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Anger as grinning Trump gives thumbs-up while Melania holds El Paso orphan — A backlash is building over a picture posted by Melania Trump on Twitter that showed her and Donald Trump smiling broadly while holding a baby who was orphaned in the mass shooting in El Paso.
Discussion:
Slate, Washington Post, CNN, Mother Jones, Law & Crime, The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Grinning Trump gives thumbs-up with baby whose parents were shot dead in El Paso terror attack — Infant was brought for photo op at hospital where patients refused to meet president — It is the sort of photo politicians have long been known to favour: adorable baby, thumbs up, big smiles.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Jezebel, Daily Kos and Breitbart

The Denialists — It takes a lot of work to try to exonerate the president's fomenting of racist violence, but Trump fans are giving it their all. — “This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” —The El Paso killer's manifesto — Byron York wants to make sure …
Discussion:
Power Line, MinnPost and Big League Politics

Walmart removing violent video game displays, signs from stores but still selling guns — Following two shootings inside its stores, Walmart is removing violent video game displays and signs from stores, the retailer confirmed Thursday. — Stores were sent a memo that called for …
Discussion:
Reason, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, NPR, Shareblue Media, Bloomberg, CNN, New York Post, The Wrap, Rolling Stone, The Week, Polygon, TheBlaze and VICE
Reed Richardson / Mediaite:
Trump and First Lady Smiling With Baby Orphaned in El Paso Massacre Draws Criticism: ‘Act Like a Human Being’

Armed Trump supporter detained and released at El Paso immigrant center
Discussion:
KTSM-TV and Washington Examiner
Lulu Garcia-Navarro / The Atlantic:
The Media Erased Latinos From the Story
The Media Erased Latinos From the Story
Discussion:
New York Times

Trump's Opponents Want to Name His Big Donors. His Supporters Say It's Harassment. — WASHINGTON — For many businesses, a sudden deluge of phone calls might signal an influx of new customers. But most of the 25 calls Justin Herricks received before noon on Thursday were from people …
Discussion:
Michael Berry, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, BizPac Review, Patterico's Pontifications, Daily Kos, Advocate and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Stephen Ross expressed qualms about Trump bash after liberal backlash — Billionaire New York real estate developer Stephen Ross privately expressed qualms about going ahead with his Hamptons fundraiser for President Trump today. — The state of play: Liberal customers had threatened …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Mediaite, The Week, Breitbart, CNBC and Associated Press

SoulCycle Owner, Trump Donors Face Public Shaming
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Wire
Katherine Rosman / New York Times:
They Paid $42 for a SoulCycle Ride, Not for Trump
They Paid $42 for a SoulCycle Ride, Not for Trump
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Outside the Beltway, CBS Miami, Los Angeles Times and Slate
Sister Toldjah / RedState:
Pro-Doxxing Cyberbully Joaquin Castro Once Praised Passage of a Texas Law Aimed at Preventing... Cyberbulling
Pro-Doxxing Cyberbully Joaquin Castro Once Praised Passage of a Texas Law Aimed at Preventing... Cyberbulling
Discussion:
Townhall, FOX News Radio and Instapundit

Former firefighter stops man armed with 100 rounds of ammunition at south Springfield Walmart — SPRINGFIELD, Mo. The Springfield Police Department says it responded to a call of an active shooter at the Walmart Neighborhood Market at Republic Rd., near Golden Ave., Thursday evening.
Discussion:
Springfield News-Leader, New York Daily News, National Review, Springfield, MO, WGN-TV, JustOneMinute, The Stranger, Diamond & Silk, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Boing Boing, BizPac Review, KTLA, The Daily Caller, twitchy.com, Breitbart, CNN, Daily Kos, FOX2now.com, Towleroad Gay News and FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV
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Springfield Police arrest armed person at Walmart on Republic — SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- The Springfield Police Department tweeted out Thursday that an armed man was arrested at the Walmart Neighborhood Market on W. Republic Road. … Later, Lt. Mike Lucas with Springfield Police confirmed …
Discussion:
Louder With Crowder, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall, Daily Wire, TheBlaze, New York Post and FOX2now.com

Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Names Powerful Men in Alleged Sex Ring — In newly unsealed documents, Virginia Giuffre claims that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her to politicians, princes, and a high-flying financier, among others. — A young woman who says financier Jeffrey Epstein …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller

'If you're a good worker, papers don't matter': How a Trump construction crew has relied on immigrants without legal status — OSSINING, N.Y. — For nearly two decades, the Trump Organization has relied on a roving crew of Latin American employees to build fountains and waterfalls …
Discussion:
Axios, Little Green Footballs, Splinter, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Here's the data on white supremacist terrorism the Trump administration has been ‘unable or unwilling’ to give to Congress — WASHINGTON — Alleged white supremacists were responsible for all race-based domestic terrorism incidents in 2018, according to a government document distributed earlier …

