Is Sharpton responsible for the rioting in Baltimore? Obama? Our Catherine Thompson wades through the right-wing media to find out who’s to blame.
As we prepare for a 2016 election, the outlines of which we think we basically know, will urban riots bring back the “backlash voter” who dominated many elections in the late 20th century?
After 15 years doing this, I’ve seen a truckload of closeted politicians forced out of the closet under the harsh glare of the media, either with wide stances, public bathroom propositions, dick pics. There are so many ways. And yet, man, I gotta hand it to Rep. Randy Boehning (R), a state legislator in North Dakota (and yes, that’s really his name, we didn’t make that up). I not sure I’ve seen a better response. He seems to have gone from deeply closeted to loud and proud (albeit under circumstances he didn’t choose) in like 30 seconds.
We’re rolling out a new TPM feature this morning: The Exchange. The concept and format are pretty simple. We put two people together to discuss an issue by email, usually three back and forths, so a total of six emails. We’re calling it ‘exchange’ rather than ‘debate’ because we’re not looking for debate, though they may settle into major disagreements. Often they will simply be trading of ideas. The goal is to air an issue, hopefully with two people who have given the matter some real thought or, in other cases, bring specific technical expertise. Though the participants know the emails will be published (edited only to prune out missing words or particularly strained grammar) we hope that these will have an unstructured, more casual air, which preserves pointed thinking while allowing writers the space to think out loud and explore ideas more than they might in more formal settings.
Our first installment is David Frum and I discussing the Iran Nuclear Deal, wisdom, folly and something else entirely. I hope you like it. Read here.
Rand Paul (apparently a presidential candidate) says he’s looking into whether the US military is actually planning a military takeover of the Southwest.
The White House insists it is not planning a military takeover of the country or Texas. But of course they’d say that.
Consider a hypothetical. The Obamacare case is before the Supreme Court and the threat to red state Obamacare subsidies is looming. It would be naive to think the White House wouldn’t have some contingency plans in place for that eventuality. Quick surgical action under the cover of military exercises: go in, set up exchanges, stand up friendly government with domestic opposition, leave small residual force, get out.
Gov Jindal says Justices Ginsburg and Kagan need to recuse themselves from the gay marriage decision.
Moderate Jeb Bush says he’s a fan of notorious racial intelligence ‘science’ scholar Charles Murray.
Ted Cruz says Hispanics don’t panhandle because they have a sense of shame but he won’t comment about African-Americans.
The first criminal charges in the Bridgegate scandal are expected later this morning in federal court in Newark. Those proceedings are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET, and the U.S. attorney has scheduled a 1 p.m. ET press conference.
Old Chris Christie chum David Wildstein is reportedly going to plead guilty to as yet unknown charges, but the New York Times reports that others are expected to be charged today as well. Whether Christie himself will be implicated is the big unknown.
Stick around for all the latest as it comes down today. In the meantime, a look at what the Wildstein plea could portend.