parkland shooting.  —  To Every Dad Across America:  —  My name is Fred Guttenberg and I am a father of two children, Jesse and Jaime.