memeorandum: A Radical Idea to Rebuild a Shattered Libya: Restore the Monarchy (Declan Walsh/New York Times)

11:50 PM ET, February 24, 2016

Top Items:

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:

It's Time for an Anti-Trump Manhattan Project — For the last eight months or so, a significant portion of the Republican party's voters have been in thrall to a bizarre, Occupy-esque conspiracy theory, which holds as its central thesis that sabotage and pusillanimity are the root causes of the Right's recent woes.

Discussion: The Last Refuge, alicublog and Balloon Juice

Tegna / WFAA-TV:

Cruz, Trump tied in WFAA Texas poll … DALLAS - Six days before Super Tuesday, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are now tied in Texas, according to a new public opinion poll commissioned by WFAA-TV. — Cruz and Trump both had 32 percent support from likely and actual GOP primary voters, with a 3.9 percent margin of error.

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Times, The Federalist, The Gateway Pundit and Hot Air

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:

The Only Strategy For Hillary Clinton Is To Scorch The Earth — If Hillary Clinton manages to beat Bernie Sanders, the early primaries have already revealed that there's only one strategy for the general election against a Republican, be it Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, or Ted Cruz: Scorch the earth.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Taylor Marsh, Political Wire and Guardian

Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:

Cecile Richards: “I Appreciate Donald Trump's Kind Words About Planned Parenthood” — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been taking criticism from pro-life voters for his repeated claims that the Planned Parenthood abortion business does “good work” and “wonderful things.”

Discussion: RedState, The Resurgent and Independent Journal Review

Fox News:

Romney suggests a ‘bombshell’ in Trump's tax returns — There might be a “bombshell” revelation to be discovered in Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump's tax returns, 2012 party nominee Mitt Romney said Wednesday. — He also called on the entire GOP field to release their tax returns.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and CBS New York

David Wasserman / FiveThirtyEight:

Republicans' Last-Ditch Hope To Stop Donald Trump — If it's not obvious by now, a ship called the Republican Party is perilously close to being hijacked by a populist pirate named Donald Trump. At the last three ports of call — New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada …

Jon Ward / Yahoo Politics:

Why Chris Christie never went after Donald Trump — Twenty-four hours before Chris Christie dropped out of the presidential race, the New Jersey governor chatted on his campaign bus about taking on Donald Trump the way he went after Marco Rubio. — Three days earlier …

Discussion: Political Wire and Newsmax

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Can Donald Trump be stopped? — HOUSTON — Donald Trump has taken firm control of the race for the Republican presidential nomination with his third straight victory in Nevada. To deny him that role, strategists say, his leading rivals must quickly change the trajectory of the race …

Discussion: Politico, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Downtrend and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Tim Alberta / National Review:
Conservative Leaders Hedge on Support for Cruz

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog

New York Times:
Marco Rubio Gets Party's Blessing, but Not Voters'

Discussion: Washington Post

Michelle Hackman / Vox:
The broad support behind Trump's Nevada win should terrify the Republican establishment

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, The Daily Caller, National Review and The Week

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Rubio: 'You Don't Win The Nomination By How Many States You Win' (VIDEO)

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Hot Air, AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog … and Political Wire

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Watching Trump and Sanders, Mitt Romney says he gets it: 'We're just mad as hell'

Discussion: Business Insider and Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:

Republican governor of Nevada Brian Sandoval being considered for Supreme Court — Brian Sandoval, the centrist Republican governor of Nevada, is being vetted by the White House for a possible nomination to the Supreme Court, according to two people familiar with the process.

President Barack Obama / SCOTUSblog:

A Responsibility I Take Seriously — The Constitution vests in the President the power to appoint judges to the Supreme Court. It's a duty that I take seriously, and one that I will fulfill in the weeks ahead. — It's also one of the most important decisions that a President will make.

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Struggle Over Supreme Court Pick Enters a New Level of ‘Hardball Politics’

Discussion: Political Wire, Slantpoint and Balloon Juice

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
A Lot Weaker Than They Look

Discussion: NPR

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
Kirk would meet with Obama SCOTUS nominee

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:

New White Supremacist PAC Robocalls: 'Don't Vote For A Cuban,' Vote Trump! (AUDIO) — A white supremacist super PAC is rolling out a fresh robocall campaign this week in Vermont and Minnesota telling voters, “Don't vote for a Cuban. Vote for Donald Trump.”

