Wednesday, May 15, 2019 and Thursday May 16.
THE RUSSIAN INVESTIGATION
- A majority of voters want Mueller to testify in front of Congress
- ‘We Will Do No Such Thing’: Nadler Rejects White House Demand to Call Off Obstruction of Justice Inquiry
- Come clean, FBI. Tell Floridians the whole hacking truth
- Congress is live reading the Mueller Report
- Democrats’ obsession with redaction is obscuring the obvious: Trump committed high crime
- Flynn told Mueller people tied to Trump and Congress tried to obstruct probe: The communications could have affected “his willingness to cooperate,” special counsel Robert Mueller wrote in court filings.
- Judge Orders Parts of Mueller Report Unredacted
- Judge orders public release of what Michael Flynn said in call to Russian ambassador
- Michael Flynn told special counsel about attempts to obstruct Russia probe
- The FBI classified the names of Florida’s hacked election offices. We contacted all 67.
- Why Won’t Leader McConnell Bring An Election Security Bill To The Floor?
CONGRESS
- ‘Good,’ Says Warren, After Trump Bank Regulator Calls Her Tough Questioning on Wells Fargo ‘Insulting’
- ‘People are dying for no reason’: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez confronts drug company CEO over HIV medication costing almost $2,000 a month in the US and only $8 in Australia
- Barr asks Pelosi outside the Capitol, ‘Madam Speaker, did you bring your handcuffs?’
- Elizabeth Warren introduces bill to curb defense lobbying
- Elizabeth Warren Thinks the Pentagon’s Relationship With Lobbyists Is Corrupt. Here’s Her Plan to Fix It
- House Democrats fall in line with Pelosi’s no-impeachment strategy despite Trump’s defiance
- House Democrats to read Mueller report aloud in Capitol hearing room
- I No Longer Believe House Democrats Will Uphold Their Constitutional Duty. And, as a result, the president*’s chances of reelection are better than anyone thinks.
- Nadler says House Democrats are probably not headed toward impeaching Trump
- No ‘do-over’ on Mueller probe, White House lawyer tells House panel, saying demands for records, staff testimony will be refused
- Ocasio-Cortez confronts CEO for nearly $2K price tag on HIV drug that costs $8 in Australia
- Pelosi Raises Impeachment as a Way to Break Trump’s Information Stonewall
- Sanders introduces petition to prohibit war with Iran without Congress’ approval
- Senator Warren proposes bill to adapt military’s infrastructure and operations to climate change
- The House has the power to arrest people who defy its orders
- U.S. House speaker: Trump does not have Congressional approval for war against Iran
- Warren to bank regulator who found her question insulting: ‘Good’
- What happened to the Trump counterintelligence investigation? House investigators don’t know.
COHEN, NEW YORK, AND THE OTHER LAWSUITS
- Trump took out 30-year loan on $18.5 million home in 2018
- Trump’s prized Doral resort is in steep decline, according to company documents, showing his business problems are mounting
- Company owned by Brazilian crooks received $62 million in Trump bailout cash meant for struggling U.S. farmers
- Donald Trump: White welfare king and lord of the great grift
- Donald Trump’s Tax Maneuvers Are Typical for His Class – If there’s a tax-evasion problem, it festers at the top of our income scale. Yet the IRS too often expends its precious resources going after the poor.
TRUMP THE RUSSIAN ASSET A.K.A. INDIVIDUAL-1
- The Trump Administration Is Thirsty for War, Intelligence Be Damned
- Trump ‘most authoritarian president’ in US history, says Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein
- Trump pardons billionaire friend Conrad Black, who wrote a book about him
- Trump signs order to protect U.S. networks from foreign espionage, a move that appears to target China
- Trump uses official White House event to mock Democratic presidential rivals
- Trump, frustrated by advisers, is not convinced the time is right to attack Iran
- Trump’s Iran policy is rooted in lies. The kind that got us into the Iraq War.
- Trump’s old tweets predicted a president would strike Iran to win re-election
TRAITOR TOTS
- Legal Experts: Jeff Sessions ‘Likely Violated Federal Conflict of Interest Regulations’
- Pence boasts that Trump’s space program will force museum ‘to build a new wing’ someday
- Pence pays homage to Lugar, symbol of a pre-Trump era of GOP internationalism
- Vice President Mike Pence paying $500K in legal bills from Mueller investigation with defense fund
CULT 45
FIGHTING BACK
EMERGENCIES, SHUTDOWN & IMMIGRATION
- Immigrants Are Being Forced To Sleep Outside On The Ground At This Texas Facility: “Why Do They Treat Us Like This?”
