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'A Mercy Move For Milwaukee'

  • There’s a good reason why the rumored appointment of an assistant secretary in a Cabinet department does not ordinarily generate a political uproar: It’s not a particularly powerful position.
  • Kelly’s hesitation didn’t stop Sebastian Gorka, the White House aide embroiled in his own recent PR troubles, from celebrating Clarke’s news on Twitter.
Russell Berman / The Atlantic | May 21, 2017, 5:34 am

CNN Investigative Team: Rightist Sheriff David Clarke Plagiarized 47 Times In His Master's Thesis

  • Without commenting on the claims in their reporting, Sheriff David Clark snarled at the CNN team that says he plagiarized repeatedly nearly four dozen times in his master's thesis.
  • Investigative reporters at CNN are calling Milwaukee County Sheriff David A.
  • Clarke is known for his alignment with Pr*sident Donald Trump, tough talk, disgust with dissent, and over-the-top characterizations of people he disagrees with, including Black Lives Matter and anyone to the left of Genghis Khan.
  • Andrew Kaczynski, Christopher Massie and Nathan McDermott, all part of the so-called K-File team that CNN purloined from Buzzfeed last October, reported:
rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) / Daily Kos | May 21, 2017, 4:49 am

Nuts & Bolts: A Guide To Democratic Campaigns—messaging 101

  • The moment you declare for office, your public social media history is easily accessible to anyone doing even basic research on your campaign.
  • If you want your message to succeed, try to eliminate off-ramps before you start.
  • Let’s face it, you aren’t Donald Trump, and a stream of posts you made three years ago can quickly derail anything you want to say.
  • You know what you want to say, and you think you know how you want to say it.
rss@dailykos.com (Chris Reeves) / Daily Kos | May 21, 2017, 1:44 am

Iranian President Rouhani Overwhelmingly Re-Elected

  • Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was overwhelmingly re-elected in yesterday’s Presidential election in Iran:
  • TEHRAN — Riding a large turnout from Iran’s urban middle classes, President Hassan Rouhani won re-election in a landslide on Saturday, giving him a mandate to continue his quest to expand personal freedoms and open Iran’s ailing economy to global investors.
  • Perhaps as important, analysts say, the resounding victory should enable him to strengthen the position of the moderate and reformist faction as the country prepares for the end of the rule of the 78-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
  • Turnout was heavy, with more than 70 percent of Iran’s 56 million voters casting ballots.
Doug Mataconis / Outside The Beltway | May 21, 2017, 12:19 am

On NRATV, Fabio Promotes Gun Ownership In California Because “there’s Going To Be A Lot Of Raping Going On”

  • Fox News' first reporting in response to two breaking news articles about President Donald Trump and Russia primarily pushed the White House’s talking points.
  • PAUL JOSEPH WATSON: Let’s go to Maxine Waters on, I think it was MSNBC, it was, claiming, she’s asked what's the evidence for Russia-Trump collusion, she literally says Putin invented the phrase “lock her up” and “crooked Hillary.” Here’s the clip.
  • GRANT STINCHFIELD (HOST): Fabio, you talk about politicians.
  • FABIO LANZONI: Let me tell you, let me tell you, everybody -- its an epidemic.
Media Matters for America / Media Matters | May 20, 2017, 11:16 pm

Open Thread For Night Owls: Ultra-rich & Religious Zealots Have Teamed Up To Dismantle Public Ed

  • An excerpt from Jennifer Berkshire at Jacobin, who writes: The Privatization Prophets—For years, millionaires and religious zealots have teamed up to preach "school choice" in an effort to dismantle public education:
  • During a recent talk to tech investors and “edupreneurs,” Secretary of Education Betsy Devos, the least regarded of all of the rogues and billionaires who compose the Trump cabinet, returned to a favorite theme of hers.
  • Apple, Uber, and Airbnb have worked their disruptive magic on one industry after another.
  • But if the nation’s schools are the equivalent of a kitchen-wall rotary phone or the cab that never comes, DeVos was eager to let the audience know that a quick fix is at hand: school choice.
rss@dailykos.com (Meteor Blades) / Daily Kos | May 20, 2017, 10:40 pm

The Personnel Math That Gets Us To Mueller

  • In thinking about the unfolding events in Washington, I a struck by the following (emphasis mine) from deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein:
  • In my capacity as acting Attorney General, I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a Special Counsel to assume responsibility for this matter.
  • Normally, a person would only be “acting” in such a capacity because of a vacancy.
  • -Trump fired acting AG Sally Yates over her unwillingness to implement the President’s original travel ban.
Steven L. Taylor / Outside The Beltway | May 20, 2017, 9:14 pm

Fox News' Cynical And Vulgar Conspiracies About The Slain DNC Staffer Fit A Pattern

