memeorandum: Greg Lake: King Crimson and ELP star dies aged 69 (Mark Savage/BBC)

9:05 PM ET, December 8, 2016

Top Items:

Trump Expected to Name Fast-Food Executive Andy Puzder as Labor Secretary — Mr. Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants, likely to peel back regulations — President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name fast-food executive Andy Puzder as labor secretary, according to people familiar with the decision.

New York Times:

Trump's Labor Pick, Andrew Puzder, Is Critic of Minimum Wage Increases — President-elect Donald J. Trump on Thursday named Andrew F. Puzder, chief executive of the company that operates the fast food outlets Hardee's and Carl's Jr. and an outspoken critic of the worker protections enacted …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Common Dreams, The Daily Signal, Daily Kos, twitchy.com, ABC News and rubber hose

Sarah Fenske / News Blog, Riverfront Times:

Andrew Puzder, Trump's Pick for Labor Department, Was Accused of Abusing Wife — Andrew Puzder, the St. Louis attorney who rose to become CEO of Carl's Jr. and now stands as Donald Trump's pick to be Secretary of Labor, was accused of abuse by his first wife in the 1980s — with police twice summoned to the couple's home.

Discussion: Law News, alan.com, Talking Points Memo, Vox, Jezebel and New York Magazine

Kira Lerner / ThinkProgress:
Trump's labor secretary pick really likes his company's sexist burger ads

Discussion: New York Magazine, Washington Times and twitchy.com

Ned Resnikoff / ThinkProgress:
Trump's pick for Labor Secretary is a big ‘screw you’ to the Fight for $15

Discussion: New York Magazine, Hit & Run, Common Dreams and alan.com

Cogan Schneier / Politico:
Trump chooses Puzder as labor secretary

Discussion: CNNMoney, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, The Hill, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, TheStreet.com, NBC News, Washington Monthly, Morning Consult, The Federalist, The Last Refuge, TheBlaze and Mother Jones

Joe Hallett / The Columbus Dispatch:

John Glenn, American hero, aviation icon and former U.S. senator, dies at 95 — His legend is other-worldly and now, in his 95th year, that's where John Glenn has gone. — An authentic hero and genuine American icon, Glenn died this afternoon surrounded by family at the Ohio State University …

John Noble Wilford / New York Times:
John Glenn, American Hero of the Space Age, Dies at 95

Discussion: Towleroad and Outside the Beltway

Russell Lewis / NPR:
John Glenn, First American To Orbit The Earth, Dies At 95

Discussion: The Atlantic, alan.com and Balloon Juice

Cynthia Littleton / Variety:

Donald Trump to Remain Executive Producer on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ (EXCLUSIVE) … Donald Trump will remain an exec producer on NBC's “Celebrity Apprentice,” which is returning Jan. 2 after a two-year hiatus with new host Arnold Schwarzenegger. — MGM confirmed to Variety that Trump has retained his EP credit on the series.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Occupy Democrats, Business Insider, Politicus USA, Jezebel, Mashable, The Verge, TheBlaze, Mediaite and KXAN-TV, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Grandiose Ideas for Donald Trump Inaugural Give Way to Traditional

Discussion: CNBC, Mediaite and The Week

Pew Research Center:

1. Views of President-elect Trump and his administration — As Donald Trump prepares to take office as the nation's 45th president, 55% of the public says that, so far, they disapprove of the job he has done explaining his policies and plans for the future, while 41% approve of the job he has done.

Discussion: Business Insider, Hot Air and Politicus USA

Numbers / Pew Research Center:

Low Approval of Trump's Transition but Outlook for His Presidency Improves — Growing numbers see ‘strong’ partisan and racial conflicts — Nearly a month after Donald Trump's election as president, the public views his transition to the White House less positively than those of past presidents-elect.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, New York Times and Vox

Chuck Jones / Washington Post:

I'm the union leader Donald Trump attacked. I'm tired of being lied to about our jobs. — Trump swore he'd save our jobs. He didn't. — I'm a union leader in Indianapolis. I represent the Carrier workers whose jobs Donald Trump has pledged to save. And I'm tired of being lied to.

Discussion: The Nation, NBC News, Mediaite, AOL, Raw Story, Morning Consult, CBS 4, Daily Kos, NPR, LifeZette, TheBlaze, CNBC, Business Insider, Common Dreams, Hot Air, CBS New York, BizPac Review, RedState, ThinkProgress, Deadline, Washington Monthly, CNNMoney and Towleroad

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Trump's Transition Team ‘Is Like Game of Thrones’ — As the least experienced, least ideological, and therefore perhaps most malleable president-elect in history prepares to take office, all eyes are on who is influencing his decisions. And so far, Donald Trump's administration is shaping …

Discussion: Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Week

Karoun Demirjian / Washington Post:

Republicans ready to launch wide-ranging probe of Russia, despite Trump's stance — Leading Senate Republicans are preparing to launch a coordinated and wide-ranging probe into Russia's alleged meddling in the U.S. elections and its potential cyber threats to the military …

Discussion: Business Insider, CNN, USA Today, TheBlaze, Morning Consult and The Verge

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

Did Putin elect Trump? — As The Hill, CNN and other news organizations reported last week, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee are calling on President Obama to declassify information about covert Russian attempts to influence the American elections that the Obama administration continues …

Discussion: NO QUARTER USA NET and Common Dreams

Anemona Hartocollis / New York Times:

On Campus, Trump Fans Say They Need ‘Safe Spaces’ — ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Amanda Delekta, a sophomore at the University of Michigan and political director of the College Republicans, was ecstatic when her candidate, Donald J. Trump, won the presidential election.

