The World Mourns Prince, Meet The GOP’s ‘White Knights’, And The Community Of Online Conspiracy Theories

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April 22, 2016

Top Stories


Entertainment World Reacts To Reports Of Prince’s Death

The Gist: Artists and entertainers mourned reports that the musician Prince was found dead at his Minnesota estate Thursday. Here is how they reacted on Twitter.

Behold The Amazing White Knights The GOP Hoped Would Save It From Trump

The Gist: You know you’ve made it in Republicans politics when conservatives are circulating your name as a potential savior who would swoop into the presidential race and save the party from Donald Trump.

Ted Cruz Slams ESPN For Firing Schilling Over Anti-Trans Meme  

The Gist: According to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), ESPN made the wrong decision by dismissing baseball analyst Curt Schilling after he argued that transgender individuals should use bathrooms that conform to their birth sex. 

From The Reporter’s Notebook


Vice President Joe Biden appears to prefer Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) shoot-for-the-moon style of campaigning over Hillary Clinton’s more incremental policy approaches, TPM’s Sara Jerde wrote. During an interview with The New York Times aboard an Amtrak train, Biden said he likes “the idea of saying, ‘We can do much more,’ because we can. I don’t think any Democrat’s ever won saying, ‘We can’t think that big—we ought to really downsize here because it’s not realistic.'”

Agree or Disagree?


John Judis: “His web site says on Google – “David Trone for Congress – Experience Counts in Congress.” That’s a laugh. Trone has no political experience. In addition, he has contributed $150,000 in the past to Republican candidates, including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, three of the most reactionary Republicans on the planet. He says the contributions were related to his liquor business. Trone has taken all the obligatory positions on LGBT, guns, immigrants, and Black Lives Matter, but so have the other candidates. My choice is state senator and Constitutional scholar Jamin Raskin.” 

Say What?!


“I’m good w/ Harriet Tubman on $20. Great lady. But why not put Susan Rice on $10 bill? Lied about Benghazi on 5 Sunday talk shows. Historic.” 

-Larry Kudlow, a senior CNBC contributor, as well as other conservatives, reacted to the decision that legendary abolitionist Harriet Tubman would bump former President Andrew Jackson from the front of the $20 bill.

BUZZING: Today in the Hive


From a TPM Prime member:“It is possible for me to imagine a universe where everyone in America doesn’t have a political affiliation and we have the means and technology to fairly and accurately get the vote of the people in a real democratic sense. Think legendary (historic?) Athens — but at about a million times the scale. I think in such a universe, political parties and primaries and whatnot all lose their value. The point of the system as it exists today is to accommodate the process (e.g. people going to polls, voting in person, etc.). I think it’s possible that in some far flung future we won’t need all this crud — and that it will add dubious value to keep it. I still think in this voting utopia — think along the lines of the Culture series of sci-fi novels if you will — you’d wind up with groups of people advancing positions. De facto political parties. But the parties would be an organizing and marketing/advertising function rather than part of the election apparatus.”

Related: Exit poll in primary shows NY Dems energized by nomination contest, GOP divided.

Have something to add? Become a Prime member and join the discussion here.

What We’re Reading


Leaving the world of online conspiracy theories. (Broadly)

Talking to the kid whose mom used Craigslist to find him a feminism tutor got weird. (Slate)


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