The Dallas News reports: The Dallas Stars have become the first professional sports franchise to publicly oppose the Texas “bathroom bill.” “The Dallas Stars stands strongly opposed to any legislation perceived as discriminatory, including proposed bathroom legislation,” President Jim Lites said Wednesday. “Dallas welcomes all, and we welcome all.” Lites also referred to the NHL draft, which is scheduled to …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump was speaking in his own words when he vowed to retaliate against North Korean aggression with “fire and fury,” but top advisers were aware of the tone he planned to strike, a White House spokeswoman said Wednesday, as the administration sought to provide clarity on its strategy on the Korean Peninsula. “The words …

From an Instagram user: Fantastic day golfing with #45 @realdonaldtrump at Trump Bedminister today. We had an exciting match which came down to the 18th hole. I want to thank my good friend @newyorkrei for setting up such an awesome day. #Trump #POTUS #GOLF #USA #MAGA The friend he thanks in that post has a photo of himself on the …

The Portland Press-Herald reports: Gov. Paul LePage said today that he would propose increasing the age to vote or join the military to 21 to be consistent with a new law hiking the legal age to buy tobacco. Unfortunately for LePage, two things would stand in his way: the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. military. Six days after the Legislature …

Sound familiar? The Times Of Israel reports: In a battling speech to thousands of supporters who gathered in Tel Aviv to support him on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the left and the media of using ever-widening corruption investigations against him and his family to try to oust him from power in what he called “a coup against the …

“President Trump is the most gifted politician of our time and the best orator to hold that office in generations. He’s been right, they have been wrong, but there is no doubt, there are segments of the extreme media, and I wouldn’t call it mainstream, it is extreme to want to have unlimited cheap migration. These are extreme positions. The …

USA Today reports: State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert will hold a briefing Wednesday on the heels of tense exchanges between the U.S. and North Korea. A day earlier, President Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” in response to reports of a new milestone in the country’s nuclear quest. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported that North Korea’s military …

CNN reports: A close aide to President Donald Trump hit back Wednesday against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, exhibiting further tension between the White House and Congress over Republicans’ failure to pass health care legislation. Dan Scavino, the White House director of social media, responded to McConnell’s comments that the President had “excessive expectations” of how quickly Congress operates “in …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: Right-wing preacher Lance Wallnau posted a video on his Facebook page last night in which he prayed in tongues for President Trump while blasting the song “Who Let The Dogs Out?” Citing a prophecy from the book of 2 Kings that Jezebel would be devoured by dogs, Wallnau railed against “the Jezebel spirit” …

The Independent reports: US Secretary of Defence James Mattis has warned North Korea to “cease any consideration of actions that will lead to the end of the regime and destruction of its people”. Mr Mattis issued the stern warning one day after the Washington Post reported that North Korea had developed miniaturised nuclear warheads that could be capable of striking …

From the ACLU’s blog: Can the government ban the text of the First Amendment itself on municipal transit ads because free speech is too “political” for public display? If this sounds like some ridiculous brain teaser, it should. But unfortunately it’s not. It’s a core claim in a lawsuit we filed today challenging the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) …

Chris Johnson reports on the Washington Blade: President Trump’s recently announced plan to bar transgender people from the armed forces isn’t yet policy, but LGBT legal groups have already initiated a lawsuit seeking to enjoin enforcement of the ban. The 15-page complaint was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by National Center for Lesbian …

CNN reports: Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said Tuesday that he thinks that Sen. John McCain’s brain tumor and the early morning hours may have affected the Arizona Republican’s no vote on the Senate bill to repeal Obamacare. “We did get a call from Paul (Ryan) and he assured us that skinny repeal was not going to pass the …

The New York Times reports: Investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, recently searched the Northern Virginia home of President Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, for tax documents and foreign banking records, a sign that the inquiry into Mr. Manafort has broadened, according to a person briefed on the matter. Until now, it was only known that …

The Dallas Morning News reports: Dallas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, one of President Donald Trump’s evangelical advisers who preached the morning of his inauguration, has released a statement saying the president has the moral authority to take out North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. “When it comes to how we should deal with evil doers, the Bible, in the book …

The Washington Post reports: FBI agents raided the Alexandria home of President Trump’s former campaign chairman late last month, using a search warrant to seize documents and other materials, according to people familiar with the special counsel investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Federal agents appeared at Paul Manafort’s home without advance warning in the predawn hours of …

UPI reports: Australian citizens will be asked where they stand on potential legalization of same-sex marriage in a non-binding mail-in vote, after lawmakers failed to pass legislation Wednesday to make it a national plebiscite vote issue in November. Canberra’s governing Liberal-National Coalition failed to pass a bill in Parliament that would have secured funding to restore Australia’s compulsory plebiscite on …

Raw Story reports: The right-wing Wall Street Journal editorial board on Wednesday called out top White House political strategist Steve Bannon for allegedly coordinating a series of attacks on National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. In particular, the editorial accused Bannon of pushing out a series of stories to his former publication, Breitbart News, that accused McMaster of being “insufficiently pro-Israel …

The Week reports: At 3:11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, Fox News host Sean Hannity decided that some things are just more important than politics. “In light of dangerous NKorea threat, I’m stopping all petty political disagreements for at least next 12 hours,” he tweeted. “Petty” is, of course, a subjective term, but at 11:03 p.m. EDT, less than …

From the right wing Washington Free Beacon: Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to President Donald Trump, said Wednesday America is no longer just a world superpower, but is now a “hyper power.” Co-host of “Fox & Friends” Steve Doocy read two tweets that had just moments ago been posted by Trump to his personal Twitter account. “All right, so what’s he …