Raw Story reports: In the final moments of Wednesday’s Fox & Friend program, the morning crew tossed to reporter Todd Piro, who was speaking to patrons at a diner in Louisville, Kentucky. “Let’s get right to the debate,” Piro said. “Jefferson County, where we are, highly Democrat. Bullitt County, right across the way here, heavy Republican.” Turning to a man …

CNBC reports: Whole Foods shareholders have at last voted to advance Amazon’s acquisition of the grocery chain, moving the proposal one step closer to reality. Gathered at Whole Food’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, the retailer’s shareholders approved a merger with the internet giant on Wednesday morning. Amazon shareholders don’t need to sign off on the deal. Now, completion of the …

CNN reports: The White House has prepared the paperwork for President Trump to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio when he makes the final decision to do so, CNN has learned. An administration official said the White House has also prepared talking points to send to surrogates after he is pardoned. One of the talking points is that Arpaio served his …

USA Today reports: If money talks, George and Amal Clooney made it shout Tuesday, by donating $1 million to the Southern Poverty Law Center to help fight hate groups in the wake of tragedy and violence in Charlottesville, Va. The SPLC, a leading civil-rights group that monitors hate groups and campaigns against bigotry, is partnering with the Clooney Foundation for …

From a press release published by Christian Newswire: Dr. Frank Wright, President & Chief Executive Officer at D. James Kennedy Ministries (DJKM), announced that DJKM filed suit today in the United States District Court against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that the SPLC illegally trafficked in false and misleading descriptions of the services …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Former California Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer is taking on Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista) over his healthcare vote in an ad for her super PAC aimed at electing Democrats. The online ad, titled “Darrell-iction,” aimed at people in Issa’s district, began running Wednesday. It is the first in the super PAC’s campaign targeting House Republicans …

Scamvangelical Kenneth Copeland, who flits around the country speaking in tongues aboard his $20 million private jet, says that America will win the Afghanistan war now that God His Damn Self has put Donald Trump in charge. This, despite Copeland’s February 2016 declaration that Ted Cruz had been “anointed by God” to be president. Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing …

Public Policy Polling reports: Things are continuing to look good for Democrats in 2018, as they lead the generic Congressional ballot 49-35. The 14 point lead for Democrats may be too good to be true though- it’s a function of a highly divided Republican base at this point. While Clinton voters say they’ll vote Democratic for Congress next year 90-4, …

This morning Trump bragged about the “packed house” at last night’s campaign rally in Arizona, where, as cameras showed multiple times, the venue was only about half full. Trump also claims that last night he read the crowd his earlier statements on Charlottesville, but as we all know, he pointedly omitted the “many sides” declaration which brought denouncements from actual …

The Hill reports: Former British ambassador to the U.S. Peter Westmacott compared President Trump to an autocrat in Nazi Germany after the president’s campaign-style rally in Phoenix, Arizona. The tweet on Wednesday morning came in response to a report from NBC’s Andrea Mitchell that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper is “scared and worried about the President’s fitness to …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. Navy dismissed the commander of the Asia-based 7th Fleet on Wednesday after a series of warship accidents raised questions about its operations in the Pacific. A two-sentence statement said Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, had relieved Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to …

Politico reports: Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said her “skin crawled” during last year’s second presidential debate, a reaction to Donald Trump standing ominously near her as she delivered answers before a national audience. “This is not OK, I thought. It was the second presidential debate and Donald Trump was looming behind me. Two days before, the world heard …

The Hill reports: The former Director of National Intelligence blasted President Trump’s speech during an Arizona rally late Tuesday and raised questions about Trump’s fitness for office. “I don’t know when I’ve listened and watched something like this from a president that I found more disturbing,” James Clapper said during a interview on CNN. “Having some understanding of the levers …

Vice News reports: Margaret Kim is an Asian American. She’s definitely not a Republican. She’s also not… real. But that hasn’t stopped the Arizona Republican party from using Kim, the 1994 sitcom alter ego of living, Republican-loathing comedienne Margaret Cho, as an example of its diverse support. The cast photograph of “All-American Girl” is prominently featured on the Arizona Republican …

“I’m just going to speak from the heart here. What we’ve witnessed is a total eclipse of the facts—someone who came out onstage and lied directly to the American people and left things out that he said in an attempt to rewrite history, especially when it comes to Charlottesville. He’s unhinged. It’s embarrassing. I don’t mean for us, the media, …

The Washington Post reports: When President Trump finds himself under attack or slipping in popularity, he often holds a rally in a place like this: a diverse blue city that’s home to liberal protesters, but is surrounded by red suburbs and rural towns filled with Trump supporters who will turn out in droves. Unlike rallies in states that are solidly …

Reuters reports: The wife of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Tuesday apologized for sniping at a critic on social media site Instagram who called her “deplorable” for a post highlighting her expensive clothing as she exited a government plane. The flap erupted after Mnuchin’s wife, Scottish-born actress Louise Linton, posted a photo of herself emerging from the aircraft wearing …

The Hill reports: President Trump will not pardon controversial former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio at a campaign rally Tuesday night in Arizona. “There will be no discussion of that today at any point and no action will be taken on that front at any point today,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters aboard Air Force One. …

CNN reports: A self-described “email prankster” seemingly fooled top editors at Breitbart over the weekend into believing he was Steve Bannon, the fired White House chief strategist who returned to the right-wing website as executive chairman on Friday. In the emails, Breitbart Editor-in-Chief Alex Marlow pledged that he and several other top editors would do Bannon’s “dirty work” against White …

The Washington Post reports: Years before running for president, Trump had a clear message on Afghanistan: It was time to get out. In 2012, he said the war was “wasting our money.” In 2012, he called it “a total disaster.” In 2013, he said, “We should leave Afghanistan immediately.” Trump continued his criticism of the war during the year and …