memeorandum: AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR FELLOW JEWS (Michael Chabon)

2:10 PM ET, August 18, 2017

Top Items:

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Trump Tells Aides He Has Decided to Remove Stephen Bannon — President Trump has told senior aides that he has decided to remove Stephen K. Bannon, the embattled White House chief strategist who helped Mr. Trump win the 2016 election, according to two administration officials briefed on the discussion.

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

White House review nears end: Officials expect Bannon firing — A decision is imminent from White House chief of staff John Kelly on whether Steve Bannon will keep his job, according to administration officials with knowledge of the situation: — Bannon, who has run afoul of Trump in the past …

Discussion: Politico, ABC News, RedState, National Review, Politicus USA, Mediaite, Business Insider and Joe.My.God.

Washington Post:

Trump gets rid of White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon … President Trump on Friday dismissed his embattled chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, an architect of his 2016 general election victory, in a major White House shake-up that follows a week of racial unrest, according to multiple administration officials.

Discussion: Axios, Washington Monthly, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Talking Points Memo, IJR and Mediaite

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Bannon's next move — Steve Bannon's next moves will be all about the billionaire Mercer family. I'm told Bannon, who visited New York this week, met with Bob Mercer and together they will be a well-funded force on the outside. — Bannon has felt liberated since it became clear he was being pushed out, according to friends.

Discussion: Raw Story

Roger Stone / The Daily Caller: Bannon's Time Is Up — Steven K. Bannon, the swashbuckling …

Mitt Romney:

I will dispense for now from discussion of the moral character of the president's Charlottesville statements. Whether he intended to or not, what he communicated caused racists to rejoice, minorities to weep, and the vast heart of America to mourn. His apologists strain to explain that he didn't mean what we heard.

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

Members of White House presidential arts commission resigning to protest Trump's comments — The remaining members of a presidential arts and humanities panel resigned on Friday in yet another sign of growing national protest of President Trump's recent comments on the violence in Charlottesville.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Towleroad and The Slot

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
President's arts and humanities committee resigns over Trump's Charlottesville response

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

James Murdoch, Rebuking Trump, Pledges $1 Million to Anti-Defamation League — BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — James Murdoch, the chief executive of 21st Century Fox and the son of a frequent ally of President Trump's, condemned the president's performance after the violence in Charlottesville, Va. …

Discussion: IJR, Joe.My.God., Jewish Telegraphic Agency, vice, Raw Story and TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Text of James Murdoch's Email Condemning Trump's Response to Charlottesville

Discussion: Yahoo! Finance, Washington Post, AOL, Infowars, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Business Insider and Talking Points Memo

Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
The Note: Trump pushing away what few allies he has left

Discussion: New York Times and RedState

Chelsea Bailey / NBC News:

Mother of Charlottesville Victim Heather Heyer Says She's Received Death Threats — A day after burying her daughter, the mother of a woman killed during Saturday's white nationalist rally in Charlottesville scoffed at President Donald Trump's claim that violence on “both sides” led to her daughter's death.

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, ThinkProgress, Refinery29, Eat Pray Vote, Politicus USA and NBC News

Fox News:
Jason Kessler, Charlottesville rally organizer, says he's in hiding

Discussion: Raw Story

Joe Palazzolo / Wall Street Journal:

ACLU Will No Longer Defend Hate Groups Protesting With Firearms — Executive director says violence and guns at Charlottesville rally spurred new stance — The American Civil Liberties Union, taking a tougher stance on armed protests, will no longer defend hate groups seeking to march with firearms …

Discussion: Above the Law, Axios, TheBlaze, Guns.com, Simple Justice, FiveThirtyEight, The Daily Caller and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

Josh Delk / The Hill:
ACLU will no longer defend hate groups that protest with firearms

Discussion: CNBC, BillMoyers.com and Lawyers, Guns & Money

David French / National Review:

In One Tweet, Donald Trump Just Spread Fake History, Libeled a Hero, and Admired an Alleged War Crime — Just minutes ago the president of the United States - the man who just yesterday said, “When I make a statement, I like to be correct. I want the facts” - fired out a tweet apparently …

Rachael Bade / Politico:

The agonizing, 8-page memo on how to chauffeur a congressman — Empty his trash. Always have hand sanitizer and gum at the ready. And don't bother with “unnecessary conversation” — the congressman doesn't have time for your chitchat. — Demanding, high-maintenance bosses are notorious on Capitol Hill.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, The Week and Political Wire

New York Times:

‘Antifa’ Grows as Left-Wing Faction Set to, Literally, Fight the Far Right — OAKLAND, Calif. — Last weekend, when a 27-year-old bike messenger showed up at the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., he came ready for battle. He joined a human chain that stretched in front …

Discussion: Power Line, Althouse, Raw Story, JustOneMinute, Washington Examiner and twitchy.com

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:

The Party of Trump — Column: America's new, combustible four-party system — On July 18, 2015, about a month into his long-shot campaign for president, Donald Trump famously attacked John McCain. “He's not a war hero,” he said. “He was a war hero because he was captured.

