If you don’t know who Paul Nehlen is, count your blessings. He’s one of several racists and Nazis running this cycle under the GOP party banner. The GOP doesn’t want them. But theirs is the party the white supremacists choose to run with. I wonder why?
Will Bunch/philly.com:
Donald Trump became president of the United States of Men today
The 1977 skit gently mocked the women’s movement and less gently mocked the patriarchy with a TV talk show called “You’ve Come a Long Way, Buddy” that promoted the work of male painters like Vincent Van Gogh (who “influenced many artists. And he was a man.”) while music written by men, like Beethoven, played in the background, The skit reached its absurdist crescendo when a cigar-smoking John Belushi appears as a character who’s launched a 24-hour rape hotline … for men who’ve committed a rape. Belushi’s “Sam Montgomery” says the hotline gives rapists “an opportunity to talk to someone who understands what he’s gone through” — and it’s completely anonymous.
“Very often, to be known as a rapist is a social stigma, and it can ruin a man’s life.”
That’s a quote from SNL and what was supposed to be biting social satire, in a time when the future absurdity of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States, was beyond the ability of comedy writers to imagine.
Politico:
Desperate Republicans turn to Adelson
Outraised by energized Democrats, the party is depending on megadonors like the casino mogul to close the gap.
"The sidelining of Steve Wynn is a blow to Republican super PACs and candidates and it makes donors like Sheldon Adelson even more important," said Curt Anderson, a Republican strategist who accompanied Scott to the Venetian.
Christopher Ingram/WaPo:
Pennsylvania Republicans have drawn a new congressional map that is just as gerrymandered as the old one
“This reminds me of what happened in Florida in 2012, where the state legislature drew maps under new constitutional anti-gerrymandering requirements,” Amos said. He should know: Amos was a consulting expert for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that ultimately overturned some of Florida's gerrymanders.
In that case the legislature redrew maps that were more compact but just as biased. “Compared to the previous decade's plan, it was an improvement in measures like compactness and respecting county and municipal boundaries,” Amos said. “But there was still a strong Republican bias, which is why the congressional and State Senate plans were struck down for being gerrymanders.”
Dana Houle/WaPo:
Nancy Pelosi is incredibly underrated
Yes, of course, Pelosi is unpopular. So are Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). So is Congress. Yet, for some reason, only Pelosi gets blamed for an unpopularity that really stems from disgust with Congress and partisan polarization. Pelosi is not a scorched-earth partisan; indeed, at numerous times in her career she has been criticized for cutting deals, such as on Iraq War appropriations and Obamacare. But she also understands polarization. She sees her public role not as using policy to communicate a common ground to centrist swing voters but to expose differences between Democrats and Republicans.
NY Times:
Nancy Pelosi Wants to Take Back the House. But She Faces a More Urgent Test
To liberals and minorities in the broad Democratic coalition, immigration and the defense of the young undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers have become missions of resistance against a callous Trump administration. But to Democrats fighting to maintain their handholds in the center of the country, a singular focus on immigration is politically problematic — if not suicidal. In her maneuvering on the issue, Ms. Pelosi has managed to displease some on both sides.
Benjamin Carlson/Atlantic:
China Loves Trump
The people love a winner. The leadership loves a dupe.
From the very beginning, the Communist Party seems to have understood that Trump’s threats were, for the most part, merely for show. By refusing to be rattled, China has enjoyed a series of rhetorical and strategic triumphs that have enhanced its global image and increased its international influence. China also appears to have assessed that Trump, the self-proclaimed master deal maker, would rather have a bad deal than no deal at all, and could be persuaded to compromise on almost anything in order to declare a “win.”
We need to look at it more like they do.
Daily Beast:
Trump-Russia Isn’t About the Cover-Up. It’s About the Crime.
In Watergate, it was the cover-up, not the crime. But in Russiagate, that stands to be turned on its head. We already know a lot—and we can be sure Mueller knows more.
Flynn didn’t just vaguely admit he lied. The law doesn’t allow that. He admitted in writing that his lie “had a material impact” on the FBI’s probe “into the existence of any links or coordination between individuals associated with the [Trump] Campaign and Russia’s efforts to intervene in the 2016 election.”
The conspiracy case--the heart of Mueller’s efforts-- almost certainly boils down to an old-fashioned quid pro quo. Flynn’s “quid”—the substance of his recorded conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak— was lifting the sanctions that President Obama imposed on Russia in late 2016 and the earlier sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine. The “quo” was collusion (“conspiracy” in legal terms) with Russians to harm Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, which Flynn effectively admitted was “material” to his lies after the election. Anyone associated with this deal is in deep legal trouble.