memeorandum: Trump's ‘Madman Theory’ Isn't Strategic Unpredictability, It's Just Crazy (Foreign Policy)

11:50 AM ET, April 19, 2017

Top Items:

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Democrats begin to wonder: When do we win? — As it became clear late Tuesday evening that Jon Ossoff would fall just short of the 50-percent mark in the first round of voting in a suburban Atlanta special election, Democrats back in Washington started leafing through their calendars and asking: When does the winning start?

Discussion: Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, NBC News, twitchy.com, ABC News, Washington Free Beacon, Shot in the Dark, Instapundit and alicublog

Erick Erickson / The Resurgent:

The Truth About What Happened in the GA-06 Special Election is Different From Either Party's Spin — Both sides are spinning their way out of the GA-06 special election. Here's the truth. — First, don't believe the Democrat spin that “it should never have been this close.”

Discussion: RedState

New York Times:

Live Election Results: Georgia's Sixth Congressional District — Democrats hope Jon Ossoff will win them the House seat vacated by Tom Price, the new health and human services secretary. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, the top two will advance to a June 20 runoff.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Washington Free Beacon, Political Insider blog, Political Insider, The Nation, Daily Kos, USA Today, Hullabaloo, The Root, Washington Post, Power Line, Geller Report, Mother Jones and Joe.My.God.

New York Times:
Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, Narrowly Misses Outright Win in Georgia House Race

Discussion: Power Line, Political Insider, IJR, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, Politicus USA, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, The Guardian, Morning Consult, Joe.My.God., Zpolitics, Political Insider blog, Mother Jones and Mediaite

Andre Pollard / Decision Desk HQ:
Write In (Unaffiliated) 0.0% — Fulton County is *slow*.

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air, Daily Wire, New York Times and RRH Elections

Adam Kelsey / ABC News:
Democrat Ossoff finishes first in Georgia primary but falls short of threshold to avoid runoff

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Politico, USA Today, Fox News, Business Insider, TheBlaze and Axios

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Georgia special election goes to runoff as GOP gets wakeup call

Discussion: Breitbart, Shareblue, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Zpolitics, Atlanta Buzz …, NPR, The Daily Caller, Politico, Politicus USA, Daily Wire, Balloon Juice, Refinery29, Forbes, Washington Free Beacon, twitchy.com, IJR, Vox, RedState, Power Line, The Hill and Political Insider blog

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Republicans avoided calamity in this month's two special elections, but a lot more peril lies ahead

Discussion: The Atlantic and The Daily Signal

Chun Han Wong / Wall Street Journal:

‘Duped by Trump’: U.S. Taunted Over Carl Vinson Aircraft Carrier Tale — Criticism rises after the U.S. Navy says it hadn't sent the USS Carl Vinson directly to North Korea after all — Alastair Gale aboard the USS Ronald Reagan — The revelation that the Pentagon didn't send …

Discussion: Business Insider, Daily Kos, Patterico's Pontifications and New York Times

Yahoo:

Images show North Koreans playing volleyball at nuclear test site — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. experts who have been forecasting an imminent North Korean nuclear test said on Tuesday they were surprised when they viewed their latest satellite images of the country's nuclear test site and saw volleyball games under way.

Discussion: Axios, Political Wire, New York Magazine and The Daily Caller

ABC News:
Mike Pence warns North Korea: ‘The sword stands ready’

Discussion: Politico

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Trump needs a dose of ‘manly virtues’

Discussion: Mediaite

Louis Nelson / Politico: Pence: Misstatements about U.S. aircraft carrier location not intentional

Ethan Epstein / Weekly Standard:
Bad Reviews For Trump's Korea Policy

Discussion: Instapundit

Nick Wadhams / Bloomberg:
Trump Mulls U.S. Military Options for North Korea, All Grim

Discussion: Politico and The Daily Caller

Joe Flint / Wall Street Journal:

Fox Is Preparing to Cut Ties With Bill O'Reilly — Popular host has been implicated in a sexual-harassment scandal — Fox News is preparing to cut ties with its biggest star, Bill O'Reilly, according to people close to the situation. — A final decision on Mr. O'Reilly's fate could come …

Discussion: CNNMoney, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, The Hill, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Gothamist, TheBlaze, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, CBS New York, Mashable, New York Magazine, RedState, Deadline, Mediaite, Media Matters for America and TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Source: Fox News and Bill O'Reilly are talking exit — Fox News will no longer even respond to questions about whether Bill O'Reilly will return to his show. — A well-placed source said Tuesday afternoon that representatives for Fox and O'Reilly have begun talking about an exit.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Mediaite, Hot Air, The Hill, Media Matters for America, Politicus USA, NBC News, RedState, Refinery29, Business Insider, AOL, Variety, Political Wire and Axios

Laura Nichols / Morning Consult:
As Controversy Around O'Reilly Builds, So Does Support for Axing His Show

Discussion: Politicus USA, Vox, Power Line, TVNewser, Business Insider, Politico, Associated Press and Mediaite

Sara Fischer / Axios:
Fox considers future without O'Reilly as advertisers flee

Discussion: The Hill and Mediaite

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
Sources: The Murdochs Are Turning Against Bill O'Reilly

Alexis Levinson / BuzzFeed:

Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz Will Not Seek Re-Election — The Utah Republican, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, will step down at the end of this congress. — Rep. Jason Chaffetz will not seek re-election in 2018, two sources who have been informed of his decision tell BuzzFeed News.