- Kushner struggles to answer GOP senators’ questions on his immigration plan
- New Mexico governor pays to bus migrants from border cities, hoping to ease burden
- Republican senators meet with Jared Kushner on immigration, conclude he’s clueless
- This man could go to jail for 20 years for giving migrants food and water
- Toddler apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border dies after weeks in hospital
- Trump Administration to LGBT Couples: Your ‘Out of Wedlock’ Kids Aren’t Citizens
- Trump himself wouldn’t be an American under his new immigration plan
- Trump supporters who donated to GoFundMe wall now worry they got scammed
- Trump unveils plan to overhaul the legal immigration system
- Trump’s pick for ICE director: I can tell which migrant children will become gang members by looking into their eyes
- Trump’s emergency declaration to build border wall faces first court test
- Trump, at event honoring slain law enforcement, highlights officer allegedly killed by undocumented immigrant
- White House says DACA protections too divisive to be included in Trump immigration plan
RACISM, RIGHT WING TERRORISM, & WHITE NATIONALISM
- America Will Not Join Call To Stop Extremism Online, Because Republicans Like Winning Elections, I Guess
- Trump biographer: Trump believes in genetic superiority
- Trump prepares to unveil broad immigration plan but shows no signs of tempering hard line rhetoric
- White House declines to back Christchurch call to stamp out online extremism amid free speech concerns
- White House escalates war against Facebook, Google and Twitter with a campaign asking users to share stories of censorship
- Why young Southerners still get indoctrinated in the Lost Cause: Statues can be torn down. The lies on which they were built are harder to topple
SCOTUS & COURTS
- Democratic 2020 candidates warn Roe v. Wade at stake after Alabama abortion ban’s passage
- States racing to overturn Roe v. Wade look to a Supreme Court that prefers gradual change
- Trump Judge Who Thinks Abortion Causes Cancer Could Be Confirmed Today
#METOO & WOMEN’S RIGHTS
- ‘A typical male answer’: Only 3 women had a voice in Alabama Senate as 25 men passed abortion ban
- ‘I think we raped women last night,’ Alabama Democrat declares after antiabortion bill passes
- “Arrest Me, You Alabama Cowards” – The state’s abortion ban treats women as victims of evil doctors rather than informed, willing participants.
- Alabama’s antiabortion governor urges respect for life, will oversee a 7th execution
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says if male politicians could get pregnant, they’d build Planned Parenthood clinics everywhere
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Abortion Bans Are a ‘Brutal Form of Oppression’ Designed to ‘Control Women’s Sexuality’
- AOC: Abortion bans aren’t just about controlling women’s bodies. They’re about controlling women’s sexuality. Owning women. From limiting birth control to banning comprehensive sex ed, US religious fundamentalists are working hard to outlaw sex that falls outside their theology.
- AOC: If male politicians could get pregnant, there would be as many Planned Parenthood clinics as there are Post Offices. 💌📬
- Kansas Supreme Court: Abortion now a constitutional right in state
- In Alabama, the GOP goes big on overturning Roe v. Wade. It could regret it.
- GOP strategist warns Alabama abortion law could energize Dem base in 2020
- Governor signs Alabama abortion ban, which has galvanized support on both sides, setting up a lengthy fight
- Lady Gaga Slams Alabama Abortion Ban: ‘This Is a Travesty’ — “So there’s a higher penalty for doctors who perform these operations than for most rapists?” singer tweeted of measure
- Ocasio-Cortez: Abortion bans are about ‘owning women’
- Post-Roe America Could Be Worse Than Anything That Came Before | The new abortion bans are harsher than the old ones.
- The ACLU Is Suing Over Ohio’s Six-Week Abortion Ban
- Reddit: Re:Republicans banning abortion at the state level
- Reddit: Tabitha Isner destroying Alabamas governor after signing a ridiculous abortion bill
- Trudeau ‘disappointed’ by ‘backsliding’ on abortion rights in U.S.
COLD WAR 2.0
- 1 Million Londoners Set To March Against Trump During UK State Visit, Poll Suggests
- Angela Merkel Identifies U.S. as Global Rival That, Along With China and Russia, Europe Must Unite Against
- Angela Merkel says the postwar world order is over and calls for Europe to stand up to China, Russia, and the US
- Jamal Khashoggi fiancee: ‘The world still has not done anything’
#NEVERAGAIN
- Shot twice, he helped subdue a school shooter — while calling his mother
- Colorado school shooting suspects will both be tried as adults
- Leaked Documents Are ‘Goldmine’ For New York Attorney General’s NRA Probe
THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE
- Fox News Legal Analyst Says Trump Violated Constitution’s ‘Separation of Powers’ Three Times in Past Week
- ‘This is a war for our culture’: Sebastian Gorka anguished by gay wedding on ‘Arthur’
WHITE HOUSE CHAOS
- When Trump Gives Impulsive Orders, His Staff Just Ignores Him: Report
- EPA watchdog suggests agency recover $124,000 in Pruitt’s ‘excessive’ travel expenses
- FAA chief pressed on Boeing 737 MAX during Hill hearing
- FAA chief to be pressed on Boeing 737 MAX while would-be replacement faces questions on his approach to air safety
- HUD’s Ben Carson broke law with furniture order, GAO says
TRADE WAR, HEALTH CARE, AND ECONOMY
- Trump’s tariffs are equivalent to one of the largest tax increases in decades
- China is paying Trump’s tariffs? That’s not how it looks to some Americans.
