memeorandum: Putin: Nobody believed Trump would win ‘except us’ (Paulina Firozi/The Hill)

9:25 AM ET, December 24, 2016

Top Items:

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Why Obama broke with Israel at UN — The White House's decision to break with decades of U.S. policy and allow the U.N. Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements is the culmination of years of bad blood between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Discussion: RedState and MichelleMalkin.com

Harper Neidig / The Hill:

Trump warns UN after Israel vote: ‘Things will be different’ soon — slammed the Obama administration for its decision not to veto a U.N. resolution critical of Israel's settlements, promising that it would be “different” under his presidency. — “As to the U.N., things will be different after Jan. 20th,” Trump tweeted Friday.

Discussion: Fox News, USA Today, Infowars, BizPac Review, France 24, The Times of Israel, NBC News, Power Line, CBS New York, TheBlaze, KTLA, ABC News, RedState and The Right Scoop

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian / The Atlantic:

A Prayer for Peace in Bethlehem — Vera Baboun was 24 years old when she first realized that her hometown was truly different from other cities in the world. — Her childhood in Bethlehem had seemed normal, even idyllic. Born in 1963, Baboun attended a Christian school, sang in the church choir, and played tennis.

Discussion: Washington Post

Uri Friedman / The Atlantic:

It's Official: America Has Two Presidents at One Time — What happens when the most powerful country in the world effectively has two presidents at once? Its policy regarding one of the most complex conflicts on the planet collapses into a muddled mess. — Or, more precisely …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Times and FOX2now.com

J Street:

J Street Welcomes US Abstention on UNSC Resolution — J Street welcomes the decision today by the Obama administration to abstain from voting on a United Nations Security Council resolution, which reaffirms the need for a two-state solution and calls for a halt to actions by both sides that serve to undermine the prospects for peace.

Discussion: New York Times and Business Insider

Elliott Abrams / Weekly Standard:
Obama's Disgraceful and Harmful Legacy on Israel

Discussion: Power Line and Victory Girls Blog

Mark Landler / New York Times:
Obama, Trump and the Turf War That Has Come to Define the Transition

Discussion: FOX40, Washington Post, CNN and TheBlaze

New York Times:
Rebuffing Israel, U.S. Allows Censure Over Settlements

Discussion: The New Americana, RT, New York Magazine, The Times of Israel, Hot Air, NBC News, CNN, The Resurgent, Business Insider, Althouse, The Week, Vocativ and Washington Post

Washington Post:
The Obama administration fires a dangerous parting shot

Discussion: Portside, Althouse, The Lid and Instapundit

Scott Johnson / Power Line:
Obama rhymes-with-bucks Israel

Discussion: Tablet Magazine and The Times of Israel

Josef Federman / Associated Press:
ISRAEL ACCUSES OBAMA OF ANTI-ISRAELI ‘SHAMEFUL MOVE’ AT UN

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Associated Press, The Daily Caller and Independent Journal Review

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:
Obama marks start of Hanukkah

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Dem senators back Trump on UN Israel veto

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Al Jazeera English, The Times of Israel and Washington Examiner

Carol Morello / Washington Post:
U.S. declines to veto U.N. Security Council resolution for Israel to stop Jewish settlement activity

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Al Jazeera English and Booman Tribune

Michelle Nichols / Reuters:
U.N. Security Council denounces Israeli settlements, U.S. abstains

Discussion: The Times of Israel, Al Jazeera English, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, PoliPundit.com, Common Dreams and CNN

Richard Winton / Los Angeles Times:

Actress Carrie Fisher is in critical condition after a ‘cardiac episode’ on flight from London to L.A. — Actress Carrie Fisher, shown in 2007, was taken to a hospital Friday after a “cardiac episode” on a flight from London to Los Angeles. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Discussion: The Guardian, Variety, WATE-TV, GuideLive, Washington Post, Deadline, KTLA, TheBlaze, Gizmodo, FOX40, New Urban Legends, NPR, FOX31 Denver, The Root, Scared Monkeys, abc7.com, Refinery29, WJTV, CBS Philly, New York's PIX11 and Balloon Juice

