memeorandum: Where Taking the Concerns of Racists Seriously Has Gotten Us (Tom Scocca/Slate)

8:20 AM ET, August 5, 2019

Top Items:

Jessica McBride / Heavy.com:

Connor Betts: Twitter Posts on Being a Leftist, Guns — Connor Betts, the Dayton, Ohio mass shooter, was a self-described “leftist,” who wrote that he would happily vote for Democrat Elizabeth Warren, praised Satan, was upset about the 2016 presidential election results, and added …

Discussion: National Review, PJ Media Home, Instapundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The American Spectator, Big League Politics, Breitbart, No More Mister Nice Blog, twitchy.com, Front Page Magazine, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, The Other McCain and Washington Post

Tom Scocca / Slate:

Where Taking the Concerns of Racists Seriously Has Gotten Us — Within last week's story of how Ronald Reagan made a racist phone call to Richard Nixon, there was a second story—a parable, effectively: a small point that contained a much larger point. It had nothing, or almost nothing …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

FBI faces skepticism over its efforts against domestic terrorism — The FBI insists it is fully engaged in combating the threat of violence from white supremacists, but some former federal officials charge that the government is still coming up short in the face of a strain of American terrorism that now seems resurgent.

Discussion: The Week, New York Post and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:

El Paso Shooting Suspect's Manifesto Echoes Trump's Language — At campaign rallies before last year's midterm elections, President Trump repeatedly warned that America was under attack by immigrants heading for the border. “You look at what is marching up, that is an invasion!” he declared at one rally.

Discussion: The Federalist, NPR, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, spiked, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, Vox, The Trace, Indian Country Today, The Daily Caller and Law & Crime

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press:

After pair of mass shootings, Trump remains out of sight — BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (AP) — As the nation reeled from two mass shootings in less than a day, President Donald Trump spent the first hours after the tragedies out of sight at his New Jersey golf course, sending out tweets …

Discussion: KTLA, Denver Post, Townhall, Politico, The Week and Florida Politics

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

‘How do you stop these people?’: Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric looms over El Paso massacre — President Trump has relentlessly used his bully pulpit to decry Latino migration as “an invasion of our country.” He has demonized illegal immigrants as “thugs” and “animals.”

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:

On guns and white nationalism, one side is right and one is wrong — When one side proposes ways that human beings might begin to solve a deadly problem while the other side leaves it up to God, you know which side is right. — When one side proposes solution after solution to contain gun violence …

Discussion: Refinery29, UPI and NBC News

Daniel W. Drezner / Washington Post:
America's head of state, M.I.A.

Discussion: The Week, The North Star and Townhall

Bonchie / RedState:
NEW: The Dayton Shooter Was a Satanist, Leftist-Socialist, and Bernie/Warren Fan, Supported Antifa

Discussion: Power Line and Clayton Cramer

Victor Morton / Washington Times:
Ohio gunman described himself as pro-Satan ‘leftist’ who supported Elizabeth Warren

Discussion: National Review, Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Republican state lawmaker in Nebraska says his party is ‘enabling white supremacy’

Discussion: The Hill

New York Times:
After El Paso Attack, Mexico Demands Protections for Mexicans in the U.S.

Discussion: Bloomberg, NBC News, CNN, ABC News and Axios

Washington Post:
Republicans struggle to respond in wake of El Paso, Dayton shootings

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, One America News Network, New Republic, The Week, CNN, twitchy.com, Daily Kos, Florida Politics and Breitbart

New York Times: Walmart Store Connected Cultures, Until a Killer ‘Came Here for Us’

CNN:
The Dayton shooter wore a mask, bulletproof vest and hearing protection as he opened fire, police chief says

Discussion: NPR, WGN-TV, KTLA, WPSD Local 6WPSD Local 6, Foreign Policy, WTVR-TV, UPI, The Week, Daily Wire, Variety, New York Post, WPIX 11 New York, The Root, Daily Kos, Breitbart, Townhall, New York Times and Mediaite

Yasmeen Abutaleb / Washington Post:
What's inside the hate-filled manifesto linked to the alleged El Paso shooter

Discussion: Politico, The Guardian, PJ Media Home, Common Dreams, Breitbart, HuffPost, The Texas Observer and Spectator USA

Washington Examiner:
Trump must name and condemn the evil of white nationalism

Discussion: The Bulwark, New York Times, The Week and Patterico's Pontifications

Matthew Prince / The Cloudflare Blog:

Terminating Service for 8Chan — The mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio are horrific tragedies. In the case of the El Paso shooting, the suspected terrorist gunman appears to have been inspired by the forum website known as 8chan. Based on evidence we've seen …

Discussion: CNN, Slate, VICE, The Guardian, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Reclaim The Net, Variety, The Daily Beast, TechCrunch, The Verge, UPI, Little Green Footballs, Balloon Juice and Instapundit, more at Techmeme »

New York Post:

The Post urges Trump to take action on assault weapons — Two mass shootings within 24 hours in El Paso and Dayton, days after the Garlic Festival killings. Three months after Virginia Beach, six months after Aurora, nine months after Thousand Oaks, 10 months after Tree of Life …

Discussion: National Review, The Week, CNN and Associated Press

New York Times:

We Have a White Nationalist Terrorist Problem — America's leaders need to do more to condemn and combat the extremist ideology — white nationalism — in their midst. — 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.