Discussion: RedState and Mediaite

Al Weaver / Washington Examiner: In debate preview, Rubio hits Trump on Obamacare, foreign policy

Nick Gass / Politico:
Trump lands his first congressional endorsements

Discussion: ABC News, Hit & Run, New York Magazine, The Week and NPR

Jerry Zremski / Buffalo News:
Chris Collins becomes first sitting member of Congress to endorse Trump

Discussion: Vox, New York Magazine, Guardian, Politico, Hot Air, Washington Times, Talking Points Memo, Yahoo Politics, Business Insider and Independent Journal Review

New York Times:

Apple Is Said to Be Working on an iPhone Even It Can't Hack — WASHINGTON — Apple engineers have already begun developing new security measures that would make it impossible for the government to break into a locked iPhone using methods similar to those now at the center of a court fight in California …

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, The Scoop Blog, Slantpoint, The Verge, MacRumors and LawNewz

Enjoli Francis / ABC News:
Exclusive: Apple CEO Tim Cook Says iPhone-Cracking Software ‘Equivalent of Cancer’

Discussion: Mashable, Washington Post, NPR, The Week and Associated Press

ABC News:
Exclusive: Apple CEO Tim Cook Sits Down With David Muir (Extended Interview)

Discussion: VentureBeat

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:

Does Ben Carson Suspect His Campaign Was a Scam? — For months, reporters and political operatives (including me) have been pointing out that Ben Carson's campaign bears many of the hallmarks of a political scam operation. Now Carson seems to agree. On CNN on Tuesday, Carson discussed his year-end staff shake-up:

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Lonely Conservative, The Stranger … and RedState

Aaron Rupar / ThinkProgressPage Array: Ben Carson Acknowledges His Presidential Campaign Might Be A Big Scam

Andrea Cavallier / New York's PIX11:

Charges dropped in gang rape probe at Brownsville playground after victim recants story — BROWNSVILLE, Brooklyn — Charges have been dropped against the five teens who had been accused of raping an 18-year-old girl at a Brownsville playground last month after the victim changed her story.

Discussion: KTLA

Bill James / The Federalist:

Trump Is A Rump, But He Has A Point — Let me begin by telling you what I think about Donald Trump. I stress that I am not trying to tell you what you should think about The Donald; I am merely telling you what I think, how I react to him. — I have despised Trump for 35 or 40 years …

Discussion: Bill James Online and Politico

Denver Post:

DENVER AND THE WEST — PARK COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPUTY KILLED, TWO OTHERS WOUNDED WHILE SERVING EVICTION NOTICE — A suspect with a rifle also died in the shootout with Park County sheriff's deputies near Bailey — BAILEY — A Park County sheriff's deputy was killed and two others …

Discussion: The Right Scoop and Raw Story

Fox News:
‘DARK DAY’: Sheriff's deputy killed, 2 deputies injured in Colorado shootout

Discussion: FOX31 Denver and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Jeremy Tanner / New York's PIX11:

Baby sitter charged with murder in death of Staten Island 16-month-old — STATEN ISLAND - The baby sitter charged with killing 16-month-old Staten Island toddler faced the family of the young boy amid sobs, shrieks of pain and shouts of “you should rot in hell forever.”

Discussion: KTLA and WTVR-TV

Scott Adams Blog:

Scott Adams' Blog

Discussion: Althouse

Neetzan Zimmerman / The Hill:

‘Idiocracy’ writer: I never expected my movie ‘to become a documentary’ — The man behind the 2006 cult sci-fi film “Idiocracy” is lamenting that his fictional movie appears to have become reality. — “I never expected #idiocracy to become a documentary,” tweeted screenwriter Etan Cohen …

Discussion: Raw Story

Glenn Updated / Glenn Beck:

Silence in the Face of Evil Is Evil Itself — Hello, America, from Las Vegas, Nevada. — I got up this morning, and I prayed about what I was going to say to you today. Because I have a lot on my mind. And I thought to myself, “Maybe I, maybe I don't say anything.” — You know, it's really interesting.

Discussion: Right Wing Watch, Breitbart, Mediaite and Little Green Footballs

Bill Gertz / Washington Free Beacon:

China Warns U.S. After Trump Wins Nevada Caucus — China warned the United States on Wednesday not to adopt punitive currency policies that could disrupt U.S.-China relations after Donald Trump's win in the Nevada caucus. — Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing that …

Natalie Swaby / KING-TV:

Boy removed from plane over allergies, passengers applaud — COUPEVILLE, Wash. - Instead of sightseeing on a ferry, 7-year-old Giovanni, his mom, Christina Fabian, and dad, George Alvarado should have already boarded a flight. — “We were on Flight 171,” said Fabian.

Discussion: WTVR-TV and KOIN-TV