| | | | | A guest holds up a paper cutout as President Trump greets the audience at the Congressional Ball at the White House Saturday. Credit: Yuri Gripas/Pool/Getty Images | | | Actual Witches Are Getting Angry: What they think about Trump's "witch hunts" claims
2018, a Retrospective: What. A. Year.
About Those Senate Intel Report on Russian Interference: A look at the memes and trends of Russia's targeted campaign | | | What the White House Is Talking About:
President Trump today has lunch with Vice President Mike Pence and a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Later, he and first lady Melania Trump host two more holiday receptions at the White House.
What the White House Press Corps is Talking About:
Recovering from a rainy weekend of news and angry Trump tweets.
Like This One: | | Credit: @realDonaldTrump/Twitter
Actual Witches Are Getting Angry:
Trump's witch hunt is giving witches a bad name and the witches are unhappy. No, for reals.
"Many are mad, and the rest are rolling their eyes," said David Salisbury, a lead organizer at Washington-based witch community Firefly House, according to the story. "I don't think we need to attack Trump with spells," said another witchcraft aficionado, adding, "Trump is safe from any 'witch hunt' because no self-respecting coven would have him." What a time to be alive. Our Year in Mueller:
We've compiled a handy CNN overview of what 2018 was like through the lens of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, which, no matter your politics, always was sort of hovering in the wings beside a large majority of political headlines. This terrific piece goes month by month and provides an accurate (and stunning) snapshot of just how deep and intense the Mueller investigation got over the past year.
Oh, Hi, We're Maybe Going to Have a Shutdown:
Here's a little wakeup call: Congress and the President have five days to settle their differences or the government will likely shutdown, just ahead of Christmas. Way to go, team. The main crux of the issue is funding for a border wall, which is at an impasse. Trump wants $5 billion, but that's not going to happen for Democrats. It's looking more and more like it'll be a game of kick the can with short-term resolutions, at least until Dems take control of the majority in the new year.
That Time Trump's New Chief of Staff Called Him a Terrible Human Being:
We pretty much know by now that what gets under the president's skin the most is someone saying bad things about him behind his back -- which is just what his newly announced chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, did in 2016. Mulvaney, when Trump was a presidential candidate and Mulvaney a candidate for Congress, spoke at a debate and said he was trying to get as enthusiastic about Trump as he could, while considering him "a terrible human being." He went on:
"Do I like Donald Trump? No." Adding, "absolutely not" when asked if Trump was a role model for his two sons. "We have perhaps two of the most flawed human beings running for president in the history of the country," Mulvaney said. "So I have to step back and look and say, 'OK, what do y'all, the majority of the folks who vote for me, want me to do?' In order to accomplish that, I have to support Donald Trump, and he has to win."
Trump has yet to comment on what Mulvaney said, but on Friday he announced him as his new COS,
so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. | | Word of the Year:
Merriam-Webster has announced its word of the year: justice. "Justice" saw a 74% spike in look-ups compared with 2017. "The concept of justice was at the center of many of our national debates in the past year: racial justice, social justice, criminal justice, economic justice," the company said when explaining its choice. | | Our Daily Melania:
After her Fox News interview with Sean Hannity last week, author and CNN contributor Kate Andersen Brower wrote an op-ed for CNN Opinion that I pointed out in this space. Over the weekend, Stephanie Grisham, Melania's deputy chief of staff and communications director, fired off her own CNN op-ed in response, saying Brower had her facts wrong. I've linked both opeds -- am curious what you guys think.
Dress Like the First Lady:
The year almost ended without Melania Trump wearing a dress I really, actually, omg-covet, loved. But, thanks to Saturday night's Congressional Ball, I now have that moment. (It's like when Michelle Obama wore that rose-gold, chainmail Versace -- which was insanely good and better than all the "best-dressed" moments that came before.) Melania wore a full-length, long-sleeved, white sequin, turtleneck gown, from Celine's Spring 2018 Ready to Wear collection. I'm not sure what it costs, and I can't find it for sale anywhere, but this is how it showed on the runway. I also thought Melania's hair and makeup were on point. | | | Credit: left and right, Yuri Gripas/pool/Getty Images; center, Vogue.com/fashion-shows | | What Washington is Talking About:
Looking ahead to a possible partial government shutdown in five days; former FBI Director James Comey is back on Capitol Hill to meet with the House Judiciary and Oversight Committee behind closed doors; and two reports prepared for the Senate Intel Committee on Russia's social media interference were released today (more on that later).
