memeorandum: Staten Island congressman calls tunnel talk ‘disheartening’ (Dana Rubinstein/Politico)

3:45 PM ET, August 20, 2015

Top Items:

Megan R. Wilson / The Hill:

K Street betting on Hillary — K Street is banking on Hillary Clinton, with more than twice as many Washington lobbyists donating to the former secretary of State's presidential campaign than any other candidate. — While many lobbyists are holding their pocketbooks in the early stages …

Discussion: Common Dreams, The Week and Weekly Standard

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Trump grows lead in NC; GOP leads most match ups — Last month when we polled North Carolina and found Donald Trump leading the Republican field, it was the first poll by anyone anywhere to find Trump out ahead. He was at 16%. Our newest survey of the state finds that Trump's momentum has just continued to grow.

Discussion: Foreign Policy, Rush Limbaugh, National Review, WCMH-TV, theGrio, WCTX-TV, WIAT-TV and Washington Monthly

Tim Dickinson / Rolling Stone:

Meet ‘Deez Nuts,’ the Teen Presidential Candidate Punking America — Mr. Nuts appears to be a high school sophomore who will take his joke candidacy ‘as far as America wants to take it’ — News broke this week that an independent presidential candidate going by the name of “Deez Nuts” …

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, Hit & Run, Rush Limbaugh, Guardian, Slantpoint, BizPac Review, The San Diego Union … and The Week

Michael Falcone / ABC News:

The Note: Swing State Sneak Peek — NOTABLES — BY THE NUMBERS: A fresh Quinnipiac poll out this morning focuses on three swing states in the general election and has several interesting takeaways. No candidate has won the presidential race without taking at least two of these three states.

Discussion: Politico and New York Times

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
John Kasich camp revels in dirt-digging from Jeb

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Ben Collins / The Daily Beast:
Presidential Sensation Deez Nuts Does Not Exist

Discussion: Red Alert Politics, Addicting Info, TMZ.com, Mashable, Hit & Run, Mediaite and UPROXX

And Globe / BostonGlobe.com:

Two South Boston brothers allegedly beat homeless man — The homeless man was lying on the ground, shaking, when police arrived early Wednesday. His face was soaked, apparently with urine, his nose broken, his chest and arms battered. — Police said two brothers from South Boston ambushed …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Boston Globe, Vox, Addicting Info, Liberaland, Salon, PoliticusUSA, Slantpoint, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, New York Times, Taylor Marsh, Raw Story, ThinkProgress, Balloon Juice and Associated Press

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Suspect Cites Trump As Inspiration In Boston Anti-Hispanic Hate Crime

Discussion: Boston Herald and The Moderate Voice

Josh Duggar / The Duggar Family:

Statements From Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and Josh Duggar — Statement from Jim Boband Michelle Duggar: Please see the statement below from our son Josh regarding recent media stories about him. When we learned of this late last night our hearts were broken.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, UPROXX and The Week

Amanda Marcotte / Talking Points Memo:

Why Can't All Ashley Madison Hacking Victims Be Josh Duggar? — The long-awaited data dump of private information for 32 million users of Ashley Madison, a dating website specifically aimed at married people looking to cheat, has arrived, and the internet is gleeful.

Discussion: Gizmodo, Red Alert Politics, Vox and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Ashley Feinberg / Gawker:
Family Values Activist Josh Duggar Had a Paid Ashley Madison Account

Doug Criss / CNN:

Black or white? Is Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King lying about his race? — Questions about Black Lives Matter activist — (CNN)He's either the male version of Rachel Dolezal, or the victim of a conservative conspiracy. — Those are the two views the world has of Shaun King …

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, Daily Mail, Vox, Mediaite, theGrio, Hinterland Gazette, New York Times, SOOPERMEXICAN, Fox News Insider, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and TMZ.com

Alex Griswold / Mediaite:

Family Member Confirms to CNN That #BlackLivesMatter Activist Shaun King Is White — During a segment on #BlackLivesMatters activist Shaun King and the allegation he isn't black at all, CNN host Don Lemon revealed that he had spoken to a family member of King's who confirmed he was white.

