Andrew Schmookler – In the Madness of the Right, Reality is for Losers

Perhaps the story can begin with the way an “aide to [President] George W. Bush [apparently Karl Rove] spoke dismissively of “the reality-based community.” Rove, in an interview with reporter Ron Suskind, contrasted that “reality-based” approach (which starts with a careful study of the real circumstances in which one is acting) with the way of the Bush gang: “[W]hen we …

Donald Trump Is Fox News Incarnate. Why Republicans can’t disown their presidential frontrunner By Elspeth Reeve

Several media companies are struggling with how to deal with Donald Trump. He can’t be ignored on ideological grounds—many actual elected Republicans have said far worse things about undocumented immigrants. He can’t be ignored because of paperwork, because for once he filed with the Federal Elections Commission. So now some news outlets, from The Huffington Post to The Wall Street …

Is the IRS Abandoning Its Duty to Stop “Dark Money” From Ruling the 2016 Election? By Candice Bernd

A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld a ban on government contractors contributing to federal election campaigns, saying the ban was originally put in place to prevent government corruption. However, in deciding the case, the court didn’t address such contractors’ anonymous contributions to “dark money” nonprofit groups, organizations that abuse the rules of their tax exempt status to engage in political spending, such …