memeorandum: Train wreck Britain still shows America a thing or 2 about political courage, cowardice (Will Bunch/Inquirer.com)

8:20 PM ET, September 8, 2019

Top Items:

Elizabeth Warren rises as Joe Biden clings to delegate edge — CBS News Battleground Tracker — This poll tells a story of Elizabeth Warren rising. But not Joe Biden falling. — The former vice president now clings to a narrow lead over Warren in our CBS News/YouGov Tracker estimate …

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, Slate, The Daily Caller, Axios and Splinter

Matt Stevens / New York Times:
Tom Steyer Qualifies for October Debates, Bringing Field to 11

Discussion: Breitbart and The Daily Caller

Gary Langer / ABC News:
Warren gains, Harris slips — and the room for movement is vast

Discussion: CNN, twitchy.com and New York Post

Christina Prignano / BostonGlobe.com:
Biden, Warren lead Democratic presidential primary race in Mass., poll finds

Discussion: Political Wire

Andrew O'Reilly / Fox News:
DNC Chair Perez defends stricter criteria for next Democratic primary debate

Discussion: Breitbart

Jonathan Martin / New York Times: The One-Two Punch That Second-Tier Democrats Are Counting On

Mujib Mashal / New York Times:

Taliban Talks Hit a Wall Over Deeper Disagreements, Officials Say — KABUL, Afghanistan — Even as President Trump blamed a recent Taliban attack for his decision to call off nearly year-long negotiations with the insurgents, officials suggested on Sunday it had more to do with the Taliban's resistance …

Cara Anna / Associated Press:

AP Explains: How Trump upended US-Taliban peace talks — KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — With a series of tweets, President Donald Trump has upended nearly a year of U.S.-Taliban negotiations on ending America's longest war. He has “called off” the talks and asserted that a planned secret meeting between …

Discussion: PJ Media Home, Politico and Breitbart

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story: ‘Fake peace plan!’: CNN conservative rains hell on Trump for publicity stunt Taliban meeting announcement

Paul Kane / Washington Post: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continues ducking questions about Senate race

New York Times:
Trump Says He's Called Off Negotiations With Taliban After Afghanistan Bombing

Associated Press:
Pompeo: Taliban ‘overreached’ in attack that killed American

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Vox, BizPac Review and Slate

Washington Post:
Pompeo defends Trump's decision to invite Taliban to talks at Camp David

Discussion: Power Line, CNN and Bloomberg

Victoria Guida / Politico:
No deal: Trump's skills face new questions after scuttling of Afghan talks

Discussion: One America News Network and Breitbart

CNN:
US still interested in Taliban peace deal, Pompeo says

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios, NPR and Mediaite

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Democrats to Broaden Impeachment Inquiry Into Trump to Corruption Accusations — WASHINGTON — House Democrats return to Washington this week poised to significantly broaden their nascent impeachment inquiry into President Trump beyond the findings of the Russia investigation, but they will confront a fast-dwindling political clock.

Discussion: Slate and POLITICUSUSA

Caitlin Yilek / Washington Examiner:
Corey Lewandowski to be first Trump associate to have public hearing with House Judiciary Committee

Discussion: New York Post and The Daily Beast

Jonathan Alter / The Daily Beast:
Yes, Democrats Should Impeach Trump — and Make Mitch McConnell Defend His Acquittal

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, CNN and KTLA

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Democrats Plan Vote to Formalize Procedures for Impeachment Investigation

Discussion: New York Post, Fox News and Breitbart

Axios:
A new Democratic proposal is Trump's make-or-break moment on drug prices

Discussion: Raw Story

Alexandra Alter / New York Times:

Previously Unknown Sources Come Forward in a New Book About Harvey Weinstein — Two years before the allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against Harvey Weinstein became public, his own brother and business partner, Bob Weinstein, confronted him, pleading with him to get medical treatment …

Discussion: Page Six, The Wrap, Mediaite, Variety and NPR

Carlos Lozada / Washington Post:

How the New York Times broke Harvey Weinstein — Review of ‘She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement’ by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey — It was Oct. 5, 2017, just hours after the New York Times published a brutal story detailing Harvey Weinstein's alleged …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Susan Faludi / New York Times:
‘She Said’ Recounts How Two Times Reporters Broke the Harvey Weinstein Story

