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Trump Proposes a Ratings System for Movies

February 22, 2018 at 3:49 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump suggested violent entertainment is to blame for mass shootings in the United States, the Daily Beast reports.

His solution: “You see these movies, they’re so violent. And yet a kid is able to see the movie if sex isn’t involved, but killing is involved. And maybe they have to put a rating system for that. You get into a whole very complicated, very big deal but the fact is that you are having movies come out that are so violent with the killing and everything else that maybe that’s another thing we’re going to have to discuss.”

“It was unclear whether Trump was aware that the Motion Picture Association of America already rates films based on graphic sexual or violent content; or if he was suggesting that ratings system needs to be overhauled.”

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day

February 22, 2018 at 3:19 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Democrats are the party of Lisa Simpson and Republicans are happily the party of Homer, Bart, Maggie and Marge.”

— Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), quoted by The Hill, comparing the gun control debate to the cartoon show “The Simpsons.”

Rauner Drinks Chocolate Milk for Diversity

February 22, 2018 at 3:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In an awkward onstage appearance this week, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) drank a glass of chocolate milk to demonstrate his belief in diversity,” the Chicago Tribune reports.

Said Rauner: “It’s really, really good. Diversity!”

Official Focused on Election Security Being Shoved Aside

February 22, 2018 at 3:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The head of a federal agency who has helped U.S. states protect election systems from possible cyber attacks by Russia or others is being removed from his post by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and the White House,” Reuters reports.

“Matthew Masterson, currently chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, has been passed over for a second four-year term as one of the agency’s four commissioners… It is up the House speaker to recommend a nominee for the commissioner post that Masterson currently holds, with the president then making a formal nomination.”

Rick Hasen: “Masterson, a Republican appointee has been completely nonpartisan and professional, and willing to work across the aisle on issues… And it suggests he’s being canned because he’s not a party hack.”

Trump Has Led to More Law School Applicants

February 22, 2018 at 2:36 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Above the Law: “We’ve known for a while that more people are taking the LSAT — we’re talking a double-digit increase. But exactly why has largely remained a source of speculation and anecdotal reports that the surprising results of the 2016 election were motivating people to go to law school. Now we have the hard data to support that hypothesis.”

“Kaplan Test Prep conducted a survey of over 500 pre-law students and the results confirm the suspicions of many in the industry: the Trump Bump is real. Thirty-two percent of respondents said politics were a motivating factor in deciding to apply.”

Mueller Knows How to Keep a Secret

February 22, 2018 at 2:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

BuzzFeed News: “More than nine months into special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation — the most-watched, most-speculated-about criminal probe in recent history — his office continues to unveil new criminal charges that catch the press, the public, and the political world off guard.”

“Prosecutors are bound by confidentiality and ethics rules not to disclose information about pending criminal investigations, and grand jurors and court employees involved in grand jury proceedings are barred from talking about their work. It’s common for criminal charges to come as a surprise. But Mueller’s ability to control the flow of information in such a high-profile investigation and deliver a shock with the revelation of a new case has stood in contrast to the steady stream of behind-the-scenes stories coming out of the Trump administration.”

Pence Rallies Conservatives to Fight In 2018 Elections

February 22, 2018 at 1:11 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Vice President Mike Pence “rallied thousands of conservative activists on Thursday to fight back against a Democratic drive to take over the U.S. Congress in 2018 elections, calling a Republican victory at the midterm votes crucial to advancing President Trump’s agenda,” Reuters reports.

Said Pence: “The other side is motivated. The other side is mobilized. And so today, to the men and women of this conservative movement, I admonish you: Let this be the day that we as a movement decided to deliver another victory for the American people in 2018.”

He described Democrats as only against Trump: “Their platform can be summed up in only one word: Resist. Resist our policies. Resist our president, and resist the progress the progress that you and I and our entire movement has fought for so hard, so long, to achieve.”

