THE FEED
trump administration
trump administration
Trump Loyalists Aren’t Being Ostracized After Leaving — They’re Thriving
Sean Spicer, Kierstjen Nielsen, and Corey Lewandowski all made dramatic public comebacks this week.
benjamin netanyahu
benjamin netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu Appears to Be Running Out of Options
Though he should never be counted out, it’s increasingly difficult to imagine that the prime minister will retain power in Israel.

In some spots, Imelda is looking worse than Harvey

Life-threatening flooding continued across southeastern Texas Thursday morning as Tropical Rainstorm Imelda continued to dump prolific amounts of rain across the region, inundating homes and streets and prompting numerous requests for rescue.


As of early Thursday morning, Imelda, which became a short-lived tropical storm on Tuesday before making landfall in Freeport, Texas, had produced over 40 inches of rain near Hamshire, Texas, about 65 miles east of Houston. Over 25 inches of that rain fell in 12 hours.


AccuWeather meteorologists are predicting an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 55 inches of rain.

vision 2020
vision 2020
No One Knows Whether Warren or Sanders Is in Second Place
Recent polls from the first primary states show that Bernie Sanders is pulling even with Biden — or else plummeting out of contention.
just asking questions
just asking questions
Chris Hayes and Ali Velshi on How TV News Covers Climate Change
A conversation with the hosts of MSNBC’s two-day Democratic-primary forum on climate change.
sksksksksk
sksksksksk
VSCO CEO Reacts to Summer’s Biggest Meme, the ‘VSCO Girl’
“A VSCO girl doesn’t define everyone on VSCO. Yeah, it defines a group that’s there, for sure, but there’s so many more.”

Trump weighs in, unconvincingly, on report that he made alarming, unspecificed promise to foreign leader

Another Fake News story out there - It never ends! Virtually anytime I speak on the phone to a foreign leader, I understand that there may be many people listening from various U.S. agencies, not to mention those from the other country itself. No problem!


….Knowing all of this, is anybody dumb enough to believe that I would say something inappropriate with a foreign leader while on such a potentially “heavily populated” call. I would only do what is right anyway, and only do good for the USA!

@realdonaldtrump
mobile gaming
mobile gaming
The Story Behind Those Bizarre, Incredible Lily’s Garden Ads
A mobile game about gardening has spawned a mysterious and intriguing ad campaign.
andrew yang
andrew yang
Andrew Yang Pledges to Continue Making Asian Jokes
Despite criticism of his one-liners, Yang says he doesn’t plan to change anything about what he’s doing.
guns
guns
White House Circulating Gun Proposal That Trump May Not Support
The NRA is already denouncing the gun background-check bill that nobody in the Trump administration will openly embrace.

A promising move from Bezos

Bezos announces Amazon is unveiling “The Climate Pledge,” an agreement to meet the goals of the UN’s Paris Agreement ten years ahead of schedule. Amazon is the first signatory.
@birnbaum_e
the national interest
the national interest
Trump Administration Covering Up His Disturbing Offer to Foreign Leader
What about his phone calls?

Definitely the right question to be asking about this

Fox & Friends covered WaPo’s whistleblower bombshell once this morning. Steve Doocy’s pressing question: “How’d that wind up on the front page of The Washington Post?”
@brianstelter
justin trudeau
justin trudeau
Justin Trudeau Wore Brownface Makeup to a Private-School Party in 2001
A yearbook photo shows the Canadian PM in brownface at an ‘Arabian Nights’ party. And a new video shows him wearing blackface in a separate incident.

Netanyahu is trying to cling to power, but his central rival isn’t having it

Benny Gantz rejects Benjamin Netanyahu’s offer of a unity government, saying that he will not enter into any coalition led by an Israeli premier facing corruption charges. Bibi, looking increasingly desperate, says he is “surprised and disappointed”. Oh I’m sure you are, Bibi.
@JFXM

Buttigieg’s health plan is more like Biden’s than Bernie’s

Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Thursday unveiled his plan to reform the U.S. healthcare system by offering everyone coverage under the federal Medicare program, but not forcing people to give up private heath insurance plans.


“For years, Washington politicians have allowed the pharmaceutical industry, giant insurance companies, and powerful hospital systems to profit off of people when they are at their sickest and most vulnerable,” said Buttigieg, who is mayor of South Bend, Indiana.


“My ‘Medicare for All Who Want It’ plan will create a health care system that puts power in the hands of each American.”

Also changing his tune after Netanyahu’s election setback: the prime minister’s good friend Donald Trump

President Trump appeared to distance himself from embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, declining to offer either encouragement or praise to his most enthusiastically loyal foreign ally now that he faces potential electoral defeat.


