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hail to the chief July 8, 2011

President Obama Receiving Sycophantic Laughter

By Dan Amira

While President Obama certainly has an above-average sense of humor for a politician easy-going, self-effacing, maybe a little corny at times he’s not known as one of the planet’s foremost comedians. Yet photographic evidence compiled by Daily Intel indicates that Obama may, in fact, be the funniest person alive. Either that, or people are just overdoing it in an effort to ingratiate themselves to the most powerful person in the world. Could be either one.

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

AP Photo/Ron Edmonds

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

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President Obama Receiving Sycophantic Laughter

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THE FEED

6:00 a.m.

media

The Voice of the Podcast Generation

By Matthew Schneier

Michael Barbaro made the New York Times’ The Daily a raging success. Or is it the other way around?

12:40 a.m.

impeachment

How to Watch the Senate Impeachment Trial of President Trump

By Matt Stieb

And what to expect from the first week — including Saturday proceedings and some seriously late nights, if Mitch McConnell’s timeline holds.

1/20/2020

climate change

Republican-led States Want Disaster Aid Without Having to Address Climate Change

By Matt Stieb

As states ignore climate change — but seek funding to limit its damage — the region is expected to bear the brunt of rising sea levels in the U.S.

Most Popular

1/20/2020

politics

Kellyanne Conway: Martin Luther King Jr. Would Be Against Trump Impeachment

By Matt Stieb

It’s highly unlikely that the reverend, who died fighting for equality, would oppose a Constitutional effort to hold a racist president accountable.

1/20/2020

trump impeachment

Trump Lawyers Ask for Quick End to ‘Flimsy’ Impeachment Case

By Adam K. Raymond

In a memo released Monday, the President’s team argued that he did “absolutely nothing wrong.”

1/20/2020

Virginia gun rally ends without incident

Thousands of gun-rights activists rallied peacefully at the Virginia Capitol on Monday under a heavy police presence, protesting plans by the state’s Democratic leadership to pass gun-control legislation.

The size of the rally and the expected participation of white supremacists and fringe militia groups raised fears that the state could see a repeat of the violence that exploded in 2017 in Charlottesville. But the rally concluded uneventfully around noon, and attendees spilled into the streets, chanting and waving signs.

A spokesman for the Capitol police said that as of 11 a.m. there had been no reports of arrests or injuries.

Thousands rally in Virginia’s capital for gun rights

—AP

1/20/2020

new york times

All the Problems with the New York Times’s Televised Endorsement Special

By Adam K. Raymond

The reality TV show no one needed resulted in an unsatisfying double endorsement.

1/20/2020

The coronavirus spreading through China is now being passed by humans

The new coronavirus that has infected more than 200 people in China has been transmitted between humans, according to Chinese health authorities.

Zhong Nanshan, who heads up China’s National Health Commission, told Xinhua News Agency, China’s official state-run news organization, that two cases of human-to-human transmission had been confirmed in China, one in Wuhan and one in Guangdong.

Chinese officials had initially linked the virus to large seafood market in Wuhan, China, where many of the cases originated.

Human-to-human transmission of new coronavirus reported in China

—ABC News

1/20/2020

the national interest

Now We Know What Would Have Happened If Joe McCarthy Became President

By Jonathan Chait

The surprising thing is not McCarthy’s rise to power, but why it took so long for somebody to try the same thing again.

1/20/2020

How Bloomberg is making life harder for everyone else

Michael Bloomberg’s big-spending, shock-and-awe TV ad campaign has made politicking more expensive for everyone from his 2020 rivals to Senate, House and state legislative candidates around the country.

Eight weeks into his presidential campaign, Bloomberg has already spent more money on advertising — $248 million — than most candidates could spend in years. That amount has squeezed TV ad inventory in nearly every state, lowering supply and causing stations to raise ad prices at a time of high demand, as candidates around the country gear up for their primaries.

On average in markets around the country, prices for political TV ads have risen by 20 percent since Bloomberg began his campaign.

Bloomberg’s massive ad campaign hikes TV prices for other candidates

—Politico

1/20/2020

The Times picks two

Both the radical and the realist models warrant serious consideration. If there were ever a time to be open to new ideas, it is now. If there were ever a time to seek stability, now is it.

That’s why we’re endorsing the most effective advocates for each approach. They are Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar.

Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren: The Democrats' Best Choices for President

—New York Times

1/20/2020

vision 2020

How the Impeachment Trial Affects Sanders, Warren, and Klobuchar in Iowa

By Ben Jacobs

The four senators still running for president will lose valuable face time and local media coverage during a crucial stretch of the campaign.

1/20/2020

vision 2020

One of the Iowa Contenders Could Beat Trump, Right?

