Here are the latest reports from The Washington Posts ‘The Fix’.
What you should know about being LGBT and Muslim, from a leading LGBT Muslim group
Mirna Haidar is a member of the steering committee for the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity — a group that, before last weekend, few Americans knew existed. The Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD), founded almost a decade ago, is one of only a few organizations of its kind. It tries to […]
Why the moment of silence has suddenly become very political
Politicians can be among the last to realize when rituals become obsolete. It was one of those weeks in Washington. And it seems it could mark the beginning of the end for one of the most oft-used expressions of humanity in American politics — the moment of silence for those who have died. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan […]
Here are some of the massive security measures Cleveland is taking for the GOP convention
The LRAD — that’s a Long Range Acoustical Device — is a tool for ships trying to ward off pirate attacks and for settings where the precise location of law enforcement can be a matter of potential international conflict. It gives people the opportunity to speak loudly and clearly and convey critical information or warnings across […]
The brutal numbers behind a very bad month for Donald Trump
Supporters of Donald Trump got an unexpected plea on Saturday: a request to send the billionaire money. It was an “emergency” request, the Hill reported, representing an urgent need for an infusion of $100,000 to put ads on the air in battleground states. Why Trump couldn’t simply write a check to cover the costs apparently wasn’t […]
The Clintons just increased their chances of having more presidents
The Clintons just welcomed the newest member of their growing family to the world, with former (and potentially soon-to-be-again) first daughter Chelsea Clinton giving birth to a baby boy, Aidan Clinton Mezvinsky. Aidan joins his sister, Charlotte, as Bill and Hillary Clinton’s two grandchildren. Marc and I are overwhelmed with gratitude and love as we celebrate […]
Worst Week in Washington? It’s Donald Trump. Again.
Donald Trump has proven very good at one thing since securing the Republican presidential nomination on May 3: Having really, really bad weeks. This week was no exception. First came his decidedly mixed response to the largest mass shooting in American history in a nightclub in Orlando. After briefly expressing condolences, Trump was back to […]
Here’s who Google searchers think will be the vice-presidential picks
We should all probably admit that none of us actually know that much about who Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will pick as their potential vice presidents. We can guess — there aren’t that many people that might be considered likely — but guessing the whims of a presidential nominee is, in a normal year, […]
The 10 Republicans most likely to defect from Donald Trump
Larry Hogan is doing it. Mark Kirk is doing it. Even Richard Armitage is doing it. Defect from Donald Trump, that is. And a lot of other Republican elected officials are hinting that they will be next. You can see why it’s tempting for Republicans to join the #NeverTrump team. It’s a way to insulate […]
How the Orlando attack showed the potential of an October Surprise
Nobody knows what issues will decide the 2016 election, because nobody knows what will happen over the next four and a half months. The things people care and talk about may depend heavily on world and domestic events that nobody can predict. That’s the conceit of the “October Surprise.” For the uninitiated, that’s the thing […]
It might be time for Republicans to start panicking about Donald Trump
The Republican National Convention begins in Cleveland in 31 days. That means that in one month from today, Republicans will (almost certainly) start the process of nominating Donald Trump as their presidential nominee to take on Hillary Clinton in the fall campaign. That prospect looks increasingly problematic — somewhere between a stone-cold loser and a […]
Why Bernie Sanders has absolutely nothing to lose by staying in the presidential race
Bernie Sanders spoke to his supporters for 23 minutes Thursday night. It had all the makings of a drop-out speech — a recitation of all the campaign had accomplished, thanks to everyone who supported him — except that, at the end of it, Sanders didn’t end his primary challenge against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. “We […]
Among U.S. refugees, 44 percent are Muslim, and Syria ranks as No. 6 country
Violent political conflict and persecution have long played a major role in creating the world’s refugee crisis — and therefore, shaped the make-up of the United States’ refugee population. Refugees are, of course, people invited to permanently relocate to the United States due to political, religious, gender or other types of social persecution and danger […]
Because it’s Friday, here’s a video of Mitt Romney in tights for a charity wrestling match
The night before the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando early Sunday — a time that now seems long ago — Mitt Romney sent this tweet: Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. #GiveSight25 pic.twitter.com/wsZjPudxMJ — Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) June 12, 2016 In case you’ve been living under a […]
Will Marco Rubio even be favored to win reelection?