  • Fox News' first reporting in response to two breaking news articles about President Donald Trump and Russia primarily pushed the White House’s talking points.
  • PAUL JOSEPH WATSON: Let’s go to Maxine Waters on, I think it was MSNBC, it was, claiming, she’s asked what's the evidence for Russia-Trump collusion, she literally says Putin invented the phrase “lock her up” and “crooked Hillary.” Here’s the clip.
  • CNN’s headline on Tuesday pretty much captured the latest example of how the fact-free conservative media often hype hollow conspiracies: “Story On DNC Staffer's Murder Dominated Conservative Media -- Hours Later It Fell Apart.”
  • To recap: No, Seth Rich, the 27-year-old Democratic National Committee staffer who was killed last summer in Washington, D.C., the victim of an apparent botched robbery, did not provide WikiLeaks with more than 44,000 DNC emails.
Media Matters for America / Media Matters | May 20, 2017, 8:14 pm

This Week In The War On Workers: 40,000 AT&T Workers Strike For A Fair Contract

  • [R]ight now, there’s a measles outbreak in Minnesota and a chicken pox outbreak in California. Usually, the reasons behind an outbreak can be difficult to trace, but in these cases there’s a reason that’s pretty simple: Parents refusing to vaccinate their kids.
  • Last but not least, tomorrow on Sunday Kos I’ll have a column posing the question: is it better or worse for progressives, and the nation, if Trump stays in office vs.
  • ● Labor Notes is running an important series on how we're surviving right to work.
  • ● Trump administration rejects ban on harmful insecticide, dozens of workers get sick.
rss@dailykos.com (Laura Clawson) / Daily Kos | May 20, 2017, 7:39 pm

Ebola Outbreak In Central Africa May Mark First Test Of New Vaccine

  • “Risk at the regional level is moderate due to the proximity of international borders and the recent influx of refugees from Central African Republic,” the organization said, but it nonetheless described the global risk as low because the area is so remote.
  • About a week ago, in addition to the nine suspected cases, 125 patients who had come into close contact with the disease were being monitored.
  • The Ebola virus causes fever, bleeding, vomiting and diarrhea, and it spreads easily by contact with bodily fluids.
  • The outbreak was reported in a densely forested part of Bas-Uele Province, near the border with the Central African Republic.
Doug Mataconis / Outside The Beltway | May 20, 2017, 6:14 pm

How Does This End?

  • The rise and reign of Donald Trump has already earned its place as one of the most dramatic political stories in modern American history.
McKay Coppins / The Atlantic | May 20, 2017, 5:14 pm

If You Appear As A Guest On <em>Tucker Carlson Tonight</em>, There's A Good Chance You'll Be A Target Of Online Harassment

  • Fox News' first reporting in response to two breaking news articles about President Donald Trump and Russia primarily pushed the White House’s talking points.
  • “Alt-right” and white supremacist trolls consider Carlson “literally our greatest ally.” Tucker Carlson has a devoted fan base in “alt-right” and white supremacist online communities.
  • Guests on Tucker Carlson Tonight become targets for harassment from his “alt-right” fan base
  • Teen Vogue’s Lauren Duca Was Told To “Get Raped” After Appearing On Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Media Matters for America / Media Matters | May 20, 2017, 5:12 pm

Koch Brothers Plan 'multimillion-dollar' Drive To Push Tax Cuts For Themselves And Their Businesses

  • The only element of conservativism that's survived Trump: We must cut Charles Koch's taxes
  • The Koch brothers have been largely sidelined in the news these days by, well, everything else, but that doesn't mean the pair of billionaire influence-buyers hasn't been busy.
  • In a major jolt of support for President Trump, the powerful political network overseen by conservative billionaire Charles Koch is launching a multimillion-dollar campaign to drive Trump's tax plan through Congress.
  • Freedom Partners is all-in on this one, promising "advertising and mobilizing grassroots support."
rss@dailykos.com (Hunter) / Daily Kos | May 20, 2017, 4:37 pm

Foreign Leaders Get Advice For Dealing With Donald Trump

  • As Donald Trump begins his first foreign trip with a stop in Saudi Arabia, foreign leaders are being told to stroke his ego by complimenting him on the size of his Electoral College win, among other things:
  • Foreign officials meeting President Trump during his first overseas trip are being told to praise him for winning the Electoral College last year, the New York Times reported Friday.
  • Embassies and leaders who have met with Trump have been speaking among themselves and with other dignitaries about how to handle the new president, and a number of themes have emerged, the report said.
  • Among them are suggestions to compliment Trump on his election win, and compare him favorably to former President Obama; not to expect him to know your country’s history or hot-button issues; and make a short presentation tailored to his attention span, and don’t try to bring up a long list of issues.
Doug Mataconis / Outside The Beltway | May 20, 2017, 3:12 pm

What Does The President Owe, And To Whom Does He Owe It?

  • For the chronically indebted businessman Donald Trump, it was a win every day the creditors did not foreclose on him.President Trump will manage the remainder of his presidency the same way.The appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel in the Trump-Russia matter will spell vexation in the medium term and may spell danger in the long term.
David Frum / The Atlantic | May 20, 2017, 2:11 pm