Democrats Could Pick Up 18 Governorships This Year

February 22, 2018 at 12:40 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

FiveThirtyEight: “According to qualitative assessments by nonpartisan handicappers — Cook Political Report, Sabato’s Crystal Ball and Inside Elections, — only eight GOP-held governorships are completely safe in 2018. That leaves 18 Republican-held governorships in some degree of danger.”

The NRA Goes on the Offensive

February 22, 2018 at 12:18 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“After a week of media silence following the school shooting in Florida, the National Rifle Association went on the offensive in its first public response to the massacre, pushing back against law enforcement officials, the media, gun-control advocates and the teenage survivors of the massacre who have pleaded for stricter gun laws,” the Washington Post reports.

“The NRA also released an advertisement Thursday morning that said ‘the mainstream media love mass shootings’ and claimed that members of the media benefit from covering mass shootings in an effort ‘to juice their ratings and push their agenda.'”

Margaret Brennan Will Host ‘Face the Nation’

February 22, 2018 at 11:43 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Margaret Brennan, the senior foreign affairs correspondent for CBS News, will be the next moderator of Face the Nation, the network’s prestige Sunday morning public affairs show and one of the most influential venues in American politics,” the New York Times reports.

Why Trump Won’t Buck the NRA

February 22, 2018 at 11:29 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Watching NRA President Wayne LaPierre address the Conservative Political Action Conference today makes it clear why the organization backed Donald Trump so solidly in the presidential election: Their agenda and world views align almost perfectly — and guns are only a part of it.

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Bonus Quote of the Day

February 22, 2018 at 10:04 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Many in legacy media love mass shootings… Crying white mothers are ratings gold.”

— NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, quoted by the Washington Post, speaking at CPAC.

Judge Refuses to Recuse Himself from Dossier Case

February 22, 2018 at 9:59 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden — who was appointed by President Trump, donated to his campaign and worked on his presidential transition team — has rejected requests to recuse himself from overseeing a legal battle involving Fusion GPS, the research firm that commissioned the so-called “dossier” of unverified intelligence that contains claims about Trump’s alleged ties to Russia, ABC News reports.

Quote of the Day

February 22, 2018 at 9:29 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“I did not know that Russian bots were promoting my campaign… I would say that the real question to be asked is: What was the Clinton campaign doing about Russian interference — they had more information about this than we had.”

— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), in an interview with Vermont Public Radio.

Conservative Supervillains Take Stage at CPAC

February 22, 2018 at 9:28 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Matt Lewis: “The organizers of CPAC apparently searched the four corners of the globe to assemble a ‘legion of doom’-style roster — a collection of some of the worst ‘conservative’ supervillains who generally share a populist, ethno-nationalist brand of politics (and some, I assume, are good people). Of course, it’s not just Le Pen. The lineup is a veritable murderer’s row of nationalists, including UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Jeanine Pirro, and Seb Gorka—and a panel titled: ‘Kim Jong Un-iversity: How College Campuses are Turning into Reeducation Camps.’”

Where We Go from Here

February 22, 2018 at 8:49 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Coming right after the midterm elections: Where We Go from Here by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Flashback Quote of the Day

February 22, 2018 at 8:48 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Crooked Hillary said that I want guns brought into the school classroom. Wrong!”

— Donald Trump, on Twitter on May 21, 2016.

Why Trump Won’t Do Anything on Guns

February 22, 2018 at 7:24 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Jonathan Swan: “Every few months, friends, family and advisers like Ivanka Trump, Rupert Murdoch and Gary Cohn fantasize Trump will tap his superpower as a force for good — to pass a big infrastructure bill, fight global warming, strike an epic immigration deal. Now, they dream of new gun controls to protect schools, kids and the innocent. He could, but he almost certainly won’t.”

“He may not fully understand the cultural significance of guns in middle America. But he believes that it’s cultural, not political, issues that truly move the needle.”