- Intuit CEO in Internal Video: Hiding Free TurboTax Was In “Best Interest of Taxpayers”
- The misleading narrative in Trump’s tumble of trade tweets
- Small Businesses Are Suffering. Elizabeth Warren Noticed. The left forgot what Roosevelt knew: Mom-and-pop employers and corporate behemoths have different interests.
GOP: THE PARTY OF LINCOLN IS DEAD
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- How a police raid turned the death of a beloved police critic into a national scandal
- Ariana Grande Is Being Sued For Posting Paparazzi Photos Of Herself To Instagram
- ‘One of the strangest cases’: A dead professor, a hot tub and a suicide baffle police
ENVIRONMENT & SCIENCE
- A mystery illness killed a boy in 1969. Years later, doctors learned what it was: AIDS.
- California is already drenched. Now three ‘atmospheric rivers’ may unload two months’ worth of rain.
- Central U.S. faces long stretch of potentially violent storms and flooding rain starting Friday
- Does this train station smell like … grapefruit? How the air around us suddenly became so fragrant.
- He went where no human had gone before. Our trash had already beaten him there.
- How do tornadoes form? This drone-based project seeks to unravel the secrets of spinning storms
- Lower-fat diet reduces women’s risk of dying from breast cancer, study says
ELECTIONS
- Voter Purges Show Why We Need a Constitutional Right to Vote
- Almost 16 million voters were removed from the rolls. We should be alarmed.
THINKING AHEAD
- ‘I don’t see him crying uncle’: Trump believes China tariffs will help him win reelection
- Farmer who voted for Trump says he’ll ‘never vote for him again’ as family set to lose $150,000 in China trade war
- If Steve Bullock wants to win over rural Americans, he should focus on black and Latino farmers
- Kamala Harris isn’t running for vice president. So why do people keep saying she’d be a great No. 2?
- New York Mayor Bill de Blasio adds his name to the Democratic presidential field
- The Trailer: The left has pushed the Democratic Party, but Biden isn’t passing the litmus tests
PROGRESS IS PROGRESS
- Taiwan legalises same-sex marriage
- Turns Out “Spooky ‘Socialist’ Proposals” Are Popular, Says AOC, As Poll Shows 70% of GOP Voters Back Plan to Cap Credit Card Rates
WTF?!
- Harvard Lampoon apologizes for ‘sexualizing Anne Frank’ with bikini cartoon
- Marine Corps punishes drill instructors and officers after hazing incidents
- Ruby chocolate, or couverture, makes its American debut
- The never-before-told story of the Navy plane that drew a giant penis in the sky
- ‘Not a cute fashion accessory’: Gucci’s $800 ‘Indy Full Turban’ draws backlash
IN OTHER NEWS…
- An aged tree, witness to history, falls near the Washington Monument
- Fans used to love ‘Game of Thrones.’ Now they just love criticizing it.
- In search of an edge, elite basketball prospects are repeating a grade — in middle school
- Over six years and 100,000 miles, this photographer sought out America’s ‘humor, pathos and humanity’
- Robert Maxwell, Medal of Honor recipient who fell on grenade to save lives, dies at 98
- So long to ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ which was smart about being dumb about being smart
That’s it for the last couple days. Once again, there is no Rumor Mill section today as I have not been on social media. At least not for political purposes. Getting back into the daily cycle of writing is like rehabbing from an injury. The time immediately after the injury is spent trying to heal the damaged area. The next phase is spent trying to strengthen the damaged body part to get it ready for normal work. Then, it’s a holistic approach to get back to normal. Right now I feel like I’m in the first or second phase of rehab.
I hope to get back to more content next week. Right now, I just want to get back to a maintainable schedule before trying to tackle more stuff. I’ll be back with some Rumor Mill stuff over the weekend. To be honest, I’ve been avoiding it because I’m burned out from everything else and needed a chance to recuperate. I think I’m back up to semi-normal at this point.
Thank you, and have a good one.
“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”
– Katy Tur
None of this is Normal 