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WH official: We'll say ‘fake news’ until media realizes attitude of attacking the President is wrong — (CNN)Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump, said Monday that the administration will continue using the term “fake news” until the media understands that their …
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Shakesville, Daily Kos, Politicus USA, Talking Points Memo, The Week and Axios, more at Mediagazer »


White House ramping up search for communications director after Spicer's rocky start — Washington (CNN)The White House is ramping up its search for a new communications director in an effort to lighten the load of embattled White House press secretary Sean Spicer, multiple sources told CNN.
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Axios, New York Magazine, Political Wire, Hot Air, Raw Story and TVNewser
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Rosie O'Donnell as Steve Bannon? SNL could really make Trump angry if it wanted to.
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The Atlantic, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, NBC News, LGBTQ Nation, AOL, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Mashable and Business Insider

Exclusive: How Theresa May poked fun at the size of Donald Trump's hands
Discussion:
The Week, New York Magazine and twitchy.com

‘Facts Are Stubborn Things’: Tapper Confronts Conway for WH Claims on Media Terror Coverage — CNN's Jake Tapper faced off with Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway this afternoon over the White House's claims about the media's lacking coverage of terrorist attacks.
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Tapper, Conway have heated exchange in tense interview
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RedState

Here are the 78 terrorist attacks the White House says were largely under-reported
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Media Matters for America, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, The Mahablog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mashable, Philly.com, CBS News, The Concourse, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Mediaite, New York Times, Common Dreams, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, Politico and Huffington Post Australia …, more at Mediagazer »


Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary; Pence Breaks Tie — WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos on Tuesday as education secretary, approving the embattled nominee only with the help of a historic tiebreaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence.
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Gizmodo, CNBC, New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Scripting News, The Stranger …, Outside the Beltway, FiveThirtyEight, Boing Boing, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Free Beacon, Little Green Footballs, WiredPen, The Slot, Joe.My.God., Refinery29, Political Wire and American Prospect
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Franken: DeVos ‘fundamentally incompetent’ to lead Education Dept
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CNN, National Review, Mediaite, Common Dreams, Politicus USA, Fox News and Instapundit

The job of the education secretary isn't to defend public schools. It's to help kids learn.
Discussion:
Hit & Run and Mother Jones

Trump's loose talk about Muslims gets weaponized in court against travel ban — Throughout Donald Trump's campaign and now into the first weeks of his presidency, critics suggested that he cool his incendiary rhetoric, that his words matter. His defenders responded that, as Corey Lewandowski said, he was being taken too “literally.”
Discussion:
New York Times
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The Latest: US Judges Skeptical Over Need for Travel Ban
Discussion:
Politico, KQED News and The Stranger …

Hearing Underway on Challenge to Trump's Controversial Immigration Order
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Associated Press, Politico, RedState, Washington Post, New York Times, Vox, Common Dreams, Power Line, Outside the Beltway and TalkLeft


Flying Home From Abroad, a Border Agent Stopped and Questioned Me ... About My Work for the ACLU — Last week, I was flying home from a work trip and faced Customs and Border Protection questioning unlike anything I've ever experienced in over 25 years of travel into and out of this country …


Texas mystery: Who's the senator Trump offered to help Rockwall sheriff ‘destroy?’ — WASHINGTON — There's a Texas state senator with a new target on his back, courtesy of President Donald Trump and the Rockwall County sheriff. — At a meeting Tuesday morning with sheriffs from around the country …
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Washington Post, NPR, Business Insider, Mediaite and Hit & Run
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Trump offers to ‘destroy career’ of Texas state senator at meeting with sheriff
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The Texas Tribune, Politico, IJR, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, ThinkProgress, Raw Story, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo and The Week


One-Third Don't Know Obamacare and Affordable Care Act Are the Same — A sizable minority of Americans don't understand that Obamacare is just another name for the Affordable Care Act. — These findings, from a poll by Morning Consult, illustrate the extent of public confusion over a health law …
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Business Insider, The Hill, ACASignups.net, Fox News Insider, TheBlaze, The Week, Political Wire, Politicus USA and The Guardian

Republicans fear for their safety as Obamacare protests grow — House Republicans during a closed-door meeting Tuesday discussed how to protect themselves and their staff from protesters storming town halls and offices in opposition to repealing Obamacare, sources in the room told POLITICO.
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Washington Monthly, Occupy Democrats, Daily Kos, Political Wire and Balloon Juice
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Republican lawmakers face rising anger at town halls
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Common Dreams, Vox Popoli and Infowars


GOP Congressman Insists White Terrorist Attacks Are Totally Different — Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) also pointed to “the good things” that came from the shooting of black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. — Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) vehemently defended President Donald Trump's ban …
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Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, ThinkProgress and Washington Free Beacon


Richard vs Barack - kiteboard and foilboard challenge — It was a huge honour to be able to invite President Barack and Michelle Obama down to the British Virgin Islands for a complete break after Barack finished his second term as President and the family left the White House.


