memeorandum: A Facebook War: Libyans Battle on the Streets and on Screens (New York Times)

5:00 PM ET, September 4, 2018

Top Items:

Bob Woodward's new book reveals a ‘nervous breakdown’ of Trump's presidency — John Dowd was convinced that President Trump would commit perjury if he talked to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. So, on Jan. 27, the president's then-personal attorney staged a practice session to try to make his point.

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Transcript: Phone call between President Trump and journalist Bob Woodward — Bob Woodward, an associate editor at The Washington Post, sought an interview with President Trump as he was writing “Fear,” a book about Trump's presidency. Trump called Woodward in early August …

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, Townhall, Associated Press, The Root, Breitbart, The Week, Political Wire, Raw Story, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Roll Call

CNN:

Bob Woodward: Trump's aides stole his papers ‘to protect the country’ — (CNN)WARNING: This story contains graphic language. — President Donald Trump's closest aides have taken extraordinary measures in the White House to try to stop what they saw as his most dangerous impulses …

Discussion: CNNMoney, Washington Post, Vox, The Daily Beast, Axios, Mother Jones, IJR, Daily Kos, NPR, twitchy.com, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Saagar Enjeti / The Daily Caller:

EXCLUSIVE: Trump Says Bob Woodward Has ‘A Lot Of Credibility Problems’ — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump addressed newly released excerpts from Bob Woodward's book on his administration, denying some specific allegations and accusing the author of credibility issues, in an exclusive Oval Office interview with The Daily Caller.

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, The Atlantic, Raw Story, CNBC, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Balkinization, Political Wire, Deadline and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Rudy Giuliani to Trump advisors ripping the president in Bob Woodward's new book: Find another job — “If they said it, they should be questioning why they are there. Why don't they go get another job? That's the kind of disloyalty that leads to you leaving, not staying and undermining the president …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Political Wire, CNN, Hullabaloo, Washington Post, Axios, Raw Story and Mediaite

Kaitlan Collins / CNN:

Trump irritated he wasn't interviewed by Woodward for upcoming book — Woodward to release Trump book before midterms — Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump has become increasingly exasperated in recent weeks that he wasn't interviewed by Bob Woodward ahead of the publication of his upcoming book …

Discussion: Raw Story

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Report: Everybody in the White House Considers Trump an Idiot

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, CNBC and Raw Story

Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
The Most Shocking Excerpts From Woodward's White House Memoir

Discussion: CNN and Washington Post

Washington Post:
Exclusive: Phone call between President Trump and Bob Woodward

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

Arizona Republic:

Ducey: ‘No one in Arizona more prepared’ than Kyl — “There is no one in Arizona more prepared to represent our state in the U.S. Senate than Jon Kyl,” Ducey said in a statement. “He understands how the Senate functions and will make an immediate and positive impact benefiting all Arizonans.

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

Jon Kyl, Former Senator, Is Said to Be Choice to Replace McCain — WASHINGTON — Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona on Tuesday will appoint Former Senator Jon Kyl to the seat left open by John McCain's death, according to multiple Arizona Republican officials, elevating a well-liked former Republican lawmaker …

Discussion: Vox, Shareblue Media, The Week, twitchy.com and Conservative Review

Politico:
Former Sen. Jon Kyl to replace McCain

Discussion: Hit & Run and Fox News

The Daily Beast:
John McCain's Replacement Jon Kyl Goes From Lobbying the Senate to Being a Senator

Discussion: Weekly Standard, MSNBC and Splinter

Washington Post:

Hours before Kavanaugh nomination hearings, Bush lawyer releases 42,000 pages of documents to Judiciary Committee — Hours before the start of hearings on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, the lawyer for former president George W. Bush turned over 42,000 pages of documents …

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

Kavanaugh's daughters rushed out of chaotic, ‘hot’ hearing — As Democratic senators fought to delay the hearing of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and as spectators jarringly heckled the process Tuesday, his two young daughters were rushed from the hearing room, according to sources.

Discussion: The Last Refuge, LifeNews.com, Daily Wire and The Gateway Pundit

Aída Chávez / The Intercept:
There Is No Grassroots Energy Rallying for Brett Kavanaugh. None.

Discussion: RedState, Vox, The Nation and Law & Crime

CNN:
The Kavanaugh hearing … GO DEEPER — The Trump administration …

Discussion: Politico, Townhall, ThinkProgress, Hot Air, Breitbart, Mashable, ABC News, National Review, Refinery29, HuffPost, IJR and The Nation

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Blogging the Brett Kavanaugh hearing

Discussion: Reason and Instapundit

Stephanie Ebbs / ABC News:
Kavanaugh hearing live updates: Democrats, Republicans clash over withheld documents

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, The Week, Politico, Breitbart, Jamie Dupree - AJC and SARAH PALIN

Washington Post:

