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Florida Moves To Block State Use of Media Rating Firms
Florida lawmakers adopt language in the state budget to restrict agencies from contracting with firms monitoring media outlets.
Center Right
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Trump moves to slash intelligence office ahead of permanent chief's arrival
Right
Trump says he instructed acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte to begin shrinking the office, calling it unnecessary and too big with holdovers from past terms.
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Raw Story
Trump ignoring ‘ticking time bomb’ that will lead to ‘recession’ – or worse: expert
Former U.S. Army Major and Intelligence Officer Harrison Mann issued a grave warning Saturday over a “ticking time bomb” he argued President Donald Trump was ignoring, one that if not addressed would undoubtedly lead to an “unmistakable recession” – or worse.“At this point, it’s hard to ignore the evidence that Trump’s lack of urgency to sign a deal with Tehran is in part because he’s been very slow to understand the actual situation on the ground,” Mann wrote in an analysis published Saturday in Zeteo.“Trump’s trusted advisers – both in the Situation Room and on Fox News – rarely if ever deliver bad news about the war, whether out of ideological desire to see the president 'finish the job,’ or because they’re afraid he’ll shoot the messenger.”The United States and Iran remain in a fragile ceasefire, and despite countless reports of a deal to end the conflict between Washington and Tehran being near, no such deal has materialized.Trump's failure to close a deal with Tehran, Mann argued, stemmed not only from a steady diet of briefings that 'minimize bad news' about the conflict, but from a personal failing of the president himself – one who Mann said would “rather forget” the potentially catastrophic consequences of a prolonged Middle East war.“The problem is that Trump apparently views today’s pseudo-ceasefire double-blockade impasse as a satisfactory solution to a problem he’d rather forget, instead of a ticking time bomb,” Mann wrote. “Unfortunately, it may take a new crisis within this crisis – an unmistakable recession or more U.S. troops killed in the Gulf – to change his mind.”
Far Left
The Gateway Pundit
’60 Minutes’ Staffers Should ‘Shut up’ and ‘Quit Crying’ About the Show Being Gutted, Says Mediaite Chief
Mediaite Editor-in-Chief Joe DePaolo wrote an op-ed this week telling "60 Minutes" staffers to stop complaining about recent changes at CBS and get back to work. The post ’60 Minutes’ Staffers Should ‘Shut up’ and ‘Quit Crying’ About the Show Being Gutted, Says Mediaite Chief appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Far Right
Raw Story
Trump forced to deploy border czar to clean up Markwayne Mullin mess: report
Violent clashes between protesters and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at Newark's Delaney Hall detention facility forced the Trump administration to deploy its top immigration official for emergency de-escalation after newly appointed DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin made the situation dramatically worse.According to Politico reporting by Myah Ward, tensions that had been escalating nightly cooled only after border czar Tom Homan was dispatched to meet with state and local officials and negotiate a resolution to the standoff.The crisis began when images and videos surfaced showing violent clashes between pro-immigrant demonstrators and ICE agents outside the 1,000-bed, privately run detention facility. The unrest followed allegations of poor conditions inside the facility and a detainee hunger strike. Democratic lawmakers descended on the site to condemn detention conditions and accuse federal agents of violence against protesters.Mullin's response made matters worse. The new DHS secretary threatened to pull customs staffing from Newark Liberty International Airport—a threat that shocked administration officials and sparked airline industry fears of travel chaos across the region.The White House responded by deploying Homan, following a playbook it had previously used to defuse tensions in Minnesota. The border czar spent five days on the ground meeting with Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, police leadership, state troopers, and Gov. Mikie Sherrill to negotiate a path forward, according to Politico.In a bid to counter allegations of unsanitary conditions, Homan made a symbolic visit to Delaney Hall, where he ate spaghetti with detainees. He subsequently claimed local officials agreed to most of his demands, including establishing designated protest zones. Democratic officials countered that the Department of Homeland Security simply agreed to restore family visitation to the facility—a demand the community had pressed.Politico is reporting that the use of Homan underscores his "enduring influence as one of the president's top immigration policy advisers." It also reveals the administration's increasing reliance on the border czar to respond to escalating unrest surrounding federal immigration enforcement.
