memeorandum: Businessman Tom Steyer defends status in 2020 race, drawing contrast with Bloomberg on wealth tax (John Verhovek/ABC News)

1:20 PM ET, December 13, 2019

Top Items:

Franklin Foer / The Atlantic:

Corbynism Can't Happen Here — Even though the polls always suggested the likelihood of Jeremy Corbyn's defeat in yesterday's British elections, his continued presence as the head of the Labour Party filled me with a great sense of foreboding. The local press excavated from Corbyn's …

Discussion: National Review, Jacobin, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and The American Spectator

Sadiq Khan / business.facebook.com:

Sadiq Khan — This general election result is nothing short of a catastrophe for the Labour Party, for London and for the United Kingdom. — For the fourth general election in a row the Labour Party has failed to put forward a compelling case to the British people.

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:

All Shall Gaze Upon the Future—and Despair — The warning from Britain. — Amazingly, the coveted AOC endorsement of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party failed to flip the British election. Who knew that a passionate and aggressive leftward turn would prove to be political poison?

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

American Leftists Believed Corbyn's Inevitable Victory Would Be Their Model — The British election results, like any election result, is the result of unique circumstances and multiple factors. It is also, however, a test of a widely articulated political theory that has important implications for American politics.

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Guardian, New York Times, IJR, CANNONFIRE, PJ Media Home and Althouse

The Economist: Jeremy Corbyn's crushing defeat

Patrick Smith / NBC News:
Socialist Jeremy Corbyn to step down as leader of Labour Party after defeat in U.K. election

Discussion: The Federalist, The Sun and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

McConnell's awful Hannity interview shows power of Fox News's disinformation — It has often been observed that one of President Trump's biggest allies in the impeachment battle is Fox News — that if Richard Nixon had enjoyed the benefit of such a powerful purveyor of propaganda, he wouldn't have been driven from office.

Discussion: ABC News, Fox News, Common Dreams, The Daily Caller, The Mahablog and Raw Story

New York Times:

For Trump, Impeachment May Be a Political Plus but Also a Personal Humiliation — As the House moves toward what even he says is an inevitable vote to impeach him for high crimes and misdemeanors, President Trump toggles between self-pity and combativeness.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Salon, Althouse, The Hill and Associated Press

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: The Biden fever

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Associated Press and Talking Points Memo

Lindsay Wise / Wall Street Journal: GOP Tries to Balance What Trump Wants With Limited Impeachment Trial

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
McConnell indicates he'll let Trump's lawyers dictate Trump's impeachment trial

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The American Independent and Politico

Savannah Behrmann / USA Today: McConnell: In ‘total coordination’ with White House for impeachment trial

Jordain Carney / The Hill:
McConnell says he'll be in ‘total coordination’ with White House on impeachment trial strategy

Discussion: Fox News, Talking Points Memo, HotAir, Daily Kos and IJR

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Talking Impeachment to Death — A report from the House Judiciary Committee's epic markup. — The House Judiciary Committee approved House Resolution 755, a measure “impeaching Donald John Trump for high crimes and misdemeanors,” on Friday morning. After a long, acrimonious Republican defense …

Adam Edelman / NBC News:
In unrelenting tweetstorm, Trump praises GOP anti-impeachment ‘warriors,’ hits Pelosi

Discussion: CNN, USA Today, National Review and Political Wire

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Matt Gaetz proves there is no bottom

Discussion: New Yorker, Reason, Vox, RealClearPolitics, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, Althouse and Daily Kos

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Panel Approves Impeachment Articles and Sends Charges for a House Vote

Discussion: ABC News, Outside the Beltway, Deseret News and The Daily Beast

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
House Judiciary Committee to Vote on Articles of Impeachment

Discussion: DNyuz

Wall Street Journal:

‘Just Having Fun’: Giuliani Doubles Down on Ukraine Probes — Trump's personal attorney escalates his push for investigations—the effort that helped spark impeachment inquiry — Some of Rudy Giuliani's friends told him to keep a low profile. — Instead, Mr. Giuliani is escalating …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Law & Crime, The Hill, The American Independent and Raw Story

Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:

Bernie Sanders endorses a Californian who defends crude sex ratings of women — Bernie Sanders endorsed a California congressional candidate Thursday with a long history of making crude and degrading comments about women and provocative statements about Jews, Muslims and other groups.

Discussion: The Slot, Twitchy, Fortune and The Gateway Pundit

NBC News:

Corbyn's UK defeat was bad news for Sanders, Warren and America's left — First Read is your briefing from “Meet the Press” and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — WASHINGTON — Always beware of drawing conclusions from one country's election to another.

