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We’ll be off tomorrow and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday, but we’ll be back on Monday morning. Best wishes for a wonderful holiday.
PROGRESSIVES NEED AN EDUCATION … "Minority Voters Chafe as Democratic Candidates Abandon Charter Schools," via NYT: This year, in a major shift, the leading Democratic candidates are backing away from charter schools, and siding with the teachers’ unions that oppose their expansion. And that has left some black and Latino families feeling betrayed …
"As a single mom with two jobs and five hustles, I’m just feeling kind of desperate," said Sonia Tyler, who plans to enroll her children in a charter school slated to open next fall in a suburb of Atlanta. "They’re brilliant; they’re curious. It’s not fair. Why shouldn’t I have a choice?"
OBAMA SHIVS CABINET MEMBERS … "Waiting for Obama," via POLITICO: "Occasionally, he can be cutting. With one candidate, [Barack Obama] pointed out that during his own 2008 campaign, he had an intimate bond with the electorate, especially in Iowa, that he no longer has. Then he added, "And you know who really doesn’t have it? Joe Biden." …
Last year, Obama let it be widely known that he would not make his preference known or, in the phrase that his close advisers frequently use, "put his thumb on the scale." It wasn’t just Biden who was disappointed. [Former attorney general Eric] Holder was particularly wounded that his close friend wasn’t more encouraging of his own ambitions.
HILLARY’S LIKABLE ENOUGH … "Obama Privately Warned He Would Speak Out Against Nominating Sanders," by WFB’s Cameron Cawthorne: Former president Barack Obama privately remarked earlier this year that he would speak up to stop Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) if Sanders were to take a commanding lead in the Democratic primary.
Obama has publicly vowed that he would not interfere in the Democratic primary, but was concerned earlier this year about Sanders running away with the nomination, and would "speak up to stop him" if the Vermont senator proved threatening, Politico reported.
OKIE-SMOKIED … "Quinnipiac Poll: Half of Warren’s Supporters Have Abandoned Her in One Month," via NATIONAL REVIEW: The latest national poll of the Democratic primary conducted by Quinnipiac shows support for Elizabeth Warren plummeting since October from 28 percent to 14 percent, while support for Biden and Buttigieg is ticking upward …
Quinnipiac finds that Medicare for All has become more unpopular as more Americans understand what it means: "Medicare for All has grown increasingly unpopular among all American voters, as 36 percent say it is a good idea and 52 percent say it is a bad idea."
NO, NANCY HAS NOT KIDNAPPED MY FAMILY, WHY DO YOU ASK … "Dem Rep Issues ‘Clarification’ After Suggesting Trump Shouldn’t Be Removed," by WFB’s Alex Griswold: After the GOP trumpeted her comments as evidence of emerging cracks in the Democratic front, [Michigan congresswoman Brenda] Lawrence issued a clarification.
"I was an early supporter for impeachment in 2017 ... I continue to support impeachment," she said in a statement on Tuesday. "However, I am very concerned about Senate Republicans and the fact that they would find this behavior by the President unacceptable [sic]."
DEMS BLUE OVER RED HATS AND PURPLE BALLOTS … "They Voted Democratic. Now They Support Trump," via NYT: Michael Townsend, 38, a high school-educated construction worker in Dunmore, Pa., was a lifelong Democrat—until he voted for Mr. Trump.
"In the last couple years, the Democrats had kind of been losing the work, and I thought Trump might get us that work," he said. "And to be honest, I’ve been in construction 21 years and the last two years were the best years I’ve ever had."
CARLOS DANGER FINALLY WINS SOMETHING … "The Most Important Politician of the 2010s," via BUZZFEED: Anthony Weiner changed the course of American history when he tweeted out a picture of his dick on May 27, 2011.
This is not an exaggeration. There is a direct line between Anthony Weiner’s penis and the rise of far-right media, the current state of the country’s biggest city, and the election of Donald Trump. Anthony Weiner is omnipresent over the last 10 years: It is inevitable that if there is a major political moment, Weiner is somewhere on its edges.
FRIEND OF HAMAS STAYS TRUE … "No apology from Jeremy Corbyn over Labour anti-Semitism claims," via BBC: In a BBC interview with Andrew Neil, the Labour leader was asked four times whether he would like to apologise.
