memeorandum: Military leaders condemn Trump over protest response (Stephen Collinson/CNN)

11:30 AM ET, June 4, 2020

Top Items:

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic:

James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution — James Mattis, the esteemed Marine general who resigned as secretary of defense in December 2018 to protest Donald Trump's Syria policy, has, ever since, kept studiously silent about Trump's performance as president.

John Allen / Foreign Policy:

A Moment of National Shame and Peril—and Hope — We may be witnessing the beginning of the end of American democracy, but there is still a way to stop the descent. — The slide of the United States into illiberalism may well have begun on June 1, 2020. Remember the date.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Mediaite, Fox News and Task & Purpose

Stephen Collinson / CNN:

Military leaders condemn Trump over protest response — (CNN)President Donald Trump is facing an unprecedented revolt from the elite corps of ex-military leaders and presidents over his brazen response to mass protests and inflaming of racial divides. — In a true Washington bombshell …

Discussion: Bloomberg, Washington Post, Common Dreams, Just Security, The Hill and POLITICUSUSA

Jonathan Bernstein / Bloomberg:

Mattis's Rebuke of Trump Is a Big Deal — Rarely has a former defense secretary publicly criticized a president he once served — and never in such harsh terms. — It's hard to get across what a big deal it is that former Defense Secretary James Mattis has not only publicly criticized …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Defense One and Washington Post

NBC News:

Mattis, other military leaders close ranks against Trump — WASHINGTON — It took him three and a half years, but former Trump Defense Secretary Jim Mattis finally unloaded on President Trump regarding the president's recent actions and rhetoric after the nationwide protests of George Floyd's death.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill and Politico

Elahe Izadi / Washington Post:
New York Times staffers denounce newspaper for Tom Cotton's op-ed urging military incursion into U.S. cities

Discussion: The Federalist, VICE, The Daily Caller, Fox News, Axios, New York Times and Digby's Hullabaloo

New York Times:

Trump Campaign Looks at Electoral Map and Doesn't Like What It Sees — As polls show President Trump significantly trailing his rival, Joseph R. Biden Jr., his campaign is spending heavily in states, like Ohio, that it had hoped would not be competitive at all this year.

Discussion: Raw Story, KTVZ-TV and Washington Post

Vicky Prodeline / Polls:
More Voters Trust Biden on Race Relations

Discussion: Mediaite, Change Research, The Guardian, The Hill, The Daily Caller, KTVZ-TV, NBC News, CNBC, Fox News and Politico

Public Policy Polling: Democrats Lead Key NC Races

Reuters: A triple whammy of crises tests Trump's support ahead of November's election

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Biden ahead in Arizona, Kelly trouncing McSally in Senate race

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, The Daily Caller and Bloomberg

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: Biden leads Trump in Wisconsin

Discussion: Axios and Washington Times

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

Senator's ‘Send In the Troops’ Op-Ed in The Times Draws Online Ire — Staff members at the newspaper, including a Pulitzer winner, denounced an opinion essay by Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, calling for a military response to protests. — “Country Braces for a 9th Straight Night of Unrest …

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post, Townhall, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Tom Cotton / New York Times:
Send In the Troops — The nation must restore order.

Michael Holden / Reuters:
Black lives matter says Meghan, calling U.S. events ‘devastating’

Discussion: Spectator USA

Oliver Darcy / CNN:
New York Times staffers revolt over publication of Tom Cotton op-ed

Discussion: The Wrap and Balloon Juice

Maxwell Tani / The Daily Beast:
New York Times Staffers in Open Revolt Over Tom Cotton's ‘Send in the Troops’ Column

Discussion: JONATHAN TURLEY, Deadline and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »

HuffPost:

William Barr's Vast, Nameless Army Is Being Brought To Bear On D.C. Protesters — Federal law enforcement officers are operating on American streets without identification, which experts say breeds a culture of impunity. — WASHINGTON ― Just a few hundred feet north of the White House …

Discussion: The Hill, Mother Jones, DCist and Defense One

Quint Forgey / Politico:
Trump promises Stone won't serve prison time: ‘He can sleep well at night!’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, The American Independent and Mediaite

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:
Barr seeks to subdue D.C. protests by ‘flooding the zone’ with federal firepower

Discussion: COURIER, The Daily Beast, The Root, Daily Kos and emptywheel

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Trump strongly hints at pardon of political adviser Roger Stone, saying he should ‘sleep well at night’

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

Jobless claims, total unemployment level worse than expected — Weekly jobless claims totaled 1.877 million last week vs. the Dow Jones estimate of 1.775 million. — Continuing claims rose sharply, hitting nearly 21.5 million in a sign that workers are being called back to work slowly.

Discussion: The Federalist and New York Times

Anneken Tappe / CNN:

Nearly 43 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits during the pandemic — New York (CNN Business)Millions of Americans again filed for unemployment benefits last week, as the coronavirus recession drags on. — Another 1.9 million workers filed for initial unemployment aid last week …

Discussion: KTVZ-TV

Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:

AP FACT CHECK: Trump denies tear gas use despite evidence — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and some of his supporters are claiming authorities did not use tear gas against people in a crackdown outside the White House this week. There's evidence they did.