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Associated Press, New York Times, The Sun, The Hill and Commentary

John Verhovek / ABC News:
Businessman Tom Steyer defends status in 2020 race, drawing contrast with Bloomberg on wealth tax

Discussion: Politico and The Daily Beast

Cristina Gallardo / Politico:

What Boris Johnson's victory means for Brexit — LONDON — Boris Johnson's victory puts Brexit on track — but this is just the beginning. — After winning a strong majority in the December 12 general election, Johnson returns as prime minister with the political capital to pull the U.K …

Discussion: Redstate, Washington Post, The Hill, Brookings, The Guardian, NBC News, RTÉ, One America News Network, Reuters and Axios

Mikey Smith / Mirror.co.uk:
Ken Livingstone says it's ‘the end’ for Jeremy Corbyn and blames ‘Jewish vote’

Discussion: Breitbart, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and The Dispatch

Sumantra Maitra / The Federalist: Boris Johnson Cracked The Code For A Reagan Coalition In Great Britain

Quint Forgey / Politico: Biden warns that Boris Johnson's victory shows dangers of parties leaning too far left

Daniel Desrochers / Lexington Herald-Leader:

Bevin pardons a KY man convicted of beheading a woman and stuffing her in a barrel — It's not clear if Betty Carnes was killed by asphyxiation or by the eight blows to her head that Delmar Partin delivered with a metal pipe. The coroner couldn't tell which killed the mother of three first …

Discussion: Raw Story

Adam Behsudi / Politico:

U.S., China strike partial trade deal that cuts tariffs — President Donald Trump has signed off on a mini-trade deal with China, four people familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday, marking another trade victory he can tout as he faces impeachment led by House Democrats.

Discussion: Redstate, The Hill, One America News Network, HotAir, Associated Press, The Diplomat, New York Times and The Last Refuge

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Trump is getting played by China on trade

Discussion: ABC News, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, Fortune, MarketWatch, CNN and Breitbart, more at Techmeme »

Wall Street Journal: U.S. and China Reach Phase One Trade Agreement

Michelle Goldberg / New York Times:

Democracy Grief Is Real — Seeing what Trump is doing to America, many find it hard to fight off despair. — The despair felt by climate scientists and environmentalists watching helplessly as something precious and irreplaceable is destroyed is sometimes described as “climate grief.”

Severin Carrell / The Guardian:

Sturgeon demands Scottish independence referendum powers after SNP landslide — First minister tells Boris Johnson she has renewed mandate after winning 47 of Scotland's 59 seats — Play Video — Nicola Sturgeon has challenged Boris Johnson to give Scotland the powers to hold …

Discussion: Politico

Robert Shrimsley / Financial Times:
Brexit will now happen but Boris Johnson's win puts future of the UK in doubt

Discussion: New York Times and The Guardian

New York Times:

Will Trump Debate a Democrat in 2020? He's Not So Sure. — The president's concern is not so much whom he will be debating but the commission that runs the debates. — WASHINGTON — President Trump is discussing with his advisers the possibility of sitting out the general election debates …

Discussion: IJR, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, PJ Media Home, No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside the Beltway, POLITICUSUSA, Disrn, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and Raw Story

Tom Benning / Dallas Morning News:

Dallas Rep. Colin Allred, a Democrat facing tough 2020 race, will vote to impeach Trump — The freshman Democrat had been one of the few Texas Democrats to not yet announce their position on impeachment — WASHINGTON - Dallas Rep. Colin Allred on Friday announced that he will vote …

Discussion: Greensburg Tribune-Review and Politico

Axios:

Scoop: House Dems attend Trump's holiday party amid impeachment — Half a dozen House Democrats attended the White House Congressional Ball last night while their colleagues on the Judiciary Committee worked late into the night on articles of impeachment, according to two sources familiar with the event.

Discussion: The Nevada Independent

Robert W. Wood / Forbes:

5 Unsettling California Tax Rules — I focus on taxes and litigation. — If you live in California—or even if you don't—you probably know something about California taxes. They are high, the highest in the nation. And the state's tax man is aggressive too, way more aggressive than you might think.

Discussion: americandigest.org

New York Times:

Ukraine's Leader, Wiser to Washington, Seeks New Outreach to Trump — President Volodymyr Zelensky still needs backing from the administration. He is proposing a new ambassador and weighing hiring lobbyists to build better ties. — WASHINGTON — Eager to repair their country's fraught relationship …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Raw Story and Hullabaloo