By Rachel Weiner @ WashingtonPost.com, May 31

As soon as his cab arrived in an Islamic State safe house in December 2015, his lawyers say, Mohamad Khweis realized he had made a huge mistake.

everybody here is avoiding posting a thread on the elephant at the top of all the news sites, so I will, The first is WaPo's main story

By Chris Mooney & Brady Dennis, 3 hours ago

That's my title; theirs is: Trump's Impatience with GOP grows

By Alexander Bolton @ TheHill.com, May 31

The article is good on explaining why a health care bill will be long in coming and might look quite different from what we have seen so far, along with elaborating on frustration of McConnell et. al. with Trump's tweets on the filibuster, etc.

By Steven Shepard @ Politico.com, May 31

An increasing percentage of voters want Congress to impeach President Donald Trump — even if they don't think Trump has committed the “high crimes and misdemeanors” the Constitution requires.

Forty-three percent of voters want Congress to begin impeachment proceedings, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, up from 38 percent last week [....]

By Ben Guarino @ WashingtonPost.com, May 30

Op-ed by Thomas L. Friedman @ NYTimes.com, May 31

[....] “Who is America today?” is the first question I’ve been asked on each stop through New Zealand, Australia and South Korea. My answer: We’re not the U.S.A. anymore. We’re the new U.A.E.: the United American Emirate.

By Mujib Mashal & Fahim Abed @ NYTimes. com, May 31

A truck bombing near the Afghan presidential palace early Wednesday killed at least 80 people and wounded hundreds, officials said. The death toll seemed certain to rise, and the attack appeared to be one of the bloodiest of the long Afghan war.

Michael Forsythe/Alexandra Stevenson@NYTimes [also Forbes - PP]

By Issac Dovere @ Politico.com, May 30

Trump 'comes out of a reality TV world,' the Nebraska senator says. 'And I have lots of anxiety about whether or not that kind of world is really what we want for our kids.'

@ Politico.com, May 29

The administration’s proposed federal budget cuts are, in effect, local budget cuts that ignore the economic realities of the communities that voted for Trump.

By Shane Shavitsky summarizing Mike Allen's interview, @ Axios.com, May 24,  excerpt:

Mike Allen sat down with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan at this morning's Axios News Shapers event.

[....] On policy...

United Utah » Founders say other parties are too extreme; aim to participate in special election.

By Lee Davidson @ The Salt Lake Tribune, May 25

Some centrist Utah Republicans and Democrats — tired of dominance in their parties by the far right or left — formed Monday the new United Utah Party.

@ CNN.com, May 27, 12:04 pm ET

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, giving a pep talk to his troops in the country's restive south, exhorted the soldiers to go all out in fighting Islamic militants and joked that under martial law they could even commit rape with impunity.

By Mike DeBonis @ WashingtonPost.com, May 26

Former House speaker John A. Boehner continued a streak of remarkable post-office candor during a Wednesday appearance at a Houston energy conference, telling a luncheon audience that President Trump’s term has — foreign policy aside — been a “complete disaster.”

@ Politico.com, May 25

Obama’s calculated but opaque opposition to Trump was on full display in Berlin

When they realized former President Barack Obama was going to be in Berlin the same day President Donald Trump was going to be in Brussels, Angela Merkel was the one who called the White House to break the news [....]

By Linda Greenhouse, op-ed column @ NYTimes.com, May 25

What's up with the Supremes on the districting issue. The byline is all you need to know; if you're interested in the topic, you should click through.

@ BBC News, May 25 2 minute video. The accusations are of sulphur mustard and chlorine.

The first use of chemical agents in the battle for Mosul was recorded by the International Red Cross in March, when mortars were fired from IS-held areas injuring 12 civilians.

By Karla Adam @ WashingtonPost.com, May 25

LONDON — British indignation over alleged American leaks of investigative material related to the Manchester bombing will likely create a charged environment Thursday when British Prime Minister Theresa May meets later with President Trump.

By Danielle Paquette @ Wonkblog @ washingtonpost.com

The company that President Trump pledged to keep on American soil informed the state of Indiana that it will soon begin cutting 632 workers from an Indianapolis factory. The manufacturing jobs will move to Monterrey, Mexico, where the minimum wage is $3.90.