Mr. Corbyn said his government will protect "every community against the abuse they receive."
THAT PARIS AGREEMENT WORKED SWIMMINGLY … "'Sleepwalking toward climate catastrophe:' World must slash emissions immediately, UN report says," via USA TODAY: Man-made greenhouse gas emissions rose in 2018 to 55.3 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, the report says. Much of the increase came from emerging economies such as China and India.
The report says that even if all unconditional commitments under the Paris Agreement are enacted, global temperatures are expected to rise by 5.8 degrees by 2100, bringing even wider-ranging and more destructive climate impacts.
TRAGEDY … "U.S. Citizen Killed in Terror Attack in Afghanistan," by WFB’s Adam Kredo: The State Department said on Tuesday that a U.S. citizen was killed this week in a terror attack in Afghanistan on a United Nations convoy.
California resident Anil Raj, a U.S. citizen, was killed in the attack. Five other civilians were injured in the strike, including U.N. staff.
FIREFIGHTERS OVERWHELMED BY SOME HELICOPTER NOISE …"ChopperTalk: Where the White House Press Corps Goes to Get Ritually Abused by Donald Trump," via ESQUIRE: We would have to wait a bit longer for the chance to ask the President of the United States a question over the almighty din of the helicopter stationed 50 yards away. We would have to wait for ChopperTalk …
"You haven’t lived," said Brian Karem, the senior White House correspondent for Playboy known for getting in a few tiffs at the White House, "until you’ve been crammed with 175 people into a space meant for 25." He was exaggerating, but we really were packed in like sardines.
THIS IS WHO WE ARE ... "MSNBC Host: Dem Flip on Impeachment Is Right-Wing Media Invention," by WFB's Graham Piro: "I know you know what folks on the right are saying right now: They say you flipped," [Chris] Jansing said to [Rep. Brenda] Lawrence. "I'm going to show you, there are headlines: One says ‘Swing state Dem flips on impeachment.' ‘House Democrat backs down from impeachment.' There we see them in the Daily Caller and Newsmax."
Earlier in the day on MSNBC, fellow host Craig Melvin portrayed Lawrence's suggestion that the impeachment process should end in censure as a change of heart.
DEMOCRACY DIES IN WHITEWASHING
REALLY? … "‘Victims Becoming the Perpetrators’: Remarks about Jews at Elite Private School Spark Outrage," by WFB Staff: Addressing high school students at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School last Thursday, A. Kayum Ahmed, the director of access and accountability at the Open Society Foundations and a former CEO of the South African Human Rights Commission, said he had observed "the fluidity of those who are victims becoming the perpetrators."
"I use the same example in talking about the Holocaust, that Jews who suffered in the Holocaust and established the state of Israel today perpetuate violence against Palestinians that are unthinkable," Ahmed said.
BE BEST … "Melania Trump Met With Massive Boos At Youth Opioid Summit In Baltimore," via HUFFPOST: Videos of the B’More Youth Summit show a speaker introducing Trump before the crowd, largely made up of middle and high school students, immediately begins to loudly boo her. The first lady can be seen smiling and waving to the audience as the boos continue …
"I cannot recall another event where she was more negatively received," Bennett wrote. "I believe it is also the first loud booing by an audience at a solo event with Mrs. Trump."
GOBBLED CREDIBILITY … "Vegan Booker Evasive on Turkey Pardons, Asylum," by WFB’s Andrew Stiles: Prominent vegan [Cory Booker] on Tuesday refused to answer the Washington Free Beacon‘s questions about what the Thanksgiving holiday would look like under a Booker administration, including whether or not President Booker would take executive action to stop the wholesale slaughter of America's turkeys by pardoning every single one of the delicious birds under U.S. jurisdiction …
"Those are some tough questions, guess you'll just have to wait and see," Booker's national press secretary Sabrina Singh told the Free Beacon in an email.
DAYS SINCE JOE BIDEN DID A SUNDAY SHOW: 1,081. Come back, Joe!
"They have him in the candidate-protection program." —Fmr. Obama Chief Strategist David Axelrod
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