Good morning — and Happy Flag Day to our friends in Mexico!
Today also marks the 24th anniversary of the beginning of Operation Desert Sabre — the ground phase of the first US Gulf War.
Stat of the day: 94 percent — the share of Mike Huckabee supporters in the 2016 GOP primaries who say that “Christianity should be established as the national religion,” according to Public Policy Polling. PPP also notes that 93 percent of Scott Walker’s supporters “don’t believe in global warming.”
Consequential –> Seumas Milne, Ewen MacAskill and Clayton Swisher report for The Guardian that “one of the biggest spy leaks in recent times” reveals that when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned the United Nations that Iran was close to producing a nuclear bomb, he was offering an assessment that was in direct conflict with that of Israeli intelligence, which had concluded that Iran was “not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons.” The report comes just a week before Netanhyahu addresses the US Congress about the alleged threat posed by Iran.
The Big Lie –> Nick Baumann reports for MoJo that Republicans like Utah Sen. Mike Lee are warning that net neutrality rules, on which the FCC will vote Thursday, are “essentially a massive tax increase on the middle class, being passed in the dead of night without the American public really being made aware of what is going on.”
Huge jury award –> A Manhattan jury found that the Palestinian Authority and the PLO had “knowingly supported” a string of terror attacks in Israel in the early 2000s, and awarded a group of Americans whose loved one died in the attacks $655 million in damages. Benjamin Weiser reports for the NYT that the Palestinian Authority vows to appeal, claiming that the charges of indirect support for terrorism are “baseless.”
Dr. Evil –> Richard Berman, the union-buster and lobbyist behind a web of conservative advocacy groups — and who wears the nickname “Dr. Evil” with pride — “has secretly routed funding for at least 16 studies and launched at least five front groups attacking Environmental Protection Agency rules cutting carbon dioxide from power plants,” according to The Guardian’s Suzanne Goldenberg. (Moyers & Company viewers may remember Bill’s comments on Berman last April before his interview with restaurant workers advocate Saru Jayaraman.)
Homeland insecurity –> At Forbes, Stan Collender writes that a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security at the end of the week is increasingly likely. Collender says that it’s not really about rolling back Obama’s executive order on immigration, but rather a battle over tactics between House and Senate Republicans.
Not the impression you get from reading the headlines –> Vox’s Zack Beauchamp argues that while the Islamic State’s defeat isn’t imminent, the tide has turned and they are losing their war to create a new caliphate.
No coronation –> At Slate, Jamelle Bouie makes the case that even if he would be unlikely to win, a primary challenge by Vice President Joe Biden would ultimately be good for Hillary Clinton and the Dems.
Remedial biology –> During a debate over an anti-abortion bill in Idaho’s legislature, state Rep. Vito Barbieri (R), a grown man and an elected official, asked a physician who was testifying against the bill if women seeking abortions could swallow a tiny camera in order to conduct a gynecological exam. The Associated Press reports that the doctor replied “that would be impossible because swallowed pills do not end up in the vagina.” (via Salon.) AND: David Ferguson reports for Raw Story that Georgia state Rep. Tom Kirby (R) “has taken a bold stance against man-made centaurs, werewolves and other ‘human-animal hybrids’ with a bill outlawing the mixing of human and animal genetic material.” But he’s not against naturally occurring hybrids: “Y’know the mermaids in the ocean, that’s been around for a long time,” Kirby explained. “I don’t think we should create them. But if they exist, that’s fine.”
That’s just some dust in our eyes –> The AP reports: “A beloved K9 suffering from seizures and arthritis received a final salute and a police escort, with lights flashing, to the Maine vet clinic where he was euthanized.” Sultan was the first dog to work with the Yarmouth Police Department. He was 13-years-old when he was put down. (Via Fox News.)
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