Top Items:
Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Scoop: Tucker Carlson sought Putin interview at time of spying claim — Tucker Carlson was talking to U.S.-based Kremlin intermediaries about setting up an interview with Vladimir Putin shortly before the Fox News host accused the National Security Agency of spying on him, sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios.
Discussion:
Washington Post, National Review, emptywheel, RedState, Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, RealClearPolitics, Raw Story, BizPac Review, Alternet.org, New York Post, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Deadline, The Hill, Insider, Ace of Spades HQ, The Wrap, Mediaite, Fox Business, Summit News, POLITICUSUSA, Power Line, YouTube, HotAir, Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze, VICE and BuzzFeed News, more at Mediagazer »
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Zoe Tillman / BuzzFeed News:
Trump's Social Media Lawsuits Are Full Of Arguments Courts Have Repeatedly Rejected — WASHINGTON — Former president Donald Trump's latest attempt at getting back on mainstream social media platforms came in the form of lawsuits on Wednesday against Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube …
Discussion:
Raw Story, The National Interest, Reason, The Atlantic, NBC News, Crooks and Liars, WSVN-TV and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »
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Paul Waldman / Washington Post:
Trump's latest ridiculous lawsuit shows how small he has become
Trump's latest ridiculous lawsuit shows how small he has become
Discussion:
Raw Story, Vox, One America News Network, New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Register, Newsbusters, Fox News and YouTube
Politico:
Delta variant said to be far more widespread than federal estimates — The more-transmissible Delta coronavirus variant is believed to be significantly more widespread than the current federal projections, according to two senior Biden administration health officials with knowledge of the situation.
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Tessa Weinberg / Missouri Independent:
‘Surge response team’ arrives in Missouri amid COVID spike caused by Delta variant
‘Surge response team’ arrives in Missouri amid COVID spike caused by Delta variant
Discussion:
Alabama Political Reporter, New York Times and ABC17NEWS
David Wenner / PennLive:
COVID-19 vaccine rollout fast enough to save nearly 300,000, study says
COVID-19 vaccine rollout fast enough to save nearly 300,000, study says
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA and The Guardian
Ashish K. Jha / The Boston Globe:
Masking indoors in the age of the Delta variant
Masking indoors in the age of the Delta variant
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Iowa Capital Dispatch and Los Angeles Times
Paul Sperry / RealClearInvestigations:
Naming the Capitol Police Officer Who Killed Unarmed Jan. 6 Rioter Ashli Babbitt — At top, pistol drawn in the House chamber, a plainclothes black officer who fits the description of Michael L. Byrd. His name was apparently divulged at a hearing as the cop who shot Ashli Babbitt.
Discussion:
The American Independent, Townhall, Insider, The Gateway Pundit and BizPac Review
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Wajahat Ali / The Daily Beast:
Why Trump Is Anointing Ashli Babbitt as MAGA's First Martyr
Why Trump Is Anointing Ashli Babbitt as MAGA's First Martyr
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Ad Age, BizPac Review, Raw Story and Gizmodo
PRRI:
The 2020 Census of American Religion — THE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS LANDSCAPE IN 2020 — The American Religious Landscape in 2020 — According to PRRI's 2020 American Values Atlas, seven in ten Americans (70%) identify as Christian, including more than four in ten who identify as white Christian …
Discussion:
Boing Boing and Blue Virginia
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Jack Jenkins / Religion News Service:
Survey: White mainline Protestants outnumber white evangelicals, while ‘nones’ shrink — Hundreds gathered at Times Square for an interfaith Shabbat lighting ceremony in late 2017 to celebrate religious diversity. Photo courtesy of Abe's Eats — (RNS) — White Christian decline has slowed.
Alexis Nowicki / Slate:
I've Always Suspected “Cat Person” Was Based on My Life. Now I Know It Was.
— Kristen Roupenian's viral story draws specific details from my own life. I've spent the years since it published wondering: How did she know? — One night in December of 2017, I saw Call Me by Your Name …
New York Times:
Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg's Partnership Did Not Survive Trump — The company they built is wildly successful. But her Washington wisdom didn't hold up, and neither did their close working relationship. — Sheryl Sandberg knew she'd be asked about the attacks on the Capitol.
Discussion:
Insider, more at Techmeme »
Richard L. Hasen / Slate:
The Supreme Court's Latest Voting Rights Opinion Is Even Worse Than It Seems — It's been almost a week since the Supreme Court issued its most significant ruling on voting rights in nearly a decade, and each time I read Justice Samuel Alito's majority opinion in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the angrier I become.
Discussion:
The Atlantic, New Republic and SCOTUSblog
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Josh Kraushaar / National Journal:
Republicans suppressing their own voters in Arizona and Georgia — To win back the Senate majority, Republicans likely need to win seats in the two GOP-leaning battlegrounds. But the Trump-fueled obsession over voter fraud is hurting their own cause. — See more stories about...
