memeorandum: Look Who Nick Kristof's Saving Now (Corey Robin)

4:35 PM ET, February 16, 2014

Top Items:

Tom Watkins / CNN:

Florida jury in loud music trial reaches verdict on 4 counts, undecided on 5th — (CNN) — The jurors weighing the fate of Michael Dunn — the white man who shot into a SUV with black teens after he had asked them to turn down their music — have reached a verdict on four counts …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Connecting.the.Dots, WJXX-TV, The PJ Tatler, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hinterland Gazette, The Moderate Voice, Informed Comment, TalkLeft, Scared Monkeys and Balloon Juice

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

‘Yes, I Am Pissed!’ Don Lemon Goes Off on Dunn Trial: We Need ‘Mind Your Business’ Law! — CNN's Don Lemon got really teed off on Saturday after the jury in the Michael Dunn case said they can't agree on a verdict for the first degree murder charge. He repeatedly cried, “This is ridiculous! …

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette

Susie Madrak / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Shocking Interview With Michael Dunn's Neighbor: ‘He Always Wanted To Shoot Somebody’ — John Phillips, the attorney for Jordan Davis' family, released video from an interview with a neighbor of Michael Dunn, the man charged in the shooting death of Davis. — Charles Hendrix …

Discussion: Liberaland

ThinkProgress:

How To Make Sense Of The Michael Dunn Verdict — A Florida jury could not reach a verdict on the most serious charge facing Michael Dunn, a first degree murder charge for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Jordan Davis after a dispute over loud music at a Jacksonville convenience store.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Lawyers, Guns & Money

The Atlantic Online:

On The Killing Of Jordan Davis By Michael Dunn — I wish I had something more to say about the fact that Michael Dunn was not convicted for killing a black boy. Except I said it after George Zimmerman was not convicted of killing a black boy. Except the parents of black boys already know this.

Discussion: Florida Times Union, Hinterland Gazette and Gawker

Lizette Alvarez / New York Times:
Jury Reaches Partial Verdict in Florida Killing Over Loud Music

Discussion: Power Line and Gawker

Julian Hattem / The Hill:

Rove: Dems fear Christie — Democrats are raising a fuss about the closure of the George Washington Bridge because they are afraid of Gov. Chris Christie's (R) chances in 2016, according to former President George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove. — “The reason the Democrats are doing …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

msnbc.com:

Another Christie childhood friend witnessed traffic surge — A Port Authority police officer with personal ties to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was at the George Washington Bridge when access lanes were closed last September and personally drove David Wildstein, the Christie appointee …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Scott Johnson / Power Line:
Strickland stricken — Karl Rove demolished former Ohio …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Corey Robin:

Look Who Nick Kristof's Saving Now — For the last few months, I've had a draft post sitting in my dashboard listing all the words and phrases I'd like to see banished from the English language. At the top—jockeying for the #1 slot with “yummy,” “closure” and “it's all good”—is “public intellectual.”

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:

Professors, We Need You! — SOME of the smartest thinkers on problems at home and around the world are university professors, but most of them just don't matter in today's great debates. — The most stinging dismissal of a point is to say: “That's academic.” In other words, to be a scholar is, often, to be irrelevant.

Discussion: The Monkey Cage and The Incidental Economist

New York Times:

Spying by N.S.A. Ally Entangled U.S. Law Firm — The list of those caught up in the global surveillance net cast by the National Security Agency and its overseas partners, from social media users to foreign heads of state, now includes another entry: American lawyers.

Discussion: Lawfare, emptywheel, Washington Post, Guardian, The Verge, Hot Air, The Agonist, Independent Journal Review and Balloon Juice

New York Post:

Calling Lois Lerner — The American people still need to hear from Lois Lerner. That's a point that can't be made often enough. — Remember her? She's the IRS official who gave a statement before Congress declaring herself innocent of any wrongdoing — and then promptly took the Fifth.

Discussion: TaxProf Blog

Globe and Mail:

Transgender kids: Have we gone too far? — What happens when your son tells you he's really a girl? — Twenty years ago, you probably would have crossed your fingers and tried to wait it out. Today, you might buy him a whole new wardrobe, find someone to prescribe hormone blockers, and help him live as a girl.

Discussion: American Power, The Other McCain and Lawyers, Guns & Money