January 1, 2018

Washington Post Readers choose the 2017 quote of the year

By Post Opinions Staff December 29, 2017

Earlier this month, we asked Post readers for their choices for 2017’s quote of the year. Among the more than 500 submissions we received, there were two overwhelming favorites and several other popular entries. They are listed below, along with reader comments explaining their choices.

The winner: “Alternative facts” — Kellyanne Conway, Jan. 22

Nearly 20 percent of readers submitted this exchange from just two days into the Trump presidency. “No other quote quite typifies this administration like this one,” wrote Joan Tindell of Tucson. Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” why the president told then-press secretary Sean Spicer to make easily disproved claims about the crowd size at Trump’s inauguration, Conway replied, “You’re saying it’s a falsehood, and they’re giving — our press secretary, Sean Spicer, gave alternative facts to that.” Moderator Chuck Todd replied, “Alternative facts are not facts; they’re falsehoods.” Conway’s quote “ushered us into our era of dystopia right away,” said Mary Wirth of West Lafayette, Ind. “The use of ‘alternative facts,'” wrote Ryan Grella of Los Angeles, “set the stage for allowing America to have two contradictory narratives to exist side by side. This only accelerated the divide in this country.”

The runner up: “Nevertheless, she persisted.” — Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Feb. 7



When the Senate majority leader cut off Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) speech against attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), he argued that Warren had violated Senate rules against impugning a senator’s character. “She was warned,” intoned McConnell. “She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” McConnell probably didn’t expect that the last sentence would become “a rally cry for women to speak out, run for political office, and otherwise activate millions of women to engage more in the political process,” as Terri Saveley of Lawrence, Kan., put it. Thirteen percent of readers picked this quote, including Victoria Ford of St. Paul, Minn., who wrote “Throughout the year — the Women’s March, the staggering number of women running for office, the #MeToo movement, and more — women have persisted in the face of opposition, abuse, and dismissal.”

Honorable mentions

“Covfefe” — President Trump, May 31



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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/12/29/post-readers-picks-for-2017s-quote-of-the-year

January 1, 2018

Ex-Justice official calls BS on GOP concerns over Devin Nunes: 'Paul Ryan could remove him'

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/01/ex-justice-official-calls-bs-on-gop-concerns-over-devin-nunes-paul-ryan-could-remove-him/

January 1, 2018

Trump's New Year's resolution: Getting Scott to run for Senate in Fla.

By MATT DIXON and MARC CAPUTO 12/31/2017 11:57 AM EST Updated 12/31/2017 05:00 PM EST

President Donald Trump wrapped up another private lunch Sunday in South Florida with Gov. Rick Scott, but the biggest political item wasn’t on the official New Year's Eve menu at Trump International: Whether Scott will run for U.S. Senate or not in 2018.

No one is a bigger booster of the idea than Trump, who rang in the 2017 New Year with private calls to the term-limited Scott and politicos urging him to challenge the Florida’s three-term incumbent, Sen. Bill Nelson, the only Democrat elected statewide. In June, Trump publicly called on Scott during a Miami event about Cuba policy to seek the Senate seat. And Trump did it again in September. “I hope this man right here, Rick Scott, runs for the Senate,” Trump said after examining Hurricane Irma’s damage in Fort Myers and Naples, Scott’s hometown.

Each time, Trump has urged him on, Scott has demurred.

And, if the Senate race came up again at lunch, those who know the governor expect him to stay tight-lipped. It's a nod to his cautious and meticulous approach to politics, as well as his awareness of Trump’s Twitter trigger finger, which could disclose a secret the governor wants to keep under wraps.

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https://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2017/12/31/scott-to-meet-dine-with-trump-at-mar-a-lago-165109?lo=ap_f1

January 1, 2018

Updated: Trump Hits Iran, Pakistan in First Tweets of New Year: 'TIME FOR CHANGE!'

Source: Mediate


by Ken Meyer | 9:23 am, January 1st, 2018


If you thought Donald Trump might’ve set himself a new years resolution to give up tweeting, you should probably think again.

The president already got back on the Twitter machine this morning, and in his first tweets of 2018, he suggested that he might cut aid to Pakistan because they provide “safe haven” to terrorists while giving America “nothing but lies & deceit.”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/947802588174577664

Trump followed up by voicing support once again for the anti-government protests taking place in Iran. The president previously remarked that the Iranian people are frustrated with their government’s support for terrorism, and now, Trump has turned his attention to the Obama nuclear deal and the fact that the demonstrations are a rebuke to the nation’s suppressive policies.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/947810806430826496

2018 already looks like it’s off to an interesting start.

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Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/online/trump-hits-iran-pakistan-in-first-tweets-of-new-year-time-for-change/

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Update:

Pakistan fires back at Trump: US has given nothing but ‘invective & mistrust'

BY BRANDON CARTER - 01/01/18 12:05 PM EST

Pakistan fired back at President Trump on Monday, saying the U.S. has given it “nothing but invective and mistrust” after Trump lashed out at the country and threatened to withhold aid in an early morning tweet.

“[Pakistan] as anti-terror ally has given free to US: land & air communication, military bases & intel cooperation that decimated Al-Qaeda over last 16yrs, but they have given us nothing but invective & mistrust,” Pakistan’s defense minister, Khurram Dastgir-Khan, said on Twitter.

“They overlook cross-border safe havens of terrorists who murder Pakistanis,” he added.

https://twitter.com/PakMnstrDefence/status/947843255286353921

In his first tweet of 2018, Trump blasted Pakistan, saying its leaders have given the U.S. “nothing but lies and deceit.”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/947802588174577664

more
http://thehill.com/policy/international/366979-pakistan-fires-back-at-trump-us-has-given-nothing-but-invective-mistrust