House Republicans Just Voted to Eliminate the Only Federal Agency That Makes Sure Voting Machines Can't Be Hacked — Republicans made it easier to steal an election by killing the Election Assistance Commission. — By , — In a little-noticed 6-3 vote today, the House Administration …
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ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Gizmodo, Occupy Democrats and Common Dreams
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Donald Trump's staff get him to agree to policies by saying 'Obama wouldn't have done it' — Military officials got Donald Trump to agree to the botched Yemen raid by suggesting Barack Obama would never have had the courage to do it, it has been reported. The raid, which had been planned …
Discussion:
NBC News, Raw Story, Occupy Democrats, Booman Tribune, Shakesville and Taylor Marsh


17-35105 State of Washington v. Trump 3:00 PM 2/7 — Live audio stream from Courtroom One in the James R. Browning Court of Appeals Building in San Francisco, California.
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Jamie Dupree and NPR


Ordinary Americans carried out inhumane acts for Trump — (Video by Ken Lam) … A week ago, men and women went to work at airports around the United States as they always do. They showered, got dressed, ate breakfast, perhaps dropped off their kids at school.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money


Keith Ellison Is Everything Republicans Thought Obama Was. Maybe He's Just What Democrats Need. … Last May, as Donald Trump was locking up the Republican nomination, a prophetic clip began circulating among portions of the left. It was a nearly one-year-old segment of ABC's Sunday show This Week …
Discussion:
Daily Wire, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon and The Slot

Melania Trump reaches settlement in libel lawsuit against Maryland blogger — First lady Melania Trump has settled her defamation lawsuit against a Maryland blogger, who agreed to apologize to the Trump family and pay her a “substantial sum,” her lawyers said in a statement they released Tuesday morning.
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New York Daily News, Talking Points Memo, Salon, The Hill, Techdirt, The Week, Racked, Daily Wire, Common Dreams, Politico, IJR, Mashable, Hot Air, RedState, Balloon Juice and Boing Boing, more at Mediagazer »


All CPS students sent home with letter accusing Gov. Rauner of ‘cheating’ kids — Share Update: … CHICAGO — Intense rhetoric between Chicago democrats and Illinois' republican governor is nothing new, but some parents are upset it is now being played out in a letter sent home with their kids.
Discussion:
RedState


After Breitbart Attacked An Author For Criticizing Trump, A Horde Of “Alt-Right” Trolls Harassed Her — A slew of online trolls attacked Rosa Brooks for an article she wrote in Foreign Policy discussing possible consequences of Donald Trump's historically abnormal presidency.
Discussion:
Foreign Policy


How President Trump Could Seize More Power After a Terrorist Attack — Since September 11, 2001, ninety-four people have been killed in the United States in ten attacks carried out by a total of twelve radical Islamist terrorists. Each of the attackers was either an American citizen or a legal resident.
Discussion:
Political Wire


Trump makes false statement about U.S. murder rate to sheriffs' group — President Trump met Tuesday morning with a group of sheriffs from the National Sheriffs Association, a group which consists of more than 3,000 sheriffs from around the country. And to this sworn group of law enforcement veterans …
Discussion:
Business Insider


Donald Trump's Dangerous End Game — Why the president is accusing journalists and judges of enabling terrorists. — The term “fake news” outlived its usefulness almost as soon as it became common parlance, and is perhaps only valuable now as a marker for whether journalism …
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BuzzFeed, Fox News Insider, New York Magazine, TheBlaze, Daily Wire, Refinery29 and Mediaite


From disputes to a breakup: wounds still raw after U.S. election — Burning passions over Donald Trump's presidency are taking a personal toll on both sides of the political divide. For Gayle McCormick, it is particularly wrenching: she has separated from her husband of 22 years.
Discussion:
TheBlaze and The American Mirror

Cotton and Trump plot crackdown on legal immigration — Overlooked in Donald Trump's campaign crusade against illegal immigration was his vow to crack down on legal immigration, too. — Now, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), a reliable Trump ally, is taking steps to execute that part …
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ThinkProgress, Hot Air, NBC News, AOL, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, Axios, Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times and Political Wire

Steve King: Putin Does Allow Freedom of Dissent, He Never Murdered Prominent Critic — Republican Iowa Congressman Steve King argued Sunday that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was not nearly as bad as critics charged, noting that Putin has never murdered one of his prominent critics.
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Joe.My.God.


France: Anti-Christian Attacks Rise 245 Per Cent — While racist, anti-Muslim, and anti-Semitic attacks have seen a huge fall since 2008, those on Christian places of worship more than doubled in this period of time, France's interior ministry reported last week.