Today’s edition of quick hits:
* This was a setback for voting rights: “The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Texas does not have to redraw the boundaries for the state’s congressional districts, a victory for Republicans and a defeat for challengers who said the lines were drawn at the expense of minority voters.”
* In related news: “The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will not take up a fight over the boundaries for congressional districts in North Carolina that challengers say were drawn in such a blatantly partisan manner that the resulting map is unconstitutional.”
* It was an annoying day: “President Donald Trump on Monday slammed the central Virginia restaurant that booted his press secretary over the weekend as an establishment with ‘filthy canopies, doors and windows’ and suggested it was also ‘dirty on the inside.’”
* Something for Trump to pretend not to notice: “The markets took another drubbing on Monday on worries that President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade rhetoric marked a dangerous foray into uncharted economic waters.”
* This strikes me as outrageously dumb: “Javier Solana, a former secretary general of NATO who played a central role in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program when he was the European Union’s foreign policy chief, has been denied electronic authorization to enter the United States because of a visit to Iran in 2013.”
* Trump’s pal in Ankara: “Turkey entered a new era Monday, but with the same man in charge. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who at 64 has dominated Turkish politics for 15 years, won another five-year term in presidential elections.”
* Office of Government Ethics: “The government’s top ethics official said some of President Trump’s business dealings ‘raise serious concerns’ but that the office lacks the authority to launch an investigation requested last month by congressional Democrats.” * Word choice: “David Bossie, the former deputy campaign manager for President Trump and a veteran conservative activist, apologized on Sunday after he told a black guest on Fox News, ‘You’re out of your cotton-picking mind.’” * Trump’s challenge coins are just so weird: “His presidency has yielded more — and more elaborate — coins that are shinier, flashier and even bigger, setting off a boom for coin manufacturers, counterfeiters and collectors, with one official Trump challenge coin recently fetching $1,000 on eBay. Among those produced in recent months by members of a White House military unit is a coin featuring Mr. Trump’s private Florida club, Mar-a-Lago, on the front, and the presidential seal, the White House and Air Force One on the back.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
