DC Report

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for decades, you’ve probably noticed that conservatives hate California. It’s an obsession.

Donald Trump’s disdain for the state is well known. But conservative anti-California hatred goes far beyond the ex-occupant of the Oval Office.

The enduring sources of these fusillades are conservative thought leaders. And as they portray it, California is a failing Banana Republic....

Not to worry, we always have Mitch McConnell to tell us what to swallow politically.

This week, the Senate Republican leader told donors and party faithful there will be no Republican legislative agenda to share with voters before next year’s midterms elections, say participants in private sessions.

As Axios explained, in every midterm cycle there are party donors and workers who want a positive, this-is-what-we-want outline to unify its candidates....

Every week my email box receives a steady stream of articles aimed at cultivating public animus toward Russia. The articles are always wrapped in a narrative in which Russia is a threat to democracy in Ukraine, Eastern Europe and elsewhere. The effect is to create public support for hardline economic and/or military action against Russia.

The insidious underside of this campaign is it paves the way for a scenario in which Ukraine provokes Russia, thereby drawing a Russian response that is then used as a pretext for U.S. engagement.

The insidious underside of this campaign is it paves the way for a scenario in which Ukraine provokes Russia, thereby drawing a Russian response that is then used as a pretext for U.S. engagement. In such circumstances, the public would have been primed for action and would almost certainly fail to untangle the truth.

What is terrifying is the scope of the stream, which spans the spectrum from mainstream right to center-left....

Donald Trump's presidency and the Covid pandemic combined to make 2020 a remarkably enriching year for the highest-paid workers in America. Meanwhile, the numbers for the bottom 99.9% are, in a word, awful.

Just one in 900 workers makes $1 million or more, a new Social Security report on wages shows. My annual analysis of this data shows that this thin and rich group made 14% more money in 2020 than in 2019.

On average, the pretax pay of the $1 million-and-up workers increased by $305,600. That's after adjusting for inflation....

Steve Bannon faces real trouble when he goes on trial for contempt of Congress. He has no legitimate defense — unless a judge sets aside decades of principles governing defenses in criminal cases.

If that happens, we are all in for a lot of trouble enforcing laws in America.

Bannon is still working to overthrow our government. "We're taking down the Biden regime," Bannon declared before surrendering to federal officials Monday. He was released hours later pending trial....

The men Donald Trump handpicked to run the U.S. Postal Service into the ground continue to do The Don's dirty work, intentionally slowing the mail and outsourcing vital services to private delivery companies. But the heads of the nation's four postal service unions are too spellbound to react.

That's the view of postal workers across the country who are seeing service standards deteriorate and privatization expanded under the watch of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Postal Service Board of Governors Chair Ron A. Bloom. And the postal workers want to give both men the boot.

Last month, 77 public interest groups comprising the Save The Post Office Coalition signed a letter urging President Joe Biden not to extend Bloom's term after it expires in December....

MS NOW host Jonathan Capehart was in the middle of criticizing Vice President JD Vance’s answer to a grieving military widower on Sunday when his co-host cut in with a correction. He took the remark back on the spot.

The panel on “The Weekend” was discussing Vance’s appearance at a CBS News town hall on Saturday. Joey Amor asked him there about the death of his wife, Master Sgt. Nicole Amor. She was one of six U.S. service members killed March 1 in an Iranian strike in Kuwait.

“There was a failure in the leadership,” Amor told Vance. “And I want to know how this administration is going to start holding those leaders accountable.”...

A Republican Senate candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump froze, then laughed, when a debate moderator asked her to define the “reasonable access” to abortion she says she supports.

Republican nominee Michele Tafoya faced Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D-MN) on Friday in a debate for Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate seat.

It was the race’s only scheduled debate, according to MPR News, whose politics editor, Brian Bakst, moderated the hourlong broadcast....

CNN's justice correspondent singled out President Donald Trump's response to a new criminal probe targeting one of his longtime political allies.

CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez called the president's remarks "striking" on Thursday's episode of "The Lead with Jake Tapper," after Trump appeared to throw his weight behind the Justice Department's criminal investigation into Republican operative Corey Lewandowski.

"In fact, they've shut down investigations into people inside the administration," Perez said. "This is a remarkable one. And the president's comments there are striking."...