Discussion: Page Six and Althouse

Will Bunch / Inquirer.com:

Train wreck Britain still shows America a thing or 2 about political courage, cowardice — Who would ever want to live in this train wreck of a Western democracy? The government is led by an utter buffoon — an oversize clown with yellow hair blowing every which way who can't utter …

Discussion: Politico and The Times & The Sunday Times

Mark Landler / New York Times:
Boris Johnson Finds His Party Loyalists Aren't as Loyal as Trump's

Discussion: Vox and New York Post

BBC:
Amber Rudd quits government over Johnson's Brexit stance

Discussion: The Times & The Sunday Times, Politico, NPR and Al Jazeera

Caitlin Byrd / Post and Courier:

He's in: Mark Sanford, SC Republican, formally declares GOP White House 2020 bid — Facing long odds in a fractured Republican Party, former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford this morning formally announced his bid to challenge President Donald Trump for the White House.

Discussion: Fox News and Slate

Matt Stevens / New York Times:
Mark Sanford Will Challenge Trump in Republican Primary

Discussion: Reason, Vanity Fair, Outside the Beltway, WFLA-TV, Hot Air, NPR, The Independent, CNBC, Mediaite and CNN

Reid Wilson / The Hill: South Carolina GOP appears to violate own rules in canceling primary for Trump

Allan Smith / NBC News:
Former Rep. Mark Sanford announces he will challenge Trump in GOP primary

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Michael R. Blood / Associated Press:

Manager: Trump family building ‘dynasty’ for decades to come — INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — President Donald Trump's campaign manager predicted Saturday that the president and his family will become “a dynasty that will last for decades,” transforming the Republican Party while hewing to conservative values.

Discussion: New York Times, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, Washington Post and Mother Jones

Avi Selk / Washington Post:

No sign of Trump's hurricane here in Alabama — MOBILE, Ala. — The city stands. — The grocery stores are fully stocked, the Home Depot has no lack of generators, tarps and plywood, and it's business as usual at the Waffle Houses. — Boaters on the Mobile River have been urged to caution …

Discussion: New York Times, U.S. Political News …, Rolling Stone, Slate, Axios and KTLA

Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:

As plantations talk more honestly about slavery, some visitors are pushing back — CHARLOTTESVILLE — A Monticello tour guide was explaining how enslaved people built, planted and tended a terrace of vegetables at Thomas Jefferson's estate earlier this summer when a woman interrupted to share her annoyance.

Jonathan Franzen / New Yorker:

What If We Stopped Pretending? — The climate apocalypse is coming. To prepare for it, we need to admit that we can't prevent it. — “There is infinite hope,” Kafka tells us, “only not for us.” This is a fittingly mystical epigram from a writer whose characters strive …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and Hullabaloo

Kara Swisher / New York Times:

He Who Must Not Be Tolerated — Joi Ito's fall from grace for his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was much deserved. But his style of corner-cutting ethics is all too common in tech. — Ms. Swisher covers technology and is a contributing opinion writer. — Voldemort?

Discussion: Medium, Slate, Financial Times and WHYY, more at Mediagazer »

Joe Mcdonald / Associated Press:

China's trade with US shrinks as tariff war worsens — BEIJING (AP) — China's trade with the United States is falling as the two sides prepare for negotiations with no signs of progress toward ending a tariff war that threatens global economic growth. — Imports of American goods tumbled 22% …

Ursula Perano / Axios:
Trade between U.S. and China plummets ahead of October negotiations

Discussion: Associated Press and Raw Story

Rachael Bade / Washington Post:

Trump to visit Baltimore Thursday, a city he called a ‘rodent infested mess’ — Just weeks after lambasting Baltimore as a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess,” President Trump will visit the Maryland city to huddle with congressional Republicans — a gathering that could draw local protests …

Discussion: Raw Story, U.S. Political News … and Axios

Los Angeles Times:

California boat fire probe widens as FBI and Coast Guard serve search warrants on Conception owner — In a significant expansion of the investigation into the Labor Day boat fire that killed 34 people, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Coast Guard …