memeorandum: Exclusive: U.S. citizen kidnapped by Taliban group in Afghanistan (Newsweek)

10:50 PM ET, February 5, 2020

Top Items:

McKay Coppins / The Atlantic:

How Mitt Romney Decided Trump Is Guilty — Mitt Romney didn't want to go through with it. — “This has been the most difficult decision I have ever had to make in my life,” he told me yesterday afternoon in his Senate office. Roughly 24 hours later, Romney would deliver a speech announcing …

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, HuffPost, New York Times, Raw Story, Roll Call, National Review, Big League Politics, Vanity Fair, The Federalist, The National Interest, Reason, Redstate, Mother Jones, The Hill and PJ Media Home

Laura Bassett / GQ:

Why Susan Collins Is More Dangerous Than Mitch McConnell — It's doubtful that Collins is simply naive and easily duped after serving in the Senate for more than two decades. — In the era of Trumpian hyper-partisanship, Susan Collins, the “moderate” Republican senator from Maine …

Discussion: New York Times, Slate and CBS News

Julia Arciga / The Daily Beast:

Don Jr. Calls Sen. Mitt Romney a ‘Pussy’ for Announcing Vote to Convict Trump — TRIGGERED — Donald Trump Jr. posted a picture on Instagram calling Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) a “pussy” after the former GOP presidential candidate announced that he would be voting to convict President Trump on one of two impeachment charges.

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Task & Purpose

Charles Sykes / The Bulwark:

Romney: One Man Alone — One and God make a majority. — His vote did not change the outcome, but Mitt Romney reminded us on Wednesday how one man alone can dramatically change the tone and the moral character of a moment. — “We're all footnotes, at best, in the annals of history,” …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Breitbart and Talking Points Memo

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker: The Wrenching Truth About Mitt Romney's Vote Is That It Doesn't Matter

Washington Post:
Romney votes to convict Trump on charge of abuse of power, becoming the lone Republican to break ranks

Discussion: Deseret News, Axios, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story, Politico, ABC News, Townhall, Breitbart and The Hill

Peter Wehner / The Atlantic:
A Profile in Courage — Mitt Romney is doing something nearly unheard …

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, HuffPost and Raw Story

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
What Mitt Romney learned from his father

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Lindsay Whitehurst / Associated Press: Romney impeachment vote heartens some, angers others in Utah

Politico:
Trump gets bittersweet vindication with a surprise twist from an old foe

Discussion: Washington Post and Breitbart

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Romney denies Trump unanimous Republican support

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Mother Jones, LifeSiteNews, Townhall, Axios, No More Mister Nice Blog and Breitbart

Erielle Davidson / The Federalist:
Romney's Entire Career Has Been About Punishing Republicans For Voting For Him

Discussion: American Greatness and Breitbart

NBC News:
Senate acquits Trump on both impeachment charges

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Breitbart, The Atlantic, Axios, HuffPost, ABC News, UPI, The Root and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Timothy Joseph / The Conversation:
This is how ancient Rome's republic died - a classicist sees troubling parallels at Trump's impeachment trial

Discussion: New York Times

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Senate Acquits Trump, Ending Historic Trial

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, The American Spectator, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, BuzzFeed News, KFOR-TV and Twitchy

Tamar Lapin / New York Post:

Nancy Pelosi ‘pre-ripped’ pages of Trump's SOTU speech, video shows — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi apparently made tiny tears into her copy of President Trump's State of the Union address — so that her speech-ripping moment could go off without a hitch. — As Trump introduced cancer …

Discussion: Daily Mail, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and The Babylon Bee

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

TV Ratings Declined for Trump's State of the Union Speech — About 37 million Americans tuned in on Tuesday, the smallest audience of President Trump's tenure. — President Trump put a “Celebrity Apprentice” spin on his State of the Union address on Tuesday, seeding the 78-minute broadcast …

Politico:
Pelosi unloads on Trump in private meeting after SOTU standoff

Discussion: Variety, The Hill, POLITICUSUSA, Vanity Fair, Breitbart, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:
Trump's Speech Was a Bataan Death March of Bullsh*t

Discussion: Raw Story

The Hill:
Pelosi trashes Trump address: ‘He shredded the truth, so I shredded his speech’

Discussion: Redstate, Townhall and New York Post

ProPublica:

The Iowa Caucuses App Had Another Problem: It Could Have Been Hacked — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — A glitch in the smartphone app used to count and report votes …

Discussion: Mashable, The Verge, Twitchy, VICE, Fortune, BuzzFeed News, National Review and UPI, more at Techmeme »

Des Moines Register:

Iowa Democratic Party releases 85% of caucus results but an error forces correction — After all of its struggles to release proper results from the Iowa Democratic caucuses Monday night, on Wednesday afternoon, the party released some mistaken results. — “There will be a minor correction …

Discussion: Washington Times, PJ Media Home, Twitchy and The Hill

New York Times:
What Went Wrong for Joe Biden in Iowa

Discussion: Mother Jones and IJR

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

What's next — giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to David Duke? — So that the right-wing, faux-outrage crowd does not have a meltdown, let me be clear: I am sorry to hear talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh has cancer. Any decent person should hope he has a full recovery.

