Senate GOPers Sick Of Trump Questions, NC Fight May Be Historic For Trans Rights, And Stewart: Trump Is A ‘Man-Baby’

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May 10, 2016

Top Stories


The North Carolina Fight Could Be A Watershed Moment For Trans Rights

The Gist: Thanks to North Carolina, major legal questions about how civil rights law applies to transgender people will be hashed out in a case about their access to bathrooms.

Jon Stewart: Trump Is A ‘Man-Baby’ With A Baby’s ‘Temperament And Hands’

The Gist: Comedian Jon Stewart said Monday on a podcast that presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump was a “man-baby” with a baby’s “temperament and hands.”

Senate Republicans Are Already Very, Very Tired Of Trump Questions 

The Gist: In the Senate Monday, just a week after Trump became the party’s presumptive nominee and any hope of a contested convention was laid to rest in Indiana, Republican lawmakers resistantly settled into their new normal: their futures are inextricably tied to a Manhattan billionaire who has run his campaign as if it is a reality television show. And everything he says? They are about to have to answer for it. 

From The Reporter’s Notebook


In a report published Monday by Gizmodo, a former Facebook news curator said that those choosing the stories that appear on the “trending” news section suppressed conservative news and stories from conservative news sites, TPM’s Kristin Salaky wrote. “I believe it had a chilling effect on conservative news,” the former curator told Gizmodo.

Agree or Disagree?


Josh Marshall: “At the moment, Republican elected officials are basically the only people in the United States who don’t have a strong opinion about whether or not Donald Trump should be president. And that’s a big, glaring problem. Because that just won’t make sense to anybody, not his supporters or detractors. I’m not sure it’s right to say that it’s better to just oppose him or endorse. These are both terrible options. But these various permutations of ‘no comment’ or ‘ask somebody else’ are almost as bad because they make the person saying it sound silly and ridiculous, which is really the worst thing that can happen to you in politics.”

Say What?!


“The panel alleges Boeckmann showed preferential treatment to white men and allowed sentencing not recorded on court dockets, including performing the task of picking up trash at his home. He’s accused of coercing some of the men into sexual acts ranging from spanking to masturbating on camera in return for paying their attorney fees or forgiving their fines.”

– An Arkansas judge resigned Monday after new allegations surfaced that he used his authority for the last 30 years to sexually prey on young men charged with crimes who needed financial help.

BUZZING: Today in the Hive


From a TPM Prime member: “As I argue with my Sanders-supporting friend who feels betrayed with no prosecutions of Jamie Dimond et al, I suggest I don’t know what statutes would have been invoked for an indictment. Aside from the political risk of attempting a prosecution and failing to get a sympathetic jury and/or judge, and losing, what would have been the avenue to use? The creation of the exotic derivatives was not only legal, it had special protection from oversight or even data collection, due to the Commodities Futures Modernization Act excluding them as normal financial instruments. So it doesn’t matter if the folks selling them lied through their teeth about their value, it was legal. I felt an example of provable fraud is if I sell you stocks that are not real. But if I sell you stocks I say are great and the company is almost bankrupt, that is legal. There is huge legal latitude regarding lying for commercial reasons. A recent SCOTUS case upheld a company that required their employee to report falsehoods as facts. My friend says Iceland jailed some bankers. We aren’t Iceland, but I would like to know what legal approach was taken, and what laws they have that applied.”

Related: Elizabeth Warren shreds Jamie Dimon’s mansplaining.

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

What We’re Reading


This West Virginia election inspired a John Grisham novel, and now it just got even weirder. (Mother Jones)

How the global elite spent 80 years getting injections of sheep fetus. (BuzzFeed)


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