Far Left
The Hill News
The Memo: Trump upends expectations with idea of meeting Iran’s supreme leader
President Trump upended expectations yet again when he told reporters Thursday that he would be “honored” to meet Iran’s supreme leader in the event of a peace deal. “If we make a deal, it’s possible that I would meet him,” the president said in the Oval Office. The idea of a meeting between Trump and…
Center
Alternet.org
Trump’s gruesome specter may save the Dems’ bacon in contentious election
Up until the last minute, Democrats in ultra blue California were on the ropes in the governor’s race and local elections, with boisterous Trump-style candidates making huge strides with populist arguments.But then the long, dark shadow of President Donald Trump fell over angsty voters, and weekend news reports reveal something changed. The New York Time reports this has plenty to do with the violent thrashing of a fading MAGA star.The California governor’s race was in question for embattled Democrats due to high inflation and state taxes, and there was no guarantee that Democrat Xavier Becerra would advance to the general election for California governor. But on Friday, Becerra surpassed Republican former Fox News host Steve Hilton. And s of Friday evening, the Times reports he was leading the race with 26.7 percent of the vote, with Hilton at 26.4 percent. These numbers did not reflect the scrum preceding poll results in the weeks leading up to the vote.Meanwhile, Democratic Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman is closing in on Trump-endorsed reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, cutting his lead to about 3 percentage points, according to the LA Times, as both vie for second place in the mayoral primary.This breathing room for Democrats — however potentially fleeting — should not be so easy to come by, say critics, with California’s burgeoning homelessness and taxes. But it appears Trump-style personality and reality star-pizzazz may not be enough to easily carry a candidate over the finish line after all.Political scientist Jonathan Bernstein told the New York Times on Friday that Trump’s reality-star demeanor is deflating into empty showmanship before voters thanks to Trump’s personal failure to deliver on his own political promises.“Trump’s main politically relevant skill is that he’s actually a really good reality TV star. He’s very good at grabbing attention,” said Bernstein. “ … [But] Trump is an inept president, so he mostly squanders the attention he gets — and at least half the time, he winds up drawing attention to things that don’t help him at all.”“We never know what’s really going on in a president’s head, but it seems to me that Trump thinks winning elections is like winning a prize — the United States of America — to do with as he pleases. But what actually happens in elections is that the voters hire you to do a job. It’s a job with some 340 million bosses. And like all jobs, it has constraints and obligations.”And judging by the horrific polling numbers Trump has been turning out for most of 2026, voters are not approving of his job.“Trump, as far as I can tell, just doesn’t see that. Which, among other things, seems to mean that he actually gets worse at all of this as he goes along,” said Bernstein.Couple that with a few Trump endorsements of GOP candidates in a state that generally hates him, and Democrats appear to be finding an edge that should not easily exist.
