memeorandum: Lamar Alexander's Finest Hour (Wall Street Journal)

9:45 AM ET, February 3, 2020

Top Items:

Jennifer Epstein / Bloomberg:

Joe Biden Could Be Impeached by GOP Over Ukraine if He Wins, Iowa Senator Says — Iowa Senator Joni Ernst warned Sunday that Republicans would immediately push to impeach Joe Biden over his work in Ukraine as vice president if he win the White House. — “I think this door of impeachable whatever …

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, Common Dreams, Politico, Axios, New York Times, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, Breitbart, POLITICUSUSA, Talking Points Memo, HuffPost, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN, NPR and Twitchy

NBC News:

John Kerry overheard discussing possible 2020 bid amid concern of ‘Sanders taking down the Democratic Party’ — That he would even discuss the possibility suggests that prominent members of the Democratic Party remain deeply unsettled by the current field. — DES MOINES, Iowa …

Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic:

2020 Democrats Are Bringing Butter Knives to a Gunfight — CEDAR RAPIDS—Heading into tonight's Iowa caucus, the clock may be ticking faster on the Democratic presidential candidates than they believe. — All of the leading contenders have campaigned energetically and extensively across …

NBC News:

The stakes for Biden tonight in Iowa are enormous — 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. — DES MOINES, Iowa — No one has more at stake tonight than Joe Biden.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and Raw Story

Allan Smith / NBC News:
Biden: Impeachment hasn't ‘shaken my faith’ in working with Republicans

Discussion: Raw Story

Associated Press:
Democratic race opens in Iowa amid worry over beating Trump

Discussion: Politico and The Hill

Liz Peek / Fox News: Democrats' impeachment flop sets stage for boffo State of the Union speech by Trump

Politico:
Sanders, Warren go separate ways in closing pitches

Discussion: Associated Press, Outside the Beltway, Fox News, The Hill and Washington Post

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Trump advisers say they're trying to “promote the rise” of Bernie Sanders

Discussion: Esquire, Fox News and PJ Media Home

Daniel Politi / Slate:
Poll: Biden, Sanders Tied for First Place in Iowa

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Smoke Eater, Daily Kos and JONATHAN TURLEY

Associated Press:
In Iowa, anxiety and unpredictability clouds caucus finish

Discussion: New York Times, Axios, Politico and The Hill

Blake Hounshell / Politico:

‘Truly bizarre circumstances’: Anonymous book agents refute whisper campaign against Trump official — The agents for the senior Trump administration official who penned an anonymous New York Times op-ed and best-selling book are breaking their silence to swat down a whisper campaign pinning …

Discussion: Raw Story

Chris Chavez / Sports Illustrated:

President Trump Congratulates ‘The Great State of Kansas’ After Chiefs Super Bowl Victory — President Trump deleted a tweet congratulating the “Great State of Kansas” after the Chiefs' Super Bowl win. The Chiefs play in Missouri. — President Donald Trump took to Twitter …

Discussion: Reason, Politico, Mediaite, The Guardian, New York Times, CNN, HuffPost and Common Dreams

Allan Smith / NBC News:
Trump attacks Bloomberg's height hours before their dueling Super Bowl ads

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Redstate, Axios, Bloomberg, Breitbart, Mediaite, The Hill, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, Vox, Florida Politics, CNN, The Independent, One America News Network and Politico

Wall Street Journal:

Lamar Alexander's Finest Hour — His vote against witnesses was rooted in constitutional wisdom. — By The Editorial Board — Senate Republicans are taking even more media abuse than usual after voting to bar witnesses from the impeachment trial of President Trump.

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

The Simple Reason Trump Does What He Does — Trump's credo, from ‘Access Hollywood’ to impeachment. — It wasn't the most notorious part of the “Access Hollywood” tape, but it was the most revealing: “And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”

New York Times:

New U.S. Travel Ban Shuts Door on Africa's Biggest Economy, Nigeria — The visa rules will affect nearly a quarter of the people on the African continent, including many hoping to join loved ones already in the U.S. — The newlyweds had already been apart for half their yearlong marriage.