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Molly Ball / TIME:
Breakfast with J.D. Vance, Anti-Trump Author Turned Pro-Trump Candidate — “I'm not just a flip-flopper, I'm a flip-flop-flipper on Trump,” J.D. Vance says with a laugh, slicing into a half-stack of breakfast pancakes. The Hillbilly Elegy author and newly minted Republican Senate candidate …
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Mike Allen / Axios:
2022's one race to watch
2022's one race to watch
Discussion:
Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Cincinnati.com
Maggie Fox / CNN:
Coronavirus almost certainly came from an animal, not a lab leak, top scientists argue — US intelligence working on report about Covid-19 origins — (CNN)The coronavirus pandemic almost certainly originated from an animal, probably at a wildlife market in China, and not from a laboratory leak …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Zenodo and National Review
David Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Trump charged Secret Service nearly $10,200 in May for agents' rooms — Former president Donald Trump's golf club in Bedminster, N.J., charged the Secret Service nearly $10,200 for guest rooms used by his protective detail during Trump's first month at the club this summer, newly released spending records show.
Discussion:
Insider, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story
John Solomon / Just The News:
Democrats dug themselves an election integrity hole, courts may bury them in it — From Supreme Court justices to district judges, Biden's early Jim Crow narrative getting cold shoulder in early rulings. — Article — For months now, President Biden and key Democrats have waged endless battle …
Discussion:
CNBC and Human Events
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Jake Dima / Yahoo News:
Federal judge halts effort to block portions of Georgia voting law
Federal judge halts effort to block portions of Georgia voting law
Discussion:
CNN
Matt Viser / Washington Post:
Deal of the art: White House grapples with ethics of Hunter Biden's pricey paintings — White House officials have helped craft an agreement under which purchases of Hunter Biden's artwork — which could be listed at prices as high as $500,000 — will be kept confidential from even the artist himself …
Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / Arizona Republic:
Secretary of State Katie Hobbs asks Attorney General Mark Brnovich to investigate possible election interference by Donald Trump, allies — Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs on Wednesday asked Attorney General Mark Brnovich to open a criminal investigation into possible efforts …
Discussion:
CBS News, Raw Story, The Hill, Joe.My.God. and Insider
Ilana Kaplan / New York Times:
‘Legally Blonde’ Oral History: From Raunchy Script to Feminist Classic — Along the way, adult zingers were edited out, Jennifer Coolidge struggled with the “bend and snap” and the ending was changed at least three times. — In 2001, Reese Witherspoon was already on her way to becoming a household name.
Discussion:
Insider
Emily Singer / The American Independent:
Virginia GOP gubernatorial nominee admits to hiding extreme abortion views to win election — Glenn Youngkin said he won't talk publicly about some of his more severe positions on abortion because that 'won't win my independent votes that I have to get.' — Virginia's Republican nominee …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Political Wire and Blue Virginia
Natalie Jackson / FiveThirtyEight:
Whether Republicans Get Vaccinated Has A Lot To Do With If They Watch Fox News ... Or OANN — It's no secret that Republicans really distrust the media. In fact, that distrust is increasingly an important part of their political identity. — For a long time, understanding …
Discussion:
Raw Story
Washington Post:
Conservative groups mount opposition to increase in IRS budget, threatening White House infrastructure plan — The new funding is supposed to be a cornerstone of a bipartisan deal negotiated by the White House and moderate senators — Conservative political groups are mobilizing …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Alternet.org and Balloon Juice
Ari Berman / Mother Jones:
Texas Is the Hardest State to Vote In. It Could Soon Get Much Harder. — Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters. — Beto O'Rourke is once again crisscrossing the state of Texas …
Discussion:
Houston Chronicle, CNN, CBS News and The Western Journal
Ben Makuch / VICE:
Unmasking ‘Dark Foreigner’: The Artist Who Fueled a Neo-Nazi Terror Movement — For years, the man who created much of the modern neo-Nazi propaganda machine was a ghost. VICE News tracked him down to his parents' home in a suburb in Ottawa, Canada. — TORONTO, CA
Naomi Osaka / TIME:
'It's O.K. Not to Be O.K.' — Naomi Osaka is a professional tennis player who will represent Japan in the upcoming Olympics. Osaka was the first Asian tennis player to be ranked No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association and the first Japanese-born player to win a grand slam. — Life is a journey.
Discussion:
Japan Times, The 19th, Fox News, UPI and Sports Illustrated, more at Mediagazer »
Patrick Svitek / The Texas Tribune:
Allen West's final days as state GOP chair filled with intraparty drama — With only days before he steps down from the helm of the state GOP, West is embroiled in a fight with his vice chair and under attack by county GOP chairs. — Copy link — Allen West's final days as Texas GOP chairman …
Discussion:
Joe.My.God. and Outside the Beltway
Eric Kleefeld / Media Matters for America:
Fox News and other right-wing outlets ramp up anti-vaccine scare campaign — After the Biden administration announces “door-to-door” community outreach to save lives, conservative personalities melt down — The White House has been stepping up its community outreach efforts for the coronavirus vaccines …
Max Greenwood / The Hill:
TIm Ryan raises $2.28 million for Ohio Senate bid — Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) has raised nearly $2.3 million since launching his Senate bid in April, his campaign announced on Thursday. — Ryan, a former presidential candidate who has represented a swath of northeastern Ohio for nearly 20 years …
Discussion:
Political Wire
Emma Green / The Atlantic:
How Democrats Lost the Courts — Every political coalition likes to talk about how its opponents are more organized, more ruthless, and better funded. As progressives plot their response to Donald Trump's mostly successful project to remake the federal courts, they are reviewing the times they've …