FL GOP Rep Jolly on CNN on FL Senate: “Marco is saying he in getting in” — Deirdre Walsh (@deirdrewalshcnn) June 17, 2016 Now Jolly’s spox tells @TalKopan “Clarifying Jolly has no actual knowledge of a Rubio decision”-Said on CNN Marco is saying he is getting in — Deirdre Walsh (@deirdrewalshcnn) June 17, 2016 We […]
Four letters the GOP has shied away from after Orlando: LGBT
After a tragedy, it’s expected of members of Congress to issue statements. Most offer condolences or thoughts and prayers. Some register an immediate call for political action of one kind or another. And after the Orlando massacre on Sunday, Republicans and Democrats immediately disagreed on that course of action, with Democrats focusing on guns and the GOP on terrorism. […]
Our depressingly polarized country, in 1 chart
Shortly after the tragedy in Orlando, we noted that interpretations of what had just happened were quickly polarizing: Republicans blamed radical Islam, while Democrats saw the incident more as the latest example of excessive gun violence in the United States — in addition to a likely hate crime against the LGBT community. And before you blame […]
23 things Donald Trump has said that would have doomed another candidate
Donald Trump has, as of Thursday, been running for president for a year. It’s been … quite a year. Literally within the first five minutes of Trump’s speech announcing his candidacy, Trump declared that illegal immigrants from Mexico were rapists and drug dealers — the sort of comment that, for another candidate, would probably be […]
Donald Trump’s hope that union members will back him the way they did Reagan misses a critical point
Hillary Clinton received the belated-but-inevitable endorsement of the AFL-CIO on Thursday. Inevitable because the labor movement nearly always backs Democratic candidates these days; belated because the umbrella organization of most of the country’s unions had been somewhat split between Clinton and Bernie Sanders. All that is past, now, and Clinton got the AFL’s nod. In […]
How Trumpism explains John McCain’s claim that Obama is ‘responsible’ for Orlando
John McCain is no Donald Trump fan. But even he is feeling the gravitational pull of The Donald. (Or, should I say, Mr. Trump.) Witness his comments Thursday that President Obama is “directly responsible” for the Islamic State-inspired attack in Orlando over the weekend. McCain quickly backtracked, issuing a statement via Twitter making clear he […]
How Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump became historically unpopular presidential nominees
Hillary Clinton’s official campaign launch was in April 2015, when she paired an email from campaign chairman John Podesta with a video announcing her candidacy. It was low-key, saving the crowd shots and campaign-logo-shaped kickoff event for June. It was on June 13, on Roosevelt Island in New York City, that Clinton held her first […]
This ‘Japanese’ Donald Trump video is fantastically strange
Sometimes, there are no words… Update: Since we have no words, Roll Call has more details: But the weirdness didn’t come from Japan. It came from Mike Diva. Mike Diva describes himself as “MAKER OF VIDEOS/ MUSIC/ MEMES & DREAMS” on his YouTube page. Many of his videos, including the Trump ad, employ elements […]
In 1988, 4 percent of Americans were bummed Donald Trump wasn’t running for president
While digging around in old Spy magazine articles (because of this), I stumbled on an amusing survey it reported early in the 1988 election cycle. It seems that 4 percent of Americans — one in 25, the magazine translated breathlessly — wanted Donald Trump to run for president that year. “We have come to believe that […]
Why Sen. Pat Toomey is trying to pull the GOP to the middle on guns
During. Sen. Chris Murphy’s (D-Conn.) nearly 15-hour filibuster on gun control, exactly two Republican senators came to the floor to talk about it. One, Sen. Ben Sasse (Neb.), came to oppose new gun-control laws. The second was Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, a man who in recent years has become the face of moderation for Republicans on new […]
It seems that Donald Trump doesn’t really like being called ‘The Donald’
It was in the pages of Spy magazine, the periodical that gave the world “short-fingered vulgarian,” that we first learned of Ivana Trump’s nickname for her husband: The Donald. As Spy had it in a 1989 profile of the then-first-and-only wife of their favorite target, Ivana referred to the mogul as “The Don.” “The Don, […]
