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Projection is the psychological process of denying one’s own faults by attributing them to others. It’s also one of the favorite tactics of today’s Republicans. Case in point: Earlier this year, Josh Hawley earned scorn, even from his home state, for his role in promoting the events that led to the failed insurrection of Jan. 6. Many demanded he resign. He didn’t. But now he’s demanding Dr. Anthony Fauci do what he himself should have done months ago.

Last week, thousands of pages of emails written by the nation’s top doctor during the early days of the pandemic were made public. Were they awful? Not really. BuzzFeed pored over all of them and concluded that the worst he did was try to keep the nation calm by protecting them from certain information. But conservatives predictably tried to gin up controversy anyway, claiming they were proof that the person who saved untold lives during a public health crisis — while gingerly handling a boss with no interest in stopping it — should lose the job he’s held for decades.

One of them was Hawley, who seized upon the brouhaha to offer some psychological projection. He took to Twitter, calling the emails “shocking,” saying that the “time has come for Fauci to resign and for a full congressional investigation into the origins of #COVID19 – and into any and all efforts to prevent a full accounting.”

But people caught Hawley’s projection. And they went back to what they’ve been saying since early January: that the Missouri senator, who was seen pumping a fist at the people who would soon storm the Capitol, should be the one who quits in disgrace.

People also imagined a world in which we trust someone like Senator Hawley more than someone like Dr. Fauci.

Not many people liked any of Donald J. Trump’s four presidential press secretaries, but many agreed he saved the worst for last. Kayleigh McEnany went next level on all her predecessors’ many faults. She was rude, she was condescending, she was evasive, she was dishonest. And she did it all while the nation wrestled with a poorly handled, once-in-a-century public health crisis. Naturally she got a job at Fox News. And on Friday, that’s where she had a meltdown over the relatively great press her polite and competent successor has received.

Jen Psaki took McEnany’s job after Biden was sworn in, and she immediately received glowing reviews. Journalists appreciated someone who was (mostly) nice and professional and not simply trying to spin her boss’ many faults. McEnany has mostly kept quiet about the matter, but on Friday she was asked to comment on news that Psaki was getting a splashy photoshoot with legendary portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz.

McEnany didn’t hold back. She complained about the “dearth of even profiles, not to mention Annie Leibovitz shoots” of White House officials. She then went off:

“Instead of the glowing profiles, there were hit pieces, repeatedly, time and time again. It’s just so sad that you have a fawning press corps like this, a fawning media sycophantically covering members of the Biden administration. They asked Jen Psaki yesterday about Joe Biden’s cat. I mean, it’s incredible the kinds of questions that they ask. We need investigative journalism. We don’t need fawning coverage. It doesn’t do the American people any justice.”

McEnany’s whines did not go over well on social media.

Some enjoyed her pain

Or reminded people about her one racist tweet.

Others thought maybe Psaki simply deserved to be photographed by one of the best of the best.

Disney loves to do live-action remakes of their animated classics, but they also like something else: renegade origin stories for once-feared villains. It worked with Maleficent, sprung from Sleeping Beauty, and last weekend it worked for Cruella, which delved into the backstory of the baddie from 101 Dalmatians while giving Emma Stone a proper vehicle. So naturally it’s now getting a sequel.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the super company is already in early talks for a Cruella follow-up, with director Craig Gillespie and screenwriter Tony McNamara likely to return. What they’ll do next is anyone’s guess. Cruella was a highly unusual Disney product, jettisoning almost everything from 101 Dalmatians except for Cruella de Vil herself, who was reworked as a young, aspiring fashionista driven mad by a tyrannical mentor-turned-competitor (Emma Thompson). It was also set in the 1970s, making the most of its English punk milieu.

Will the sequel get to the part of Cruella’s life that made her feared and famous: that she likes to skin dogs and wear their skin? Perhaps not. It’s a Disney film after all, and Cruella is not a hero but also not exactly hissable either. But the first film did already get to the part that explains why she hates that breed of dogs in the first place.

