memeorandum: Jonathan Franzen Is Fine With All of It (Taffy Brodesser-Akner/New York Times)

4:00 PM ET, June 26, 2018

Top Items:

Supreme Court Upholds Trump's Travel Ban, Delivering Endorsement of Presidential Power — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld President Trump's ban on travel from mostly-Muslim nations, delivering a robust endorsement of Mr. Trump's power to control the flow of immigration …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic, SCOTUSblog, The Gateway Pundit, Gothamist, National Review, Trevor Loudon's New Zeal Blog, Florida Politics, Reason, Outside the Beltway, Breitbart, The American Conservative and No More Mister Nice Blog

Leah Litman / New York Times:

Unchecked Power Is Still Dangerous No Matter What the Court Says — Government officials cannot discriminate on the basis of race or religion. Except when they can, as the Supreme Court reminded us today. The court's decision to uphold the entry ban illustrates how immigration has become a …

Discussion: Take Care Blog

Sam Baker / Axios:

Go deeper: Supreme Court upholds Trump's travel ban — The Supreme Court upheld President Trump's most recent travel ban today in a 5-4 decision, ruling that it falls within the president's traditional power to control immigration policy. — The big picture: This is the court's first major ruling on a Trump policy — and it showed.

Discussion: Vox, ABC News, Washington Post, Politico, The Daily Beast, Associated Press, Breitbart and Big Think

Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:

A Decision That Will Live in Infamy — It will take generations for the Supreme Court to live down its approval of Trump's travel ban. — In what may be the worst decision since the infamous Korematsu case, when the Supreme Court upheld the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II …

Richard Wolf / USA Today:
Supreme Court rules against California law targeting anti-abortion pregnancy centers

Discussion: The American Conservative

Sam Baker / Axios:
Supreme Court curtails mandatory abortion notices

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Post, Refinery29, ABC News and Politico

Tucker Higgins / CNBC:
Supreme Court rules that Trump's travel ban is constitutional

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Conservative Review

Sam Baker / Axios:
The big picture: Conservatives win big at Supreme Court

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News and Breitbart

Dylan Matthews / Vox:
Read: Sonia Sotomayor condemns Trump's “unrelenting attack on the Muslim religion and its followers”

Discussion: HuffPost and The Root

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court upholds Trump travel ban

Discussion: Axios, CNN, Breitbart, Politico, ABC News, New York Times, IJR, Mother Jones, Associated Press, The Daily Beast, Shareblue Media and Vox, more at Techmeme »

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:
Supreme Court upholds travel ban

Discussion: What The Fuck …, Washington Post, NBC News, Little Green Footballs, The Federalist, ThinkProgress, CNBC, Politico, ABC News and WTVR-TV

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Supreme Court Backs Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Centers in Free Speech Case

Discussion: New Republic, NPR, Outside the Beltway, BuzzFeed, Reuters, Splinter and Washington Free Beacon

Bloomberg:

Mueller Poised to Zero In on Trump-Russia Collusion Allegations — Special counsel to focus once he resolves obstruction inquiry — The meetings with Russians stretched as far back as 2015 — Special Counsel Robert Mueller is preparing to accelerate his probe …

Discussion: IJR, BloombergQuint, Hullabaloo, Tickle The Wire and Talking Points Memo

Lee Smith / RealClearInvestigations:

The Mysterious Seven Preludes of the FBI's Trump-Russia Probe — The Federal Bureau of Investigation opened its probe of the Trump campaign after Western intelligence assets and Clinton-affiliated political operatives repeatedly approached the Trump team and evidently tried but failed to damage …

Discussion: Maggie's Farm, JustOneMinute, Power Line and Instapundit

Paul Sperry / RealClearInvestigations:
Here's One Unverified File the Feds Won't Leak: About Loretta Lynch

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

Brian Faler / Politico:

Republican tax law hits churches — Some nonprofits could start paying taxes for the first time. — Republicans have quietly imposed a new tax on churches, synagogues and other nonprofits, a little-noticed and surprising change that could cost some groups tens of thousands of dollars.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Daily Kos, Raw Story, Axios, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Friendly Atheist, MSNBC and The Week

Sarah Ferris / Politico:

U.S. cruises toward record-breaking debt on Trump's watch — The nation's fiscal outlook looks ever bleaker, thanks in part to deficit spending during President Donald Trump's first term, Congress' nonpartisan budget scorekeeper projected Tuesday. — Within 16 years, the federal deficit …

Discussion: Washington Post and Raw Story

Jeff Stein / Washington Post: The federal debt is headed for the highest levels since World War II, CBO says

Evan Halper / Los Angeles Times: Trump tax cuts carry a big price tag: Huge debt and risk of another financial crisis, budget office warns

James Hohmann / Washington Post:

The Daily 202: A poll commissioned by Bush and Biden shows Americans losing confidence in democracy — THE BIG IDEA: Half of Americans think the United States is in “real danger of becoming a nondemocratic, authoritarian country.” A majority, 55 percent, see democracy as “weak” - and 68 percent believe it is “getting weaker.”

Discussion: Spectator USA and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
Factory workers aren't getting what Trump promised

Discussion: Vox, Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway and bradford-delong.com

Gabrielle Coppola / Bloomberg:
Trump Gets Harley Plans Wrong in Attack Over Trade War ‘Excuse’

Discussion: Weekly Standard, BloombergQuint, Wall Street Journal and Japan Times

Evelyn Cheng / CNBC:
Trump threatens Harley-Davidson: If it moves operations overseas, ‘they will be taxed like never before!’