Discussion: Vox, Redstate, COURIER, CNN, Twitchy, NB Blog, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, The Guardian and The Daily Beast, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:
The surprises at Trump's State of the Union were carefully planned

Discussion: Breitbart, The White House, The Hill and Outside the Beltway

Vandana Rambaran / Fox News:
Biden criticizes Limbaugh's Medal of Freedom award: 'I don't think he understands the American code …

Discussion: Politico

Sherrod Brown / New York Times:

In Private, Republicans Admit They Acquitted Trump Out of Fear — One journalist remarked to me, “How in the world can these senators walk around here upright when they have no backbone?” — Mr. Brown is a Democratic senator from Ohio. — Not guilty. Not guilty.

Discussion: Vanity Fair and POLITICUSUSA

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez / Arizona Republic:

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema says she will vote to convict President Trump on impeachment charges — Citing her concern for the Constitution as well as the conduct of future presidents, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema will vote Wednesday to convict President Donald Trump on the impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Townhall and Twitchy

Politico:

First head rolls after Biden's weak Iowa finish — DES MOINES — Joe Biden's campaign has parted ways with its Iowa field director, two days after the former vice president came in an embarrassing fourth place in the primary caucus state. — Adrienne Bogen, who headed field operations for Biden …

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post, Associated Press, Vanity Fair, The Hill, Fox News and ABC News

Ryan Grim / The Intercept:
Nontraditional Voters at Iowa Satellite Caucuses Could Tip the Balance to Bernie Sanders

Discussion: Bad News and YouTube

Politico:
‘A major, corn-fed f—up’: N.H. smells opportunity in Iowa flop

Discussion: Fox News

Louis Casiano / Fox News: Buttigieg narrowly holds lead in Iowa caucuses as more precincts report

Matthew Haag / New York Times:

Surprise for New York Renters: No More Broker Fees — Regulators unexpectedly banned broker fees for renters, which in the city have long amounted to as much as 15 percent of the annual lease. — In New York's City intensely competitive rental market, tenants usually deal with middlemen known as brokers …

Gregg Re / Fox News:

DHS suspends Global Entry, Trusted Traveler Programs for New York residents in response to sanctuary law — Homeland Security reviewing two administration immigration programs looking to expedite deportation process — Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf exclusively told Fox News' …

Washington Post:

House managers: Trump won't be vindicated. The Senate won't be, either. — Reps. Adam Schiff (Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Val Demings (Fla.), Sylvia Garcia (Tex.) and Jason Crow (Colo.) were the Democratic House managers in the impeachment trial of President Trump.

Ryan Goodman / Just Security:
Reading Between the Votes: 53 Senators Say Trump Guilty on the Facts

Discussion: The American Independent, Washington Post, Raw Story, Omaha World-Herald and Axios

Ted Nesi / WPRI-TV:

VP Raimondo? Bloomberg, gov keep the door open — PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg and Gov. Gina Raimondo played it coy Wednesday about whether she could be his running mate, after she became the first governor in the country to endorse the former New York City mayor.

Anne Quito / Quartz:

Frustration grows in China as face masks compromise facial recognition — Because China — Even small changes in China have global effects. — Face masks are mandatory in at least two provinces in China, including the city of Wuhan. In an effort to contain the coronavirus strain …

Discussion: Wired

Tara McGowan:

A note to supporters of ACRONYM — In the wake of the delayed reporting in Iowa, I know there are questions about Shadow and ACRONYM and how we are structured and work to fuel digital innovation and build capacity for progressive causes across the United States.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, HuffPost, Vox, Spectator USA, protocol and Bloomberg

Newsweek:

Exclusive: U.S. citizen kidnapped by Taliban group in Afghanistan — An American contractor was captured by Taliban-aligned militants in Afghanistan last week, triggering a country-wide recovery effort, Newsweek has learned. — Mark R. Frerichs of Lombard, Illinois, was kidnapped last Friday in Khost …

Discussion: CNN and New York Post

Hollywood Reporter:

Kirk Douglas, Indomitable Icon of Hollywood's Golden Age, Dies at 103 — The actor starred in such films as ‘Champion,’ ‘The Bad and the Beautiful,’ ‘Lust for Life,’ ‘Gunfight at the O.K. Corral’ and ‘Spartacus,’ to name just a few. — Kirk Douglas, the son of a ragman who channeled a deep …

Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:

Former ‘Simpsons’ writer slams Pompeo tweet: ‘Please do not ever ever ever use Simpsons material’ — A former writer for “The Simpsons” on Wednesday ripped Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for using a snapshot from the show to knock Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), saying …

Discussion: MSNBC, NBC News, Spectator USA, IJR and Raw Story

George Conway / Washington Post:

I believe the president, and in the president — George T. Conway III is a lawyer in New York and an adviser to the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump super PAC. — I believe the president, and in the president. — I believe the Senate is right to acquit the president.

Discussion: Mediaite

Jessica Donati / Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Troops in Standoffs With Russian Military Contractors in Syria — Top U.S. envoy warns that rise in tensions could lead to hostile action between two powers — WASHINGTON—Russian personnel are engaging in tense standoffs with U.S. troops on highways in northeastern Syria in violation …

Bethany Bell / BBC:

Austria's Greens get used to a share of power — A recent video by Austria's Green Party celebrating their coming to power begins with a clip of their leader, Werner Kogler, speaking last summer before the election - invoking a cowboy movie-star hero. — “I'm doing a Clint Eastwood,” he says.