By Gabriel Debenedetti

Two weeks out from the caucus, it’s an unprecedented four-way deadlock. Ready, set, go!

1/19/2020

the national interest

Trump Lawyers Argue No President Can Be Impeached for Any Abuse of Power

By Jonathan Chait

The White House legal team lays out a breathtaking constitutional theory.

1/19/2020

impeachment

House Prosecutors, Trump Lawyers File Dueling Impeachment Briefs

By Chas Danner

Trump is either the “framers’ worst nightmare” or a completely innocent victim, depending on which memo you read.

1/19/2020

the epstein case

Lifetime Expands Surviving Franchise With Jeffrey Epstein Docuseries

By Devon Ivie

It will premiere this summer.

1/19/2020

alternative media

Steve Bannon Wants to Save Trump — So He’s Launched a Podcast

By Ben Jacobs

Instead of pulling the strings from Trump Tower or the West Wing, Bannon is now trying to steer GOP strategy from a D.C. basement.

1/19/2020

The view from the back

Michael Bennet is polling in 10th place. He hasn’t made a debate stage since July and won’t disclose how much money he raised last quarter.

And he can be awkward on the stump: In one 45-minute stretch at a recent town hall, Bennet swung his hands so wildly while making a point that he hit a woman in the head, he tripped over a stool holding his water, and he nearly tangled himself in a microphone cord while trying to take off his sport coat.

Yet a small number of New Hampshire’s voters and political elites have found themselves drawn to his message, demeanor and experience, hoping almost despite themselves that Bennet could be the ultimate dark horse primary candidate.

Bennet die-hards drawn to awkward, unusual New Hampshire campaign

—Politico

1/19/2020

impeachment

Pence Is Right: Trump Is a Lot Like Andrew Johnson

By Ed Kilgore

Pence embraces the discredited Jim Crow theory of Johnson’s victimization and Reconstruction’s evil. But Trump does emulate his scofflaw behavior.

1/18/2020

politics

National Archives Apologizes for Censoring Protest Signs From Women’s March

By Chas Danner

The agency digitally altered protester’s signs to remove mentions of Trump and women’s anatomy in a failed effort to avoid controversy.

1/18/2020

National Archive says it will restore women’s voices to “Rightfully Hers” exhibit

We have removed the current display and will replace it as soon as possible with one that uses the unaltered image.

We apologize, and will immediately start a thorough review of our exhibit policies and procedures so that this does not happen again.

—@USNatArchives

1/18/2020

The confused white view from Buttigieg’s backers

In nearly two dozen interviews across Iowa this month, white voters struggled to reconcile their affection for Buttigieg with how black voters see the candidate. Some said it simply didn’t matter to them. Many more had been grappling with how to think about the disconnect and Buttigieg’s challenges: Some were worried, others frustrated. …

Maria Waters, a Des Moines caucusgoer committed to Buttigieg, wrestled with the candidate’s lack of black support as she waited to hear him speak Sunday night at the State Historical Museum of Iowa.

“I look around the crowd, and I think, Why are we not winning them?” Waters told BuzzFeed News. “It is a little discouraging.”

No matter what, the subject of Buttigieg and black voters almost always made Iowans uneasy. They said they thought race shouldn’t matter — then corrected themselves to add that they knew it often did.

"Why Are We Not Winning Them?": Pete Buttigieg’s White Supporters Are Baffled By His Lack Of Black Support

—Buzzfeed News

1/18/2020

The Women’s March without the women’s messages

The [National] Archives acknowledged in a statement this week that it made multiple alterations to the photo of the 2017 Women’s March showcased at the museum, blurring signs held by marchers that were critical of Trump. Words on signs that referenced women’s anatomy were also blurred.

In the original version of the 2017 photograph, taken by Getty Images photographer Mario Tama, the street is packed with marchers carrying a variety of signs, with the Capitol in the background. In the Archives version, at least four of those signs are altered. …

The Archives said the decision to obscure the words was made as the exhibit was being developed by agency managers and museum staff members. It said David S. Ferriero, the archivist of the United States who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2009, participated in talks regarding the exhibit and supports the decision to edit the photo.

“As a non-partisan, non-political federal agency, we blurred references to the President’s name on some posters, so as not to engage in current political controversy,” Archives spokeswoman Miriam Kleiman said in an emailed statement.

National Archives exhibit blurs images critical of President Trump

—The Washington Post

1/18/2020

the national interest

Republicans Don’t Even Know What They’re Covering Up

By Jonathan Chait

But the latest revelations about Trump and Ukraine are explosive.

1/18/2020

augmented reality

Why Instagram Makes Its Filters So Hard to Find

By Brian Feldman

It’s not an oversight, it’s by design.