Speaking a day after Israeli elections that at best leave Netanyahu weakened, Trump seemed cool to the Israeli conservative who has touted his ideological lockstep with Trump as a chief reelection credential.


Trump said he had not spoken to Netanyahu, a man he has described as a close friend. He then noted that the election is close while playing down Netanyahu’s importance to the alliance between the United States and Israel.

vision 2020
vision 2020
Biden’s Electability Advantage Will Be Hard to Shake
Most factors voters use to measure electability give Joe Biden an advantage, and Democrats are not in the mood to gamble on the 2020 outcome.

Another strong policy showing from the president

BREAKING: Trump told reporters aboard AF1 that the EPA is going to declare San Francisco in violation because of homeless population putting “tremendous pollution” - including needles - into the ocean

via @Jordanfabian
@justinsink
ufos
ufos
Jimmy Carter Saw a UFO on This Day in 1973
Carter promised to come clean on UFO intel if elected president, but like all of them, he backtracked.
john bolton
john bolton
John Bolton Is Mad at Trump for Firing Him Just Before Iran Standoff
You can’t always get what you want.
vision 2020
vision 2020
How Elizabeth Warren Should Talk About Medicare for All
A populist like her should show some empathy for those who fear big government and politicians as much as they fear insurance and drug companies.
federal reserve
federal reserve
Decoding the Fed’s Interest Rate Cut
Intelligencer staffers discuss the Federal Reserve’s latest maneuver — and President Trump’s criticism of it.

This promises to be a bruising primary

Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III, the last member of the Democratic dynasty serving in Washington, plans to formally announce Saturday that he is launching a primary challenge to Senator Edward J. Markey, an audacious political move that could open fissures within the Democratic Party and reshape the Massachusetts political landscape.


Kennedy will make his announcement at a breakfast with supporters and local community members at East Boston Social Centers, according to two people close to him. From there, Kennedy will tour the state through Monday, highlighting issues he plans to center his campaign on, including health care access, mental health and addiction issues, climate change, and civil rights, the people said.


Kennedy informed Markey of his decision Wednesday, one of the people added.

Another sign that Warren is doing damage to the Sanders campaign?

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) quietly parted ways with his Iowa political director in recent weeks, his campaign confirmed Wednesday, part of a series of recent staff shake-ups in key early states.


The campaign announced in March that Jess Mazour would be political director in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, part of a first wave of early state hires. She is no longer on the team.

“We’ll continue to make moves that we feel best position this campaign to win,” Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a written statement after The Washington Post reached out to the campaign about the matter.


A campaign official who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the situation said Mazour was let go in late summer and will not be replaced. Mazour, who was a high-ranking campaign aide but not the director of the Iowa effort, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The campaign did not publicly announce her departure at the time.

games
games
Who Will Be the First Star Athlete to Make a Serious Run at the White House?
In a world in which sports are politicized and politics has turned into a celebrity sport, the rise of the athlete-politician is inevitable.

Shockingly, the NRA is still not on board with background checks

The White House this week began circulating a much-anticipated gun background check proposal to Republicans on Capitol Hill, though it’s unclear if President Donald Trump supports it.


The White House’s plan would expand background checks to all commercial gun sales, including gun show sales, according to a document obtained by POLITICO and first reported by The Daily Caller. It’s similar to a proposal from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).


Under the White House proposal, background checks would be conducted through federal firearm licensees, also known as FFLS, or a newly created group of licensed transfer agents. Sellers would choose voluntarily whether the federal firearm licensees or a transfer agent keeps records of the transactions.

Devastating numbers on gun violence in America

Gun violence hits America’s youth and rural states the hardest and has reached the highest levels in decades, a report released Wednesday by Democrats on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee has found.


U.S. teens and young adults, ages 15-24, are 50 times more likely to die by gun violence than they are in other economically advanced countries, according to the 50-state breakdown.


In 2017 — the year of a mass shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 and injured hundreds — nearly 40,000 people died from gun-related injuries, including 2,500 school children, the report said, noting that six in 10 gun deaths in the U.S. are suicides.

That year marked the first time firearms killed more people than motor vehicle accidents, the report said.

andrew yang
andrew yang
Will Andrew Yang’s Meeting With Shane Gillis Demand Anything From White Voters?
Forgiving racists is easy in American politics. Demanding better from them is not.
labor
labor
Democracy Dies When Labor Unions Do
Strengthening unions should be at the heart of any agenda for reviving American democracy because labor’s weakness is at the heart of its decline.
religion
religion
Christian Conservative Politics Are Driving Liberals Out of the Pews
The loud belief of militantly conservative Christians that being religious means being Republican may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
buyer's market
buyer's market
Disloyalty Programs: What Happens If You Break the Frequent-Flier Rules
From “throwaway ticketing” to point trading to scamming lounge time, the airlines are onto our tricks.

