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Are Demographics Really Destiny For The GOP?

  • Despite President Trump’s magnetic appeal for working-class whites, those fiercely contested voters continued their long-term decline as a share of the national electorate in 2016, a new analysis of recent Census Bureau data shows.That continued erosion underscores the gamble Trump is taking by aligning the GOP ever more closely with the hopes and fears of a volatile constituency that, while still large, has been irreversibly shrinking for decades as a share of the total vote.
  • But the new Census numbers on voter participation last year also contain a clear warning signal for Democrats.
Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic | June 1, 2017, 4:18 am

“Alt-right” Troll Files Civil Rights Complaint After The <em>Today</em> Show Mocks Him

  • “Alt-right” personality Jack Posobiec has taken his trolling to the New York City human rights commission by filing a complaint against a movie theater and NBC Today show host Carson Daly.
  • During the May 31 edition of NBC’s Today show, Daly reported on the internet backlash that Posobiec was receiving on Twitter by proposing “men only screenings of Star Wars” for “the entire first week” as a response to some theaters offering all-female screenings of Wonder Woman.
  • Posobiec announced he had filed a complaint against Daly and one of the movie theaters holding such screeners.
  • It’s tempting to discount Posobiec’s stunt as another absurd prank levied by a pro-Trump, "alt-right" internet personality with the purpose of advancing a political point.
Media Matters for America / Media Matters | June 1, 2017, 3:25 am

Is 'House Of Cards' Still Relevant In A World With A President Trump?

  • Fair warning to everyone reading this, but after this point the review will discuss everything in the previous four seasons of House of Cards.
  • In the House of Cards universe, the 2016 presidential election is not over.
  • One significant shift this season is the elevation of Claire (Robin Wright) within the story to the point that she now, like Frank, breaks the fourth wall and addresses the audience directly.
  • This leads the Underwood administration to some familiar ideas about closing borders and restricting access to who can enter the United States.
rss@dailykos.com (Doctor RJ) / Daily Kos | June 1, 2017, 3:03 am

On <em>The Bill Press Show</em>, <em>Media Matters</em>' Matthew Gertz Outlines Hannity's "despicable" Promotion Of Seth Rich Conspiracy

  • GERTZ: They appear to have – they either don’t care what he does, or he is completely off the reservation and they have no control whatsoever over his show.
  • PRESS: But also this promise that I've got some more information that's going to break soon.
  • GERTZ: Yeah, Sean Hannity was still talking about whether Vince Foster might have been murdered in 2007.
  • GERTZ: He is really -- he is the only person with a prime-time show on that network that had one a year ago.
Media Matters for America / Media Matters | June 1, 2017, 12:23 am

Open Thread For Night Owls: People's Budget Offers 'roadmap To Resistance' Against Trump Budget

  • Want to guess whose pocket the money being axed from social and environmental programs will wind up?
  • [...] Despite its dubious prospects for passage (even some Republicans are declaring it dead on arrival), Trump’s budget could be progressives’ best arsenal for sustained mass resistance.
  • Trump’s budget ramps up military and border patrol spending while cutting hundreds of billions from antipoverty programs—cuts that “would hit hardest many of the economically strained voters who propelled the President into office,” The New York Times reported.
  • As moral documents, budgets elucidate political vision and priorities better than any rhetoric.
rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) / Daily Kos | June 1, 2017, 12:01 am

Seventh Circuit Rules In Favor Of Transgender Student In Bathroom Access Case

  • A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of a Wisconsin transgender student who was suing his school district for the right to use the boys bathroom at his school:
  • A federal appeals court Tuesday issued a decision that could have far-reaching implications for transgender students, siding with a transgender boy whose Wisconsin school district had sought to bar him from the boys’ bathroom to protect the privacy of other students.
  • The school district’s privacy argument is “based upon sheer conjecture and abstraction,” wrote Judge Ann Claire Williams, while the harm that Whitaker suffered when he was prohibited from using the bathroom that matched his gender identity is “well-documented and supported by the record.”
  • Whitaker is set to graduate Saturday, so the concrete impact of this court victory on his school career will be limited.
Doug Mataconis / Outside The Beltway | May 31, 2017, 10:53 pm

“Mind Control,” “shadow Government,” And Seth Rich: Sean Hannity’s History Of Pushing Conspiracy Theories

  • Hannity was a major driving force behind conspiracy theories surrounding DNC staffer Seth Rich’s murder, claiming "the truth" "could become one of the biggest scandals in American history." Fox News host and talk radio personality Sean Hannity was a major promoter of conspiracy theories surrounding the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich, obsessing that “the truth” behind Rich’s murder “could become one of the biggest scandals in American history.” Hannity sought to insert Rich into virtually any conversation pertaining to the story about possible collusion between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia and defiantly said he’s “not backing off” of the conspiracy theories.
  • Hannity agreed to stop pushing his lies “for now” only after the Rich family directly pleaded for him to stop.
  • Hannity says the blowback from his Seth Rich conspiracy theories is “liberal fascism” attempting to destroy him.
  • Hannity warned his listeners about “globalist” “mind control.” Hannity used the October 18 edition of his radio show to sound the alarm about how “we’ve been lied to” and “manipulated” by the “corporate establishment, “the Republican establishment,” “the Democratic establishment,” and “the globalist establishment” that is “reminiscent of former Soviet Union propaganda and mind control.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 10/18/16]
Media Matters for America / Media Matters | May 31, 2017, 9:22 pm

House Intelligence Committee Approves Subpoenas Targeting Trump Adviser Flynn, Lawyer Michael Cohen

