memeorandum: The President of the United States is the Commander in Chief. (Dan Rather)

5:05 PM ET, April 8, 2017

Top Items:

CNN:

Syria strikes: Site of chemical attack hit again — (CNN)New airstrikes have targeted a town in northwest Syria that was hit by a deadly chemical attack earlier this week, activists said. — It wasn't immediately clear who conducted the strikes on Khan Sheikhoun, which hit on Friday and Saturday …

Discussion: Fox News, Vocativ, TheBlaze, New York Magazine, IJR, Vanity Fair, Gothamist, The Week, BuzzFeed, RedState and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Warplanes return to Syrian town devastated by chemical attack — BEIRUT — Residents of the Syrian town devastated by a chemical-weapons attack last week said that warplanes had returned to bomb them Saturday as Turkey described a retaliatory U.S. assault as “cosmetic” unless it removed President Bashar al-Assad from power.

Discussion: ABC News, Booman Tribune, IJR and ThinkProgress

Nikita Vladimirov / The Hill:

Tulsi Gabbard ‘skeptical’ Assad regime behind gas attack … (D-Hawaii) said Friday she was “skeptical” that Syrian leader Bashar Assad's regime was behind this week's chemical weapons attack in northern Syria. — “There are a number of theories that are out there,” Gabbard said during …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Hot Air, Business Insider and Lawfire

Ryan Pickrell / The Daily Caller:

Obama Admin May Have Known Syria Still Had Chemical Weapons — The Obama administration may have known that it failed to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons well in advance of Tuesday's deadly attack. — In the wake of the recent chemical weapons that killed innocent civilians …

Discussion: Breitbart, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Foreign Policy, Fox News Insider, CNN, Washington Post, The Last Tradition and FOX6Now.com

Mark Hemingway / Weekly Standard:
Obama Administration Knew Syria Still Had Chemical Weapons, Despite Saying Otherwise

Discussion: The American Interest, RedState, Power Line, The Last Tradition and IJR

Ezra Klein / Vox:
Trump's foreign policy is dangerously impulsive

Discussion: Shareblue, The Atlantic, Telegraph, Politico and IJR

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Bannon's Views Can Be Traced to a Book That Warns, ‘Winter Is Coming’ — WASHINGTON — Stephen K. Bannon has read the book three times. He still keeps a copy of it — one that's creased and copiously underlined — in a library with the rest of his favorites at his father's house in Richmond, Va.

New York Times:

Trump Fires Warning Shot in Battle Between Bannon and Kushner — WASHINGTON — As he grappled on Thursday with his first major decision involving military action, a fed-up and frustrated President Trump turned to his two top aides and told them he had had enough of their incessant knife-fights in the media.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

Axios: Bannon's allies are scrambling to save him

Josh Dawsey / Politico:
Bannon and Kushner hold sit-down in attempt to bury the hatchet

Discussion: CNN, Fox News, IJR, RedState, The Root, Joe.My.God., The Week, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, The Hill and Axios

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

The media loved Trump's show of military might. Are we really doing this again? — The cruise missiles struck, and many in the mainstream media fawned. — “I think Donald Trump became president of the United States last night,” declared Fareed Zakaria on CNN, after firing of 59 missiles …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Liberal Values, No More Mister Nice Blog, Cafe Hayek and New York Magazine

Tom Cotton / New York Times:

A Strike in Syria Restores Our Credibility in the World — After President Bashar al-Assad of Syria once again attacked his own citizens with poison gas, the civilized world recoiled in horror at images of children writhing in pain and suffocating to death.

Discussion: Shot in the Dark and Daily Wire

Alyssa Madruga / Fox News:
Expert: Watch to see if Kim Jong-Un goes into hiding after Syria strike

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and BizPac Review

Enrique Krauze / New York Times:
Will Mexico Get Half of Its Territory Back?

Discussion: Breitbart

John Sharp / al.com:

Rebekah Mason suggested closure of DMV offices in majority black counties, report shows — Governor Robert Bentley's former top advisor and secret paramour Rebekah Mason led a politically-motivated effort in 2015 to close 31 driver's license offices in mostly black counties, a move that embarrassed the state and was later reversed.

Discussion: Politicus USA, WTVM-TV, Political Wire, NPR and WHNT-TV

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

Inside the failed secret mission to save the filibuster — A week before Republicans gutted the filibuster to put Neil Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, nine senators gathered in John McCain's office to see whether they could save the Senate from spiraling further into disrepair.

Discussion: Hot Air

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Mitch McConnell, the man who broke America

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and The Atlantic

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Trump has visited a Trump-branded property every 2.8 days of his presidency — For the 10th weekend in a row, President Trump is visiting a Trump-branded property — every weekend except the first two after his inauguration. — For the sixth weekend in a row, he's golfing at one of those properties …

Discussion: Post On Politics

David Montero / Los Angeles Times:

What happens when a Vegas icon becomes a Hillary Clinton-bashing, far-right Twitter persona — The Vegas Vic neon sign on East Fremont Street in Las Vegas. — Vegas Vic hewed close to the strong, silent cowboy types with little regard for a mess of extra words.

Discussion: BizPac Review

Dan Rather:

The President of the United States is the Commander in Chief. It is an awesome responsibility. Committing the use of force and American men and women in uniform is about as serious as it gets. But the truly great presidents understand that knowing when NOT to act is as important as knowing when to act.

Discussion: Business Insider, The Hill, Washington Post and Mediaite

Reed Abelson / New York Times:

No ‘Death Spiral’: Insurers May Soon Profit From Obamacare Plans, Analysis Finds — In contrast to the dire pronouncements from President Trump and other Republicans, the demise of the individual insurance market seems greatly exaggerated, according to a new financial analysis released Friday.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Cortney O'Brien / Townhall.com:

At Awards Ceremony, Walter Williams Slams PC Campuses, Thanks His Teachers For ‘Not Giving a Damn About His Self Esteem’ — Townhall columnist Walter E. Williams received the prestigious Bradley Prize from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Thursday night in the nation's capital …

Discussion: BizPac Review and Cafe Hayek

Timothy Cama / The Hill:

EPA may seek to repeal Obama ozone pollution rule — The Trump administration told an appeals court late Friday that it is considering whether it wants to repeal former President Obama's 2015 ozone pollution rule. — Justice Department attorneys are asking the Court of Appeals for the District …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Samuel Chamberlain / Fox News:

Stockholm terror attack: Suspect reportedly posted ISIS videos on Facebook — The suspect in Friday's deadly truck attack in Stockholm posted videos of ISIS atrocities on Facebook and “liked” a picture showing the bloody aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, a Swedish newspaper reported.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Independent and RT