memeorandum: Stephen King Talks JFK, Oscars Diversity, and ‘Bulletproof’ Donald Trump (Marlow Stern/The Daily Beast)

4:50 PM ET, February 15, 2016

Top Items:

The Daily 202: Why blocking Obama's pick to replace Scalia could cost Republicans their Senate majority — THE BIG IDEA: — Mitch McConnell has decided to wager the Republican majority in the Senate on blocking Barack Obama's pick for the Supreme Court. — It's a bold and understandable …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Guardian, The Huffington Post, Liberal Values, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, RedState and New York Times

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

How America Was Lost — Once upon a time, the death of a Supreme Court justice wouldn't have brought America to the edge of constitutional crisis. But that was a different country, with a very different Republican Party. In today's America, with today's G.O.P., the passing of Antonin Scalia has opened the doors to chaos.

Discussion: Prairie Weather, The Moderate Voice, Hullabaloo and The Grumpy Economist

Richard Wolf / USA Today:

Who could replace Scalia? Here are 10 names — WASHINGTON — Who could replace Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia if Republicans don't block all of President Obama's nominees, as appears likely? Here are 10 possibilities: — Sri Srinivasan: The 48-year-old federal appeals court judge …

Discussion: The Week, theGrio, New York Times and NPR

Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:

The GOP's Worst Nightmare SCOTUS Nominee — Tino Cuellar. California judge. Mexican-American. Harvard. Yale. Stanford. How many Latino votes you think the GOP'd get if they block him? — Here's a name you need to get to know: Tino Cuellar. Who is Tino Cuellar?

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Feministing and Politico

Richard L. Hasen / Washington Post:

The battle over replacing Justice Scalia is just the start of a war over the Supreme Court — Richard L. Hasen, a professor of law and political science at University of California, Irvine, is the author of Plutocrats United: Campaign Money, the Supreme Court, and the Distortion of American Elections.

Discussion: AOL, The Daily Caller, Off the Kuff, Joanne Jacobs, NPR, New York Times and Daily Kos

Manu Raju / CNN:

Vulnerable Senate Republicans key to Supreme Court nominee's future — Washington (CNN)Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell quickly made clear that he doesn't want President Barack Obama to nominate a new Supreme Court nominee to replace the late Antonin Scalia.

Discussion: Washington Post, American Bridge PAC, Daily Kos, TPNN, JSOnline, Independent Journal Review and theGrio

Tim Devaney / The Hill:

Bush: 'There shouldn't be deference' on nominee — Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush in an interview Monday morning urged Senate Republicans to block President Obama from nominating a Supreme Court justice, taking a harder stance than during the latest GOP debate.

Discussion: Politico and Washington Post

John MacCormack / MySanAntonio.com:
Cibolo Creek Ranch owner recalls Scalia's last hours in Texas

Discussion: Breitbart, Raw Story, Mediaite, Washington Post, Infowars, New York Magazine, Althouse, The Gateway Pundit, Israel Survival Updates and John Hawkins' Right Wing News, more at Mediagazer »

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Mitch McConnell's Stance in Confirmation Fight Could Help and Hurt G.O.P.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Vox, The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, Yahoo Politics, emptywheel, ThinkProgress, Crooked Timber, Common Dreams, Althouse, Politicus USA, Corey Robin and CBS News

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Discussion: ThinkProgress, abc11.com and The Daily Signal

Tom Goldstein / SCOTUSblog:
How the politics of the next nomination will play out

Discussion: LifeNews.com, NBC News, Daily Kos, AOL, Mediaite, Raw Story, Common Dreams, No More Mister Nice Blog, Slantpoint, Infowars, The Week, addictinginfo.org, Above the Law, Washington Monthly and Politifact.com Truth …

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Debate rips open GOP wounds, and party risks tearing itself apart — GREENVILLE, S.C. — In an election that Republicans have long seen as a chance to put forward new stars with a fresh and broadly appealing conservative vision, the GOP is instead at risk of tearing itself apart over its past …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, The Moderate Voice, Politico, Friendly Atheist, BloombergView.com and New York Times

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:

Cruz: Trump will get rid of the Second Amendment — Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz on Sunday said primary rival Donald Trump will erase the Second Amendment if he is elected. — “And if Donald Trump becomes president, the Second Amendment will be written out of the Constitution …

Discussion: Donald J Trump for President, ThinkProgress, The Slot and CBS News

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:

Code Pink praises Donald Trump after debate — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is being praised by Code Pink, a group working to end U.S. wars and militarism that has protested the Iraq War. — Trump garnered support from the organization during the GOP debate Saturday night …

Discussion: Infowars, The Gateway Pundit, The Huffington Post and New York Magazine

Andrew Shain / The State:

Trump: RNC breaking pledge, calls Cruz a ‘liar’ — GOP front-runner criticized rivals who came after him at debate Saturday — Trump said RNC stacked debate audience with foes who booed him — S.C Republican primary takes place Saturday — MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C.

Discussion: Hot Air and Independent Journal Review

Byron York / Washington Examiner: GOP Iraq battle shines new spotlight on Jeb Bush weakness

Eli Stokols / Politico:
Trump trashes Cruz as a liar and a ‘nut’

Discussion: Washington Post

CNN:
Bush family values: 43 comes to Jeb's rescue

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Post, Politico and CBS News

Tim Devaney / The Hill:
Graham calls Trump the GOP's ‘Michael Moore candidate’

Discussion: Raw Story

Columbia Missourian:

MU chancellor to confer with Board of Curators about body camera footage of Melissa Click — COLUMBIA — MU assistant professor of communication Melissa Click's interaction with a Columbia police officer during the university's Homecoming Parade on Oct. 10 warrants a conversation with the University …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Independent Journal Review, Associated Press and FOX2now.com

The College Fix:
Mizzou's Melissa Click told police ‘get your f**king hand off me’ at previous racial protest

Discussion: Hot Air and Power Line

William Schmitt / Columbia Missourian:
Melissa Click says she'll fight to restore her reputation, keep job

Discussion: Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Slantpoint and FOX2now.com

Dan Greenwald / KMOV-TV:
New video shows MU professor Click allegedly cursing at, confronting officers

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Campus Reform and The Daily Caller

Annie Karni / Politico:

Harry Reid allies to Team Clinton: Don't slam Nevada's caucus — With five days to go until the Nevada caucuses — once viewed as Hillary Clinton's Western firewall — Sen. Harry Reid and his allies are incensed at the wounded Democratic front-runner. — The reason: the Clinton campaign's attempt …

Discussion: Reno Gazette-Journal and Hot Air

Daniel Strauss / Politico:
Sanders supporters revolt against superdelegates

Discussion: Common Dreams, naked capitalism, Salon and Power Line

The Hill:
Clinton has superdelegate edge in Nevada and South Carolina

Discussion: TPNN and Politicus USA

Guardian:

Kanye West claims to be $53m in debt, and asks Mark Zuckerberg for help — West says tech entrepreneurs Zuckerberg and Larry Page listen to hip-hop, but are more interested in opening schools in Africa than helping celebrity rappers — It was a busy weekend for Kanye West …

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Mother Jones, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, KTLA, AOL, CBS Philly and Observer

Brandon Griggs / CNN:
Kanye West drops album, says he's $53 million in debt

Discussion: RedState, WCMH-TV, New York Times, Gothamist and The Week

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Frustrated female senators say Clinton is victim of sexism — Women serving in the Senate say Hillary Clinton is being subjected to an unfair, sexist double standard on the campaign trail. — Criticisms of Clinton's tone of voice have become prominent in recent weeks …

Discussion: RedState

Reuters:

23 dead as missiles hit three hospitals, school in Syrian towns — At least 23 civilians were killed when missiles hit three hospitals and a school in rebel-held Syrian towns on Monday, residents said, as Russian-backed Syrian troops intensified their push toward the rebel stronghold of Aleppo.