📺 The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – November 6, 2018 – Midterm Election Night Special – Full Episode | Comedy Central

Watched The Daily Show with Trevor Noah - November 6, 2018 - Midterm Election Night Special from Comedy Central
The World's Fakest News Team weighs in on the 2018 midterm election results, and senior writer for Rolling Stone Jamil Smith sits down with Trevor.

📺 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.

👓 The 10 Most Dumbfounding Moments From Trump's Post-Election Press Conference | The Atlantic

Read The 10 Most Dumbfounding Moments From Trump's Post-Election Press Conference (The Atlantic)
The day after the midterm elections, the president mocked candidates who didn’t embrace him and went after the media.

👓 The Latest Drama in Trump’s Slow-Motion Saturday Night Massacre | The Atlantic

Read The Latest Drama in Trump’s Slow-Motion Saturday Night Massacre (The Atlantic)
The president seemed to jump the shark at a White House news conference, threatening Democrats and reporters—and then he fired Jeff Sessions.

👓 Trump’s acting attorney general was part of firm US accused of vast scam | the Guardian

Read Trump's acting attorney general was part of firm US accused of vast scam by Jon Swaine (the Guardian)
Matthew Whitaker sat on advisory board of World Patent Marketing, which was ordered to pay $26m settlement in May

👓 Trump is in big trouble now that Democrats control the House — and he knows it | CNBC

Read Trump is in big trouble now that Democrats control the House — and he knows it by John Harwood (CNBC)
After American voters hit the brakes on his administration by flipping the House to Democratic control, Trump called a White House news conference to insist he had won "almost a complete victory." And then he made plain he understands viscerally what he has lost.

👓 White House suspends press access for CNN’s Jim Acosta | NY Post

Read White House suspends press access for CNN’s Jim Acosta (New York Post)
The White House suspended press access for Jim Acosta on Wednesday after the CNN reporter had a tense exchange with President Trump during a press conference. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders…
An incendiary article that leaves some details out for salacious effect. Having seen a portion of the press conference this morning, there’s a bit to be desired in this reporting that does a bit of “he said, she said” without giving a completely accurate picture of the story.

🎵 Feeling Good by Nina Simone (Phillips, 1965)

Listened to Feeling Good by Nina Simone from I Put a Spell on You (Phillips)
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good
My current mood….

https://open.spotify.com/track/1VKsbTJ78G5bnfyoPz46LA

🎧 The Daily: An Unexpected Upset in Florida | New York Times

Listened to The Daily: An Unexpected Upset in Florida from New York Times

After a surprise outcome in the primary, the Florida governor’s race is shaping up to be a litmus test for 2020.

👓 Democrats fall short in the Senate as Republicans retain control | NBC News

Read Democrats fall short in the Senate as Republicans retain control (NBC News)
Republicans trounced incumbent Democrats Claire McCaskill, Heidi Heitkamp, and Joe Donnelly on their way to retaining the Senate majority.

👓 Good early sign for Democrats: Jennifer Wexton unseats GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock in Virginia | CNBC

Read Good early sign for Democrats: Jennifer Wexton unseats GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock in Virginia by Christina Wilkie (CNBC)
Voters in the affluent Northern Virginia suburban district have sent Republicans to Congress for 60 of the past 66 years.
Breathing a tad easier in math class tonight now…

🎧 The Daily: Special Episode: The Last ‘Year of the Woman’ | New York Times

Listened to The Daily: Special Episode: The Last ‘Year of the Woman’ by Michael Barbaro from New York Times

We speak to Senator Dianne Feinstein about why 2018 has been called the Year of the Woman, a moniker that comes from the historic elections of 1992.

👓 Fox News, NBC, and Facebook pulled Trump’s racist campaign ad. He’s not happy about it. | Vox

Read Fox News, NBC, and Facebook pulled Trump’s racist campaign ad. He’s not happy about it. (Vox)
The latest controversy over Trump’s final campaign ad, explained.

👓 Election Update | Facebook Newsroom

Read Election Update (Facebook Newsroom)
US law enforcement contacted us about online activity that they recently discovered and believe may be linked to foreign entities.
This seems like a lot of lip service to me. I can’t imagine they’re doing much more than scratching the surface of what they should be doing.

🎧 The Daily: Nancy Pelosi’s Dilemma | New York Times

Listened to The Daily: Nancy Pelosi’s Dilemma by Michael Barbaro from New York Times

Under fire from both parties, the longtime House Democratic leader faces an uncertain political future.