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:

The ‘Tear Gas Hoax’ Hoax — Trump apologists deny and distort the tactics used on the Lafayette Square protesters. — By now, everyone reading this is aware that on Monday night President Trump committed a grotesque and unconstitutional abuse of power: To show that he was “reclaiming the territory” …

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, Mother Jones, Politico and Washington Post

Gini Gerbasi / Washington Post:
I'm a priest. The police forced me off church grounds for Trump's photo op.

Discussion: Anchorage Daily News

Sabato's Crystal Ball:

The Veepstakes: Handicapping Biden's Choices — KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE — Joe Biden should not be in a rush to name his vice presidential pick. Circumstances may change his list of contenders — and probably already have. — A predictable name leads our list, but a not-so predictable name is second.

Discussion: Political Wire

ABC News:
Renewed skepticism of law enforcement dims Klobuchar, Harris, Demings VP nod

Discussion: Florida Phoenix

Politico:
Police groups break with Biden

Discussion: The Hill

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Republicans face looming unemployment dilemma — Forty million Americans are unemployed and extra unemployment benefits expire at the end of next month. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans are grappling with deep ideological divisions over what to do with the popular program in the middle of a pandemic and an election year.

Politico:
Republicans urge Trump to keep Esper

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart, NBC News and The New Civil Rights Movement

Nicholas Kristof / New York Times:
Trump Uses the Military to Prove His Manhood

Discussion: Washington Post, TIME, MSNBC and Reason

Mike Baker / New York Times:

Another Man Who Said 'I Can't Breathe' Died in Custody. An Autopsy Calls It Homicide. — Manuel Ellis of Tacoma, Wash., died in part as a result of how he was restrained, according to the medical examiner, who concluded that his death was a homicide. — SEATTLE — A black man who called out …

Discussion: The Crime Report and VICE

Paul Walsh / Star Tribune:

George Floyd autopsy report released; he tested positive for COVID-19 in April — The release comes nine days after Floyd's death following police encounter. — TEXT SIZE — The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office released the full autopsy results performed on George Floyd with his family's permission.

Discussion: CNN, INSIDER, The Gateway Pundit and Bloomberg

Judd Legum / Popular Information:

Facebook runs ad from Congressional candidate urging people to shoot “looting hoards” — This is the online edition of the Popular Information newsletter. Sign up to get independent accountability journalism in your inbox: — Facebook is facing an internal revolt over CEO Mark Zuckerberg's handling …

Discussion: Gizmodo, The Wrap and Vox, more at Techmeme »

CBS News:

Americans' views shift on racial discrimination - CBS News poll — As thousands protest, their message is getting across. Comparing views at this moment to decades of CBS News polling, today we see more people — both white and black — saying racial discrimination affects both treatment by police and chances of getting ahead.

Discussion: Redstate

Wall Street Journal:

‘Everything Is Gone’: Looting Strikes a Second Blow to Reeling Businesses in Minority Neighborhoods — Along Philadelphia's 52nd Street corridor, mom-and-pop stores suffered major damage. Many had been gearing up for revival after weeks of coronavirus shutdowns, and some now face the prospect of months before reopening, if ever.

New York Post:

Two NYPD cops shot, one stabbed during ‘cowardly’ attack in Brooklyn — Two police officers were shot and a third was stabbed in a confrontation with a suspect in Brooklyn late Wednesday night, police and sources said. — The melee unfolded when a suspect approached a cop …

Discussion: Townhall, Fox News, National Review, Disrn, American Greatness and The Daily Caller

Michele Munz / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

No new COVID-19 cases from Lake of the Ozarks crowds, Missouri health director says — ST. LOUIS — The large crowds of people at the Lake of the Ozarks over Memorial Day weekend have not led to any more reported cases of COVID-19, Missouri's top health official health department said Wednesday.

Discussion: Fox News

Tim Stelloh / NBC News:

U.S. Park Police officers placed on administrative duty over assault on Australian journalists — Two U.S. Park Police officers who were seen clubbing and punching Australian journalists in video footage from a demonstration outside the White House have been placed on administrative duty, officials said Wednesday.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Masha Gessen / New Yorker:

Donald Trump's Fascist Performance — Donald Trump thinks power looks like masked men in combat uniforms lined up in front of the marble columns of the Lincoln Memorial. He thinks it looks like Black Hawk helicopters hovering so low over protesters that they chop off the tops of trees.

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

BunkerBoy's Photo-Op War — Is this an authoritarian crackdown by Donald Trump or just another politicized spectacle? — On Tuesday morning, a day after Donald Trump crossed Lafayette Square for an awkward photo op in front of St. John's Episcopal Church, I met an outraged Lutheran pastor there …

Discussion: Raw Story