Discussion: Instapundit

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Centrist Dems push back on Warren

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Brett Cihon / Q13 FOX News:

Seattle's mayor: Lenin statue needs to come down … SEATTLE — Seattle's mayor wants Fremont's privately owned Lenin statue taken down, likening it to Confederate monuments as a symbol of “hate, racism and violence.” — A day after a small group led by conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec called …

Discussion: MyNorthwest.com, TheBlaze and Eschaton

CNN:

Private prison industry sees boon under Trump administration — STORY HIGHLIGHTS — Washington (CNN)The private prison industry — one of the most controversial pieces of the US carceral state — has essentially recovered a year after the Obama administration sent a chill down its spine.

Victoria Guida / Politico:
Justice Department to end Obama-era ‘Operation Choke Point’

Discussion: Hit & Run and The Daily Caller

The White House:

Statement by President Donald J. Trump on the Elevation of Cyber Command — I have directed that United States Cyber Command be elevated to the status of a Unified Combatant Command focused on cyberspace operations. — This new Unified Combatant Command will strengthen our cyberspace operations …

Discussion: Engadget and Business Insider, more at Techmeme »

Martin Matishak / Politico:
Trump elevates U.S. Cyber Command, vows ‘increased resolve’ against threats

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon and The Week

Robin Eberhardt / The Hill:

Gingrich: Trump presidency at risk without ‘serious changes’ — Former Speaker Newt Gingrich said President Trump needs to make “serious changes” if he wants to have a stable presidency. — The Trump ally said in a Fox News interview with Bill Hemmer on Friday that Trump has taken a …

Discussion: RedState and Joe.My.God.

The Hill:

Dems launch full assault on Trump over Charlottesville — Democrats are throwing the kitchen sink at President Trump to protest his ongoing equivocation about a white nationalist rally and put increasing pressure on Republican leaders to denounce their party's standard-bearer in the White House.

Discussion: Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, NPR and New York Times

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Dem group puts Trump's words over video of Charlottesville violence

Discussion: Politico

Richard L. Hasen / Los Angeles Times:

Op-Ed Speech in America is fast, cheap and out of control — Alex Jones from infowars.com speaks during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on July 18, 2016. (David Swanson / TNS) — The Internet and social media did not create white supremacist movements in the United States …

Josh Hicks / Washington Post:

Taney statue removed from Md. state house grounds overnight — Workers dismantled a 145-year-old statue of Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney outside the Maryland State House shortly after midnight Friday, the latest ripple effect from last weekend's deadly violence at a rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville.

Discussion: The Guardian, Baltimore Sun, NPR and The Week

Joe DePaolo / Mediaite:

Art of the Deal Writer Says Trump Will Resign Before Year's End: Reminds Me of ‘Last Days of Nixon’ — Author Tony Schwartz spent 18 months with Donald Trump putting together The Art of the Deal — Trump's best-selling book. And having spent so much time with the man who is now President …

Discussion: YouTube, Fox News Insider, IJR, AOL and HuffPost

Michael Chabon:

AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR FELLOW JEWS — To our fellow Jews, in the United States, in Israel, and around the world: — We know that, up to now, some of you have made an effort to reserve judgment on the question of whether or not President Donald Trump is an anti-Semite, and to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, East Bay Times and The Stranger …

Anousha Sakoui / Bloomberg:

Hollywood, Apple Said to Mull Rental Plan, Defying Theaters — Studios are said focused on project despite exhibitor pushback — Theater chains are said to seek 10 years of revenue split — Movie studios are considering whether to ignore the objections of cinema chains and forge ahead …

Discussion: Investor's Business Daily, Axios, Engadget and Deadline, more at Mediagazer »

Joe Otterson / Variety:

MSNBC Ranks as No. 1 Cable Network in Total Viewers for First Time Ever — MSNBC ranked as the number one network across all of cable in total viewers for the first time in its history, according to Nielsen data. — For Wednesday, Aug. 16, MSNBC averaged 1.52 million viewers for the total …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

WNYW-TV:

Confederate flag ‘looking’ tiles to be changed in subway — NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - The MTA says it is going to “modify” tiles in a Manhattan subway station that people have complained look like Confederate Flags. — The pattern of tiles have been in the Times Square station for almost 100 years.

Discussion: New York Post, The Daily Caller, RedState, Washington Free Beacon, IJR and Gothamist

Jeffrey Sullivan / Rivard Report:

Armed Group Appears at Council to Oppose Statue's Removal — The ongoing controversy surrounding the proposed removal of the Confederate monument in Travis Park was at the center of Wednesday evening's citizens to be heard session in City Council Chambers. — As speakers addressed Council members …

Discussion: Balloon Juice