What America is Talking About:
Miss USA apologized for comments she made about other contestants' English; Pete Davidson appeared on SNL after his troubling Instagram post; and Colin Kroll, co-founder of HQ Trivia and Vine, is dead at 32. "Will forever be grateful to this good dude who made great apps," HQ host Scott Rogowsky wrote on Instagram.
Poll of the Day:
Former Vice President Biden leads Democrats in Iowa, per a CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll. Biden has an 82% net favorable among likely Democratic caucus goers in the state, followed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Beto O'Rourke and Cory Booker. | | Credit: CNN
2018, a Retrospective:
I made a list of 110 things that happened in American politics in 2018, using our monthly retrospective Notes screenshots as reference. What. A. Year. If I missed your favorite political story, moment or meme of 2018, email your nomination for a 111th item on the list to coverlinehunter@cnn.com. | | Credit: CNN
About Those Senate Intel Reports on Russian Social Media Interference:
You can check out the reports here and here. The first, from the firm New Knowledge, that tracks online disinformation, is packed with images of the memes the Russian pages spread, many of which are about debunked conspiracy theories.
The top-performing Facebook post about then-candidate Trump, for example, claimed Barack Obama didn't enforce a ban on Sharia law and allowed Muslim refugees to live under Sharia and not the Constitution. The top Facebook post about Hillary Clinton asked users to "like" if they agreed only US citizens should be allowed to vote. Spoiler alert: you can't even register to vote unless you're a US citizen. | | Credit: New Knowledge
New Knowledge analyzed more than 10 million tweets, and tens of thousands of posts on Instagram and Facebook published by the Internet Research Agency. The report looks at when Russian accounts first posted, like their Twitter accounts, some of which began as early as 2012 and 2013, while their Facebook operations ramped up heavily before the 2016 election: | | Credit: New Knowledge
They also found that social media companies did the "bare minimum" when it came to handing over data and helping Senate Intel Committee members investigate Russian interference.
"Social media have gone from being the natural infrastructure for sharing collective grievances and coordinating civic engagement to being a computational tool for social control, manipulated by canny political consultants and available to politicians in democracies and dictatorships alike," the other report, from Computational Propaganda Research Project, reads.
Cher's Dream 2020 Ticket:
Biden-O'Rourke.
Fight Over Mural Symbols in L.A.:
The Los Angeles school district is planning to remove a mural by artist Beau Stanton at its RFK Community Schools campus because some Korean activists say the rays on it remind them of the Imperial Japanese flag. But now Shepard Fairey is threatening to remove his own mural of Bobby Kennedy at the school if the district goes through with it.
"Not only do I stand with Beau and believe that his beautiful and benevolent mural has nothing to do with the Japanese battle flag, I also believe that the action to remove his mural is a disservice to the man the school is named for and whose philosophies certainly diverge from censorship and intolerance as a course of action," Fairey wrote on Instagram. | | Credit: @obeygiant/Instagram
Street Art Sighting:
The "Pelosi-tree" outside of Floriana on 17th and Q in Northwest Washington is decked with American flags, and in place of a star, Speaker-designate Pelosi. | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
It also includes "Be Best" ornaments, ribbons with the names of women elected to Congress, and photos of Pelosi in her burnt orange Max Mara coat. Pelosi herself visited the tree and posted photos on Saturday. | | Credit: Hunter Schwarz
If you spot political street art, tweet me @hunterschwarz, tag me on Instagram @hunterschwarz, or email me at coverlinehunter@cnn.com with your sighting so I can feature it in COVER/LINE.
P.S.:
The most Shazammed song of the year is Clean Bandit and Demi Lovato's "Solo." | | | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment