memeorandum: Obama's rudeness hits new heights with Scalia, Schumer (Kyle Smith/New York Post)

9:15 AM ET, February 22, 2016

Top Items:

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

Trump has a stranglehold on the GOP nomination. So why isn't he getting credit? — Donald Trump cruised to a double-digit win over the Republican field on Saturday in South Carolina. It was his second straight easy win — coming 11 days after he swept the New Hampshire primary by nearly 17 points.

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:

Donald Trump's Victory Spurs Renewed Scrambling Among Republicans — Mainstream Republicans arose on Sunday reeling from Donald J. Trump's sweeping victory in South Carolina, with some refusing to accept that he could be the eventual nominee and others acknowledging that his insurgent candidacy might soon be unstoppable.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Week, Downtrend and Guardian

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Donald Trump Hopes to Follow Hillary Clinton's Lead in Nevada — The shock and awe of a New York real estate developer-turned-reality television star's winning the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday night blotted out the other major, parallel story of Hillary Clinton's victory in the Nevada caucuses.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Washington Examiner

David Lightman / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Trump poised to step on the GOP accelerator

Discussion: The Last Refuge, JustOneMinute and Power Line

J. D. Vance / National Review:
Did Ted Cruz Miscalculate His Support among Evangelicals?

Discussion: The Resurgent and The Daily Caller

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
GOP candidates chart different paths as race goes national on Super Tuesday

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Mediaite, Politico, ABC News, Yahoo Politics and New York Post

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Trump Optimists And Trump Skeptics Are About To Go To War

Discussion: Hit & Run, American Spectator, Roosevelt Institute and Washington Post

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Trump win confounds critics who thought gaffes would do him in

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

Fall of the House of Bush: How last name and Donald Trump doomed Jeb — For Jeb Bush's campaign, August was a cruel month. Donald Trump's attacks on the former Florida governor as a "low-energy" politician were beginning to stick, and the two were bickering over immigration.

Discussion: Downtrend, Yahoo Politics and Politico

Maeve Reston / CNN:

Jeb's 2016 departure draws out Mike Murphy critics — Las Vegas (CNN)In the unsparing judgment of the Twittersphere, there was one clear loser after Jeb's Bush's graceful exit from the Republican presidential race Saturday night: political strategist Mike Murphy and the Bush-allied super PAC Right to Rise USA, which he directed.

Zachary Mider / Bloomberg Business:

Rubio Seeks Cash Infusion From Donors Who Backed Bush — The network that helped Bush and his allies break fundraising records is now in play. — zachmider — With Jeb Bush's departure from the presidential race on Saturday, a mighty fundraising army scattered.

Derek Hunter / Townhall.com:

Demeaning The Office — When President Bill Clinton's affair with intern Monica Lewinsky was exposed, it was a new low for the office of president. It wasn't the first affair by a president (or Clinton), not by a long shot. But the fact it was with an intern and he committed perjury behind …

Lydia Wheeler / The Hill: Scalia's legacy: A court transformed

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine: Its power is derived from custom and deference. How old-fashioned.

Jon Ralston / Reno Gazette-Journal:

Ralston Reports: ‘Reid-Culinary bond’ won Nevada for Clinton — I'd like to congratulate the winner of the Nevada Democratic caucus: Harry Reid. — What's that, you say? Reid wasn't running? What am I talking about? — Saturday may well be the day that altered the course …

Discussion: USA Today, Scared Monkeys and New York Magazine

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Sanders has the resources and a plan to go the distance. Will it matter?

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

Associated Press:
Clinton Heads South, Aims for Delegate Edge Over Sanders

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

Juan Williams / The Hill:

Black divisions matter in Dem race — In all of Congress, only two Democrats have endorsed Bernie Sanders — , the independent senator and democratic socialist from Vermont. — How can that be? — Already, close to half of Iowa Democrats and nearly two-thirds of Democrats in New Hampshire …

Wall Street Journal:
Young and Black in South Carolina: How Will They Vote?

Discussion: Washington Post

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Now Trump ‘Not Sure’ If Rubio's Eligible to Be President (UPDATED) — Donald Trump slyly raised questions this morning about Marco Rubio's eligibility to be president. — Yesterday, Trump retweeted something a supporter sent to him that seemed to gin up questions about Rubio's eligibility to be president in addition to Ted Cruz's:

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, New York Magazine, Fox News, RedState, Washington Post, Slantpoint, Independent Journal Review and The Week

Anna Palmer / Politico:
Rubio super PAC compares him to Harry Potter

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post, The Week, ABC News and Politicus USA

New York Times:
Ted Cruz and Donald Trump Head Toward Super Tuesday With G.O.P.'s Deepest Pockets

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Gateway Pundit and Gothamist

James Comey / Lawfare:

We Could Not Look the Survivors in the Eye if We Did Not Follow this Lead — The San Bernardino litigation isn't about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message. It is about the victims and justice. Fourteen people were slaughtered and many more had their lives and bodies ruined.

Discussion: The Atlantic, Washington Post, New York Times, Business Insider, MacRumors, The Verge and The Week

Taylor Millard / Hot Air:

Why Charles Koch's awesome Bernie Sanders op-ed matters in future elections — Charles Koch has written an awesome op-ed in The Washington Post where he explains how he and Bernie Sanders actually agree on an issue. It's one of the very few issues where the Tea party and Occupy Wall Street seemed …

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor

Betsy McCaughey / New York Post:

Obama is looting the Treasury to pay off insurers — The Obama administration will tell any lie and break any law to prevent the president's signature health-care program from collapsing. — Insurance companies such as UnitedHealthcare and Aetna are losing billions trying to sell ObamaCare plans …

Discussion: Power Line

Walter Smith-Randolph / WWMT-TV:

Alleged gunman worked as Uber driver during deadly shooting spree; passenger shares story — KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - In an exclusive interview with Newschannel 3, a passenger of Jason Dalton's details his Uber experience before Dalton allegedly shot eight people across Kalamazoo County.

Discussion: WOOD-TV, Slantpoint, The Verge, Washington Post, New York Times and Refinery29

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Donald Trump consults with Rudy Giuliani as he builds political kitchen cabinet — Fresh off back-to-back victories in the Republican presidential race, Donald Trump is moving to expand his tight-knit campaign by building a political kitchen cabinet that includes former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Week

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Trump brags about winning with ‘short people, fat people, skinny people’ — GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump — took a victory lap on Sunday evening after winning the South Carolina primary, bragging about his ability to win across multiple voting blocs. — “We won with everything.

Discussion: Political Insider blog and The Week