Jennifer Smith / Daily Mail:

Carrie Fisher, 60, suffers heart attack on transatlantic flight where fellow passengers resorted to giving the star CPR — The 60-year-old was rushed to hospital immediately after landing and is said to be in critical condition — Carrie Fisher suffered a massive heart attack on board …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Week, TMZ.com, Jezebel, Independent Journal Review and FOX6Now.com

Jon Campbell / USA Today:

N.Y. developer Carl Paladino's ‘gorilla’ remark spurs outrage — ALBANY, N.Y. — Former New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino is facing backlash on social media for a racist remark about first lady Michelle Obama published Thursday in a Buffalo alt-weekly publication.

Discussion: Mediaite

Evelyn Rupert / The Hill:
Trump team: NY co-chair's remarks about Obamas ‘reprehensible’

Discussion: RedState

The Buffalo News:
On Paladino's ‘wish list’ for 2017: Obama dead of mad cow disease

Discussion: Mediaite, artvoice.com, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, Occupy Democrats, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog and AOL

Jamie Moses / artvoice.com:
WHAT DO WE WANT FOR 2017? We have a Lot of Different Opinions

Discussion: The Root, New Urban Legends, The Huffington Post, New York Times, Mediaite, Associated Press, Washington Post, The Guardian, FOX40, Little Green Footballs, BuzzFeed, Jezebel, Business Insider, Political Wire and alan.com

Will Bunch / Philly.com:

Liberal prof ‘watchlist’ is McCarthyism for the bullying age — Anthea Butler thought she'd heard it all before. — A religious studies professor at the University of Pennsylvania, a black woman who teaches a class about the religious right in America and has a fiery liberal persona on social media …

Discussion: alan.com and No More Mister Nice Blog

Paulina Firozi / The Hill:

Putin: Nobody believed Trump would win ‘except us’ — Russian president Vladimir Putin on Friday lauded President-elect Donald Trump — for his win, insisting it was no surprise. — “Right up to the end, nobody believed he would win — except us,” Putin said at his annual marathon press conference.

Discussion: Yahoo! News and The Gateway Pundit

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Teen Vogue Writer Battles Tucker Carlson: 'You're Actually Being a Partisan Hack' — Teen Vogue writer Lauren Duca faced off with Fox's Tucker Carlson tonight in what became a mesmerizing and fierce back and forth about Ivanka Trump and various things that Duca has written.

Discussion: The Right Scoop, TheBlaze and Mashable

Victoria Craw / NEWS.com.au:

French woman wants to marry a robot as expert predicts sex robots to become preferable to humans — French woman Lilly wants to marry her robot. Picture: Twitter. — ON THE surface, Lilly seems like a blushing young woman ready to marry the man of her dreams who makes her “totally happy.”

Discussion: Daily Mail, Raw Story, Jezebel and alan.com

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

Trump praises Putin's criticism of Democrats in tweet — Trump tweeted his praise for Russian president Vladimir Putin's criticism of Hillary Clinton — Friday night, agreeing with a statement he made earlier in the day that it was “humiliating” Democrats did not “lose with dignity.”

Discussion: RT, Mediaite, Occupy Democrats, Washington Post, AOL, ABC News, Politico and The Week

Eric Schlosser / New Yorker:

World War Three, by Mistake — Harsh political rhetoric, combined with the vulnerability of the nuclear command-and-control system, has made the risk of global catastrophe greater than ever. — On June 3, 1980, at about two-thirty in the morning, computers at the National Military Command Center …

Susan Snyder / Philly.com:

Bryn Mawr student hounded after asking to share ride to Trump event — Andi Moritz couldn't get the comments out of her head. A Facebook post the Bryn Mawr College freshman made on the school's ride-share page earlier that September day had drawn harsh backlash from dozens of students, most of whom she didn't know.

Discussion: Infowars and Instapundit