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Bloomberg:
Trump Says Harley Move Abroad Would Be ‘Beginning of the End’

Discussion: The Atlantic, New York Times and Axios

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

Biden: European leaders reeling from Trump's hostile behavior — COPENHAGEN — European leaders see President Trump as increasingly unpredictable, antagonistic and disrespectful, both in public and private, and that is having a devastating effect on the U.S.-European relationship …

Discussion: Politico and Breitbart

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

We Have a Crisis of Democracy, Not Manners — Last year, the white nationalist Richard Spencer was kicked out of his Virginia gym after another member confronted him and called him a Nazi. This incident did not generate a national round of hand-wringing about the death of tolerance …

Jonathan V. Last / Weekly Standard: This Business Will Get Out of Control

Grabien News:
Montage: Media Turning Trump Voters into Public Enemy No. 1

Discussion: Daily Wire

YouTube:

EMIN - Got Me Good (Official Video)

Discussion: Vox and Taylor Marsh

CBS New York:

Michael Bloomberg Considering 2020 Presidential Run, Sources Tell CBS2 — NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Maybe the fourth time is the charm. — Michael Bloomberg is revving up to run for president in 2020, making him both the oldest and richest person to seek the job.

Discussion: Political Wire

Monmouth University Polling Institute:

GOP Trailing in CD10 — Trump's unpopularity hurts House incumbent — West Long Branch, NJ - The race for Virginia's 10th Congressional District starts out with the GOP Republican incumbent trailing by ten points according to the Monmouth University Poll.

Discussion: Axios

Richard L. Hasen / Slate:

Did Justice Anthony Kennedy Just Signal His Retirement? — For Anthony Kennedy, America's most powerful jurist, this term has brought unexpected and surprising expressions of powerlessness. After Tuesday's ruling in the Trump travel ban case, it's starting to feel like the end of his time on the court is near.

Discussion: The Faculty Lounge, neo-neocon, ABC News, Washington Post and electionlawblog.org

Davis Richardson / The New York Observer:

Milo Yiannopoulos Encourages Vigilantes to Start ‘Gunning Journalists Down’ — Milo Yiannopoulos has started issuing reporters threatening messages when asked to comment for stories. — “I can't wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight,” …

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Mediaite

US Department of State:

Senior State Department Official On U.S. Efforts to Discuss the Re-imposition of Sanctions on Iran With Partners Around The World — Special Briefing — Senior State Department Official — Via Teleconference — MODERATOR: Thank you. And thank you for joining us for today's background call on next steps with Iran.

Ian Talley / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Signals Zero Tolerance on Future Iran Oil Exports

Discussion: The American Conservative

Betsy Woodruff / The Daily Beast:

Immigration Attorney Says ICE Broke Her Foot, Locked Her Up … An immigration attorney said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer broke her foot and locked her in a room early Tuesday morning in Kansas City, Missouri. — Andrea Martinez told The Daily Beast she was dropping off …

CBS News:

Experts say U.S. among 10 most dangerous nations for women — The United States has been ranked for the first time among the ten nations deemed to be the most dangerous for women by experts in the field. A survey by the Thompson Reuters Foundation of about 550 experts in women's issues around …

Discussion: Shakesville, CNN, twitchy.com and Townhall

Faye Penn / InStyle.com:

16 Espressos and a 5 a.m. Call Time: A Day In The Life of NBC's Andrea Mitchell — Badass Woman spotlights women who not only have a voice but defy the irrelevant preconceptions of gender. — A few minutes past 1 p.m., Andrea Mitchell enters an NBC green room fresh off a show that spanned …

Discussion: twitchy.com

Taffy Brodesser-Akner / New York Times:

Jonathan Franzen Is Fine With All of It — The internet has turned on him, his book sales are down and the TV adaptation of his last novel has stalled. But he wants you to know one thing: He's not even angry. — Jonathan Franzen now lives in a humble, perfectly nice two-story house in Santa Cruz …

Discussion: New Republic and Longreads

Eugene Volokh / Reason:

The “Travel Ban” Decision, in One (Non-Snarky) Sentence — The U.S. has nearly unlimited power to decide when foreigners are admitted to the country, even based on factors (such as ideology, religion, and likely race and sex) that would be unconstitutional as to people already in the country.

Donie O'Sullivan / CNN:

Her son was killed — then came the Russian trolls — Videos produced by Samantha Guff, Julian Quinones and Margaret Dawson — (CNN)It was the height of presidential primary season, just a few weeks before the Republican and Democratic conventions, but on July 7, 2016 …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Rick Edmonds / Poynter:

USA Today Network launches a conservative opinion newsletter for the heartland — Since its founding in 1982, USA Today has prided itself on a feel for all 50 states that eludes East Coast media. Now its network is launching a new conservative opinion initiative aimed at Trump voters …

Perry Bacon Jr / FiveThirtyEight:

Democrats Are Wrong About Republicans. Republicans Are Wrong About Democrats. — Welcome to Secret Identity, our regular column on identity and its role in politics and policy. — The defining divide in American politics is probably between Republicans and Democrats.

David Rutz / Washington Free Beacon:

MSNBC Analyst Suggests U.S. Now Worse Than Venezuela and Cuba: They Don't Have ‘Internment Camps for Babies’ — MSNBC analyst Steve Schmidt said Tuesday the difference now between the United States and the troubled nations of Venezuela and Cuba was that Venezuela and Cuba don't have “internment camps for babies and toddlers.”

Discussion: Rolling Stone and IJR

Leinz Vales / CNN:

Woman cites Trump while calling man ‘rapist,’ ‘illegal’ in viral rant — Man berated in racist rant caught on camera — (CNN)A Latino man and his mother who were doing yard work in California were verbally attacked by a woman who called them “illegals” and “rapists,” and a video of the encounter has gone viral.

Discussion: IJR, New York Daily News and New York Times