If you had in your pool a Republican Party civil war in Year One of the Trump administration, you may be a winner. Trump shocked his conservative allies and Republican officials by cutting a deal with, yes, Democrats. And not just any Democrats, but his new best friends, Chuck and Nancy. And not just any deal. This was a deal on raising the debt limit and financing the government. Nobody, including the Democrats, saw it coming. It was Trump going rogue and Democrats, a day after the DACA announcement, making an unexpected comeback. Via The New York Times.
Meanwhile Paul Ryan is getting flak from his right wing. Leaders of the Freedom Caucus met with Ryan after first meeting with Steve Bannon. If Trump was giving Republican leadership a message, this was one more. Via The Washington Post.
As Hurricane Irma lashes Puerto Rico and much of the Caribbean and is apparently headed for Florida, the state looks back to the lessons learned from Hurricane Andrew, a Category 5 storm that hit South Florida in 1992. Via The New York Times.
Edwidge Danticat writes in The New Yorker of the two storm systems threatening Dreamers she knows in South Florida — the potential end of DACA and the likely arrival of Hurricane Irma. They face both, Danticat writes, possibly broken but not defeated.
Is there a trade that Democrats would be willing to make to get a deal on DACA? What we know is that Democrats are not willing to bend on Trump’s wall and Republicans are not willing — at this point anyway — to pass something that protects Dreamers without getting something in return. Via Politico.
Dramatically reducing the Obamacare sign-up budget is exactly what sabotaging the Affordable Care Act looks like. Via Vox.
Facebook reveals that it sold advertising during the 2016 campaign to a shadowy firm tied to Russia propaganda and intent on targeting voters. Via The Washington Post.
Maybe the most frustrating thing about dealing with North Korea is that most of the possible options have already been tried and not one of them has worked. Via The Atlantic.
George Will: What kind of war is Trump threatening with North Korea? Suddenly, writes Will, this becomes a question of paramount importance. Via The National Review.
Manson follower Leslie Van Houten has been granted parole for her role in the notorious 1969 murders. The final decison is left to Gov. Jerry Brown, who rejected her parole last year. Via The Los Angeles Times.