Discussion: Vox, Gothamist, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hot Air, twitchy.com and Althouse

Chris Perez / New York Post:

Navy admiral's Pearl Harbor speech trolls Colin Kaepernick — A decorated US Navy admiral took the time to troll Colin Kaepernick during the 75th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Day Commemoration ceremony on Wednesday — saying those who died on that fateful day “never took a knee and never failed to stand” during the national anthem.

Discussion: BizPac Review, twitchy.com, Washington Free Beacon and The American Mirror

AJ Willingham / CNN:
Navy admiral burns Colin Kaepernick in Pearl Harbor speech

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, KTLA, The Daily Caller and New York's PIX11

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

Trump: Madman of the Year — So, Time magazine, ever in search of buzz, this week named Donald Trump Person of the Year. But they did so with a headline that read, “President of the Divided States of America.” — The demi-fascist of Fifth Avenue wasn't flattered by that wording.

Discussion: alan.com, Occupy Democrats, Daily Kos and TODAY.com

Ben Stein / The American Spectator:

They've Gone Insane — And hating Trump hasn't made them any nicer either. — I just don't get it. People are going insane about Donald Trump being president-elect. It's beyond the wildest anger and fear I saw even about Richard Nixon, my hero. And, as I say, I just cannot see it.

Lenny Bernstein / Washington Post:

U.S. life expectancy declines for the first time since 1993 — For the first time in more than two decades, life expectancy for Americans declined last year — a troubling development linked to a panoply of worsening health problems in the United States. — Rising fatalities from heart disease …

Discussion: US News, USA Today, Hit & Run, TheBlaze, Liberty Unyielding, The Week and ThinkProgress

Rob Stein / NPR:
Life Expectancy In U.S. Drops For First Time In Decades, Report Finds

Discussion: Centers for Disease Control, RedState, AOL, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, New York's PIX11 and The Atlantic

Ryan Struyk / ABC News:

Everything You Need to Know About Rogue Electors — It's been one month since Election Day, but the real votes for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton won't be cast for another 11 days. — That's when the 538 actual people who make up the Electoral College will meet in state capitals across …

Discussion: Politico

Washpostpr / Washington Post:

The Washington Post honors David Fahrenthold with inaugural Ben Bradlee Prize — Fahrenthold recognized for his body of work during the 2016 presidential campaign — The Washington Post today awarded David Fahrenthold the first annual Ben Bradlee Prize for his penetrating coverage during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Harper Neidig / The Hill:

Clinton blasts ‘epidemic’ of fake news — on Thursday decried the spread of fake news online, calling it an “epidemic” that Congress should take action against. — “The epidemic of malicious fake news and false propaganda that flooded social media over the past year …

Discussion: Clayton Cramer

Bob Davis / Wall Street Journal:

Barely Half of 30-Year-Olds Earn More Than Their Parents — As wages stagnate in the middle class, it becomes hard to reverse this trend — Barely half of 30-year-olds earn more than their parents did at a similar age, a research team found, an enormous decline from the early 1970s …

Discussion: Equitable Growth, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post, The Week and Mashable

Mark Savage / BBC:

Greg Lake: King Crimson and ELP star dies aged 69 — One of the founding fathers of progressive rock, the British musician is known for songs including In the Court of the Crimson King and his solo hit I Believe in Father Christmas. — He died on Wednesday after “a long and stubborn battle with cancer”, said his manager.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, East Bay Times and AOL

Suzanne Monyak / Slate:

Kellyanne Conway Suggests That Women With Kids Shouldn't Take Jobs in the White House — Donald Trump's former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said that mothers should not accept high-powered career opportunities—a standard that does not apply to fathers, in Conway's opinion.

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, ABC News, RedState, Politico, Townhall.com, BizPac Review, TheBlaze, New York Magazine, Independent Journal Review and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:

The collapse of the political Left — It's been a tough decade for the political left. Eight years ago a Time magazine cover portrayed Barack Obama as Franklin Roosevelt, complete with cigarette and holder and a cover line proclaiming “The New New Deal.” A Newsweek cover announced “We Are All Socialists Now.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Fox News, Real Clear Politics and The Gateway Pundit

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Ryan Plays the DC Press Corps Like a Fiddle — Millions of people's lives and livelihoods are on the line. So it's not funny. But if there weren't such dire real world consequences, Paul Ryan's current flimflam would be straight up hilarious. Repealing Obamacare has immediate real world consequences.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Washington Post:

The populist revolt to ‘The System Worked’ — Some intellectual cleanup in Bret Stephens' aisle — There's been a lot of talk about “peak trade” and the collapse in cross-border capital flows in recent years. I seriously doubt that Donald Trump or any of the other recently elected populists …

Discussion: Crooked Timber and Bloomberg

Alexandra Clough / Palm Beach Post:

Exclusive: Judge to Trump: No getting out of Jupiter golf club lawsuit — President-Elect Donald J. Trump at Mar-A-Lago on Palm Beach — U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Marra on Wednesday refused yet another request by Donald Trump to toss a 2013 lawsuit filed against his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter.

Discussion: Law News, Talking Points Memo and Political Wire