Discussion: USA Today, ABC News, CNN, The Week, Slate, The Atlantic, UPI, Refinery29, The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, Daily Kos, VICE and Right Wing Watch, more at Techmeme »

Kevin Roose / New York Times:

8chan Is a Megaphone for Gunmen. ‘Shut the Site Down,’ Says Its Creator. — Fredrick Brennan was getting ready for church at his home in the Philippines when the news of a mass shooting in El Paso arrived. His response was immediate and instinctive. — “Whenever I hear about a mass shooting …

Discussion: New York Times, USA Today, Vox, VICE, The Week, Daily Wire, The Wrap, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, CNN, Washington Post and Slate, more at Techmeme »

David Frum / The Atlantic:
The American Exception

Discussion: Chicago Sun-Times, Outside the Beltway and Quartz

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
There is no excuse for supporting this president

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Sydney Morning Herald and The Atlantic

New York Times:
How Gun Control Groups Are Catching Up to the N.R.A.

Discussion: The Federalist, New Republic, Axios and New York Post

Jane Coaston / Vox:
The top House Republican is blaming video games for the weekend's mass shootings

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Slate and Poynter

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:

Steve King Narrowly Won in Iowa in 2018. Now His Challenger Will Run Again. — J. D. Scholten, a Democrat who nearly toppled Representative Steve King of Iowa in a heavily Republican district in 2018, will announce on Monday that he will run again for the seat in 2020.

Discussion: The Atlantic, YouTube and Political Wire

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

McConnell fractures shoulder in fall at Kentucky home — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was briefly hospitalized after suffering a fractured shoulder from a fall outside his home in Louisville on Sunday, his office said in a statement. — “This morning, Leader McConnell tripped …

Discussion: Tennessee Star, The Daily Caller, Townhall and Breitbart

Marianne LeVine / Politico:
Mitch McConnell fractures his shoulder

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, Slate and Talking Points Memo

Dartunorro Clark / NBC News:
Democrats pressure Mitch McConnell to cancel Senate recess for gun control vote

Discussion: Common Dreams and Daily Kos

National Review:

Crush This Evil — Yesterday, in the Texan border town of El Paso, a young white supremacist opened fire at a Walmart, killing 20 people and injuring dozens more. His intention, per a manifesto he left on the website 8chan, was to exact revenge against “the Hispanic invasion of Texas,” …

Discussion: The American Spectator and Balloon Juice

Elizabeth Thomas / ABC News:

In bloody August weekend, gun violence beyond mass shootings — It has been a bloody August weekend in the U.S., with multiple shootings reported across the country. In addition to mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, gun deaths were reported in other states, including Illinois, Virginia, Louisiana, Florida and Maryland.

Discussion: UPI, Chicago Sun-Times, Front Page Magazine and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Ted Anthony / Associated Press: Life in public-shooting-era America: 'You can't just not go'

Breaking911:

‘TRAGEDY AVERTED’: Feds Say They Have Thwarted a Mass Shooting Plot In Lubbock, Texas — TEXAS — A Lubbock man allegedly contemplating a mass shooting has been charged by criminal complaint with making false statements to a federally-licensed firearms dealer. — The potential shooting has been averted.

NBC Chicago:

7 Wounded In Shooting Near Playground on Chicago's West Side — Seven people were wounded in a shooting Sunday as they gathered in Douglas Park on the West Side. — At about 1:20 a.m. Sunday, a group was standing in the park in the 2900 block of West Roosevelt Road when someone opened fire from a black Camaro, Chicago police said.

Discussion: WGN-TV, RedState and The Gateway Pundit

The Texas Tribune:

U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant will not seek reelection, marking the fourth recent GOP retirement in Texas — Last year, Marchant only won reelection by a three percentage point margin. — WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Kenny Marchant will not seek reelection in 2020, two sources confirmed to The Texas Tribune late Sunday.

Discussion: Roll Call

Jonathan Martin / New York Times: A Fourth Texas Republican Congressman Plans to Retire in 2020

Christina Schaefer / WRGT:

Police: Suspect's sister among those killed in Oregon District shooting — BELLBROOK, Ohio (WKEF/WRGT) — Dayton Police, the FBI and Bellbrook Police have descended upon a neighborhood in Bellbrook in connection with the deadly mass shooting in the Oregon District.

Discussion: Heavy.com, The Daily Caller, Slate and Associated Press