memeorandum: The Media Needs To Stop Rationalizing President Trump's Behavior (Nate Silver/FiveThirtyEight)

11:10 PM ET, September 30, 2017

Top Items:

The Media Needs To Stop Rationalizing President Trump's Behavior — Whenever President Trump lashes out against someone or something in a way that defies traditional expectations for presidential behavior — for instance, his decision to criticize the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times and Raw Story

Washington Post:

Trump called San Juan's mayor a weak leader. Here's what her leadership looks like. — When Hurricane Maria destroyed the infrastructure of Puerto Rico, the mayor of San Juan became the spokeswoman of a stranded people. — Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto told the world of the “horror” …

James Fallows / The Atlantic:

From Donald Trump, a New Low — The purpose of my 152-installment Trump Time Capsule series during the 2016 campaign was to record, in real time, things Donald Trump said or did that were wholly outside the range for previous serious contenders for the White House.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

New York Times:

One Day in the Life of Battered Puerto Rico — 6 a.m. — Near Corozal — The sun rose Wednesday morning in the low mountains of north-central Puerto Rico, near the town of Corozal, to reveal the world that Hurricane Maria has made: shattered trees, traffic lights dangling precipitously …

Discussion: NBC News and emptywheel

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Dem senator compares Trump to Marie Antoinette — (D-Ore.) is comparing President Trump to Marie Antoinette, the French queen whose lavish spending and aloofness became the subject of public ire during the French Revolution. — “Trump plays Marie Antoinette: Sits at his golf club …

Discussion: Raw Story

Lee Moran / HuffPost:

San Juan Mayor Responds To Trump's Attacks: ‘I Was Asking For Help’ — The president attacked her “nasty” criticism of the government's management, and said the people of Puerto Rico of want “everything to be done for them.” — The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday defended …

Discussion: The Week, Mediaite, New York Magazine, CNN and twitchy.com

Jennifer Hansler / CNN:
Lin-Manuel Miranda to Trump: 'You're going straight to hell'

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Deadline, Conservative News Today, Lawyers, Guns & Money, RedState, twitchy.com and NewsBusters

Mike Allen / Axios:
Trump's new feud — Three days before flying to Puerto Rico …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hullabaloo, Political Wire, Mediaite and ThinkProgress

NBC News:
Puerto Rico Crisis: San Juan Mayor Pleads for Federal Aid, Trump Hits Back

Discussion: NBC News, The Daily Caller, US News, Mediaite, IJR, Raw Story, AOL, Chicago Tribune, Little Green Footballs, The Week and Balloon Juice

Joy-Ann Reid / The Daily Beast:
There He Goes Again: Trump's Demented, Racist Saturday Morning Puerto Rico Tweetstorm

Discussion: ABC News, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Raw Story, Caribbean Business, Business Insider, Bangor Daily News, IJR and Mediaite

Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Trump slams Puerto Rico: ‘They want everything to be done for them’

Discussion: Breitbart, neo-neocon, twitchy.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, RedState, Patterico's Pontifications, The Guardian, IJR, The Week and Politico

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Trump Lashes Out at Puerto Rico Mayor Who Criticized Storm Response

Discussion: Raw Story, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, CNN, The Mahablog, Outside the Beltway, Refinery29, Vox, ThinkProgress and The Hill

Juana Summers / CNN:
Trump attacks San Juan mayor over hurricane response

Discussion: New York Times, Shareblue, CNBC, WTVR-TV, twitchy.com, Common Dreams, Mediaite, IJR, NPR, The Daily Caller and Al Jazeera English

Michelle Ye Hee Lee / Washington Post:
Did President Trump add $33 million to Puerto Rico's debt by bankrupting a golf course there?

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and Washington Free Beacon

Brandon Carter / The Hill:
Trump: ‘Fake news’ is trying to ‘disparage’ first responders in Puerto Rico

Discussion: Mediaite, Vox, RedState, Talking Points Memo and Balloon Juice

David Nakamura / Washington Post:
On Twitter, Trump attacks mayor of San Juan for ‘poor leadership’ amid deepening crisis

Discussion: Mediaite, The Hill, The Daily Caller, IJR, Talking Points Memo, Mashable, Vox, CBS New York, CBS Dallas, Raw Story, Splinter, Axios, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress and Political Wire

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Speaking Ill of Hugh Hefner — Hugh Hefner, gone to his reward at the age of 91, was a pornographer and chauvinist who got rich on masturbation, consumerism and the exploitation of women, aged into a leering grotesque in a captain's hat, and died a pack rat in a decaying manse where porn blared during his pathetic orgies.

Discussion: Slate

Nathan J. Robinson / static.currentaffairs.org:
Good Riddance To An Abusive Creep

Discussion: New York Times, Instapundit, Lawyers, Guns & Money, American Greatness, BBC and People.com

Los Angeles Times:

Tillerson reveals U.S. is in direct contact with North Korea — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson walks by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before a meeting in Beijing on Sept. 30, 2017. (Andy Wong / Pool photo) — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged in Beijing on Saturday …

David E. Sanger / New York Times:
U.S. in Direct Communication With North Korea, Says Tillerson

Discussion: NPR, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, Politico, ABC News, Axios and The Week

Nick Wadhams / Bloomberg:
U.S. Talking With North Korea on Nuclear Program, Tillerson Says

Discussion: The Week

Reuters:
U.S. ‘probing’ to see if North Korea interested in dialogue: Tillerson

Discussion: ThinkProgress and SARAH PALIN

Adam Coleman / Houston Chronicle:

Local high school football players kicked off team after protest during anthem — Two Victory & Praise Christian Academy football players were kicked off the team for protesting during the national anthem at a game Friday night. — Cedric Ingram-Lewis raised his fist while cousin Larry …

Discussion: Raw Story, AOL, The Daily Caller and Splinter

John Bowden / The Hill:

Ex-Medicare head says Trump ‘purposely’ raising insurance premiums — The former head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under President Obama blamed President Trump on Friday for rising health-care premiums around the country. — Andy Slavitt, who was acting CMS administrator …

Max Greenwood / The Hill:

Trump: Strange gained in polls because of my endorsement — President Trump on Saturday accused the so-called “fake news” media of failing to recognize that Sen. Luther Strange — (R-Ala.), who was vanquished in a runoff election against GOP candidate Roy Moore this week …

Discussion: RedState

John Sexton / Hot Air:

Steven Crowder Infiltrates Antifa At Ben Shapiro Event — Wednesday I wrote about the far left's plans to disrupt a speech by Ben Shapiro at the University of Utah. What I didn't know is that YouTube host Steven Crowder and his producer had infiltrated a local Antifa group and captured …

Discussion: RedState

Dakota Smith / Los Angeles Times:

Garcetti is increasingly traveling outside California, raising eyebrows back in L.A. — L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and his wife, Amy Wakeland, arrive at the opening ceremony of the 131st International Olympic Committee Session in Lima, Peru, on Sept. 12. Some of Garcetti's travel over the last year …

Robert Booth / The Guardian:

Boris Johnson caught on camera reciting Kipling in Myanmar temple — Foreign secretary's impromptu recital of colonial-era poem was so embarrassing the UK ambassador was forced to stop him — The foreign secretary has been accused of “incredible insensitivity” after it emerged he recited part …