memeorandum: The Obama Administration's Idea of a Crime... (John Hinderaker/Power Line)

6:10 AM ET, March 11, 2016

Top Items:

Steven Shepard / Politico:

Insiders: Rubio wins debate too late to matter — Marco Rubio delivered a strong debate performance on Thursday night - but it probably won't save him in Florida next week against Donald Trump. — That's the verdict rendered by The POLITICO Caucus, a panel of activists …

Holly Bailey / Yahoo Politics:

Civility makes a surprise appearance at GOP debate — MIAMI-After an all-out brawl of a debate last week in Michigan, which featured Donald Trump at one point defending the size of his genitalia, the Republican presidential hopefuls adopted an unusual tone in the opening minutes of their latest head-to-head in here: civility.

Discussion: Washington Post and Politico

Rick Klein / ABC News:
ANALYSIS: Donald Trump Tames His Ultimate Enemy — Himself

Discussion: Associated Press and Politico

Christina Animashaun / Politico: Top talkers: Who's winning the mic at the GOP debate

Theodore Schleifer / CNN:
First on CNN: Cruz super PAC decides attacking Rubio in Florida isn't worth it

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, 10NEWS, The Last Refuge, Politico, Orlando Sentinel, Florida Politics and New York Times

Daniella Diaz / CNN:
Everything you need to know about CNN's GOP debate

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Vox and The Jawa Report

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Five things to watch for at Republican debate in Miami

Discussion: Political Wire and Washington Post

Sarah Palin / Facebook:
GOP Majority Voters in Primary are Wayyyyyy Beneath Cruz, So Says Cruz

Discussion: Fox News, CBN.com, The Gateway Pundit and The Last Refuge

McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:
Mike Lee Endorses Ted Cruz

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Allen B. West, Mediaite, The Atlantic, Independent Journal Review, RedState, Western Journalism, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, The Week, The Resurgent, The Right Scoop and Guardian

MJ Lee / CNN:
Republican debate in Miami: What to watch

Discussion: The Last Refuge and Scripting News

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:
Birther Joseph Farah: Canadian-Born Ted Cruz Can Run For President Because He ‘Loves America’

Discussion: WND, Danthropology, Mediaite and alan.com

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Exclusive: Audio and transcript of Breitbart reporter allegedly being roughed up by Trump campaign manager — Donald Trump's spokesperson flatly denied on Thursday that campaign manager Corey Lewandowski roughed up a reporter for the conservative website Breitbart, and suggested she was fabricating …

Ben Terris / Washington Post:

Inside Trump's inner circle, his staffers are willing to fight for him. Literally. — JUPITER, Fla. — The original Trump crew, the four who had been there from the start, stood at the fringe of the news conference, watching as their boss trash-talked his competitors …

Alex Griswold / Mediaite:

Breitbart Suspends Reporter Who Implied Co-Worker Lied About Being Attacked By Trump Staffer — Breitbart announced Thursday that Patrick Howley, the reporter who publicly doubted whether or not his colleague Michelle Fields was actually manhandled by Donald Trump's campaign manager, has been suspended.

Discussion: Washington Post and addictinginfo.org, more at Mediagazer »

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Ben Carson plans to endorse Trump — Woman asks about reuniting families … MIAMI — Conservative favorite Ben Carson, who recently suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, plans to endorse Donald Trump on Friday morning, according to two people familiar with his thinking.

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Guardian, EveryJoe, Post On Politics, Business Insider, Independent Journal Review, Weasel Zippers, Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState, Advocate, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Fox News Insider and Politico

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Carson to endorse Trump for president — for president on Friday. — Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who ended his own presidential bid earlier this month, will join Trump at a press conference at the businessman's Mar-A-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., to make the announcement.

Discussion: FOX News Radio, ABC News, Yahoo Politics and Politico

Katherine Krueger / Talking Points Memo:
Ex-Jeb Aide Burns Trump Supporter: 'You're Sitting In A Booster Chair!' (VIDEO)

Discussion: Raw Story

Inside Edition:

Trump Supporter Who Punched Protester: ‘Next Time, We Might Have To Kill Him’ — The Trump supporter who was filmed sucker punching a protester during Wednesday's rally in North Carolina said: “Next time, we might have to kill him.” — Multiple videos show the protester, 26-year-old Rakeem Jones …

Ali Vitali / NBC News:
Attacker on Trump Protester: ‘Next Time We Might Kill Him’

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, The Right Scoop and Mother Jones

WRAL-TV:
Man charged with assaulting protester during Trump rally in Fayetteville