(Via THR)

Perhaps the most highly anticipated conference semifinal matchup of the 2021 postseason begins on Saturday evening. The No. 2 seed Brooklyn Nets will continue their quest to bring a ring to their little corner of New York City after dispatching of the Boston Celtics in five games.

Opposing them are the No. 3 seed Milwaukee Bucks, which looked sensational in their sweep of the Miami Heat. The matchup is truly a fascinating head-to-head of the league’s most lethal offense and a defense that, when it’s cooking, is not going to give up anything easy. If any team has the guys to be able to slow down the Nets’ trio of All-NBA scorers, it might be the Bucks, although let’s face it: they might be tasked with trying to do the impossible.

Both teams are rolling, both teams are extremely good, and with the health concerns surrounding Joel Embiid’s meniscus, whomever wins here will end up feeling pretty good about representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. But first, they have to get through one another.

Game 1 TV Info

Tip Time: Saturday, June 5; 7:30 p.m. ET
TV Network: TNT

Game 6 Betting Lines (via DraftKings Sportsbook)

Series Prices: Nets (-167), Clippers (+135)
Spread: Nets -4.5 (-109), Bucks +4.5 (-113)
Total: Over 229.5 (-112), Under 229.5 (-109)
Money Line: Nets (-200), Bucks (+160)

After mutually parting ways with Terry Stotts, the head coach for a decade, following a first-round loss to Denver, the Trail Blazers figure to let their star player Damian Lillard take a leading role in finding a replacement, and on Friday night he vocalized his preference to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, telling Haynes, “Jason Kidd is the guy I want.”

Haynes had previously reported Lillard would have “major input” on the decision, and now Lillard is upping the ante by going public with his preference. The two have a mutual hometown in Oakland and have had a relationship for years, per Haynes.

In a separate interview with Jason Quick of The Athletic, Lillard said “I like J. Kidd and Chauncey,” referring to Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups.

After four years in Milwaukee, Kidd has been on Frank Vogel’s staff in Los Angeles over the past two seasons. He has a 183-190 career record as a head coach, having never posted more than 42 wins in Milwaukee.

With all the success Portland has had during Lillard’s career and the roster-building limitations in place for the Trail Blazers, it’s unclear how much a coaching change will truly alter much for this team, yet finding someone who Lillard gets along with could certainly help. Portland also has considerable young talent to develop, including the oft-injured Zach Collins as well as Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little.

It doesn’t appear Lillard is unhappy in Portland, but he is clearly taking a more aggressive leading role this offseason right from the jump, starting with this head coaching search.

The most hotly contested first-round series of the NBA playoffs continued on Friday night when Kawhi Leonard sealed a 104-97 Los Angeles victory over Luka Doncic and the Mavericks with a pull-up three with 1:41 to go.

The game was neck-and-neck all night, as Leonard scored 45 points on 18-25 shooting and put up a valiant fight despite Dallas’ excellent ball movement and three-point shooting. Despite clearly being the best player on the floor in this one, defending Luka Doncic on one end and scoring relentlessly on the other, Leonard didn’t get a ton of help from his teammates.

He got a combined 40 from Paul George and Reggie Jackson, but the Clippers were enormously reliant on Leonard to score on Friday night. The plays were just ridiculous:

And Dallas was actually up going into the fourth quarter thanks to a monster third quarter from Tim Hardaway Jr. and some success scoring in transition. Hardaway scored 23 points and made four of his 11 threes.

The Mavs also were able find some offense going to Boban Marjanovic (who started again) inside, and he finished with 12 points and grabbed four rebounds. But when it got to crunch time, Leonard repeatedly went after Doncic defensively, isolating against him and getting to his spots at will.

In a game where neither bench did much and the best player on the floor had to rise up to win the game, Leonard loudly proclaimed through his play that that was him. The Clippers were up against it, having not won a home game all series and needing a win to push it to Game 7 back in Los Angeles. Their best player came through.

