memeorandum: We are a superpower run by a simpleton (Michael Gerson/Washington Post)

8:30 AM ET, September 7, 2018

Top Items:

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Crazytown: A Bob Woodward Book, an Anonymous New York Times Op-Ed, and a Growing Crisis for the Trump Presidency — The Republican “resistance” goes public (sort of), and everyone freaks out. — On Wednesday morning, the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders …

Denis Slattery / New York Daily News:

White House officials flagged Trump's behavior to psychiatrist last year — White House officials reached out to a noted Yale University psychiatrist last fall out of concern over President Trump's increasingly erratic behavior. — Dr. Bandy Lee, who edited the best-selling book …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, CANNONFIRE, Political Wire, Washington Times and Tennessean.com, more at Mediagazer »

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

‘A never-ending cycle’: Some aides work to slow-walk or ignore Trump's directives — This week's revelations of a purported “resistance” force of senior government officials acting as guardrails against President Trump — manipulating him, infantilizing him and ignoring his directives — raised the specter of a shadow administration.

Discussion: Fox News, CNN, New York Times, Axios, CBS Boston, Metro.co.uk, NewsBusters, Mashable, Mediaite, Front Page Magazine, Liberty Unyielding, Tennessee Star and Splinter, more at Mediagazer »

The Daily Beast:

‘We See Ourselves as Rebels’: Trump's Internal Resistance Celebrates — There were smiles—and fear that a blockbuster New York Times op-ed could backfire on those inside the bureaucracy trying to blunt the President. — Either Wednesday's explosive New York Times op-ed becomes the start of a bigger …

Discussion: American Greatness and Liberty Unyielding

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

We are a superpower run by a simpleton — One of the major problems with President Trump's impulsivity is its utter predictability. — A recent op-ed in the New York Times by an anonymous administration official accused the president of impetuous, reckless rants, and Trump responded with impetuous, reckless rants ("TREASON?").

Discussion: RealityChek, New York Times, American Greatness, Townhall and The American Conservative, more at Mediagazer »

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:

Trump insists all's calm at White House after bombshell op-ed — President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday that he wasn't rattled by an explosive op-ed that shook his administration to the core this week, using a rally nearly 2,000 miles from Washington to try to quell mounting concerns …

Discussion: MSNBC, The Daily Beast and ABC News

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:
Who Is a Senior Administration Official? It Depends

Discussion: Power Line, Los Angeles Times, KASW-TV, Washington Post, Liberty Unyielding, RAPPLER and Breitbart

The Daily Beast:
Secret Trump Resistance Rebels Are ‘Fist-Bumping’ Each Other

Discussion: Raw Story, CBS News and The Daily Beast

Washington Post:
Trump raises the specter of impeachment at Montana rally

Discussion: Axios, Politico and Common Dreams

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press:

Giuliani to AP: Trump will not answer obstruction questions — NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump will not answer federal investigators' questions, in writing or in person, about whether he tried to block the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, Raw Story, Splinter and Mother Jones

NBC News:
Giuliani says Trump will not answer Mueller's obstruction questions

Discussion: RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Axios:
Trump dares Mueller to subpoena him

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story, Reuters and CBS San Francisco

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

In a shift, Trump approves an indefinite military and diplomatic effort in Syria, U.S. officials say — President Trump, who just five months ago said he wanted “to get out” of Syria and bring U.S. troops home soon, has approved a new strategy for an indefinitely extended military …

Discussion: Just Security, The American Conservative and Bloomberg

Barbara Starr / CNN: Russia warns US of pending attack in Syrian area with US troops

New York Times: Trump to Preside Over U.N. Security Council, Prompting Anxiety All Around

Jenavieve Hatch / HuffPost:

Brett Kavanaugh Refers To Birth Control As ‘Abortion-Inducing Drugs’ At Confirmation Hearing — Trump's Supreme Court nominee defended his support of Priests for Life on the third day of his hearing. — On the third day of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing …

Discussion: Salon, POLITICUSUSA, Common Dreams, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Bustle

HuffPost:
Here's Another Brett Kavanaugh Email Republicans Didn't Want You To See

Discussion: twitchy.com and AOL

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard: Desperate Democrats

Associated Press:

The Latest: Trump: American flag needed in moon docudrama — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local): — President Donald Trump says a docudrama about the moon landing would have been a “much bigger success” had it shown the planting of the American flag.

Discussion: Politico and Breitbart

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
At rally, Trump brings up ‘the impeachment word’ to embolden voters ahead of midterms

Discussion: MSNBC, Talking Points Memo and HuffPost

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Trump slams ‘deep state operatives,’ vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in Montana

Discussion: CBS Pittsburgh, Raw Story, Mediaite and CBS Chicago

Donie O'Sullivan / CNNMoney:

Twitter bans Alex Jones and InfoWars — Why Facebook, YouTube and Apple are removing InfoWars content — Twitter banned far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his website InfoWars from its platform Thursday afternoon, a month after several of its Silicon Valley counterparts did so.