JONATHAN TURLEY:

Gerhardt: The Entire White House Defense Team Will Face Bar Charges — There have been suggestions that the White House defense team could be brought up on bar charges for their arguments in the Senate. I have previously written that such statements by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others are vindictive and ill-informed.

Discussion: Power Line and Instapundit

Yaron Steinbuch / New York Post:

China accuses US of spreading ‘panic’ over coronavirus outbreak — The Chinese government on Monday accused the US of spreading “panic” over the coronavirus outbreak by pulling its citizens out of the country and restricting travel instead of offering significant assistance.

Discussion: National Review

Associated Press:
DHS: Flights could be rerouted over coronavirus concerns

Discussion: One America News Network and HuffPost

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:

Washington Post Threatened Another Star Reporter Over His Tweets — The newspaper's Kobe Bryant tweet mess last week wasn't the first time WaPo bosses got into heated clashes with reporters over social-media policy. — The Washington Post's controversial decision to punish a reporter …

more at Mediagazer »

Amy Qin / New York Times:

Virus Pummels Wuhan, a City Short of Supplies and Overwhelmed — It is nearly impossible to get the care they need to treat, or even diagnose, the coronavirus, say residents at the crisis' center. — WUHAN, China — Weak with fever, An Jianhua waited in line for seven hours outside …

Discussion: The Atlantic and Associated Press

New Yorker:

Qassem Suleimani and How Nations Decide to Kill — A new frontier in the use of assassination. — When nation-states engage in the bloody calculus of killing, the boundary between whom they can target and whom they can't is porous. On January 3rd, the United States launched a drone strike …

Jason Wilson / The Guardian:

White nationalist has long worked at conservative outlets under real name — Guardian findings support watchdog's report that ‘Paul Kersey’, a prominent author and activist, is actually Michael J Thompson — A new report has revealed that a prominent white nationalist author …

Joe Mcdonald / Associated Press:

Built in 10 days, China's virus hospital takes 1st patients — BEIJING (AP) — The first patients arrived Monday at a 1,000-bed hospital built in 10 days as part of China's sweeping efforts to fight a new virus that is causing global alarm. — Huoshenshan Hospital and a second 1,500-bed facility due …

Nico Hines / The Daily Beast:

Leak: Man Who Bankrolled Brexit Boasted of WikiLeaks Backchannel — Hacked Twitter messages raise legal questions over Cambridge Analytica, undeclared foreign lobbying, and links between Julian Assange and the Brexit and Trump campaign teams. — NEW YORK—The man who bankrolled the campaign …

Discussion: Raw Story

Karol Markowicz / New York Post:

Ridiculous attacks on ‘American Dirt’ are fresh reason to nix ‘cancel culture’ — “American Dirt,” published last week, is a fast-paced novel about a mother-and-son pair of migrants on the run from murderous drug lords. It has received glowing praise from some of America's …

HuffPost:

Taxpayers Get $3.4 Million Tab So Trump Can Host Super Bowl Party For His Club Members — The president's latest trip to his Palm Beach resort and nearby golf course brings the taxpayer-funded total for his golfing hobby to $130.4 million. — Taxpayers shelled out another $3.4 million …

Discussion: The Independent and Outside the Beltway

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Believing he's invincible, an emboldened Trump is growing more confident and less deterrable — President Trump often says he's the smartest person in the room on virtually every topic. Now, after taking several risks on what he privately calls “big shit” and avoiding catastrophe …

Discussion: Raw Story

Richard L. Hasen / The Atlantic:

The Alarming Prospect of the Supreme Court Deciding the 2020 Election — Among the many strange and worrying truths about American elections, one has a tendency to get lost: The path to the presidency can run not just through battleground states but also through the Supreme Court.