  • On the heels of Senate investigators finally getting some semblance of their act together, the House follows: The House Intelligence Committee just approved subpoenas requiring that ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn and Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen both appear to testify in the investigation into Russian election hacking.
  • In addition, the House approved subpoenas targeting records from the two mens' businesses, Flynn Intel Group LLC and Michael D.
rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) / Daily Kos | May 31, 2017, 8:59 pm

Trump To Lift Partial Sanctions On Russia For Hacking The Election

  • The Washington Post is reporting that Donald Trump is moving towards lifting part of the election-related sanctions that President Obama placed on Russia.
  • Interestingly, this news comes only one week after Russia openly-threatened Trump that he’d better reopen the facilities pronto.
  • Also interesting, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said today that the White House will no longer answer questions about the growing Russia scandal.
  • Someone forgot to tell the White House that a good way to ensure that questions about the Russia scandal don’t stop is to unilaterally lift sanctions placed on Russia for hacking our election, while Trump still denies Russia’s culpability, and has shown no interest in doing anything to ensure that Russia doesn’t continue to try to interfere with our democratic freedoms and throw our upcoming elections.
John Aravosis / AMERICAblog | May 31, 2017, 8:33 pm

James Comey Will Testify Before Congress, And Confirm Pressure By Trump To Drop Investigation

  • Former FBI Director James Comey is planning to testify publicly before the Senate Intelligence Committee as soon as next week about his conversations with President Donald Trump about the Russia investigation, a Comey friend confirmed to POLITICO.
  • As of Wednesday morning, Comey’s testimony in front of the committee had not yet been scheduled, though there are talks that the appearance could happen next week, according to a second source familiar with the matter.
  • Trump abruptly fired Comey in May, as the FBI was apparently ramping up its investigation into Russian interference in the election and possible collusion between Russian officials and the Trump campaign.
  • The Senate testimony would mark Comey’s first public comments since his firing.
Doug Mataconis / Outside The Beltway | May 31, 2017, 7:48 pm

<i>The Atlantic </i> Politics & Policy Daily: Covfefe Maybe

  • Worst-Case Scenario: Todd Stern, the former United States special envoy for climate change, argues that if President Trump decides to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, the choice will be “indefensible.”
  • Warning Sign: A new data analysis on 2016 voting, conducted by the Center for American Progress’s States of Change project, shows that the share of non-college-educated whites—a key demographic for Republicans—is steadily declining.
  • The End of American Leadership: David Frum argues that, instead of restoring American greatness, the Trump administration might just be persuading its partners “that America has ceased to be the leader they once respected.”
  • Follow stories throughout the day with our Politics & Policy portal.SnapshotVietnamese Americans protest outside the White House before President Trump's meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
Elaine Godfrey / The Atlantic | May 31, 2017, 7:08 pm

Former <em>NY Times</em> Public Editors Criticize “unseemly” Decision To Cut The “essential” Position

  • Several past New York Times public editors, along with two former ombudsmen at other media outlets, are criticizing today’s announcement that the newspaper plans to cut the ombudsman-type position after more than 14 years.
  • The former public editors said the independent position is a necessary tool in making sure the paper follows its ethical guidelines and sticks to factual reporting.
  • “It’s a shame,” said Daniel Okrent, the first Times public editor, who began in December 2003 and served 18 months in the job.
  • The Times announced the elimination of the post currently held by Liz Spayd in a letter to staff today.
Media Matters for America / Media Matters | May 31, 2017, 6:22 pm

Spotlight On Green News &amp; Views: #@%¡* Trump Apparently Ready To Bail On Paris Climate Agreement

  • 6412093 writes—The Daily Bucket--Gaia Giveth a Little, and Taketh Away Plenty: “We had a Star Jasmine for ten years.
  • Atlantic Horseshoe Crabowktree writes—Daily Bucket: X is For...”Welcome to the twenty-fourth entry in our Backyard Science ‘Alphabet’ series.
  • owktree writes—Daily Bucket: Widening Our Horizons: “Another abstract Bucket entry.
  • OceanDiver writes—The Daily Bucket - evening cruise: “We chose to take our most recent cruise out to the Rocks in the evening, after looking at the tide forecast.
rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) / Daily Kos | May 31, 2017, 5:58 pm

Frank Deford, Longtime Sports Writer, Dies At 78

  • His wife, Carol, confirmed his death on Monday but said she did not yet know the cause.
  • At Sports Illustrated, he became a leader in a form of literary sports journalism nurtured by its managing editor, André Laguerre, who recruited him as one of a blue-ribbon roster of writers that included Mark Kram, Dan Jenkins and Roy Blount Jr.
  • In another memoir, “Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter,” published in 2012, Mr.
  • In 1980, having become one of the magazine’s top writers, he was recruited for what he thought would be a temporary stint, delivering weekly sports commentary on NPR’s “Morning Edition.”
Doug Mataconis / Outside The Beltway | May 31, 2017, 4:46 pm

The Week In Trump: A Look Back At The Last Week In Washington And Beyond

  • A new season of “House of Cards” is out, and it’s looking increasingly like President Underwood can’t top Donald Trump.
  • What follows below is from our email action list, to give you a sample of the kind of thing we send out.
  • (And I share three new t-shirts we’re selling to raise money for our Resistance efforts — you can check them out here, and below.)
  • Late last week the news broke that Trump son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner reportedly asked the Russian ambassador, in a secret meeting in Trump Tower NYC in December, to set up a covert line of communications between Team Trump and the Kremlin.
John Aravosis / AMERICAblog | May 31, 2017, 4:29 pm