memeorandum: 'We're a totally peaceful racist group,' says ‘Straight Pride’ organizer to a California city council (Tim Fitzsimons/NBC News)

3:00 PM ET, August 9, 2019

Top Items:

Edward Helmore / The Guardian:

Anger as grinning Trump gives thumbs-up while Melania holds El Paso orphan — A backlash is building over a picture posted by Melania Trump on Twitter that showed her and Donald Trump smiling broadly while holding a baby who was orphaned in the mass shooting in El Paso.

Discussion: Slate, Washington Post, CNN, Mother Jones, Law & Crime, The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Colin Drury / The Independent:

Grinning Trump gives thumbs-up with baby whose parents were shot dead in El Paso terror attack — Infant was brought for photo op at hospital where patients refused to meet president — It is the sort of photo politicians have long been known to favour: adorable baby, thumbs up, big smiles.

Discussion: The Guardian, Daily Kos, Jezebel and Breitbart

Kelly Tyko / USA Today:

Walmart removing violent video game displays, signs from stores but still selling guns — Following two shootings inside its stores, Walmart is removing violent video game displays and signs from stores, the retailer confirmed Thursday. — Stores were sent a memo that called for …

Discussion: Reason, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, NPR, Shareblue Media, Bloomberg, CNN, New York Post, Rolling Stone, The Wrap, The Week, Polygon, TheBlaze and VICE

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:

The Denialists — It takes a lot of work to try to exonerate the president's fomenting of racist violence, but Trump fans are giving it their all. — “This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” —The El Paso killer's manifesto — Byron York wants to make sure …

Discussion: Power Line, MinnPost and Big League Politics

Wall Street Journal: Lost in Life, El Paso Suspect Found a Dark World Online

Reed Richardson / Mediaite: Trump and First Lady Smiling With Baby Orphaned in El Paso Massacre Draws Criticism: ‘Act Like a Human Being’

Brandy Zadrozny / NBC News:
Armed Trump supporter detained and released at El Paso immigrant center

Discussion: KTSM-TV and Washington Examiner

Lulu Garcia-Navarro / The Atlantic:
The Media Erased Latinos From the Story

Discussion: New York Times

New York Times:

Trump's Opponents Want to Name His Big Donors. His Supporters Say It's Harassment. — WASHINGTON — For many businesses, a sudden deluge of phone calls might signal an influx of new customers. But most of the 25 calls Justin Herricks received before noon on Thursday were from people …

Discussion: Michael Berry, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, BizPac Review, Patterico's Pontifications, Daily Kos, Advocate and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Stephen Ross expressed qualms about Trump bash after liberal backlash — Billionaire New York real estate developer Stephen Ross privately expressed qualms about going ahead with his Hamptons fundraiser for President Trump today. — The state of play: Liberal customers had threatened …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, The Week, Breitbart, CNBC and Associated Press

Don Gonyea / NPR:
SoulCycle Owner, Trump Donors Face Public Shaming

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit and Daily Wire

Sister Toldjah / RedState:
Pro-Doxxing Cyberbully Joaquin Castro Once Praised Passage of a Texas Law Aimed at Preventing... Cyberbulling

Discussion: Townhall, FOX News Radio and Instapundit

Katherine Rosman / New York Times:
They Paid $42 for a SoulCycle Ride, Not for Trump

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Outside the Beltway, CBS Miami, Los Angeles Times and Slate

New York Times:
May the SoulCycle Boycott Make Democracy Better

Discussion: Fox News, Pirate's Cove, twitchy.com and Daily Kos

KYTV-TV:

Former firefighter stops man armed with 100 rounds of ammunition at south Springfield Walmart — SPRINGFIELD, Mo. The Springfield Police Department says it responded to a call of an active shooter at the Walmart Neighborhood Market at Republic Rd., near Golden Ave., Thursday evening.

KOLR:

Springfield Police arrest armed person at Walmart on Republic — SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- The Springfield Police Department tweeted out Thursday that an armed man was arrested at the Walmart Neighborhood Market on W. Republic Road. … Later, Lt. Mike Lucas with Springfield Police confirmed …

Discussion: Louder With Crowder, The Gateway Pundit, Townhall, TheBlaze, Daily Wire, New York Post and FOX2now.com

The Daily Beast:

Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Names Powerful Men in Alleged Sex Ring — In newly unsealed documents, Virginia Giuffre claims that Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked her to politicians, princes, and a high-flying financier, among others. — A young woman who says financier Jeffrey Epstein …

Discussion: New York Post and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:

'If you're a good worker, papers don't matter': How a Trump construction crew has relied on immigrants without legal status — OSSINING, N.Y. — For nearly two decades, the Trump Organization has relied on a roving crew of Latin American employees to build fountains and waterfalls …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Splinter, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Axios:
Report: Trump Organization employed undocumented construction workers

Discussion: Washington Post and Associated Press

Yahoo News:

Here's the data on white supremacist terrorism the Trump administration has been ‘unable or unwilling’ to give to Congress — WASHINGTON — Alleged white supremacists were responsible for all race-based domestic terrorism incidents in 2018, according to a government document distributed earlier …

Discussion: Politico and NBC News

Amy Walter / The Cook Political Report:

The Iowa Caucus Is a Frontrunners' Nightmare — This week was the start of the Iowa State Fair. Besides being one of the few places in America where you can eat fried Oreos AND watch a baby pig being born, the Iowa State Fair is also the unofficial kick-off to campaign season in the state.