It was another legendary playoff moment for Leonard, who already has a career full of them. Last year in the Bubble, his best never really came, and it probably wouldn’t have been enough considering how Denver dismantled the Clippers anyway. But what Leonard did in Dallas on Friday sure looked like the guy we got accustomed to seeing come postseason time in San Antonio and Toronto.

After the Clips gutted out this win, the series became the first one in NBA history in which the road team won the first six games.

Heading into Game 7, it looks like head coach Ty Lue is finally prepared to sic Leonard on Doncic full-time and Leonard is feeling healthy enough and in-rhythm enough to be the Clippers’ primary play-maker in addition to that hefty defensive job. That game will be on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Terry Stotts is reportedly out as coach of the Trail Blazers, according to reports from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, a move that had gained steam over the course of the season and was seemingly cemented when Portland lost to Denver in six games in the first round of the West playoffs this week.

Stotts owns a 720-402 record as head coach in Portland, but has lost in the first round in four of the past five seasons.

As Damian Lillard regroups after another All-NBA caliber campaign, Haynes reported the aging superstar is expected to have “major input” in the hiring process, while Wojnarowski provided an early list of front-runners to replace Stotts, including experienced coaches like Brooklyn assistant Mike D’Antoni and ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy.

The move comes after reporting from The Athletic indicating Stotts was on the hot seat after a sixth-place finish for the Trail Blazers this season despite Lillard’s continued excellence and some aggressive offseason spending by the front office. A head coach could be just one of many changes ahead for Portland.

Lillard said postgame this week that Portland’s current trajectory “isn’t good enough,” while center Jusuf Nurkic told reporters said when asked about the right situation to return to the team, “this is not it.”

So while the roster may look significantly different heading into 2022 for Portland, the first task for the Trail Blazers is to find a new coach to replace Stotts, who had led the franchise for the entirety of Lillard’s career.

The real estate market in America is extremely hot these days, with prices in urban markets that saw dips during the pandemic creeping back up. In the suburbs meanwhile, there are countless stories about pandemic-driven bidding wars and an influx in corporate money pushing potential new homebuyers out of the market altogether. It’s all very hectic and stressful, unless apparently if you’re Donald Trump.

According to a report, the best deal in real estate is easy to find if you don’t mind having Trump’s name on the building. The twice-impeached former president who encouraged a coup attempt days before he left office in disgrace is struggling to get market value for condos at his properties, and the quotes are pretty damning.

According to the Associated Press, the high-priced condos in Trump buildings are much cheaper than other comparable buildings. And those selling to get out are struggling to make their investments back.

“Fifty percent of the people wouldn’t want to live in a Trump building for any reason … but then there are guys like me,” says Lou Sollecito, a car dealer who recently bought a two-bedroom unit with views of the Empire State Building. “It’s a super buy.”

The purchase price was $3 million, nearly a million less than the seller paid in 2008.

The AP report detailed thousands of transactions at Trump-owned properties and saw a huge drop in values at these buildings. As prices are surging basically everywhere else, there are deals to be had at Trump buildings.

An Associated Press review of more than 4,000 transactions over the past 15 years in 11 Trump-branded buildings in Chicago, Honolulu, Las Vegas and New York found prices for some condos and hotel rooms available for purchase have dropped by one-third or more.

That’s a plunge that outpaces drops in many similar buildings, leaving units for sale in Trump buildings to be had for hundreds of thousands to up to a million dollars less than they would have gone for years ago.

“They’re giving them away,” says Lane Blue who paid $160,500 in March for a studio in Trump’s Las Vegas tower, $350,000 less than the seller paid in 2008. It was his second purchase in the building this year and may not be his last.

There could be any number of reasons for that drop, but it certainly seems like Trump himself is a factor here considering how hot things are elsewhere. And for many, Trump’s name on the building is now an opportunity to get something that’s rare in real estate these days: a good deal.

Every day, people are being amazing in large and small ways. When headlines get you down, you need a little boost of humanity’s awesomeness to remind you that things aren’t as bleak as they can seem. Here are 10 of this week’s best examples of people being awesome.

