memeorandum: The Tragic Romance of the Middle-Aged Western Liberal (Ivan Krastev/Foreign Policy)

10:35 AM ET, August 16, 2020

Top Items:

Postal Crisis Ripples Across Nation as Election Looms — President Trump's furious objection to mail-in balloting and a new Trump-allied postmaster general are raising fears about the election and the Postal Service. — DARBY, Pa. — Each day, when Nick Casselli, the president …

Discussion: Redstate

Politico:

Pelosi weighs bringing House back early to address Postal Service crisis — Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are considering cutting short the August recess and bringing the chamber back into session to deal with the unfolding crisis at the U.S. Postal Service, according to Democratic sources.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Axios, The Daily Beast, CANNONFIRE, The Hill, Raw Story, New York Post and Reuters

CNN:

Democrats seriously considering bringing House back into session next week over USPS issues — (CNN)Democrats are seriously considering whether to bring the House of Representatives back as early as next week to discuss some of the issues facing the United States Postal Service, one source familiar with the matter told CNN.

Axios:
Pelosi considers recalling House for Postal Service vote

Discussion: NPR

Washington Post:
Tracing Trump's Postal Service obsession — from ‘loser’ to ‘scam’ to ‘rigged election’

Discussion: Vox

New York Times:
2020 Election Live Updates: Democrats Prepare for an Unprecedented Convention

Discussion: TalkLeft and Breitbart

Khalida Volou / wusa9.com:
Protesters gather outside of USPS Postmaster General's home in DC amid voter suppression allegations

Discussion: New York Post, HillReporter.com, Breitbart, #ShutDownDC, Fox News, Mediaite, Sputnik News, Variety, Mashable, Axios and Slate

Nicholas Riccardi / Associated Press:
Q&A: What's happening at the US Postal Service, and why?

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, Reuters, Raw Story, Axios, One America News Network, NBC News, Breitbart and NBC Chicago

John McCormick / Wall Street Journal:

Biden Leads Trump, 50% to 41%, in Poll Ahead of Party Conventions — President struggles to reach job approval that would make re-election more likely, while opponent draws soft support that could present turnout challenges — President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden start …

Mark Murray / NBC News:

Biden remains ahead of Trump nationally on eve of conventions in NBC News/WSJ poll — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump continues to trail Democratic challenger Joe Biden nationally as more than 60 percent of voters say America's response to the coronavirus has been unsuccessful …

Discussion: The Hill

Gary Langer / ABC News: 54% approve of Harris selection, including 1 in 4 Republicans: POLL

NBC News:

Trump eyes Putin meeting before November election, say four people familiar with discussions — WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has told aides he'd like to hold an in-person meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin before the November election, according to four people familiar with the discussions.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Annie Karni / New York Times:

Robert S. Trump, the President's Younger Brother, Dies at 71 — A loyal spokesman for the family, he shunned the spotlight and had “zero sense of entitlement.” — Robert S. Trump, the younger brother of President Trump, died on Saturday night at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan.

Discussion: Axios, CNN, Politico, The Hill, Al Jazeera and The Week

Jim Mustian / Associated Press:

Robert Trump, the president's younger brother, dead at 71 — President Donald Trump's younger brother, Robert Trump, has died after being hospitalized in New York — NEW YORK — President Donald Trump's younger brother, Robert Trump, a businessman known for an even keel that seemed almost incompatible …

Discussion: CBS Los Angeles, The Daily Beast and Axios

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:
Robert Trump, younger brother of President Trump who filed lawsuit against niece, dies at 71

Discussion: ABC News, New York Post and Sputnik News

USA Today:

Trump has a plan to steal the election and it's not clear Democrats have a plan to stop him — My only wish for the 2020 election was that it not turn out to be anything like the disaster that was 2016. Yet as we head into the Democratic National Convention, we've already seen almost everything …

Harry Enten / CNN:
A big sign Trump is a weak candidate

Discussion: Raw Story

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:

The Most Tremendous Reelection Campaign in American History Ever Inside the chaotic, desperate, last-minute Trump 2020 reboot. — For the two and a half years that he was in charge, a Brad Parscale sighting was always news at Trump campaign headquarters in Rosslyn, Virginia.

New York Times:

Nursing Homes With Safety Problems Deploy Trump-Connected Lobbyists — Nursing homes, the center of the pandemic, are seeking tax breaks, federal cash infusions and protection against lawsuits. — Some want direct government aid. Others want tax breaks. Many want protection against lawsuits.

Jennifer Epstein / Bloomberg:

Stacey Abrams, 16 Rising Stars to Keynote Democratic Meeting — Coveted speaking spot often reserved for one emerging leader — House members in tight re-election campaigns among the group — Seventeen rising Democratic stars will together give the keynote address at the party's convention …

Ivan Krastev / Foreign Policy:

The Tragic Romance of the Middle-Aged Western Liberal — Anne Applebaum wants to understand rising illiberalism but is clinging to a Cold War moral framework that no longer applies. — Anne Applebaum opens her new book, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism …

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Antifa Goes to Sturgis — Earlier today, a handful of Antifa goofs decided to take their anti-American shtick to the annual biker rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. If this sounds like a bad idea to you, you are right. — Actually, the bikers were commendably well-behaved.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:

Unconventional Democratic convention will juggle hundreds of live feeds to re-create the feel of a party celebration — With the balloon drop scrapped and the cheering crowds banished, Democratic convention planners faced the grim prospect this summer of throwing Joe Biden a party in a pandemic without any apparent celebration.

David Wasserman / NBC News:

Here are the Trump battleground states that Harris can help Biden retake … It's too early to tell how much Joe Biden's historic selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate will help boost support for the Democratic ticket among African American voters.

Discussion: Politico

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

In Republican Alaska, GOP incumbents face strongest challenges in decades amid the coronavirus pandemic — Five months ago, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) appeared before more than 50 seniors in a town north of Anchorage and dismissed the surging coronavirus pandemic as “the beer virus” that was built mostly on “hysteria” by the media.

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

Conor Lamb Found a Way to Win in Trump Country. Can Biden Follow His Path? — Throughout his campaign, Joe Biden has repeatedly returned to the same themes and strategies that supported Mr. Lamb to a surprise victory in a district that Mr. Trump carried by about 20 points in 2016.

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:

How NYC championed broken windows policing and threw it away — In the event the goon squad trashing New York and other cities puts me under a hot light and demands I say nice things about their “movement,” I'm ready. I will thank them for proving the righteousness of the “broken windows” theory of policing.