memeorandum: The Tree of Life Shooting and the Return of Anti-Semitism to American Life (Alexandra Schwartz/New Yorker)

9:20 AM ET, October 28, 2018

Top Items:

A Massacre in the Heart of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood — Squirrel Hill will continue to live by the values that Jews have sustained for more than 2,000 years. They can never be gunned down. — October 27, 2018 — How to Turn a Person Into a Voter — Our approach is specific to black Southerners.

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Max Boot / Washington Post:

What is happening to our country? — I am so sad. I am so heartbroken. What is happening to our country? — How can we live in an America where a gunman can barge into a synagogue and open fire, reportedly screaming “All Jews must die”? — How can we live in an America where someone …

Howard Fineman / New York Times:

Shaking My Faith in America — The bloodshed in the Tree of Life synagogue is a sign that hatred of The Other is poisoning our public life. — Mr. Fineman is an NBC News analyst and a journalism lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. — WASHINGTON — I grew up in Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue.

Discussion: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Vox, The Week and Splinter

Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:

I Grew Up in a Place Where I Felt Safe from Anti-Semitism—It was the United States — As a Jewish child in 1990s America, anti-Semitism to me was a theory, not a reality. But today, I wonder if it will be the same for my young son. — I remember standing there, staring at the ash pits …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Week, POLITICUSUSA, NBC News and Breitbart

Alexandra Schwartz / New Yorker:

The Tree of Life Shooting and the Return of Anti-Semitism to American Life — The violence that took place this Shabbat morning at the Tree of Life congregation in Pittsburgh is the fear of every synagogue, Hillel, day school, and Jewish community center in this country.

Discussion: Slate, New York Times and RedState

John Podhoretz / Commentary:

The Slaughter in Pittsburgh — The synagogue in Pittsburgh is called the Tree of Life. The name is a translation into English of the Hebrew phrase etz chaim. We sing those words as the Torah is put away on every Shabbat. They are words from the Book of Proverbs: “She is a tree of life …

Ben Collins / NBC News:
Pittsburgh synagogue shooting suspect threatened Jewish groups, pushed migrant caravan conspiracies

Discussion: The Atlantic, Mediaite and CBS Pittsburgh

Washington Post:
11 killed, several wounded, in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

Discussion: CBS Pittsburgh, Mother Jones, The Week, Politico, The Daily Signal, The Daily Beast, Refinery29, The Moderate Voice, WTKR-TV, The Times of Israel, Greensburg Tribune-Review, Daily Kos, CNN, Press, The Mahablog, CBS New York, Jezebel and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Andrew Hollinger / ushmm.org:
Museum Condemns Pittsburgh Synagogue Attack

Discussion: CBS Pittsburgh

Taylor Lorenz / The Atlantic:
The Pittsburgh Suspect's Internet of Hate

Discussion: Washington Post, The Guardian and The Daily Beast

Gab:
Gab.com Statement On The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting

Discussion: UPI, The Daily Beast, Intelligencer, Gizmodo, Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, Fox News Insider, israpundit.org, Middle East Eye and AOL

Franklin Foer / The Atlantic: A Prayer for Squirrel Hill—And for American Jewry

Michael Kunzelman / Associated Press:
Study: Online attacks on Jews ramp up before Election Day

Discussion: ABC News and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Andrew Liptak / The Verge:
Paypal bans Gab following Pittsburgh shooting

Discussion: Engadget, The Gateway Pundit, Sputnik International, Breitbart, We Hunted The Mammoth and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Associated Press:
The Latest: Trump to go ahead with Illinois rally

Discussion: Townhall

CBS Pittsburgh:
Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Identified As Robert Bowers, Yelled ‘All Jews Must Die’ …

Discussion: The Week, archive.fo, CNN, Indianapolis Star, Vox, CBS News, abc7ny.com, Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway, Breitbart, New York Post, The Other McCain, The Root, Mediaite, Boing Boing and Splinter

Kaelyn Forde / ABC News:
Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting claims 8 lives; 4 officers among multiple wounded, officials say

Discussion: HuffPost, The Atlantic, Power Line, FOX 61 and Daily Wire

Washington Post:

Mail bomb suspect made numerous references on Facebook to Russian associates and echoed pro-Kremlin views — A Facebook account apparently belonging to the man charged with sending pipe bombs to prominent Democrats this week included references to Russian associates and propaganda links …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Intercept

Michael Goodwin / New York Post: Neither of this week's attacks will affect the midterms

Washington Post:
‘He felt that somebody was finally talking to him’: How the package-bomb suspect found inspiration in Trump

Discussion: Raw Story

Ilya Somin / Reason:
Mail Bomber Cesar Sayoc Threatened Me on Facebook

Discussion: Slate, CNN and The Daily Signal

Kevin Roose / New York Times:
Cesar Sayoc's Path on Social Media: From Food Photos to Partisan Fury

Discussion: Sean Hannity, NPR, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, electionlawblog.org, Sputnik International, The Verge and Liberty Unyielding, more at Techmeme »

Charlie Warzel / BuzzFeed News:

The Conspiratorial Hate We See Online Is Increasingly Appearing In Real Life — This week, reporters dredged up the online pasts of two monsters: a Florida man who was arrested for sending pipe bombs to at least a dozen of President Trump's critics, and a neo-Nazi sympathizer who opened fire …

Aris Folley / The Hill:

LeBron James dons Beto O'Rourke hat to game in San Antonio — Los Angeles Lakers player LeBron James donned a Beto O'Rourke hat ahead of his team's matchup with the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. — In a photo shared by James' team on Saturday evening, the player could be seen wearing a white hat, reading: “Beto for Senate.”

Discussion: HuffPost and The Atlantic

BBC:

Leicester City owner's helicopter crashes leaving stadium — The Leicester City owner's helicopter has crashed in a car park outside the club's ground as it left the stadium following a Premier League match. — Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was in the helicopter when it came down at about 20:30 BST …

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

‘Riling Up the Crazies’ — WASHINGTON — As long as I've covered politics, Republicans have been trying to scare me. — Sometimes, it has been about gays and transgender people and uppity women looming, but usually it has been about people with darker skin looming.

Vaughn Hillyard / NBC News:

Pence rejects suggestions of a link between Trump rhetoric and acts of violence — The vice president defended Trump's attacks on opponents as part of “political debate.” — LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Vice President Mike Pence rejected the suggestion that there is a link between the kind …

Discussion: Political Wire, POLITICUSUSA and IJR

James Fallows / The Atlantic:

The Worst of Our Country—And the Best — Every society contains its monsters: people damaged or disturbed enough, or misdirected enough, to inflict cruelty on others. A central purpose of society—its families, its schools, its civic and faith organizations, its official …

Discussion: The Nation

Nancy Cook / Politico:

Trump Cabinet exodus likely after midterms — President Donald Trump could see up to six Cabinet officials depart in the weeks after next month's midterm elections, according to interviews with a half-dozen current and former Trump officials and Republicans close to the White House.

Fox News:

Voter fraud exists - Even though many in the media claim it doesn't — President Trump warned on Twitter last week that law enforcement would be looking for “voter fraud” in the midterm elections. Many journalists quickly responded - as they always do - by dismissing the very existence of voter fraud.