We don't deserve memes
BY PRIYANKA ARIBINDI, BRIAN BEUTLER
& CROOKED MEDIA
Friday, April 6, 2018 | WILL SCOTT PRUITT STILL BE EMPLOYED WHEN YOU READ THIS? | At least one White House faction now seems to want to wash its hands of the embattled EPA administrator. A "White House official" told the Wall Street Journal that Chief of Staff John Kelly has advised President Trump to fire Pruitt (huge mystery who this official is). Details about the high life Pruitt has been living on the taxpayer dime are still surfacing. Publicly, Trump acts ambivalent about Pruitt's ultimate fate: "Do you believe that the Fake News Media is pushing hard on a story that I am going to replace A.G. Jeff Sessions with EPA Chief Scott Pruitt, who is doing a great job but is TOTALLY under siege?” he tweeted in his typically restrained fashion. “Do people really believe this stuff? So much of the media is dishonest and corrupt!" Not exactly reassuring if you’re Scott Pruitt! If there's good news here, it's that Trump has all but ruled out installing Pruitt at the Department of Justice where he'd be free to obstruct or terminate the Russia investigation.
From Brian Beutler: Trump could be priming his political allies to go to the mat for him against Robert Mueller by making them shrug off Pruitt's corruption now →
| Late Thursday, Trump ordered the United States Trade Representative to consider imposing another $100 billion in tariffs on Chinese imports.
This is all shadowboxing for now, but China has threatened to retaliate by imposing its own tariffs on U.S. imports from parts of the country that Republicans need to hold in the midterms. But at least it’s part of a well-conceived multi-stage Trump strategy that will ultimately work to America’s advantage!!!
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Bernie spoke earlier this week in Jackson, Mississippi, and made a point that has been drawing some attention: What he said: "The business model, if you like, of the Democratic Party for the last 15 years or so has been a failure. People sometimes don't see that because there was a charismatic individual named Barack Obama, who won the presidency in 2008 and 2012. He was obviously an extraordinary candidate, brilliant guy. But behind that reality, over the last 10 years, Democrats have lost about 1,000 seats in state legislatures all across this country.” How it played: Remember the 2016 Democratic primary? It went over a bit like that, which is always a treat. Sanders’ critics most persuasive point: Implying that Democratic voters were too distracted by Obama's dazzling oratory to notice the collapse of the Democratic Party was an unwise thing to say. Sanders’ most persuasive point: As many observers have noted, Democrats shouldn't be blasé about how deep of a hole they are in and how they got there. From Brian Beutler: Few Democrats argue that the Democratic Party is in great shape, or couldn't have done better under Obama. Nobody should be particularly surprised or offended. Sanders should probably be pressed to explain why what happened under Obama is any different than what happened to every two-term presidency since Eisenhower, and why Democrats' electoral fortunes have improved so much since November 2016 without a radical change in "business model." But getting worked up about it in either direction is silly. | The Trump administration has imposed additional sanctions on 17 senior Russian government officials and seven Russian oligarchs, as well 12 companies the oligarchs own and control. For these entities, the sanctions mean their assets within the U.S. will be frozen, and Americans will be barred from conducting business with them. Oleg Deripaska (a notorious, organized crime-connected oligarch, who may be scaring Paul Manafort into a life prison sentence) seems to be taking it in stride. Disgraced GOP Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) resigned abruptly today. Farenthold used $84,000 in taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim brought against him by his former communications director, and though he had previously pledged to pay it back, he hasn’t yet, and it’s unclear if he ever will. Bigger fish to fry, but he also had horrible taste in pajamas. Park Geun-hye, the former president of South Korea, was sentenced to 24 years in prison after being found guilty of bribery and coercion. Target is paying $3.74 million to settle a lawsuit claiming the company’s use of criminal background checks in the hiring process discriminated against minorities. Kentucky lawmakers have sent a bill to the state’s Republican Governor that would raise taxes on 95 percent of the state’s residents while cutting them for its wealthiest people and corporations. They are who we said they were.
The New York Times created a massive interactive FAQ about the Royal Wedding and it is truly worth your time. From Lovett: Or you could read Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Whatever.
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Live from Florida, it’s Thursday night’s Pod Save America! PSA tackles voting rights and second chances with Rev. Demetrius Jifunza of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. Listen → | | |
Data from the Department of Education in 2012 suggested that black students—especially black boys—faced more discipline in public schools than other students.
However, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is now trying to reassess Obama administration guidance that tried to prevent “discriminatory discipline.” According to former head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division Vanita Gupta, going back on this now could “signal to everyone that the federal government doesn’t care about black and brown children.”
| Fox D.C. anchors criticized a black teenager from Texas who went viral after getting into 20 of the nation’s top universities and receiving full-ride scholarships to all of them. They called him “obnoxious,” and said he stole the spotlight from other students. Do they know what happens to Fox anchors who try to bully teenagers about college admissions...? Also, hard pass on this peanut butter pickle sandwich the New York Times is shopping around the Internet. Or maybe it’s good. Who can say? You can’t. Until you try it. (From Priyanka: Still no.) | Remember the story we shared earlier this week about Henry, a teeanger facing deportation after informing the FBI about his gang, MS-13?
Well, according to ProPublica’s Hannah Dreier, who reported the original story, an immigration judge now wants to hear from everyone at Henry’s high school and in law enforcement who was involved in the case, and Henry may be released on bail.
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