memeorandum: Donald Trump takes Liberty, courts Christian crowd (Jeremy Diamond/CNN)

11:35 PM ET, January 18, 2016

Top Items:

Blake Hounshell / Politico:

Trump bungles Bible reference at Liberty University — Donald Trump, speaking to a religious crowd at Virginia's Liberty University on Monday, turned to Scripture. — “We're going to protect Christianity. I can say that. I don't have to be politically correct,” he said.

Discussion: TIME, Bloomberg Business, addictinginfo.org and Washington Monthly

Jordain Carney / The Hill:

Trump: Christianity ‘under siege’ — GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump touted his faith at Liberty University on Monday, telling the conservative college that Christians have to ban together because their religion “is under siege.” — “We're going to protect Christianity,” he said.

Discussion: Yahoo Politics

Molly Ball / The Atlantic:

The Religious Right's Donald Trump Dilemma — There were many unbelievable moments over the course of Donald Trump's speech on Monday at Liberty University, the evangelical college founded by the late Jerry Falwell. — There was his citation of the Bible: “Two Corinthians 3-17, that's the whole ball game. ...

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air and Mediaite

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Donald Trump takes Liberty, courts Christian crowd

Discussion: NPR and Washington Post

Zeke J Miller / TIME:

Exclusive: Chris Christie Calls Ted Cruz ‘Asinine’ For New York Values Smear — He also calls Cruz a ‘Washington insider’ — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is none too pleased with rival Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's criticism of “New York values.” — In an interview with TIME in Iowa Sunday …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, National Review, Patterico's Pontifications, The Daily Caller, BuzzFeed and Mediaite

Caleb Howe / RedState:
Documents Show Donald Trump's New York Values Do NOT Include Giving To 9/11 Charities

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Mediaite

Leon H. Wolf / RedState:
Donald Trump's Epic Weekend Meltdown

Discussion: The Right Scoop, Mediaite, Hullabaloo and Guardian

Laura Hughes / Telegraph:
Donald Trump branded a ‘buffoon, demagogue and wazzock’ by MPs - but Republican ignores UK ban debate

Discussion: addictinginfo.org and Hullabaloo

Mary Papenfuss / International Business Times:
US: Legendary musician Carlos Santana calls Donald Trump “an angry ape”

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, addictinginfo.org and Slantpoint

TMZ.com:

Glenn Frey — Eagles Guitarist Dead At 67 — EAGLES GUITARIST DEAD AT 67 — EXCLUSIVE — Glenn Frey, co-founder and guitarist for the Eagles, has died ... TMZ has learned. — We're told the cause of death was a combination of complications from rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis, and pneumonia.

Discussion: EW.com, Guardian, AMERICAN DIGEST, Mashable, WREG-TV and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Eagles:

It Is With The Heaviest of Hearts That We Announce... ...the passing of our comrade, Eagles founder, Glenn Frey, in New York City on Monday, January 18th, 2016. — Glenn fought a courageous battle for the past several weeks but, sadly, succumbed to complications from Rheumatoid Arthritis, Acute Ulcerative Colitis and Pneumonia.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Boing Boing, USA Today, The Week, CBS San FranciscoCBS …, Outside the Beltway and Mashable

Hadas Gold / Politico:

RNC replaces NBC with CNN for February debate — The Republican National Committee officially severed ties on Monday with NBC for what was supposed to be a Feb. 26 Republican primary debate in Houston. Instead, CNN will host the debate in Houston on Thursday, Feb. 25, five days before Super Tuesday.