1. Felix Gretarsson, the man who received the world’s first full double arm and shoulder transplant, is making incredible progress.

Doctors expected might have feeling near his elbows after a year. It’s been less than six months, and he’s already able to move his bicep voluntarily and has feeling as far down as his forearms. Read his amazing story here.

Felix Gretarsson/Instagram

2. Rudy Willingham is making the world a little more delightful with perfectly placed stickers and paper cutouts.

How fun is this?

3. Sarah Cunningham shares how she started giving #FreeMomHugs to people in the LGBTQIA+ community and launched a movement.

Many LGBTQIA+ people aren’t embraced by their families when they come out. Sarah Cunningham’s warm heart offers a beacon of love and hope for Pride month.

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4. An anonymous donor whose great-grandfather enslaved people gave a six-figure inheritance to a Black-led nonprofit.

The grad student got a big inheritance on their 25th birthday, and when they found out how the family’s wealth was built, they decided to do something about it. Read the whole story here.

Change Today, Change Tomorrow/Instagram

5. This dad’s unbridled joy—and impressive acrobatics— at his kid’s graduation.

Everyone needs a cheerleader with this much enthusiasm in their lives.

6. A 17-year-old yeeted a mama bear off a wall in her backyard with her bare hands.

The “Oh No” soundtrack and the fact that no parties were seriously harmed make this absolutely wild story a happy one. (But yes, don’t try this at home, kids.)

7. A reporter was doing a story on animal shelters and got adopted by the sweetest doggo ever.

How could anyone say no to this? Is there a heart melting emoji?

A reporter was doing a story about dogs in the shelter — when this good boy came up and hugged him — and wouldn’t l… https://t.co/qqeeBqWTYb

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman)
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8. Speaking of dogs, Tornado the service dog is making a huge difference in this 5-year-old autistic boy’s life—and his mother’s.

Dogs really can be incredible friends to humans.

9. When a neighbor sees a need and steps up to meet it unasked, a community thrives.

This neighbor saw kids playing volleyball without a net in an empty lot. So he brought out a net and the neighborhood kids all pitched in to get it set up. Caring community at its best.

10. Doorbell camera captures kids returning a wallet they found in someone’s driveway.

“I’m just going to put it over here so no one takes any money.” Honesty. Integrity. Helpfulness. Someone has taught these kids so well!

Kids raised the right way, Bravo! 😁👏 https://t.co/9LObLQhXtu

— Fred Schultz (@fred035schultz)
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Good things are happening everywhere, all the time—we just need to look for them. Hope this happiness round-up helps you end the week on a positive note!

Magic Johnson is making the rounds following the Los Angeles Lakers’ ouster from the 2021 NBA playoffs. Johnson, in a tweet sent on Friday afternoon, stressed that former front office colleague Rob Pelinka needs to do some serious work to get the team back to a championship level during the upcoming offseason.

Now, his attention is on one member of the organization who is an upcoming free agent. In a radio interview, Johnson remarked upon the play of point guard Dennis Schroder, saying that while he will root for him if he comes back to the team, Johnson believes that the German guard’s mentality is not a fit in L.A.

“Schroder, I don’t think he’s a Laker, and that’s just my opinion — I don’t know if they’re gonna sign him back or not,” Johnson said. “I don’t think he brings the winning mentality and attitude that we need, and he had a chance to show that in this series, and to me, he failed in this series. But, again, if he comes back a Laker, I’ma support him, I’ma cheer for him, and all that. But I just don’t think he’s a Laker.”

Schroder struggled in the Lakers’ first-round loss to the Suns, averaging 14.3 points, three rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game while connecting on 40 percent of his shots and 30.8 percent of his threes. Included in these struggles were a zero-point outing in Game 5. Of course, the argument can be made that Schroder, while a nice player, never should have been relied upon to be the savior of the Lakers’ season after Anthony Davis got hurt, and that he is a useful player in the correct role. But Johnson, despite his lack of a formal title in L.A., carries a lot of sway with the organization, so it’s fair to wonder what him speaking out might mean for Schroder’s future with the team.