memeorandum: Obama: Kaepernick's national anthem protest a ‘tough thing’ for service members (William Wan/Washington Post)

10:25 AM ET, September 5, 2016

Top Items:

Intelligence community investigating covert Russian influence operations in the United States — U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies are probing what they see as a broad covert Russian operation in the United States to sow public distrust in the upcoming presidential election …

Discussion: Politico

Vicente Fox / Guardian:

Mexicans gave Donald Trump the hostile welcome he deserved — After all his lies and poisonous rhetoric about us, he came to Mexico to try to be civil. But it's too late for that, Donald — exico was the focus of the global lens last week thanks to an unexpected and dreadful event …

Discussion: Raw Story

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

Recent Developments Show Mexican Officials Are Hedging Their Bets on Trump Victory — Mexican officials are hedging their bets on the upcoming US election. — It appears by their actions they believe Donald Trump will be the 45th President of the United States.

Discussion: mexidata.info

Teresa Cerojano / Associated Press:

Duterte tells Obama not to question him about killings — MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte warned President Barack Obama on Monday not to question him about extrajudicial killings, or “son of a bitch I will swear at you” when they meet in Laos during a regional summit.

Discussion: zerohedge.com/fullrss2 …, alan.com, ABC News, Washington Post and Instapundit

Rebecca Morin / Politico:

Giuliani: Clinton acted ‘with criminal intent’ — Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani claimed Sunday that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton “acted intentionally and with criminal intent” in regard to the private email server she used while secretary of state.

Discussion: alan.com and Political Wire

Kevin Baker / Politico:
Is Rudy Giuliani Losing His Mind?

Discussion: Daily Kos

Jose A. DelReal / Washington Post:
Trump advisers and allies struggle with deportation specifics

Discussion: Power Line

New York Daily News: Peas in a pod: The long and twisted relationship between Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani

Daniel Nussbaum / Breitbart:

Diddy Urges ‘Hold’ on Black Vote: Hillary Needs to ‘Talk to the Black Community’ — In an interview with Al Sharpton on Sunday, rap and fashion mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs urged the African-American community to “turn up the heat” on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, because their issues …

David Edwards / Raw Story:
Soledad O'Brien eviscerates CNN: ‘You have normalized’ white supremacy with shoddy Trump reporting

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart: Exclusive — Behind The Scenes With Trump In Detroit: How The Donald Has Become ‘The Hope Candidate’

Greg Lukianoff / FIRE:

Jim Sleeper Gets It Wrong in ‘The New York Times’ — This morning, readers across the country woke up to a New York Times op-ed by Yale University lecturer Jim Sleeper that contains patently false charges about FIRE and me. — I've deliberately ignored Sleeper's multiple screeds over the past year.

Discussion: Hit & Run

Joel Kotkin / Orange County Register:

Are baby boomers turning out to be the worst generation? — I have seen the best minds of my generation, to steal a phrase from the late Allen Ginsberg, driven to heights of self-absorption, advocating policies that assure the failure of the next. Nothing so suggests the failure of my generation …

Nick Allen / Telegraph:

Revolution against ‘rich parasites’ at utopian Burning Man Festival as ‘hooligans’ attack luxury camp — It is supposed to be a utopian vision of peace and love but this year's Burning Man Festival has been marred by “hooligans” carrying out a “revolution against rich parasites”.

Matthew J. Dowd / Wall Street Journal:

What Follows From a Presidential Campaign of So Many Negative ‘Firsts’ — Matthew J. Dowd is an independent; chief political analyst for ABC News; and founder of Paradox Capital, a social-impact venture fund. He was chief strategist of President George W. Bush's 2004 campaign. He is on Twitter: @MatthewJDowd.

William Wan / Washington Post:

Obama: Kaepernick's national anthem protest a ‘tough thing’ for service members — HANGZHOU, China — President Obama said San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is “exercising his constitutional right” to sit out the national anthem, but the president acknowledged that the silent protest is a …

Discussion: Political Wire

Jeff Stein / Vox:

This study shows American federalism is a total joke — Voting for state legislators is dominated by feelings about the president. — Republicans dominate America's state governments — even in some of the country's most liberal states. — Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio …

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

Young Blacks Voice Skepticism on Hillary Clinton, Worrying Democrats — WASHINGTON — When a handful of liberal advocacy organizations convened a series of focus groups with young black voters last month, the assessments of Donald J. Trump were predictably unsparing.

Discussion: American Prospect and Althouse