Discussion: Political Wire, The Resurgent, Mediaite and RedState, more at Mediagazer »

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:
Exclusive — RNC Officially Severs Ties With NBC News For Upcoming GOP Debate

Discussion: New York Times and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Jonathan Swan / The Hill:

Top Google debate question: Will Hillary be prosecuted? — Some of the top trending questions on Google during Sunday's Democratic presidential debate related to Hillary Clinton's legal troubles. — “Will Hillary Clinton get prosecuted?” is the top question being asked on Google searches concerning …

Discussion: RedState, Mediaite, Liberal Values, BizPac Review, The Week and Washington Post

John Podhoretz / New York Post:
Bernie mopped the floor with Hillary

Discussion: Althouse, Weasel Zippers, Instapundit, New York Times and Power Line

Peter Schweizer / New York Post:
Bill Clinton's pardon of fugitive Marc Rich continues to pay big

Discussion: American Spectator and Hot Air

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Winners and losers from the fourth Democratic presidential debate

Discussion: New York Times, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, Gothamist, Slantpoint, Los Angeles Times and Daily Wire

Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:

Obama Pardons 21 Iranians Convicted of Violating Sanctions — The Obama administration confirmed late Sunday it had delayed the imposition of new ballistic missile sanctions on Iran to ensure the Islamic Republic released five imprisoned Americans under a secret agreement reached on the sidelines …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, BizPac Review and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:
Freed Americans reunited with their families

Discussion: NBC News and FishbowlDC, more at Mediagazer »

Ron Paul / Townhall.com:
When Peace Breaks Out With Iran...

Discussion: Mediaite

Molly Ball / The Atlantic:

Portrait of a Party on the Verge of Coming Apart … CHARLESTON, South Carolina—For a certain type of Republican, the fantasy world where Donald Trump is not winning the GOP primary is a very nice place to live. — Beth Hansen, the campaign manager for John Kasich, is this type of Republican.

Discussion: Online Library …, DownWithTyranny!, FOX News Radio and Princeton Election Consortium

The Hill:

Obama eyes ‘audacious’ use of executive power in final year — President Obama's pledge to pursue “audacious” executive action during his final year in office is stirring a frenzy of speculation about what he might have up his sleeve. — White House chief of staff Denis McDonough this week said …

Discussion: Political Wire and Weasel Zippers

Juan Williams / The Hill:
GOP to blame for civility's breakdown

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

On Our Minds:

New statement about the picture book “A Birthday Cake for George Washington” — Scholastic is announcing today that we are stopping the distribution of the book entitled A Birthday Cake for George Washington, by Ramin Ganeshram and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton, and will accept all returns.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Truth Revolt, ThinkProgress and New York Times

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: Clinton Aides Resisted State Department Suggestion That Clinton Use State.gov Account — Bombshell emails from the State Department show that a top official at the agency suggested to Hillary Clinton's aide, Huma Abedin, in Aug. 2011 that the then-secretary of state begin using …

Discussion: Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and BizPac Review

Kelly House / Oregonian:

Oregon standoff: Occupiers recruit ranchers to stop paying grazing fees — BURNS — Members of the armed standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife refuge said Monday that they've recruited ranchers to stop paying the federal government for the right to run cattle on public land.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Mara H. Gottfried / TwinCities.com:

St. Paul cop allegedly urged drivers to hit Black Lives Matter protesters — St. Paul police have placed a sergeant on leave as they investigate a report that he posted on Facebook, “Run them over,” in response to an article about a Black Lives Matter protest, which blocked traffic Monday.

Discussion: Raw Story and Slantpoint

Emily Shapiro / ABC News:

Gas Price Hits 47 Cents a Gallon in Michigan After Price War

Discussion: addictinginfo.org and The Week

Peter Fricke / Campus Reform:

Portland Community College to devote an entire month to 'whiteness'-shaming — The school says the month is an “educational project” exploring how the “construct of whiteness” creates racial inequality. — Portland Community College has designated April “Whiteness History Month” (WHM) …

Discussion: RedState, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The Last Tradition, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, VICE, Power Line, Truth Revolt and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Health Reform Realities — Health reform is the signature achievement of the Obama presidency. It was the biggest expansion of the social safety net since Medicare was established in the 1960s. It more or less achieves a goal — access to health insurance for all Americans …

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News, PoliticusUSA, Washington Monthly and Vox