memeorandum: Ta-Nehisi Coates's ‘Visceral’ Take on Being Black in America (Jennifer Schuessler/New York Times)

7:30 PM ET, July 18, 2015

Top Items:

Trump Attacks McCain for Being Prisoner of War: 'I Like People That Weren't Captured' — Speaking today in Iowa, Donald Trump attacked John McCain for being a former prisoner of war. Watch here: — “He's not a war hero,” Trump, a Republican running for president, said of McCain.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, Hit & Run, NPR, No More Mister Nice Blog, Guardian, Political Wire, Salon and The PJ Tatler

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:

Trump attacks McCain: 'I like people who weren't captured' — Donald Trump might finally have crossed the line. — Appearing on Saturday at the Family Leadership Summit in Ames, Iowa, the real estate mogul took his running feud with Arizona Sen. John McCain to a new level. — Story Continued Below

Discussion: The Hill, Yahoo Politics, ABC News, Addicting Info, JSOnline, PoliticusUSA, CANNONFIRE, Outside the Beltway and Mashable

Andrew Husband / Mediaite:

Donald Trump Ignores Draft Deferment Questions After Criticizing McCain, Vietnam — In case you hadn't noticed, Donald Trump is not having a very good day. During a talk at the Family Leadership Summit, the 2016 GOP hopeful launched a tirade of verbal garbage at Arizona Sen. John McCain …

Discussion: Liberaland, Hinterland Gazette and The Federalist

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Trump slams McCain for being ‘captured’ in Vietnam; other Republicans quickly condemn him — AMES, Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump slammed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a decorated Vietnam War veteran, on Saturday by saying McCain was not a war hero because he was captured by the North Vietnamese.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, JustOneMinute, Mediaite, Betsy's Page, Firedoglake, Perry for President, Townhall.com, Daily Mail, New York Times, PoliticusUSA, Naked Politics, The Daily Caller, WGN-TV, Fox News Insider and The Spot

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

Trump GOP Candidacy Blows Up — Donald Trump confirmed two things during a stop in this central Iowa town Saturday: He has no class and he may well run as an independent when he does not win the Republican nomination. — There had been considerable public evidence of both long …

Discussion: National Review

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:

Trump on John McCain: 'I Like People That Weren't Captured, Okay?' — Donald Trump went where nobody could have expected even Donald Trump to go. — The real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate, who's leading the field in several recent polls, lit into Senator John McCain …

Discussion: Gothamist, Des Moines Register, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Dante Chinni / Wall Street Journal:

Trump Surge Leaves All but Jeb Bush in Donald's Dust — Something strange has happened to the Republican presidential field since Donald Trump joined it a month ago: Mr. Trump and Jeb Bush are rising. Everyone else is falling in the polls, or seems stuck in place.

WANE-TV:

Sailor from Paulding one of Chattanooga shooting victims — Darlene Proxmire, the step-grandmother of Randall Smith, called NewsChannel 15 Saturday morning and said he passed away around 4 a.m. — This is an update to the previously published story: — PAULDING COUNTY, Ohio (WANE) …

Discussion: Guardian, WCMH-TV, WKRN-TV, The Gateway Pundit and KXAN-TV

Fox News:
Sailor in Chattanooga shooting has died, death toll now 5

Discussion: WANE-TV, NBC News, Liberty Unyielding, Scared Monkeys, Fox News Insider, Guardian, USA Today, National Review, WTKR-TV and Washington Free Beacon

Neil Irwin / New York Times:

Forecasters Expect a Strong Economy for the 2016 Presidential Election — When it comes to elections, fundamentals matter. A lot. — A wide range of political science research suggests that if you want to know who will win the presidency, the state of the economy …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and US News

KHOU-TV:

10lb. baby boy born on Beltway 8 en route to birthing center — HOUSTON - A baby boy was born in the family car on Beltway 8 while on the way to the birthing center - and it was all captured on video. — The video shows a mom in the last stages of labor.

Discussion: Associated Press

Jennifer Schuessler / New York Times:

Ta-Nehisi Coates's ‘Visceral’ Take on Being Black in America — BALTIMORE — “Between the World and Me,” Ta-Nehisi Coates's meditation on being a black man in America, has had an almost frictionless glide straight to the heart of the national conversation. — A blurb from Toni Morrison declared …

Discussion: Marginal REVOLUTION and Washington Post

BBC:

Greece debt crisis: Reforms ‘will fail’ - Varoufakis — Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has told the BBC that economic reforms imposed on his country by creditors are “going to fail”, ahead of talks on a huge bailout. — Mr Varoufakis said Greece was subject to a programme that will …

Discussion: Reuters, The Atlantic, Bloomberg Business, Common Dreams, Guardian and NPR

New York Times:

At a Mosque, Grief Mixes With Fear of Revenge — CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Just beyond a massive strip mall, with its Best Buy and Hobby Lobby, Abdul Baasit, the imam at the Islamic Society of Greater Chattanooga, found himself preaching on Friday about a nightmare.

Discussion: Jihad Watch, Pamela Geller and Daily Mail