memeorandum: Trump: Shut down the government to defund Planned Parenthood (Eliza Collins/Politico)

9:30 PM ET, August 4, 2015

Top Items:

Fox News announces candidate line-up for prime-time debate — Fox News has announced the line-up for the prime-time Republican presidential debate this Thursday, and here's who qualified: — Real estate magnate Donald Trump; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, JSOnline, Real Clear Politics, Hinterland Gazette, Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, PoliticusUSA, The Gateway Pundit, KTLA, Towleroad and The Week

John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:

Donald Trump Dominates Republican Field in Pre-Debate Bloomberg Poll — Billionaire Donald Trump is lapping the Republican field, a new Bloomberg Politics national poll shows, as two prominent governors, Chris Christie of New Jersey and John Kasich of Ohio, rank in the top 10 ahead of the first presidential debate.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, CBS News, US News, Guardian, FishbowlDC, NPR, Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, Wall Street Journal, Daily Kos, Shakesville, Politico, Oliver Willis, OnPolitics and FiveThirtyEight

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Walker, Clinton lead in Minnesota- General Looks Like 2004

Discussion: Jezebel, Washington Free Beacon and The Daily Caller

New York Times:
Uneven Performances in Trump-less Republican Forum

Discussion: Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, Jezebel, CNBC and UnionLeader.com

John DiStaso / WMUR:
WMUR poll: Donald Trump surges to top of GOP primary field in NH

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Washington Post, Real Clear Politics, CNNMoney, Washington Monthly and Fox News

Eli Stokols / Politico:

Jeb Bush's ad-lib offers Dems another gift — Another ill-advised ad lib from Jeb Bush, another opportunity for Democrats. — Looking to curry favor with religious conservatives at the outset of a competitive primary fight, Bush on Tuesday repeated his call to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood …

Discussion: The Week

Carrie Dann / NBC News:

How the Public Views Planned Parenthood and the NRA — Planned Parenthood and the National Rifle Association may both be the targets of protests and heated rhetoric, but they are still viewed more favorably than the candidates running for president on both sides of the aisle.

Discussion: Slantpoint, Dame Magazine, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, Shakesville, The Huffington Post and Politico

David Daleiden / The Center for Medical Progress:

“Intact Fetal Cadavers” At 20-Weeks “Just a Matter of Line Items” at Planned Parenthood TX Mega-Center: Abortion Docs Can “Make it Happen” — #PPSellsBabyParts “INTACT FETAL CADAVERS” AT 20-WEEKS “JUST A MATTER OF LINE ITEMS” AT PLANNED PARENTHOOD TX MEGA-CENTER: ABORTION DOCS CAN “MAKE IT HAPPEN”

Discussion: Fox News, NewsBusters, WTVR-TV, Washington Free Beacon, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller, RH Reality Check, ThinkProgress, Fox News Insider, RedState, LifeNews.com, abc13.com and The PJ Tatler

NBC News:
First Read: A Lousy Poll for Almost Every 2016 Candidate

Discussion: Mock Paper Scissors, Hullabaloo, Booman Tribune, The Hill, Political Wire and NBC News

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Trump: I would shut down government over Planned Parenthood

Discussion: Daily Mail, Political Wire, Chicago and Slantpoint

Eliza Collins / Politico:
Trump: Shut down the government to defund Planned Parenthood

Discussion: RedState, The Hill, The Gateway Pundit, LifeNews.com and Horizons

Henrietta Wildsmith / Associated Press:

2 Men Open Fire On Soldiers At Jade Helm Training Site In Mississippi — HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — A sheriff in Mississippi says authorities are searching for two men who fired gunshots from a vehicle at soldiers at a military facility. No injuries were reported.

Discussion: Raw Story and AMERICAblog News

Ryan Moore / WDAM-TV:

Two suspects sought after shots fired at Camp Shelby — Authorities responded to a call of shots being fired at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center Tuesday afternoon. — Perry County deputies confirmed the shots were fired around 12:10 p.m. on a group of soldiers training in the area.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, Guardian, WREG-TV and CNN

Wall Street Journal:

Robert Conquest, Seminal Historian of Soviet Misrule, Dies at 98 — Anglo-American historian and poet who chronicled Stalin's excesses dies in Palo Alto, Calif. — Robert Conquest, an Anglo-American historian whose works on the terror and privation under Joseph Stalin …

Telegraph:
Robert Conquest, historian - obituary

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Washington Free Beacon

Steven Hayward / Power Line:
Robert Conquest, RIP

Discussion: Instapundit

Adam Skolnick / New York Times:

Free Diver Natalia Molchanova Descends for Fun, Then Vanishes — Natalia Molchanova, widely regarded as the greatest free diver in history, wore her favorite purple wet suit Sunday on a chartered boat off the coast of Formentera, an island near Ibiza. Only 1.5 millimeters thick …

Discussion: Guardian, NPR, Mashable and Washington Post

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Obama to call for Voting Rights Act restoration on law's anniversary — President Obama will call for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act on its 50th anniversary Thursday, the White House said. — Obama will hold a teleconference to commemorate the landmark legislation and call for its renewal …

Discussion: Newsday, Politico, Washington Monthly and ACS Blog

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:
A Rare Red-State Accord for More Voter Access

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Isis Anchalee / Medium:

You May Have Seen My Face on BART — Hi, my name is Isis. I'm a full-stack engineer at OneLogin. They asked me to be one of four others participating recruiting campaign that was hastily planned and executed in 1 day. I was not personally ready for the amount of attention that it has brought me.