Left
Alternet.org
Trump's reckoning is finally here
Trump is trying to rig the midterms because he’s scared. And because Trump’s scared, he’s trying to scare Americans with an imaginary boogeyman: so-called “voter fraud.”Here’s the truth: Every study shows voter fraud, including noncitizen voting, is so rare that a person is more likely to get struck by lightning than to cast a fraudulent ballot. But Trump’s using this boogeyman to sabotage our elections. Here are three things I’m worried about — then I’ll tell you how we fight back.#1 New voting restrictionsTrump is pushing for strict voter registration laws (the so-called “Save America Act”) that would require eligible voters to prove their citizenship. But a state ID or driver’s license won’t do. Voters would need to show either a current passport or a certified birth certificate from the state they were born in to register.Yet, more than 21 million Americans cannot easily provide those documents, either because they simply don’t have them or they can’t afford to get them. (Do you know where your birth certificate is?)And even if you do have it, about 80% of married women and 30% of trans people have legal names that don’t match the name on their birth certificates — which makes it even harder to register.Trump isn’t stopping there; he also wants to restrict mail-in voting, despite frequently voting by mail himself.Trump’s hypocrisy would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous. Some 45 million votes were cast by mail in the 2024 general election (which he won, and doesn’t say was rigged, by the way). Restricting mail-in voting, along with instituting harsh voter ID laws, is blatant voter suppression.#2 Voter intimidationTrump insiders say he might deploy armed ICE or Border Patrol agents to polling sites.Trump’s violent ICE agents have run rampant in our streets, abusing both noncitizens and citizens alike. The presence of armed agents of the state at polling places would almost certainly have a chilling effect on voter turnout — which is exactly what Trump wants.#3 Denying election resultsTrump’s latest big lie is that any Democratic victory is illegitimate.What if Republicans lose the midterms but follow Trump’s 2020 example and try to hold onto power? A few years ago, this would have been unthinkable. But after what Trump tried doing in 2020, it’s frighteningly plausible.The bottom line is Trump is deeply unpopular, which is why he is trying to suppress the vote. But here is how we can fight back.1. Press your state and local leaders to protect our elections right now. Your state attorney general and local election officials still have authority over our voting system. Urge them to develop a plan to protect our elections. Call on them to sue the Trump administration if it tries to seize ballots. Tell your state legislature to ban armed federal agents from polling places, like New Mexico just did.2. Second, VOTE — and help turn out the vote! We need to show up in such large numbers that no amount of voter suppression can change the result. Go to vote.org right now and check your registration. Then reach out to three friends and make sure they are registered to show up.3. Lastly, SOUND THE ALARM. Share the video I’ve posted above, which I made with the talented team at Inequality Media Civic Action. Help spread the word that the boogeyman of voter fraud is just a cover for Trump’s election sabotage.Trump’s strategy to sabotage the election depends on fear, confusion, and division.We must respond by being brave, focused, and united. - YouTube www.youtube.com Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.
Left
Alternet.org
Trump judge refers DOJ attorneys to discipline committee for 'misleading' court
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy — a Donald Trump appointee in Rhode Island — referred U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys to a court disciplinary committee. Politico's Josh Gerstein, reporting on X, noted that the ruling was "over handling of fight over trans medical care subpoenas to RI Hospital" — adding, "Earlier she agreed that presumption of regularity for [government] 'no longer holds.'"Gerstein tweeted a previous court document by McElroy, dated May 14. And she was quite critical in some of her comments.McElroy, in the document, wrote, "As citizens, we trust that federal prosecutors, when wielding this awesome power against a state, a company, or certainly against vulnerable children, will play fair and be honest with its counterparts and the judiciary. DOJ has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case. It has misrepresented and withheld information to both this Court and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (the 'Texas court')."The federal judge went on to say that the Trump DOJ "has misled the parties with whom it was negotiating in Rhode Island, who have now been placed in an untenable and unprecedented procedural position."McElroy added, "And when its attorneys came to this Court to explain their conduct, the senior attorney — who was present at many of the events that took place in this case — sat silently by as his counterpart, a junior attorney who has been practicing law for approximately six months and had no relevant information, was forced to answer questions about DOJ's blatant disregard for the proper course of negotiations."McElroy explained, "Now before the Court is the petitioner, the Child Advocate for the State of Rhode Island’s (the 'Child Advocate') Emergency Motion to Quash a subpoena duces tecum issued by DOJ as well as Rhode Island Hospital's ('RIH') Motion to Quash the same subpoena. (ECF Nos. 1, 28.) For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS both Motions to Quash and enjoins the DOJ from seeking or receiving any documents related to this now invalid subpoena."Trump nominated McElroy to her current position during her first presidency, and she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Left