Discussion: Breitbart, USA Today, Fox News, New York Times, RedState, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, NPR, Mother Jones, National Review, Engadget, Deadline, FOX31 Denver, ThinkProgress and New Republic, more at Techmeme »

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

Another Democratic Ambush? Not in Delaware, as Carper Rebuffs Outsider's Bid — Senator Tom Carper of Delaware fended off a primary challenge from his left on Thursday, dispatching a political newcomer, Kerri Evelyn Harris, in the latest test of strength between Democratic insurgents and the party establishment.

Discussion: Political Wire

Gideon Resnick / The Daily Beast:
Kerri Harris, Progressives' Next Big Hope, Falls Short Against Tom Carper in Delaware

Discussion: CNBC

The Intercept:
Kerri Harris Got More Votes Than She Thought She Needed, But it Wasn't Enough

Discussion: The Independent, Washington Free Beacon and Politico

Manu Raju / CNN:

Elizabeth Warren: Time to use 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office — (CNN)Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, seizing on an explosive op-ed from an anonymous administration official, said Thursday that it's time to use constitutional powers to remove President Donald Trump office if top officials don't think he can do the job.

Discussion: Townhall, The Gateway Pundit, Bustle, Breitbart, AOL, New York Times, Axios, HuffPost, Washington Times and CBS San Francisco

Tal Axelrod / The Hill:
Warren calls for 25th Amendment to be invoked against Trump

Discussion: Salon, Bloomberg, The Federalist, Axios, Politico, Investor's Business Daily, CNBC, Raw Story and Breitbart

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Frustration and Finger-Pointing as G.O.P. Pulls Out of Deal Talks on Hacked Materials — WASHINGTON — House Republicans withdrew on Thursday from negotiations with Democrats over a pact that would have effectively barred both parties from using hacked or stolen material on the campaign trail this fall.

Discussion: Reuters, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Polling the 2018 Midterm Elections in Real Time — The Upshot has partnered with Siena College to poll dozens of the most competitive House and Senate races across the country. Our poll results are updated in real time, after every phone call. We hope to help you understand how polling works, and why it sometimes doesn't.

Discussion: Political Wire

CBS Pittsburgh:

College Removes Uniforms Featuring Nike Logo To Protest Kaepernick Deal — (AP) — The endorsement deal between Nike and Colin Kaepernick prompted a flood of debate Tuesday. It was a trending topic on Twitter and other social networks, with some fans urging a boycott of the company's clothes …

Discussion: Daily Wire, RedState and CBS Sacramento

Elaine Thompson / Worcester Telegram & Gazette:
Sturbridge jeweler takes heat for ‘take a knee’ billboard; Colin Kaepernick debate unfolds

Discussion: RedState and Daily Wire

Matthew Mosk / ABC News:

Papadopoulos to be sentenced in Russia investigation — George Papadopoulos, the novice, unpaid foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump who rose to prominence when he became the first former campaign adviser arrested as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russian-influence probe, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in Washington.

Discussion: Political Wire

Aidan McLaughlin / Mediaite: Scoop: George Papadopoulos Spills on Mueller Cooperation in First TV Interview With Jake Tapper

Daily Mail:

Boris Johnson splits with lawyer wife Marina after she accuses him of ANOTHER ‘fling’ — Boris Johnson splits with lawyer wife of 25 years Marina after she accuses him of ANOTHER fling and his daughter brands him a ‘selfish b*****d’ — Boris Johnson has been kicked out of his marital home …

Wall Street Journal:

Iran Defies U.S. Bid to Curb Its Middle East Influence — Tehran has kept up the flow of arms and financial support to proxy forces even as Washington pressures Iran's economy — Iran is signaling that it will buck U.S. efforts to roll back its military presence in the Middle East …

David Crow / Financial Times:

Opioid billionaire granted patent for addiction treatment — A billionaire pharmaceuticals executive who has been blamed for spurring the US opioid crisis stands to profit from the epidemic after he patented a new treatment for drug addicts. — Richard Sackler, whose family owns Purdue Pharma …

Greg Bluestein / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Dead even: AJC/Channel 2 poll shows Georgia governor's race is tied — The race for Georgia governor couldn't be closer just two months before the election, as an Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 Action News poll showed Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp deadlocked at 45 percent.

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Political Wire

Carrie Johnson / NPR:

Grand Jury Looking Into Case Of Ex-FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe — Prosecutors in Washington, D.C., have impaneled a grand jury to look into the case of former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired from the bureau after investigators found he “lacked candor.”