Poll: Democrats regain clear advantage in midterms shaping up as referendum on President Trump — Two months ahead of the midterm elections, Democrats hold a clear advantage over Republicans in congressional vote support, with antipathy toward President Trump fueling Democratic enthusiasm …

Discussion: NPR, Spectator USA, Vox, ABC News, The Mahablog, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Shareblue Media, Axios, POLITICUSUSA and The Week

Gary Langer / ABC News:
Democrats open up biggest lead in midterms since 2006

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post, Axios and Political Wire

Gary Langer / ABC News:
Public split on Kavanaugh, views on abortion access shift

Discussion: Shareblue Media, VTDigger, MSNBC, Associated Press and The Week

Washington Post:
Democrats lead Republicans in generic ballot ahead of midterms

Discussion: Mother Jones, Politico, Talking Points Memo, NPR, Splinter and FiveThirtyEight

Bill Ruthhart / Chicago Tribune:

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he won't run for re-election next year — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Sept. 4, 2018, that he will not seek a third term in office. — Privacy Policy — In a stunning decision, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Tuesday morning that he will no longer seek …

Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Rahm Emanuel won't seek third term as Chicago mayor

Discussion: RedState, Daily Kos and ABC News

Hunter Woodall / Kansas City Star:

Former GOP governor of Kansas endorses Democrat Laura Kelly over Kris Kobach — Republicans in Kansas further splintered Tuesday as the last moderate member of the party to hold the governor's office in Kansas endorsed a Democrat for governor over Kris Kobach, the GOP nominee.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Political Wire

Josh Barro / Business Insider:

Here's why more brands, like Nike with Colin Kaepernick, are openly liberal — Nike will gain a lot more than it will lose from making Colin Kaepernick the face of an ad campaign. — Wading into politics can still alienate customers. What's new is it can do a lot to attract them, too.

Discussion: AOL

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com:
Nike's Kaepernick Ad Has Cost The Company Over $4 Billion So Far

Discussion: CNN, The Gateway Pundit, Big Think and New Republic

Daily Mail:
Piers Morgan: Kaepernick won't stand for flag but bows to Nike dollar?

Discussion: BloombergQuint, Daily Wire and Instapundit

NBC News:

FBI Director Christopher Wray becomes the latest target for Trump's ire — Wray is the latest in a growing list of Justice Department officials who have angered the president, NBC News has learned. — WASHINGTON — In recent conversations with confidants, President Donald Trump …

Discussion: Media Matters for America and MSNBC

Chuck Todd / The Atlantic:

It's Time for the Press to Stop Complaining—And to Start Fighting Back — I've devoted much of my professional life to the study of political campaigns, not as a historian or an academic but as a reporter and an analyst. I thought I'd seen it all, from the bizarre upset that handed …

Discussion: National Review, The Daily Caller, NewsBusters, Washington Post, IJR, Erick on the Radio, Talking Points Memo, Instapundit and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Winning The Race For Congress? — An updating estimate of the generic ballot, based on polls that ask people which party they would support in a congressional election.

Discussion: Washington Post

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

Fox & Friends hosts visibly deflated after legal analyst says Trump's latest tweet gives ‘fodder’ for Mueller's probe — The hosts of “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday appeared visibly deflated after legal analyst Andrew Napolitano told them that President Donald Trump's latest tweets attacking …

Discussion: Washington Post, NBC News and CNN

Stephanie Ebbs / ABC News:

EPA watchdog accuses agency of failing to justify Scott Pruitt's security spending — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency did not justify increased spending on former Administrator Scott Pruitt's 24-hour security detail, which grew by almost $2 million in less than a year, the EPA's watchdog said.

Discussion: US EPA, The Daily Caller, Politico and New York Times

Politico:

Twitter says Trump not immune from getting kicked off — Twitter said Tuesday that not even President Donald Trump is immune from being kicked off the platform if his tweets cross a line with abusive behavior. — The social media company's rules against vitriolic tweets offer leeway …

Discussion: Daily Wire, The Week, The Hill, HuffPost and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Economist:

The Open Future Festival and Steve Bannon — Why our invitation to Steve Bannon will stand — IN LIGHT of the criticism of my decision to interview Steve Bannon on stage as part of The Economist's Open Future festival on September 15th, I would like to explain why we invited him.

more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Andrew Cuomo Is the Democrats' Best Choice for Governor — The threat of Donald Trump and new pressure from reformers are likely to summon his formidable strengths. — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section.

Danny Hakim / New York Times:

Mueller's Office Will Grill Him About Roger Stone. He Will Respond With Comedy. — Randy Credico, a comedian and left-wing political activist, has an appointment on Sept. 7. With Robert S. Mueller III. Before a grand jury. Under oath. — And he is planning to do impressions, because that's what he does.

Michelle Nichols / Reuters:

Trump to chair U.N. Security Council meeting on Iran — UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will chair a United Nations Security Council meeting on Iran this month during the annual gathering of world leaders in New York, diplomats and U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said on Tuesday.

Discussion: The American Conservative