5 things I’ve learned from Donald Trump in the last 365 days
Three hundred and sixty-five days ago, Donald Trump announced that he was running for president. I can’t remember a less predictable, more watchable, less policy-focused, more humbling candidacy than his. When he rode down that beautiful, classy elevator at Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, there was no one — up to and including Trump […]
Why Cleveland and GOP convention protests are a particularly volatile mixture
There are protests at nearly every political convention. The Republican National Committee’s convention in Cleveland in mid-July is really not expected to be an exception. In fact, according to some Trump supporters, it’s going to be as unhinged as the Democrats in 1968. Some have suggested it could be even worse — with the more extreme predictions […]
Donald Trump’s strategy centers on working-class whites, but even they don’t like him
Here’s a good point. WaPo poll: 53% of non-college whites view Trump unfavorably. Matches highest unfavorable for any nominee since 1984 among FULL electorate! — Taniel (@Taniel) June 15, 2016 Donald Trump’s reasonable argument* for how he’ll win in November centers on white, blue-collar voters — the sort of voters he thinks can propel him […]
Meet the House candidate who came out as HIV-positive just days before Orlando. He’s running in Orlando.
While there are still questions about the Orlando killer’s motives, there’s no question he fired his bullets at the LGBT community. And that has the nation’s LGBT community reeling. But one prominent member of Orlando’s LGBT community says he thinks, as the grief fades, there are already signs it will harden into a resolve to fight for […]
The 4 moments you shouldn’t miss from Senate Democrats’ marathon filibuster on gun control
In the wee hours Thursday morning, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) ended his filibuster on gun control after nearly 15 hours because it looks like he got what Senate Democrats wanted: a vote on gun control legislation. Murphy seized the Senate floor at 11:21 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday to demand Republicans allow the votes — specifically to […]
The year of Donald Trump, in 1 classy video
One year ago today, on June 16, 2015, Donald J. Trump rode down the gleaming, glorious golden escalator in Trump Tower. And in a seemingly off-the-cuff, somewhat-rambling 45-minute speech, he announced his candidacy for president of the United States. What was initially seen by many in the media and the political class as a PR stunt […]
Watch Utah’s Republican lieutenant governor make a heartfelt speech to the LGBT community
Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox (R) will be the first to admit he’s not really the best spokesman for the LGBT community: “I recognize fully that I am a balding, youngish, middle-aged, straight, white, male, Republican politician … with all of the expectations and privileges that come with those labels,” he began in a speech […]
Donald Trump’s response to the Orlando attack is not what Americans were looking for
Two surveys released in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Orlando suggest that Donald Trump’s response and proposal for preventing such incidents in the future are not ones with which Americans agree. The attack, committed by a man who declared his allegiance to the Islamic State and targeting a gay nightclub, falls into a […]
Donald Trump’s clumsy, ill-conceived suggestion that soldiers stole U.S. money in Iraq
A common refrain of Donald Trump’s criticisms of the war in Iraq has been that the United States should have repaid itself for the costs of the invasion by seizing the country’s oil. In some iterations of the argument, Trump suggests that the revenue from the oil then be given to American troops who were […]
House Republicans are trying to censure the IRS commissioner. Here’s why.
On Wednesday, conservative House Republicans in a high-profile, highly political committee voted to censure the head of the IRS. It’s a rare but symbolic vote that, if passed by the full House — a big if — wouldn’t remove IRS Commissioner John Koskinen from his job. But it would be humiliating for him and potentially […]
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