NBC News:
Just 29 percent of Americans say they approve of President Donald Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, while 38 percent disapprove, according to results from a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. Another 32 percent of respondents don't have enough to say on the matter.
Yet among those who say they have read, seen or heard "a lot" about the firing, 53 percent say they disapprove, versus 33 percent who approve.
NY Times:
G.O.P. Senators, Pulling Away From Trump, Have ‘a Lot Less Fear of Him’
Senate Republicans, increasingly unnerved by President Trump’s volatility and unpopularity, are starting to show signs of breaking away from him as they try to forge a more traditional Republican agenda and protect their political fortunes.
Several Republicans have openly questioned Mr. Trump’s decision to fire the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, and even lawmakers who supported the move have complained privately that it was poorly timed and disruptive to their work. Many were dismayed when Mr. Trump seemed to then threaten Mr. Comey not to leak negative information about him.
As they pursue their own agenda, Republican senators are drafting a health care bill with little White House input, seeking to avoid the public relations pitfalls that befell the House as it passed its own deeply unpopular version. Republicans are also pushing back on the president’s impending budget request — including, notably, a provision that would nearly eliminate funding for the national drug control office amid an opioid epidemic. And many high-ranking Republicans have said they will not support any move by Mr. Trump to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement.
He’s a bully, a con man and a nutcase. He’s also increasingly isolated. Get over him, and fast, Senators. The polls will help you get there.
WaPo:
Trump’s shifting reason for firing Comey could cost him with Hill leaders
The possibility Trump misled lawmakers about the reasons for his decision adds another layer of controversy to Comey’s dismissal and could fuel calls on Capitol Hill for congressional investigators to more aggressively probe the possibility of collusion between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government.
Trump’s about-face also raises further questions about the role of newly installed Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein in the president’s decision.
WaPo:
In service to Trump, Pence keeps saying things that aren’t true
Since his selection as vice president, Pence has been unflagging in his loyalty and deference to Trump. But in return, the president and White House aides have repeatedly set Pence up to be the public face of official narratives that turn out to be misleading or false.
It is a risk that comes with this high-wire presidency, where talking points and game plans nearly always have an unknown expiration date and where missing meetings can mean being out of the loop when critical decisions are made. The greatest disrupter of all is the president himself, who regularly — and without warning — throws out the communications playbook in favor of his own approach.
Weird how the press refuses to consider whether Pence knew and he was lying. Why is that?
HuffPost:
As Trump Erupts In Crazy, Most Republicans Hold Fast — For Now
Party operatives say officeholders may start to bail when their own elections are on the line next year
CJR on Wendell Potter, ex-insurance executive-turned-whistleblower:
THIS SUMMER, A NEWS SITE CALLED TARBELL will make its debut and join a growing number of health-journalism startups. Named for the famous early 20th century muckraker Ida Tarbell, whose landmark expose of Standard Oil led to the breakup of the company, Tarbell.org will strive to produce similarly consequential investigative journalism, and pledges to “uncover how lobbyists and special interests affect you.”
Wendell Potter, Tarbell’s founder, oversaw public relations for Humana and served as head of corporate communications for Cigna from 1997 until 2008, when he left after what he called a “crisis of conscience.” Potter said he realized that much of what he had been doing during his insurance career was misleading the public.
The strategy of big insurers, Potter says, was to move everybody into high-deductible plans. “I was expected to promote them, to persuade reporters and the public that they were great for everybody,” he says. “And that was not true.”
After Potter left Cigna, he wrote the book Deadly Spin, in which he detailed deceptive insurance practices and revealed how the industry operated. Potter also wrote a column and provided analysis for the Center for Public Integrity, and examined “the marriage of great wealth and intense political influence” in last year’s Nation on the Take, a book that Nicholas Kristof called “eye-opening.”
I recently spoke with Potter about Tarbell’s ambitions and health journalism’s “forest-for-the-trees” problem, among other topics. Our conversation has been edited for clarity.
Here’s a mini-section on last week’s Bahamian election. Did you know the Bahamas had an election? The corrupt ruling PLP (Progressive Liberal Party P.M. Perry Christie) lost and the upstart FNM (Free National Movement PM Hubert Minnas) won. There are some interesting aspects that affect the US…
First, some background from Evan Seigfried:
Trump’s ‘America First’ Approach Abandons the Monroe Doctrine and Puts China Ahead
As the United States turns away, the Chinese government is working to effectively control client nations in our sphere of influence.
China uses its state banks to invest heavily in these countries through infrastructure and other projects. For example, in 2015, its state owned Chinese Harbour Engineering Company agreed to build the “Beijing Highway” in Jamaica, a $600-million road stretching over 40 miles that is being built entirely by Chinese labor. The Jamaican government has provided the Chinese over 1,200 acres of land that runs along this four-lane highway, where they will build at least three luxury resorts.
And it is not just happening in Jamaica.
According to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, the American embassy in the Bahamas repeatedly expressed alarm at China’s moves to invest in the Bahamas and other Caribbean nations. Yet, both the Bush and Obama administrations failed to counter China’s actions and aggressive expansion.
And this from Business Insider:
In emails uncovered by Bahamian press last month, the Bahamian Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald admitted to receiving contracts from China Construction America through its senior vice president, Daniel Liu.
The emails came after a number of denials from Fitzgerald that he had any involvement or contracts related to Baha Mar. The Nassau Guardian reported that the emails showed Fitzgerald solicited the contracts on behalf of his family's business from Liu. The Guardian reported that it is not known how many contracts are held by members of Christie's administration.
In the emails, Fitzgerald referred to "promises" made to him by Liu, something Progressive Liberal Party officials told another Bahamian publication, the Tribune, was potentially the most detrimental of the revelations. That was because, as the Tribune wrote, "Liu is an official in a state-owned company and Mr. Fitzgerald later participated in negotiations with CCA when Mr. Christie appointed him one of the lead negotiators for Baha Mar."
Business Insider reached out to the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Treasury Department to see if any entity was investigating the scandal for a possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. All three declined to comment on whether an investigation existed.
Antillean Media Group covers the results:
Hubert Minnis claims election victory in The Bahamas
In an indictment on the politics of the Progressive Liberal Party, voters in The Bahamas have delivered a crushing blow to the PLP’s political hierarchy in almost every constituency in the Commonwealth
The extensive delay to the opening of the $4bn Chinese-backed Baha Mar mega-resort, as well as allegations of rent-seeking by PLP officials, dogged the incumbent administration and gave momentum to Minnis’ platform for transparency and Bahamian ownership of the economy. Controversial new taxes amid sluggish economic performance, rising unemployment and extensive crime were also major irritants against the Christie government.
Btw, they had great songs!