memeorandum: Why Trump's Second Term Will Be Worse (Yascha Mounk/The Atlantic)

3:35 PM ET, December 27, 2019

Top Items:

Dave Philipps / New York Times:

Anguish and Anger From the Navy SEALs Who Turned In Edward Gallagher — Video interviews and group texts obtained by The Times show men describing their platoon leader in grim terms. — [Watch a special Times documentary featuring combat video and confidential interviews with the Navy SEALs …

Discussion: AOL.com, ABC News, Slate, Axios, New York Post, Vanity Fair, Raw Story, Hullabaloo, HuffPost, WTKR-TV, The Guardian, TheBlaze, Balloon Juice, Alternet.org, The Hill, The American Independent and Mediaite

Emily Crane / Daily Mail:

‘The guy is freaking evil’: Eddie Gallagher's fellow Navy SEALS describe him as ‘toxic’ and trigger-happy in previously unseen interviews with investigators — The Navy SEALS were interviewed by naval criminal investigators before Edward Gallagher was charged with war crimes in September 2018

New York Times:
Confidential Videos Show Why Navy SEALs Reported Edward Gallagher

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Raw Story

Issues & Insights:

Stopping Lisa Murkowski From Playing Lady Macbeth — The Trump Administration and the Republican Party got a troubling sign Christmas week that all of their number might not be willing to stand together come an impeachment trial. — Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Tuesday told KTUU-TV …

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller and Big League Politics

Melissa Lemieux / Newsweek:

Ex-WH Ethics Lawyer Slams McConnell, Says Senator Thinks He's ‘A Judge Impaneling An All-White Jury for a Klansman Trial’ — During a panel discussion on CNN, Richard Painter, the former chief White House ethics lawyer who worked under George W. Bush, got into a bit of a verbal dust …

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:
Pelosi invites Trump to deliver the State of the Union two days after impeaching him

Discussion: Associated Press, Alternet.org, Raw Story, ABC News and Breitbart

Margaret Carlson / The Daily Beast:
Mitch McConnell's Big Mistake Defending Donald Trump? Listening to Him.

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story and Breitbart

Conrad Black / American Greatness: Democrats Must Live with Consequences of Their Foolish Impeachment Farce

Holly Otterbein / Politico:

AOC for president? The buzz has begun — LOS ANGELES — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was campaigning for Bernie Sanders at a jampacked beach-side rally last week when she took a moment to look beyond 2020. — “I know, and we all know, that this isn't just about Bernie Sanders,” she said.

Discussion: Fox News, Axios, Alternet.org, The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Progress Pond, Breitbart and Mediaite

Valerie Edwards / Daily Mail:
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 'accepted a $2,700 donation from 2020 presidential hopeful and BILLIONAIRE …

Discussion: Fox Business, Breitbart and PJ Media Home

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Democrats brace for ‘bloody’ primary season

Discussion: Politico

Joan E Greve / The Guardian:
Bernie Sanders' resurgence has Democrats asking: could he actually win?

Discussion: The Nation, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Axios

Derick Waller / abc7NY:

Women attacked, man threatens shooting in rash of anti-Semitic incidents in NYC — GRAVESEND, Brooklyn (WABC) — There have been a rash of anti-Semitic incidents in New York City this week, most in parts of Brooklyn. — A man wearing a hoodie apparently walked into Lubavitch World Headquarters …

Discussion: TheBlaze

Derick Waller / abc7NY: Mother walking with child beaten in 5th anti-Semitic attack in NYC

Jennifer Peltz / Associated Press:
NYC ups policing in Jewish areas after spate of attacks

Discussion: NPR, The Hill, The Guardian and Conservative Review

CNBC:

Elizabeth Warren's campaign sounds the alarm as fundraising pace slows about 30% in fourth quarter — Sen. Elizabeth Warren's campaign told supporters in an email on Friday that, so far, it has raised just over $17 million in the fourth quarter, a significant drop from her fundraising haul during the third quarter.

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Axios, Breitbart and TheBlaze

Wall Street Journal:

Rank-and-File Workers Get Bigger Raises — Short supply of labor, minimum-wage rises and increased poaching have helped lift wages for lower-income workers — Rank-and-file workers are getting bigger raises this year—at least in percentage terms—than bosses.