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, The PJ Tatler, Raw Story, Vox Popoli, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Jason Howerton / TheBlaze.com:

‘Enough’: Ted Cruz's Blistering Message After Learning of Bombshell Report on Iran's Secret ‘Backroom’ Deal — Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) responded harshly to President Barack Obama's “catastrophic nuclear deal” with Iran on Wednesday, hours after the publication …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, BizPac Review and Patterico's Pontifications

Max Fisher / Vox:
The AP's controversial and badly flawed Iran inspections story, explained

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Common Dreams, arms control since 1971., US News, CNN, Power Line, Informed Comment, The Week, RedState and Hit & Run

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Progressive Groups Ask Obama To End Bush-Era Religious Protection — Obama asked to reverse legal memo providing exemption to nondiscrimination laws for religious groups seeking federal grants. The letter, provided exclusively to BuzzFeed News, is signed by 130 civil rights and other groups.

Jack Jenkins / ThinkProgress:
130 Religious, Secular Groups Demand Obama Stop Using ‘Religious Liberty’ To Justify Discrimination

Discussion: AMERICAblog News

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:

Congress unlikely to override an Obama veto in Iran nuclear fight — for now — Congress is unlikely to override a promised veto by President Obama if both chambers reject a deal to curtail Iran's nuclear capabilities, according to a Washington Post analysis of where the votes currently stand.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Monthly

Politico:
Red-state Democrats back Obama on Iran

Discussion: PoliticusUSA and Associated Press

Reuters:

Greek PM Tsipras to resign on Thursday: government official — Tsipras is due to meet senior advisers shortly to discuss whether to call early elections to quell a rebellion in his leftist Syriza party, a government official said... Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will submit his resignation …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, US News, Common Dreams and The Week

Jon Henley / Guardian:
Greek bailout: Alexis Tsipras steps down to trigger new elections

Discussion: The Atlantic and Hit & Run

Hollie McKay / Fox News:

LA ‘black ball’ reservoir rollout potential ‘disaster’ in the making, say experts — LA's scheme to cover a reservoir under 96 million “shade balls” may not be all it is touted to be, experts told FoxNews.com, with some critics going so far as to refer to the plan as a “potential disaster.”

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Noah Bierman / Los Angeles Times:

Donald Trump says the wall he'll build on the border could bear his name — Donald Trump billed his New Hampshire appearance Wednesday as a “town hall,” evoking a storied New England tradition that allows some of the nation's most informed voters to engage candidates in thoughtful dialogue on the issues.

Discussion: NBC News, Daily Kos, The Week and Althouse

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner: Donald Trump has already peaked

Dana Rubinstein / Politico:

Staten Island congressman calls tunnel talk ‘disheartening’ — Staten Island Congressman Dan Donovan, whose borough gets free ferry service to Manhattan, isn't particularly enthusiastic about this new Amtrak proposal to build a rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River.

Discussion: Second Ave. Sagas

TIME:

Donald Trump Explains All — In an interview with TIME, the leading Republican candidate talks about what's wrong with the Clintons, his opponents' weaknesses and what it takes to be great — Donald Trump was interviewed by TIME Editor Nancy Gibbs, Washington Bureau Chief Michael Scherer …

Discussion: Politico, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and NBC News

Andrew Blankstein / NBC News:

Ex-NFL QB Erik Kramer Wounded in Apparent Suicide Attempt: Sources — Ex-NFL quarterback Erik Kramer shot himself Tuesday in an apparent suicide attempt at a Los Angeles area motel, but survived, law enforcement sources said. — Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies were called to a motel …

Discussion: WOOD-TV, UPROXX and TMZ.com

Los Angeles Times:

Detectives to present manslaughter charge evidence against Caitlyn Jenner in deadly PCH crash — Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives will present evidence next week to prosecutors that could lead to a misdemeanor manslaughter charge against Caitlyn Jenner in a deadly chain-reaction crash earlier this year on Pacific Coast Highway.

Discussion: TMZ.com, The Huffington Post, LAist and Twitchy

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:

Republican Plans to Replace Obamacare Have a Problem: House Republicans — A dilemma facing Republican presidential candidates who want to repeal Obamacare is how to care for people with preexisting conditions. While polls show that the law isn't popular, Americans also don't want to return …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Bloomberg View

Philip Eil / The Atlantic:

The Unlikely Reanimation of H.P. Lovecraft — American history is filled with writers whose genius was underappreciated—or altogether ignored—in their lifetime. Most of Emily Dickinson's poems weren't discovered and published until after her death. F. Scott Fitzgerald “died believing himself a failure.”

Discussion: Boing Boing