Not a measured response from Pompeo

#BREAKING: Pompeo US Secretary of State says Saudi oil attacks are an act of war
@AmichaiStein1
world view
world view
Robert O’Brien Shows Republicans Still Put Trump Ahead of Personal Credibility
GOP establishment mainstays like Robert O’Brien lined up to be national security adviser, even after Trump ignored and humiliated John Bolton.

A genuinely good point from the president

Trump says a military strike against Iran is an option in response to attack on Saudi oil facilities but pushes back against Graham for decrying past restraint as weakness, saying it is too easy to get into Middle East wars. “How did going into Iraq work out?”
@peterbakernyt
gun control
gun control
Trump, and Some Democrats, Blame Beto for Making Gun Legislation Less Likely
Any excuse not to act.

This is no time for bellicose speeches in New York

Breaking: Benjamin Netanyahu cancels his trip to the UN General Assembly amid election standoff
@vmsalama

Could universal background checks actually happen?

President Donald Trump may still be thinking about supporting expanded background checks for gun sales after all.


Driving the news: A memo titled “Idea for New Unlicensed-Commercial-Sale Background Checks” was being circulated as Attorney General Bill Barr and the White House’s legislative affairs director Eric Ueland visited this week with Republicans on Capitol Hill.


Why it matters: The president was expected to say this week what, if any, gun control legislation he is prepared to support. Advocates were doubtful he would support expanded background checks because polling suggested it could hurt his standing with core supporters.

Imelda hits Houston

East Texas was facing days of heavy rains and flash flooding Wednesday as Tropical Storm Imelda, downgraded to a tropical depression, still packed a dangerous punch for millions of residents.


Tropical Storm Imelda made landfall Tuesday afternoon near Freeport, 60 miles south of Houston. Imelda, crawling north at about 5 mph, was the first named storm to slam onto Texas shores since the staggering devastation of Hurricane Harvey two years ago.


Some areas could see up to 18 inches of rain before the storm rolls away at week’s end, the National Weather Service warned. By early Wednesday, more than 10 inches of rain already had been reported in St. Bernard and Chocolate Bayou.

Big blow to the e-cig business

India banned the production, import and sale of electronic cigarettes on Wednesday, a public health decision that will dash the expansion plans of companies such as Juul Labs and Philip Morris International in the country.


The ban will be imposed through an executive order and will include jail terms of up to three years for offenders. It was not clear whether the use of such products would be prohibited.


India’s health ministry, which proposed the ban, had said it was needed to ensure e-cigarettes don’t become an “epidemic” among children and young adults.

Many fewer women are having abortions than even a few years ago

Abortion in the United States has decreased to record low levels, a decline that may be driven more by increased access to contraception and fewer women becoming pregnant than by the proliferation of laws restricting abortion in some states, according to new research.


“Abortion rates decreased in almost every state and there’s no clear pattern linking these declines to new restrictions,” said Elizabeth Nash, senior state policy manager at the Guttmacher Institute, which issued the findings in a report and policy analysis on Wednesday.


The institute, which supports abortion rights, periodically compiles abortion data by surveying hospitals and abortion clinics, and by reviewing information from health departments and other sources.


The institute estimated that there were about 862,000 abortions in 2017, nearly 200,000 fewer than in 2011. The abortion rate — the number of abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age — dropped to 13.5 in 2017 from 16.9 in 2011, the lowest rate since abortion became legal nationwide in 1973.

Trump announces John Bolton’s replacement

I am pleased to announce that I will name Robert C. O’Brien, currently serving as the very successful Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs at the State Department, as our new National Security Advisor. I have worked long & hard with Robert. He will do a great job!
@realDonaldTrump

This oughta solve the problem

I have just instructed the Secretary of the Treasury to substantially increase Sanctions on the country of Iran!
@realDonaldTrump
just asking questions
just asking questions
Naomi Klein on Reckoning With the Radical Realities of Climate Change
The leftist intellectual talks the new political momentum on climate and whether we have to give up on consumption and growth to avert disaster.
the national interest
the national interest
How Electable Is Elizabeth Warren, Anyway?
An assessment of a now-likely nominee.
foreign interests
foreign interests
Israel’s Election Deadlock May Mean Netanyahu’s Luck Has Finally Run Out
Neither the right wing nor the center-left has a clear path to a majority in the Knesset – and Netanyahu’s hold on power is now even shakier.