memeorandum: The Ceiling Buster — Last Sunday, Marco Rubio voiced … (Peter Beinart/The Atlantic)

11:00 AM ET, February 25, 2016

Top Items:

GOP leaders, you must do everything in your power to stop Trump — THE UNTHINKABLE is starting to look like the inevitable: Absent an extraordinary effort from people who understand the menace he represents, Donald Trump is likely to be the presidential nominee of the Republican Party.

Discussion: NBC News, The Daily Beast, New York Times, The Last Refuge, Downtrend, CNN, LawNewz, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

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: Politico

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

What Is Marco Rubio Waiting For? — New Hampshire has fallen. South Carolina has been overwhelmed. Nevada has surrendered. And the Republican establishment, like the British Empire in the darkest days of 1940, finds its strength scattered on the beach at Dunkirk, desperately awaiting evacuation …

Discussion: Vox, New York Magazine, The Week, RedState, Political Insider blog, U.S. News and Politico

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

RNC sees leverage over Trump — Donald Trump has steamrolled toward the Republican nomination by lambasting all things political establishment, and now that establishment thinks it can convince their insult-wielding front-runner he needs them. — Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus …

Discussion: Washington Post and Political Wire

Peter Beinart / The Atlantic:

The Ceiling Buster — Last Sunday, Marco Rubio voiced the conventional wisdom that guides much horse-race commentary about the GOP campaign: “Part of the dynamic up to this point,” Rubio declared, “is Donald [Trump] has been, you know, in the mid 30s to low 30s, high 20s, in most polls …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Federalist, NBC News, TheStreet.com and Vox

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: Political Insider blog, The Week, The Hill, Guardian, Trail Blazers Blog, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, Hot Air, The Federalist and Nashville Scene

Associated Press:

Debate Another Chance for Rubio, Cruz to Try to Slow Trump — With Donald Trump's grasp on the Republican presidential nomination tightening, the billionaire businessman's rivals get one more chance to challenge the GOP front-runner on the debate stage before next week's slate of Super Tuesday contests.

Discussion: Politico, ABC News and Associated Press

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Cruz, Rubio prep for brutal debate night

Discussion: Vox

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
House GOPer Asks Reps. To Sign Letter Urging Cruz Or Rubio To Drop Out

Discussion: The Week

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
GOP Congressman Circulates Letter Urging Rubio Or Cruz To Drop Out Of Presidential Race

Discussion: Slantpoint

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
It's Time for an Anti-Trump Manhattan Project

Discussion: The Last Refuge, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, alicublog, BloombergView.com, FiveThirtyEight and Balloon Juice

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Can Donald Trump be stopped?

Discussion: Politico, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, BloombergView.com and Raw Story

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

‘The poorly educated’ people of America cut an ad for Donald Trump [Video] — An ebullient Donald Trump declared Tuesday night after his victory in the Nevada caucuses that he loved “the poorly educated.” — It was, to say the least, an odd way of phrasing it.

Discussion: RedState and ThinkProgressPage Array

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill:
Romney: There's a ‘bombshell’ in Trump's tax returns

Discussion: AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog …, Business Insider, Daily Kos and MichelleMalkin.com

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
New White Supremacist PAC Robocalls: 'Don't Vote For A Cuban,' Vote Trump! (AUDIO)

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Trail Blazers Blog, RedState, Washington Examiner, Mediaite and The Right Scoop

Fox News:
Romney suggests a ‘bombshell’ in Trump's tax returns

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

Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:
Cecile Richards: “I Appreciate Donald Trump's Kind Words About Planned Parenthood”

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, RedState, The Resurgent and Independent Journal Review

Amy Brittain / Washington Post:

Justice Scalia spent his last hours with members of this secretive society of elite hunters — When Justice Antonin Scalia died 11 days ago at a West Texas ranch, he was among high-ranking members of an exclusive fraternity for hunters called the International Order of St. Hubertus, an Austrian society that dates back to the 1600s.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Trail Blazers Blog, Fusion, New York Magazine, Little Green Footballs, The Week, Booman Tribune and Althouse

The Hill:

How Obama, Dems plan to win fight on high court — President Obama and Senate Democrats plan to reach deep into their bag of tricks and tactics to ensure the Supreme Court dominates the political debate up until Election Day. — Their strategy is to portray the Senate Republican majority …

Discussion: Politico

New York Times:
Senate Republicans Lose Their Minds on a Supreme Court Seat

Discussion: BarbWire.com, The Week, Slantpoint, Above the Law, Truthout Stories, Associated Press and Mediaite

Washington Post:
Republican governor of Nevada Brian Sandoval being considered for Supreme Court

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

Discussion: NBC News

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Poll: Trump's negatives among Hispanics rise; worst in GOP field … Donald Trump has used the issue of immigration to help make himself the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, but his harsh rhetoric also has earned him the highest negative ratings among Hispanic voters …

Discussion: Washington Times, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, Politico, ThinkProgressPage Array, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo

Christopher Cameron / The Statesman:

Political science professor forecasts Trump as general election winner — A professor of political science at Stony Brook University has forecasted that Donald Trump has a minimum 97 percent chance of winning the general election as the Republican nominee. — Professor Helmut Norpoth's …

Discussion: Infowars, BizPac Review and The Daily Caller

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: Raw Story, WHNT-TV, KTLA, FOX31 Denver and KOIN-TV

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: Washington Post, New York Post, Althouse, FOX31 Denver and KTLA

Al Baker / New York Times:
Prosecutors Will Move to Dismiss Charges in Brownsville Rape Case

Discussion: Gothamist

Tyler Tynes / The Huffington Post:

Black Lives Matter Activists Interrupt Hillary Clinton At Private Event In South Carolina — They wanted her to account for some of her past statements on racial justice. — Politics Fellow, The Huffington Post — Two Black Lives Matter activists interrupted a private Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, The American Mirror, Slantpoint, Guardian and Outside the Beltway

Yamiche Alcindor / New York Times:
Bernie Sanders Ties Hillary Clinton to Poverty Caused by Welfare Reform

Discussion: ThinkProgressPage Array, Washington Post, New York Magazine and Slantpoint

New York Times:

Donald Trump Taps Foreign Work Force for His Florida Club — Donald J. Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach describes itself as “one of the most highly regarded private clubs in the world,” and it is not just the very-well-to-do who want to get in. — Since 2010, nearly 300 United States residents …

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air and Fusion

Camille Paglia / Salon:

Fight the soulless juggernaut: Big money, machine politics and the real issue separating Sanders and Clinton — Democrats face a stark choice: A money-mad, scandal-plagued establishment, or the potential of decency and change — Despite Bernie Sanders being tied with her for pledged delegates …

Aaron Kliegman / Washington Free Beacon:

Kerry on Gitmo Detainee Who Returned to Terrorism: 'He's Not Supposed to Be Doing That' — Secretary of State John Kerry lamented Wednesday that a terrorist who the Obama administration released from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay subsequently returned to fight for al Qaeda …