Joe Biden says ‘poor kids’ are ‘just as talented as white kids’ — Speaking in Iowa on Thursday night, former Vice President Joe Biden said “poor kids” are “just as talented as white kids,” before correcting himself. — Biden was addressing the Iowa Asian and Latino Coalition …
Discussion:
NBC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Splinter, UPI and Mediaite
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Biden in Iowa Says ‘Poor Kids’ Are Just as Smart as ‘White Kids’
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The Week

Prosecutors pick their battles. I chose not to pursue an ICE raid in Alabama. — U.S. attorneys don't have the resources to charge all crimes. Shouldn't they focus on people who present the greatest threat? — Federal prosecutors have broad discretion to choose what cases they will bring.
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Blue Texas is a Democratic dream. Shifting left is a reality. — For three years now, Texas Republicans have been taking on water. In 2016, Donald Trump won the state by nine points — a seven-point decline from Mitt Romney's 16-point margin four years earlier.
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Harry Enten / CNN:
From a former disbeliever: Why Texas could go blue in 2020
From a former disbeliever: Why Texas could go blue in 2020
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics

Sen. Tim Scott says his 2022 SC reelection bid will be his last political race — In three years time, Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott will be facing reelection in South Carolina, but he will also be facing something else: His last political run. — In a wide-ranging interview Thursday …

8Chan Refugees Blow Their Anonymity — An unofficial new version of the hate-filled forum isn't as anonymous as its users might hope. — Refugees from the anonymous 8chan forum are flooding into a new censorship-resistant home on the dark web, and inadvertently giving up their anonymity along the way.

Reports say White House has drafted an order putting the FCC in charge of monitoring social media — The White House is contemplating issuing an executive order that would widen its attack on the operations of social media companies. — The White House has prepared an executive order called …
Discussion:
CNN and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

A black man was about to buy a cop's house. Then, he found a KKK application in a bedroom. — The Confederate flag place mat on the dining room table was Rob Mathis's first hint that something was off inside the home he was thinking of buying. — “I thought to myself …
Discussion:
VICE and New York Post

Egypt jails American traveler, saying she criticized the government on Facebook — CAIRO — When Reem Mohamed Desouky arrived from Washington last month with her 13-year-old son, Egyptian authorities detained them at the airport, he said. They confiscated their phones and interrogated Desouky, holding the two for hours.
Discussion:
National Review

Trump heads for golf club holiday - but summer storms loom — NEW YORK (AP) — Now is the summer (vacation) of the president's discontent. — As Donald Trump prepares to leave Friday for his annual August holiday at his lush New Jersey golf club, he's confronting a storm of crises …

Suspected White Nationalist Leader Suspended From State Department: Reports — The employee, Matthew Q. Gebert, allegedly oversaw a chapter of a white nationalist group and hosted white nationalists at his home. — The State Department has placed one of its employees on leave following …
Discussion:
WhoWhatWhy and Hullabaloo

Lost in Life, El Paso Suspect Found a Dark World Online — Gunman who allegedly killed 22 people with an intent to attack Hispanics told investigators he came to his views on the internet — ALLEN, Texas—The family of Patrick Crusius, the alleged gunman in El Paso's mass shooting …

Missile Explosion Prompts Radiation Warnings in Russia — Was the explosion, which reportedly killed three people, a test of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile gone awry? — An explosion at a Russian military base killed three personnel and caused a brief spike in radioactivity in a nearby Russian city.
Discussion:
RedState, The Daily Beast, New York Times and Fox News

Bruce Ohr Documents Undercut FBI Claims In Carter Page FISAs — Justice Department official Bruce Ohr told the FBI in November 2016 about meetings between dossier author Christopher Steele and a reporter who published a story about the former British spy's allegations against Carter Page.
Discussion:
New York Post

'They're afraid': Suburban voters in red states threaten GOP's grip on power — BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — Republicans face a reckoning in the red-state suburbs that have long been a bedrock for the party, propelled by the stormy confluence of President Trump's searing racial attacks …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo

Have Pollsters Forgotten That Nevada Is An Early State? — Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly polling roundup. — Poll(s) of the week — There are few constants in the presidential primary, but the order in which early states vote is roughly set in stone: first Iowa …
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Fox News and Washington Post

Quillette Duped by Left-Wing Hoaxer Posing as Communist Construction Worker — “Archie Carter,” who pretended to be a blue-collar member of the Democratic Socialists of America, says he set out to humiliate the conservative site with his error-riddled story.
Discussion:
Quillette and Lawyers, Guns & Money