memeorandum: Donald Trump to announce presidential exploratory committee (Josh McElveen/WMUR)

12:25 PM ET, March 18, 2015

Top Items:

Jodi Rudoren / New York Times:

Netanyahu Soundly Defeats Chief Rival in Israeli Elections — TEL AVIV — After a bruising campaign focused on his failings, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel won a clear victory in Tuesday's elections and seemed all but certain to form a new government and serve a fourth term …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Political Wire, Slate, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Week, The Hugh Hewitt Show, New York Magazine, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Liberaland, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, Mashable, Politico, Daily Kos, The Times of Israel, CANNONFIRE and Raw Story

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

Netanyahu gambles his career and scores breathtaking victory — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech to supporters at party headquarters in Tel Aviv. — When it comes to elections, Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu is the political equivalent of a scrambling quarterback.

Discussion: Commentary Magazine, Power Line, Wall Street Journal, Taylor Marsh, Scared Monkeys, Betsy's Page and Washington Free Beacon

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Go Ahead, Ruin My Day — As the saying goes, “to err is human, to forgive is divine,” to which I'd add: “to ignore” is even more human, and the results rarely divine. None of us would be human if we didn't occasionally get so wedded to our wishes that we failed to notice — or outright ignored …

Discussion: Politico and Hullabaloo

New York Times:
An Israeli Election Turns Ugly

Discussion: Al Jazeera English, Common Dreams, Guardian, Reuters, National Review, Washington Post, The Nation, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Lawfare and Hit & Run

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
WH Avoids Congratulating Bibi

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Hot Air, American Spectator and The Gateway Pundit

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Netanyahu Clarifies His Chilling Vision for Post-Democratic Israel

Discussion: The Federalist, No More Mister Nice Blog, Slate, Guardian and New York Times

Michael Crowley / Politico:
Bibi wins big

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, Washington Post, FOX News Radio, The Other McCain, The Times of Israel, The Week, The PJ Tatler and Haaretz

Dan Tuohy / UnionLeader.com:

Trump drops ‘Apprentice,’ will launch presidential exploratory committee — New Hampshire Union Leader — Donald Trump will launch a presidential exploratory committee Wednesday, the eve of the business mogul's return to New Hampshire. — A senior adviser tells the New Hampshire Union Leader …

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg Business, CNBC, US News, Liberal Values, TalkLeft and The Gateway Pundit

Dylan Byers / Politico:
NBC still planning for ‘Apprentice’, despite Donald Trump's presidential claims

Discussion: Business Insider, Mediaite, Chicago and New York Magazine

Josh McElveen / WMUR:
Donald Trump to announce presidential exploratory committee

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hinterland Gazette and Raw Story

Steve Peoples / Associated Press:
Trump launching presidential exploratory committee

Discussion: Joe. My. God.

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Mickey Kaus quits Daily Caller after Tucker Carlson pulls critical Fox News column — The blogger Mickey Kaus has quit his job at The Daily Caller after the conservative site's editor-in-chief, Tucker Carlson, pulled a critical column about Fox News from the site, Kaus told the On Media blog on Tuesday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, Poynter, The Huffington Post, Vox Popoli, The Other McCain, Mediaite, Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality, Roger Ailes, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Little Green Footballs, more at Mediagazer »

Vox:

We don't need to keep criminals in prison to punish them — America's prison state is a disaster. One percent of the adult population is behind bars, and corrections is squeezing higher education out of state budgets. We have five times as many people in prison as we ever had before 1980 …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
What Happens After Prison: The Big Challenge in Criminal Justice Reform

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community

newscenter.kraftfoodsgroup.com:

KRAFT FOODS GROUP VOLUNTARILY RECALLS SELECT CODE DATES AND MANUFACTURING CODES OF KRAFT MACARONI & CHEESE BOXED DINNERS DUE TO POSSIBLE METAL PIECES — Approx. 242,000 cases of the Original flavor with “Best When Used By” dates of September 18, 2015 through October 11, 2015 with “C2” directly below the date

Discussion: Tech Times, KFOR-TV, FOX2now.com, Food Safety News, CBS Miami, KTLA, Gothamist and CBS Boston

Associated Press:

Walker Aide Quits After Questioning Iowa's Role in Campaign — An aide to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's national political operation resigned late Tuesday after drawing heated criticism from the head of the Iowa Republican Party for questioning the state's early role in the presidential nominating process.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Bloomberg Business, OnPolitics, Political Wire, Hot Air and JSOnline

Erick Erickson / RedState:
Dear @ScottWalker, Liz Mair Is a Friend of Mine

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg Business, National Review, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Radio Iowa, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Twitchy

Frank Turek / Townhall.com:

Why the 14th Amendment Can't Possibly Require Same-Sex Marriage — The Supreme Court is about to decide if the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution requires the states to redefine marriage to include same sex relationships. There are several reasons why the answer is no.

Discussion: BarbWire.com

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Marriage Equality Advocates Stall On Decision About Who Will Argue At Supreme Court

Discussion: Slate, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press and Towleroad News #gay

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:
Largest Presbyterian Denomination Gives Final Approval for Same-Sex Marriage

Discussion: Advocate, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Raw Story, Shakesville, The Week and Joe. My. God.

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Ben Carson? — His chances of victory are minuscule, but he and other hard-right candidates will still be a headache for the G.O.P. in the 2016 primaries. Can mainstream Republicans stop him? Should they try? — Late in February, Dr. Ben Carson …

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Ben Carson Operative Deletes Tweets Telling Obama To “Bend Over Bitch,” Among Others

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Hinterland Gazette

Alice Ollstein / ThinkProgress:

Schools Plan Massive Layoffs After Scott Walker Guts Funding — This week, Wisconsin kicked off a series of hearings on Governor Scott Walker's proposed budget, which would slash about $300 million from the University of Wisconsin system over two years, funnel hundreds of millions to build …

Discussion: JSOnline

Jana Winter / The Intercept:

Cyanide Sent to White House — An envelope sent to the White House Mail Screening Facility on Monday tested positive for cyanide, according to an internal law enforcement document obtained by The Intercept. — The envelope listed a return address for a man who the alert says has a record …

Discussion: NBC News, Associated Press, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, Fox News, Washington Post, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Politico and NPR

Carl Campanile / New York Post:

Activist allegedly tried to bait protesters with ‘kill cops’ script — A controversial conservative activist is being accused of trying to incite anti-police protesters by saying, “I wish I could kill some of these cops,” to provoke them into making outrageous statements.

Discussion: Liberaland, Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Little Green Footballs and Jezebel

CNN:

Poll: Hillary Clinton still tops in 2016 - CNN.com — Hillary Clinton continues to be a dominant force heading into the 2016 presidential election, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. The former secretary of state maintains a broad lead over the field of potential Democratic challengers …

Discussion: TalkLeft, US News, Hinterland Gazette, Chicago, Bloomberg Business and Mediaite

ESPN:

President Obama: Cats wear crown — Like Las Vegas oddsmakers and nearly half the people making picks in ESPN's Tournament Challenge, President Barack Obama likes Kentucky to win the NCAA men's basketball championship. — Obama, a die-hard basketball fan who has filled out a bracket …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Week and White House.gov Blog

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

Why Hillary can win big — The most popular former president since the Second World War is John Kennedy. The most popular living former president is Bill Clinton. The most popular public figure in America is Pope Francis, whose favorable rating was a towering 78 percent in a recent Pew poll.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh