news and comments on the state of our democracy                 
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Reporter says every space in parking garage taken up by leakers

Circling every level multiple times with no luck whatsoever, Washington Post reporter Philip Rucker was frustrated May 31 that every space in the parking garage was taken up by an anonymous source. “I’ve gone around and around, but I can’t find a single spot that isn’t already filled by an unidentified White House leaker,” said an exasperated Rucker, who recalled how easy it was to nab a prime parking place to clandestinely receive privileged information only a few short years ago. “It’s such a nightmare driving all the way to the very top of the whole structure to hold a secret meeting with an informant and then have to squeeze into a spot reserved for compact cars that another journalist who’s meeting with a whistle-blower is halfway parked in anyway. Seriously, I have to start scheduling these rendezvous earlier, because as soon as dusk settles in, you can forget it.”

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  Fox News has slipped to second place in total viewership, averaging 2.41 million viewers over the course of the week of May 15-19, besting CNN’s 1.65 million and falling just behind MSNBC’s 2.44 million. This was the first time in years Fox News fell from first place during prime-time hours. This may be important to the President because Fox News is his primary TV voice.

The network has lost  a bit of steam since the departure of  Roger Ailes.  For 20 years,did as he pleased at Fox News and the network flourished. The liberals fumed at the popularity of the fair-minded network, and finally succeeded in using stories of sexual harrassment to get rid of the man who made it work. Until Fox regains its footing, the liberals may succeed in keeping Pres. Trump from acheiving anything.

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Trump inks religious freedom order 
    President Donald Trump signed an executive order May 4th meant to allow churches and other religious organizations to become more active politically, though  the document has a few limitations.   The order, which Trump inked during a ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, directs the IRS not to take "adverse action" against churches and other tax-exempt religious organizations participating in political activity.  Churches and any other tax-exempt spiritual organizations are forbidden from endorsing or opposing political candidates under the 1954 Johnson  Amendment. 
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