With Rep. Darrell Issa, a prolific investigator of the Obama administration, on his way out the door, we take a look back at a few of his greatest hits (Prime access).
It sounds like Missouri may end up with a new Governor.
Good morning. Here’s what’s on TPM’s editors’ radar today.
As you can see there’s quite a lot going on in Missouri politics this morning. Here’s our first report on the story from overnight. We’re following this one closely. More to come.
This morning the President got confused by a Fox news segment and lashed out at his own FISA reauthorization bill on Twitter.
Here’s a White House statement from last night, opposing an amendment that would restrict intelligence surveillance under FISA. Read More
According to the President, federal law enforcement officers criticizing him on government phone and text devices amounts to ‘treason’. Read More
Please take a moment to watch this video. It’s remarkable and important. The words themselves are not terribly surprising. They’re really undeniable. But reporters on network or cable network TV simply do not talk this way. They don’t cut this close to the reality of situation.
It’s CNN’s Jim Acosta. The video is after the jump. Watch. It’s important and remarkable. Read More
Good morning and happy Friday. Both the House and Senate will meet only briefly today for pro-forma sessions. Here’s what’s on TPM editors’ radar today.
Here’s one thing that occurs to me. When I first heard about the “shithole” meeting at the White House I thought it was a bipartisan meeting. Technically it was. But my understanding now is that there was only one Democrat there: Dick Durbin (D-IL). He went there with Lindsey Graham. But there were a handful of other Republican senators already there. Would we have ever heard about this if a Democrat hadn’t been in the room?
Let me take a moment to speak up for the word “shithole” which is seeing its reputation damaged by association with Donald Trump. We went to this dive bar. It was a total shithole. That town? Total shithole, never want to go there again. It’s a dump. Closer to President Trump’s ugly usage, Trump wouldn’t be the only American to call a poor or underdeveloped country a shithole. That’s not okay. But my point here is that there’s nothing inherently wrong with the word – nothing more than any other not for polite conversation swear word. And even this ugly usage doesn’t capture the essence of Trump’s meaning. The context and import of President Trump’s remarks are not simply that the countries are “shitholes.” It’s much more than that. It’s that we don’t want people from those countries because the awfulness of the countries attaches to the people themselves. Speaking of whole classes of people, specifically people of color, as basically garbage – is not only disgusting but entirely of a piece with the campaign President Trump ran in 2016 and the policies he is implementing as President today. Read More