Discussion: Axios and The Daily Caller

Vladimir Isachenkov / Associated Press:

Russia commissions intercontinental hypersonic weapon — MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's defense minister reported to President Vladimir Putin that a new hypersonic weapon of intercontinental range became operational Friday following years of tests. — Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Putin …

Discussion: National Review, The National Interest, Politico and The Post Millennial

Ian Schwartz / RealClearPolitics:

Michael Moore Predicts 2020 Trump Victory: Trump's Level Of Support “Has Not Gone Down One Inch” — In an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!, Michael Moore said if the election were held today that President Trump would win a second term. However, Moore predicted the Democratic candidate …

Sam Dorman / Fox News:
Michael Moore says Trump could win in 2020, Midwest support hasn't dropped ‘one inch’

Discussion: Breitbart and Democracy Now

Yascha Mounk / The Atlantic:

Why Trump's Second Term Will Be Worse — When I spent a month on a research trip to India in December 2014, half a year after Narendra Modi swept to power, the writers, academics, and intellectuals I met were engrossed in a debate that may now feel oddly familiar to Americans.

Discussion: Raw Story

Mark Hosenball / Reuters:

Exclusive: FBI investigates Briton, others for Epstein links - sources — (Reuters) - The FBI is investigating British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and several other people linked to U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges …

Discussion: ABC News, National Review, Forbes, Breitbart, VICE, The Daily Beast and The Daily Caller

Associated Press:

Disney characters say tourists inappropriately touched them — ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Walt Disney World employees who portray Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck each filed police reports this month claiming they were inappropriately touched by tourists.

Discussion: TMZ.com and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:

Ousted cardinal McCarrick gave more than $600,000 to fellow clerics, including two popes, records show — Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in church money to powerful Catholic clerics over nearly two decades, according to financial records obtained …

Discussion: New York Post, Slate, The Hill and TheBlaze

George P. Slefo / Ad Age:

Spotify to suspend political ads in 2020 — Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders and the RNC are among Spotify advertisers — Spotify is suspending the sale of political advertising on its platform, the company told Ad Age Friday. — Spotify said in a statement that it will pause political advertising …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Axios, TechCrunch, Variety, VICE, Engadget, The Verge and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Kristy Eldredge / New York Times:

Men Are Dismissing ‘Little Women.’ What a Surprise. — The rejection of the latest screen adaptation of the beloved novel echoes a long-held sentiment toward women-centered narratives. — Ms. Eldredge is a writer. — “'Little Women' Has a Little Man Problem.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Althouse and The Daily Beast

Bloomberg:

Bizarre Fortunes Flourish as World's Richest Gain $1.2 Trillion — The wealth of the 500 richest people surged 25% in 2019 — Wrecked cars, catchy tunes are among the sources of new riches — The leveraging of a giant social-media presence, a catchy tune about a family of sharks …

Discussion: Alternet.org

Michael E. Miller / Washington Post:

Hunting black men to start a ‘race war’ … The man stumbled into the police precinct in Hell's Kitchen late one night, staggering toward a tall reception desk painted black and blue. Before the desk officer could ask the man his business, he collapsed on a bench, dripping blood.

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:

Trump Pushes Out Tweet Naming Alleged Whistleblower — Several people close to the president, such as Ivanka Trump and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, had privately cautioned him against it. — On Thursday evening, Donald Trump pushed out on Twitter the name of the alleged whistleblower …

Discussion: Redstate, Axios, Mediaite, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Letters from an American and Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Nicole Narea / Vox:

One surprisingly simple reason evangelicals love Trump — Thousands of students, supporters, and invited guests sing songs of Christian praise before then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump took the stage in January 2016 at Liberty University, whose founder Jerry Falwell was a prominent evangelical leader.

Discussion: The Post Millennial, Religion in Public and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Margot Sanger-Katz / New York Times:

In the U.S., an Angioplasty Costs $32,000. Elsewhere? Maybe $6,400. — A study of international prices finds American patients pay much more across a wide array of common services. — Why does health care cost so much more in the United States than in other countries?

Discussion: Mother Jones

CNN:

Schumer said in 1999 Senate wasn't like a jury box and was ‘susceptible to the whims of politics’ — (CNN)Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has blasted his Republican counterpart Mitch McConnell in recent days after he described himself as “not an impartial juror” ahead …

Thomas Beaumont / Associated Press:

Iowa swung fiercely to Trump. Will it swing back in 2020? — In 2008, its voters propelled Barack Obama to the White House, as an overwhelmingly white state validated the candidacy of the first black president. A year later, Iowa's Supreme Court sanctioned same-sex marriage …

Chris D'Angelo / HuffPost:

Interior Department Cut ‘Sexual Orientation’ From Anti-Discrimination Guideline — Its explanation shows that the administration is talking out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to LGBTQ rights. — President Donald Trump's Interior Department removed “sexual orientation” …