Discussion: Breitbart, Washington Post and Opinion Today

Stephen Gruber-Miller / Des Moines Register:
Joe Biden says ‘poor kids’ are ‘just as talented as white kids’

Discussion: NBC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Splinter, UPI and Mediaite

Emma Kinery / Bloomberg:
Biden in Iowa Says ‘Poor Kids’ Are Just as Smart as ‘White Kids’

Discussion: Washington Post and The Week

Joyce White Vance / Washington Post:

Prosecutors pick their battles. I chose not to pursue an ICE raid in Alabama. — U.S. attorneys don't have the resources to charge all crimes. Shouldn't they focus on people who present the greatest threat? — Federal prosecutors have broad discretion to choose what cases they will bring.

Associated Press: Immigration raids to have long-term effects on poultry towns

Washington Post:
U.S. defends secretive Mississippi ICE raids as local, state officials decry effect on children

Discussion: Townhall, RealClearPolitics, Salon and New York Times

David Byler / Washington Post:

Blue Texas is a Democratic dream. Shifting left is a reality. — For three years now, Texas Republicans have been taking on water. In 2016, Donald Trump won the state by nine points — a seven-point decline from Mitt Romney's 16-point margin four years earlier.

Harry Enten / CNN:
From a former disbeliever: Why Texas could go blue in 2020

Discussion: Real Clear Politics

Caitlin Byrd / Post and Courier:

Sen. Tim Scott says his 2022 SC reelection bid will be his last political race — In three years time, Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott will be facing reelection in South Carolina, but he will also be facing something else: His last political run. — In a wide-ranging interview Thursday …

Kevin Poulsen / The Daily Beast:

8Chan Refugees Blow Their Anonymity — An unofficial new version of the hate-filled forum isn't as anonymous as its users might hope. — Refugees from the anonymous 8chan forum are flooding into a new censorship-resistant home on the dark web, and inadvertently giving up their anonymity along the way.

Jonathan Shieber / TechCrunch:

Reports say White House has drafted an order putting the FCC in charge of monitoring social media — The White House is contemplating issuing an executive order that would widen its attack on the operations of social media companies. — The White House has prepared an executive order called …

Discussion: CNN and The Verge, more at Techmeme »

Timothy Bella / Washington Post:

A black man was about to buy a cop's house. Then, he found a KKK application in a bedroom. — The Confederate flag place mat on the dining room table was Rob Mathis's first hint that something was off inside the home he was thinking of buying. — “I thought to myself …

Discussion: VICE and New York Post

Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:

Egypt jails American traveler, saying she criticized the government on Facebook — CAIRO — When Reem Mohamed Desouky arrived from Washington last month with her 13-year-old son, Egyptian authorities detained them at the airport, he said. They confiscated their phones and interrogated Desouky, holding the two for hours.

Discussion: National Review

Sara Boboltz / HuffPost:

Suspected White Nationalist Leader Suspended From State Department: Reports — The employee, Matthew Q. Gebert, allegedly oversaw a chapter of a white nationalist group and hosted white nationalists at his home. — The State Department has placed one of its employees on leave following …

Discussion: WhoWhatWhy and Hullabaloo

Jonathan Lemire / Associated Press:

Trump heads for golf club holiday - but summer storms loom — NEW YORK (AP) — Now is the summer (vacation) of the president's discontent. — As Donald Trump prepares to leave Friday for his annual August holiday at his lush New Jersey golf club, he's confronting a storm of crises …

Discussion: The Week and Mediaite

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

Bruce Ohr Documents Undercut FBI Claims In Carter Page FISAs — Justice Department official Bruce Ohr told the FBI in November 2016 about meetings between dossier author Christopher Steele and a reporter who published a story about the former British spy's allegations against Carter Page.

Discussion: New York Post

Kyle Mizokami / Popular Mechanics:

Missile Explosion Prompts Radiation Warnings in Russia — Was the explosion, which reportedly killed three people, a test of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile gone awry? — An explosion at a Russian military base killed three personnel and caused a brief spike in radioactivity in a nearby Russian city.

Discussion: RedState, The Daily Beast, New York Times and Fox News

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

'They're afraid': Suburban voters in red states threaten GOP's grip on power — BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — Republicans face a reckoning in the red-state suburbs that have long been a bedrock for the party, propelled by the stormy confluence of President Trump's searing racial attacks …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Geoffrey Skelley / FiveThirtyEight:

Have Pollsters Forgotten That Nevada Is An Early State? — Welcome to Pollapalooza, our weekly polling roundup. — Poll(s) of the week — There are few constants in the presidential primary, but the order in which early states vote is roughly set in stone: first Iowa …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Fox News and Common Dreams