Donald J. Trump | Chris Aldrich

👓 Reporters condemn White House decision to bar CNN’s Acosta | CNN

Read Reporters condemn White House decision to bar CNN's Acosta by Brian Stelter, CNN Business (CNN)

Reporters from many news organizations have expressed support for CNN's Jim Acosta after the White House revoked his press pass.

I too saw reports of an assault yesterday in the reporting of the incident and so went back to the video of the incident. If anything, the White House intern assaulted Acosta here.

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📺 PBS NewsHour full episode November 7, 2018 | PBS NewsHour

Watched PBS NewsHour full episode - November 7, 2018 from PBS NewsHour

Wednesday on the NewsHour, Jeff Sessions is fired from his role as attorney general. We examine what that means for the future of the special counsel's investigation into President Trump. Also: The midterm election creates a new balance of power in Congress and exposes deep divides in our nation.

Synopsis of the Sessions firing:
Kellyanne Conway: Trump hates Sessions because he recused himself and couldn’t make the Mueller investigation go away. She makes no mention of any other potential job failings of Sessions.
Judy Woodruff: The new temporary AG has a record of being against the investigation, will he kill or slow-walk the investigation?
Kellyanne Conway: The investigation is winding down. (Where she gets this perception is anyone’s guess.) We don’t want him to impinge on the investigation.

Why didn’t Woodruff take the opportunity to point out the painful circular flaw in the administration’s logic? Why do we need a new person to “not fire Mueller” when the old one was doing just fine at it and there was no other reason given for his firing?

Conway also said this was one of the most accessible administrations in years. Why no pushback on this patent lie? Trump has given far fewer press conferences compared to his recent predecessors, and daily press briefings have trickled into non-existence. This is not transparency.

Trump also complains about a combative press, but he doesn’t even bother to attempt to answer questions at these conferences. He dodges the questions and gives no useful information. They give him some relatively simple soft-ball questions and he can’t even articulate a thumbnail sketch of any of his policies much less detailed descriptions. He’s only got himself to blame for his lack of non-responsiveness.

I’m glad that Judy pushed back on the atrocious way that Yamiche Alcindor was treated at the press conference. Rather than even make a half-assed attempt to answer what was a simple question, Trump attacked her and accused her of asking a “racist question”. How tone deaf can he possibly be? He might have at least come up with an answer that was a lie, but this was just painful to watch.

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👓 How the Case for Voter Fraud Was Tested — and Utterly Failed | ProPublica

Read How the Case for Voter Fraud Was Tested — and Utterly Failed (ProPublica)

From a new Supreme Court ruling to a census question about citizenship, the campaign against illegal registration is thriving. But when the top proponent was challenged in a Kansas courtroom to prove that such fraud is rampant, the claims went up in smoke.

I knew the voter fraud panel Trump convened had fizzled, but I didn’t hear that there was a court case and the concept flopped so painfully. This is some fantastic reporting. Glad I ran back across it while looking at the midterm elections results relating to Georgia and the massive voter suppression efforts that have been happening there this year.

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