memeorandum: Photo of Ben Carson Holding Sign With Two-Word Message Goes Viral: ‘Not Afraid to Say...’ (Oliver Darcy/TheBlaze.com)

4:45 PM ET, December 19, 2015

Top Items:

An Explanation of What Bernie Sanders Staffers Actually Did and Why It Matters — After a spat lasting just over 24 hours, it appears that the top news story of the day is already resolving itself: the DNC has come to an agreement to return voter database access to the Bernie Sanders campaign …

Discussion: Mother Jones, TIME, Washington Post, Towleroad, Slantpoint and PoliticusUSA

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Accord reached after Sanders sues the DNC over suspended access to critical voter list — The presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont filed a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee on Friday, arguing that the party had unfairly suspended the campaign's access to key voter information.

Discussion: Power Line, Associated Press, Liberal Values, Democratic National Committee, CANNONFIRE, Boston Herald, addictinginfo.org, Althouse, The Hill, FiveThirtyEight and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Some Big Picture Thoughts on the Sanders/DNC Derp War — For most of today I was preoccupied trying to resolve some management issues at TPM. So I barely had enough time to keep tabs on the Sanders/DNC story through headlines and the barest skimming of articles.

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Sanders gets the fight he wanted — Bernie Sanders has turned months of private grumbling into public accusations that the party establishment is doing everything in its power to elect Hillary Clinton president. — He's not the first to level that charge. In fact, he's late to that party.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Raw Story, ABC News and Bloomberg.com news

CNN:
Bernie Sanders and the DNC: It's war

Discussion: Mediaite, WQAD-TV and The Week

Elliot Smilowitz / The Hill:
DNC, Sanders reach deal restoring access to voter data

Discussion: ABC News, Hot Air, The Week, The Moderate Voice, The BRAD BLOG and Liberal Values, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Dem rivalry takes nasty turn

Discussion: ABC News and Politico

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Clinton Spox: Sanders Camp Was ‘Stealing Data,’ ‘Like Kids in a Candy Store’

Discussion: USA Today and ABC News

Oliver Darcy / TheBlaze.com:

Watch the Christmas Parody Infomercial the Ted Cruz Campaign Has Paid to Air During ‘SNL’ — Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz will air a Christmas-themed parody infomercial during the broadcast of this weekend's “Saturday Night Live.” — The ad, which features …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Benny Johnson / Independent Journal:

Watch the Campy Christmas Infomercial Ted Cruz Is About To Play During SNL — Hope you're ready for a campy Ted Cruz Christmas parody meets infomercial meets sanctioned campaign ad. The Texas Senator and 2016 presidential candidate will play the above ad in crucial Iowa TV markets during this weekend's …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Hot Air

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Jeb Bush: ‘Donald Trump is a jerk’ — Contoocook, New Hampshire (CNN)While Jeb Bush has been railing against Donald Trump all week, he still had more to say on Saturday, uttering perhaps his strongest comments yet about the Republican presidential front-runner.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Gawker, The Daily Caller, LiberalAmerica.org and The Week

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Trump Doubles Down On Putin Love, Says There's “A Lot Of Truth” To U.S. Killing People — “Putin said some very nice things about me, he doesn't know me, but he certainly gave me great complements the other day, and all I did was respond with a thank you, that's very nice.” — Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images

Benjamin Oreskes / Politico:
GOP gobsmacked by Trump's warm embrace of Putin

Discussion: whorunsGov, New York Times and Independent Journal

New York Post:

Students at Lena Dunham's college offended by lack of fried chicken — Students at an ultra-liberal Ohio college are in an uproar over the fried chicken, sushi and Vietnamese sandwiches served in the school cafeterias, complaining the dishes are “insensitive” and “culturally inappropriate.”

Discussion: Washington Times, The American Conservative, Mediaite, BizPac Review, Fox News Insider and Instapundit

Oliver Darcy / TheBlaze.com:

Photo of Ben Carson Holding Sign With Two-Word Message Goes Viral: ‘Not Afraid to Say...’ — A photo of 2016 Republican presidential contender Ben Carson holding a “Merry Christmas” sign went viral Friday evening on Facebook. — Carson's post had amassed more than 450,000 “likes” and nearly 32,000 shares at the time of publication.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Western Journalism

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News Poll: Trump jumps, Cruz climbs, Carson sinks in GOP race — Donald Trump, a candidate even Republicans once considered a side show, increases his lead yet again in the nomination race, according to the latest Fox News national poll. — The poll also finds Ted Cruz ticking up, Marco Rubio slipping, and Ben Carson dropping.

Discussion: Daily Mail, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The Right Scoop, Fox News Insider and Public Policy Polling

Eliza Collins / Politico:
Trump rises as Carson sinks in Fox News poll

Discussion: National Review, Fox News, Washington Post, Independent Journal, whorunsGov and Political Wire

Agence France-Presse:

Angry single men stage anti-Christmas rally in Tokyo — Tokyo (AFP) - Anti-Christmas protesters calling themselves “Losers with Women” marched through Tokyo's streets Saturday, bashing the upcoming holiday as a capitalist ploy that also discriminates against singletons.

Discussion: protein wisdom