By Dave Lee
North America technology reporter
19 November 2016

I’ve long suspected that Mark Zuckerberg, who often refers to himself as the “leader” of Facebook, has dreams of high office.

This week, a taster of what that might be like has been knocking at his door in the wake of the US election result.
While Donald Trump’s visit to the White House was an apparently sobering experience about the level of responsibility he’d soon inherit, Zuckerberg has had a brutal political awakening of his own.

Facebook’s “fake news” crisis has had the normally stoic 32-year-old visibly irritated, and that’s because for the first time he is being treated like a politician, rather than just a tech CEO.

With that comes distrust and anger, not to mention disloyalty in the Facebook ranks and what for him must be the growing realisation that it’s impossible to please everyone.

Whether Zuckerberg was right to say fake news had little impact is largely irrelevant. By dismissing it apparently without second thought as “crazy”, he attracted a global pitchfork of people demanding that he at the very least acknowledge the potential role his empire had in Donald Trump’s election win.

That interview, carried out by journalist David Kirkpatrick, also contained one other exchange which should give Zuckerberg some serious food for thought -  and may even represent the biggest threat the network and its leader is yet to face.

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[link:http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38036730|
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38036730]

"Is the Left risking a repeat of 1972 as their proxies flood the streets in quixotic protest? To be sure… the judgement of the Left is falling on President-elect Trump. But where will the judgement of the nation fall? Are young protestors making the very same mistake their grandparents made in the late 60s and early 70s?"

Snip

Asked about the protests against Donald Trump, President Obama offered up blunt advice to Trump and encouraging support for protesters.

"I've been the subject of protests during the course of my eight years. And I suspect that there's not a president in our history that hasn't been subject to these protests. So, I would not advise people who feel strongly or who are concerned about some of the issues that have been raised during the course of the campaign, I wouldn't advise them to be silent."

Don’t be silent. Don’t be still. Get out, march and make your feelings about Donald Trump and the white nationalist agenda clear. While you’re at it, build connections, band together, bond over issues, form alliances and make plans.

Dail Kos Link

Bloomberg Announces The End Of Mark Halperin’s Daily TV Show

Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s Bloomberg politics show, With All Due Respect, will end daily broadcasts on December 2. Halperin used his platform on Bloomberg, which was re-broadcast daily by MSNBC, to defend then-candidate Donald Trump.

The Huffington Post reports that a staff memo announced the show’s cancellation on December 2, but the two will host a four-hour special previewing Trump’s Inauguration on January 20. Both co-hosts are reportedly in discussions to “play a role at Bloomberg” as contributors and columnists.

Mark Halperin and John Heilemann’s afternoon politics show on Bloomberg TV, “With All Due Respect,” will end following coverage of Donald Trump’s inauguration, according to a staff memo.

Halperin and Heilemann, who joined in May 2014 and served as co-managing editors of Bloomberg Politics, will continue to host the show daily until Dec. 2. Bloomberg will produce four hourlong specials previewing Trump’s presidency and then cover the event on Jan. 20.

The two journalists will cease day-to-day roles with the company, but according to the memo are in discussions to “play a role at Bloomberg as contributors and columnists.”

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Nov 17, 2016 9:47am MST by Joan McCarter

Gleeful Republicans see nothing standing in their way to giving tax cuts to the rich, starving the olds and poors, and a Supreme Court that will put women back in the kitchen, pregnant and barefoot now that they have Donald Trump going to the White House and a lock on Congress. Nothing that is, but Senate Democrats and the filibuster. The way around that is of course the way Democrats did it when Republicans were refusing to allow President Obama's appointments to get to the floor—modifying the Senate rules with 51 votes to end the filibuster on them. So McConnell just has to do that with the 52 votes he now has (or likely will following the Louisiana run-off), right? Or not.

On Wednesday, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) may have put a dagger in the scheme.
Asked by The Huffington Post about ending the filibuster, he was blunt.

“Are you kidding?” he said with some vehemence. “I’m one of the biggest advocates for the filibuster. It’s the only way to protect the minority, and we’ve been in the minority a lot more than we’ve been in the majority. It’s just a great, great protection for the minority.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), the most vehement of the Never Trumpers, agrees, telling reporters on Tuesday that it's "a horrible, terrible idea," and he would oppose it on the floor "in a heartbeat." Where Graham goes, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is pretty likely to follow, so there's a definite two and probably three votes to derail any visions McConnell has of neutering the Democrats.

That's not to say that McCain, a few "moderates" like Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Graham, and an appeasement Democrat or two—the best bets are Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Angus King (I-ME)—won't become a "gang" to try to let some of Trump's appointments or legislative proposals get through. The likeliest place we'd see this is in a Supreme Court nomination. There are probably enough endangered red state Democrats looking at their 2018 campaigns to pad those numbers so there will be a Trump Supreme Court.

That said, House Speaker Paul Ryan and McConnell are going to have to do an awful lot of creative legislating to put everything they want into the only legislative vehicle that can't be filibustered—budget reconciliation. That limits them to doing whatever they can in spending, revenue, and the federal debt limit, the parameters for legislation allowed in the process. But you can do a hell of a lot of damage in those three areas.

Daily Kos

November 16, 2016
House Speaker Paul Ryan proposed to privatize the current Medicare system, within the earliest days of the impending Trump administration.

As Members of Congress hastily hash out their opinions and post their announcements, TPM will track what they’re saying, charting whether candidates favor, oppose or release a foggy statement on the privatization and dismantling of Medicare.

Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), chair of the House Budget Committee, said he expects Republicans to take on Medicare reforms "six to eight months" into the Trump administration.

The list will be updated as members of Congress release their opinions or figure out how they really feel about Ryan’s proposal.

This list would not be possible without help from the TPM Readers who contacted their representatives and senators in response to Josh's original post about Ryan's stance on Medicare.

YEP, PHASE THAT BABY OUT! (pro-Medicare Phase Out members of Congress)

[link:http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/medicare-phase-out-checklist|Entire list continues