Discussion: CNBC, Raw Story, TheBlaze and Axios

Jason Chaffetz:

Thank you! — Thank you for allowing me to serve as your Representative in the United States House of Representatives. Serving is an honor and a privilege that I have never taken for granted. — After long consultation with my family and prayerful consideration, I have decided I will not be a candidate for any office in 2018.

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider, Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo

CNN: Rep. Jason Chaffetz is not running for re-election

Brooke Seipel / The Hill:

GOP senator calls on Trump to release his tax returns — Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford (R) is joining calls for President Trump to release his tax returns, saying Trump should “keep his promise.” — “[Trump] promised he would,” Lankford said at a town hall Tuesday night in Claremore …

Discussion: RedState, CNNMoney and Washington Free Beacon

Randy Krehbiel Tulsa / Tulsa World:
Sen. James Lankford experiences little of the rancor aimed at other members of Congress

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and CNN

Patricia Mazzei / miamiherald:

Miami state senator curses at black lawmaker — and refers to fellow Republicans as ‘niggas’ — TALLAHASSEE — Miami Republican Sen. Frank Artiles dropped the n-word to a pair of African-American colleagues in private conversation Monday night — after calling one of them a “f**king a**hole …

Discussion: Politico, Florida Times Union, Mediaite, The Orlando Political Observer, Naked Politics, AOL, Talking Points Memo, Florida Politics, The Root, Raw Story and Political Wire

AP News:

The Latest: Fresno suspect faces 4 murder charges — FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on a fatal shooting in downtown Fresno, California (all times local): — An official says a man suspected of killing a motel security guard and three people he targeted for being white is being charged with four counts of murder.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Fresno Bee, Fox News, Mediaite, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Daily Wire, Geller Report, NPR, twitchy.com and RedState

Anna Hopkins / Daily Mail:
Fresno shooting ‘solely based on race,’ police say

Discussion: Associated Press, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and KRON4.com

Tom Precious / The Buffalo News:

How did Cuomo make $783,000 on memoir that sold 3,200 copies? — ALBANY - Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo reported his income last year more than doubled from the previous year, thanks to another round of royalty payments on a 2014 HarperCollins memoir that saw lackluster sales.

Discussion: Political Wire

Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:

A month after dismissing federal prosecutors, Justice Department does not have any U.S. attorneys in place — Attorney General Jeff Sessions is making aggressive law enforcement a top priority, directing his federal prosecutors across the country to crack down on illegal immigrants and …

USA Today:

First protected DREAMer is deported under Trump — Federal agents ignored President Trump's pledge to protect from deportation undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children by sending a young man back to his native Mexico, the first such documented case …

Madeleine O'Neill / Erie Daily Times-Morning News:

Police: No direct knowledge of ‘ping’ from Stephens' phone — Cleveland Facebook killer committed suicide after troopers stopped car in city of Erie. McDonald's workers had tipped off troopers that Stephens was in area. — Madeleine O'Neill @ETNONeillTim Hahn @ETNHahn

Discussion: CNN, Scared Monkeys, New York Post, Cleveland Division of Police, fox8.com, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Bearing Arms, The Root, Business Insider, Joe.My.God., Facebook, Associated Press, WQAD-TV, Washington Post and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Bloomberg:

Silicon Valley's $400 Juicer May Be Feeling the Squeeze — One of the most lavishly funded gadget startups in Silicon Valley last year was Juicero Inc. It makes a juice machine. The product was an unlikely pick for top technology investors, but they were drawn to the idea of an internet-connected device …

Ryan Lizza / New Yorker:

The Continuing Fallout from Trump and Nunes's Fake Scandal — Recently, several members and staffers on the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russia's role in the Presidential election, visited the National Security Agency, in Fort Meade, Maryland.

Discussion: RedState, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Mediaite, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Lisa Selin Davis / New York Times:

My Daughter Is Not Transgender. She's a Tomboy. — “I just wanted to check,” the teacher said. “Your child wants to be called a boy, right? Or is she a boy that wants to be called a girl? Which is it again?” — I cocked my head. I am used to correcting strangers …

Discussion: Althouse

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

Hillary ran the worst presidential campaign ever — MORE FROM: … So guess what? In the last weeks before the election, the Hillary Clinton campaign did no polling. No. Polling. Whatsoever. Oh, it had data. Lots and lots of data. Analytics, even. Data analytics!

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Betsy's Page

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Sheldon Adelson Gave $5 Million for Trump's Inauguration — WASHINGTON — Sheldon G. Adelson, the casino magnate and stalwart Republican donor, gave $5 million to support the festivities surrounding President Trump's inauguration. — What you need to know to start your day, delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday.

Discussion: Political Wire and The Daily Caller

John Binder / Breitbart:

H-1B Experts on Trump's Order: ‘This Is What We Elected Him For’ — President Donald Trump is getting praise from experts on the H-1B foreign guest worker visa for his ‘Hire American’ Executive Order which calls for a review into the system's abuse at the expense of American workers.

Discussion: Politico and The Hill