Discussion: Mashable and Washington Post

ABC News:

Hear Trump's Message on His Leaked Cellphone — Donald Trump has turned the tables on Gawker. After the online site released one of Donald Trump's cellphone numbers, the GOP presidential candidate changed his voicemail this morning. — “Hi, this is Donald Trump and I'm running …

Discussion: Political Wire, BREITBART.COM, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Verge, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Hot Air

Tyler Whetstone / The Jackson Sun:

Racial graffiti written on Haley grave — The tombstone of a relative of author Alex Haley was defaced in a cemetery in Savannah earlier this week, according to Savannah Police Chief Gary Will. — Will said Queen Haley, a black woman and grandmother of Alex Haley, author of “Roots,” had …

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette and Guardian

Daniela Galarza / Eater:

Whole Foods' $6 Asparagus Water Is Just Water With Three Stalks of Asparagus in It [Updated] — Is Whole Foods trolling its own employees? — Twitter user Layla Dhere (@dhere) expressed confusion in a recent tweet featuring the above image of a row of bottles of what is labeled “Asparagus Water” on a shelf.

Discussion: Mashable and Althouse

Jon Swaine / Guardian:

Alabama officer kept job after proposal to murder black man and hide evidence — Secret recording played for local officials, in which police officer says resident ‘needs a god damn bullet’, resulted in $35,000 payout to prevent man from suing — A police officer in Alabama proposed murdering …

Discussion: theGrio, Daily Mail and Mediaite

Isabel Taft / Politico:

Chris Christie: 'I've used birth control, and not just the rhythm method' — The Christie camp has been using the hashtag #TellingItLikeItIs to promote the New Jersey governor's campaign on Twitter. And that's exactly what he was doing at a town hall meeting in Manchester …

Discussion: Hot Air, CBS Philly and CBS DC

Fox News:

Police dash-cam video debunks professor's racial profiling claims — A college professor who accused a Connecticut state trooper of racial profiling saw her claims fail when audiotape of the stop proved she was lying, police said. — According to Fox CT, Minati Roychoudhuri, 32 …

Discussion: BizPac Review, Crime and Consequences Blog and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Tierney Sneed / Talking Points Memo:

Jeb Bush: I ‘Misspoke’ On Women's Health Spending Comments — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) quickly walked back earlier comments that he was “not sure we need half a billion dollars for women's health issues.” — His presidential campaign posted online a statement Tuesday evening saying Bush “misspoke” with the remarks:

Discussion: Latest from Crooks and Liars, Raw Story, New York Times and Mediaite

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Crisis in Santorum campaign — The moves leave the winner of the 2012 Iowa Caucuses without a campaign manager and raise questions about whether he can last until Iowa votes on Feb. 1 next year. — Several top staffers have left Rick Santorum's campaign to create a new super PAC …

Discussion: Advocate, Political Insider blog and Mock Paper Scissors

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Ted Cruz Anti-Iran Deal Site Accidentally Links To Big Photo Of Ass Instead Of Senator's Twitter Account — The site urges you to contact your senator to tell them to vote against the Iran nuclear agreement: — Via stoptheirandeal.com — If you click a link for Washington Democratic …

Discussion: Mediaite

Emma Green / The Atlantic:

The Freakishness of Christianity — Evangelical Christianity has long had a stranglehold on how Americans imagine public faith. Vague invocations of “religion”—whether it's “religion vs. science” or “religious freedom”—usually really mean “conservative, Protestant, evangelical Christianity …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, National Journal and The Hugh Hewitt Show

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:

Obama Begins Campaign in Congress for Iran Nuclear Deal — WASHINGTON — President Obama is rolling out a multipronged campaign of private entreaties and public advocacy over the next several weeks to build support in Congress for the nuclear deal with Iran, an effort to counter …

Discussion: pmo.gov.il, CNN, Jerusalem Post, BREITBART.COM, Fox News Insider, National Review and Power Line

Wall Street Journal:

Climate-Change Putsch — States should refuse to comply with Obama's lawless power rule. — Rarely do American Presidents display the raw willfulness that President Obama did Monday in rolling out his plan to reorganize the economy in the name of climate change.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Power Line, whitehouse.gov and Washington Free Beacon

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

The Twilight Zone: How The GOP Candidates Left Out Of The Big Debate Are Prepping For Theirs — WASHINGTON — Hours before the first official Republican debate begins on Thursday in Cleveland, the several other candidates who didn't make the big debate will take the stage hoping to rescue their slim poll numbers.

Discussion: TIME, The Daily Caller and Yahoo Politics

Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times:

Idaho's ban on undercover animal abuse videos struck down by federal judge — A federal judge struck down Idaho's ban on undercover videos at factory farms Monday, saying state legislators wrongly criminalized free speech to protect powerful agricultural groups.

Discussion: Food Safety News, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress and protein wisdom