Discussion: Washington Post, RedState, New York's PIX11, Right Wing Watch, addictinginfo.org, The Atlantic, New York Magazine and twitchy.com

Edward Morrissey / The Fiscal Times:

Clinton Plays the Wrong Outrage Card and Sanders Makes Her Pay — This election cycle keeps demolishing expectations on both sides of the aisle. In Tuesday's contests, Donald Trump defied analysts who predicted a decline in his support after the Republican field narrowed …

Discussion: Esquire, Detroit Free Press, Hot Air, The Mahablog, naked capitalism and Washington Post

Alan I. Abramowitz / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
A Simple Model for Predicting Hillary Clinton's Vote in the March 15 Democratic Primaries

Discussion: New York Times and Political Wire

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
FLASHBACK: Reagan Trailed Carter 58% to 33% in March 1980

Discussion: Allen B. West

Chip Reid / CBS News:

Wounded Warrior Project execs fired — The two top executives of Wounded Warrior Project were fired Thursday by the board of directors. — Americans donate hundreds of millions of dollars each year to the charity, expecting their money will help some of the 52,000 wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS New York, New York Times, The Daily Caller, CBS Boston, The Week, The Atlantic, news9.com KWTV, KLFY-TV, CBS Los Angeles, The Last Tradition, WHNT-TV, WPRI-TV and KRQE-TV

Kaitlyn Schallhorn / TheBlaze.com:

Chuck Norris No Longer Will Campaign With Ted Cruz — Looks like Keep the Promise PAC can't keep its promise of a Chuck Norris appearance at a rally for Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz this weekend. — According to the pro-Cruz PAC, Norris, 75, was to attend a rally along with the GOP presidential hopeful …

Discussion: The Hill, EveryJoe and Western Journalism

Bob Unruh / WND:
Chuck Norris presidential endorsement? Not so fast!

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Independent Journal Review and Liberty Cannon Media Group

Sara Jerde / Talking Points Memo:
Chuck Norris Bails On Cruz Rally After Rumors Swirl That He's Endorsing

Discussion: Business Insider

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Obama Mocks Cruz: ‘Where Else Could a Boy Born in Calgary Run for President of the United States?’ — Pool was escorted into the East Room at 8:32, where POTUS had already begun delivering his toast. POTUS spoke for about 7 minutes[.] — The toast was filed with jokes.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Lauren Fox / Talking Points Memo:
Obama Trolls Ted Cruz So Hard With Canadian Birth Joke

Discussion: addictinginfo.org

Washington Post:

Ex-aide to Putin died of blunt force trauma at D.C. hotel, medical examiner says — A former aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin who was found dead in a Dupont Circle hotel room in November died of blunt force trauma to the head, the D.C. medical examiner's office said Thursday.

Discussion: Business Insider and The Week

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times: Former Putin Aide, Found in Washington, Died From Blows to Head

Scott Adams Blog:

Scott Adams' Blog

Discussion: addictinginfo.org

Lisa Hagen / The Hill:

Trump: I cannot believe how civil it's been … Donald Trump remarked about 30 minutes into a wonky GOP presidential debate on Thursday at how civil it was compared to the bruising slugfests of this cycle. — Trump's comment came in the first portion of the two-hour debate in Miami, just as it appeared he and Ted Cruz

Discussion: Political Wire, Telegraph, TheStreet.com and Mashable

John Amato / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

President Obama: Trump's Birtherism Led To ‘Republican Crackup’ — During President Obama's press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, he was asked if he was to blame for the rise of Donald Trump because of the “incredibly polarized political climate under his administration.”

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Steve Guest / The Daily Caller:
Obama: ‘I Certainly Have Not Contributed To’ Dividing The Country [VIDEO]

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Infowars and American Spectator

Associated Press:
The Latest: At the Capitol, Trudeau Meets With Lawmakers

Discussion: Politico

Radley Balko / Washington Post:

Surprise! NSA data will soon routinely be used for domestic policing that has nothing to do with terrorism — A while back, we noted a report showing that the “sneak-and-peek” provision of the Patriot Act that was alleged to be used only in national security and terrorism investigations …

Ian Hanchett / Breitbart:

Benghazi Victim's Mother: ‘Special Place In Hell’ For People Like Hillary, “I Hope She Enjoys It There' — Patricia Smith, whose son Sean was killed in the 2012 terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, responded to Democratic presidential candidate former Secretary …

Discussion: American Thinker

Prime Minister of Canada:

U.S.-Canada Joint Statement on Climate, Energy, and Arctic Leadership — Washington, D.C., United States of America — President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau share a common vision of a prosperous and sustainable North American economy, and the opportunities afforded by advancing clean growth.