memeorandum: State officials rush to shore up confidence in Nov. 3 election as voters express new fears about mail voting (Washington Post)

8:00 PM ET, August 16, 2020

Top Items:

Dear Colleague on House Returning to Save the Postal Service — The Postal Service is a pillar of our democracy, enshrined in the Constitution and essential for providing critical services: delivering prescriptions, Social Security checks, paychecks, tax returns and absentee ballots to millions of Americans …

Discussion: Townhall, New York Times, Raw Story, The Hill and #ShutDownDC

Speaker Nancy Pelosi:

Pelosi, Schumer, Maloney, Peters Statement Calling on Postmaster General and Chairman of the Postal Service Board of Governors to Testify About Postal Service Sabotage — Washington, D.C. - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Axios, HillReporter.com, Twitchy and CNN

Matthew Rink / Erie Daily Times-Morning News:

Erie loses mail-sorting machines in USPS purge — Two of Erie's six delivery bar code sorters, which can sort 36,000 pieces of mail an hour, were unplugged in recent weeks. — The U.S. Postal Service in recent weeks unplugged two of its six delivery bar code sorters from its East 38th Street processing facility in Erie.

Washington Post:

State officials rush to shore up confidence in Nov. 3 election as voters express new fears about mail voting — President Trump's unprecedented attacks on the U.S. Postal Service amid widespread mail delays across the country are shaking voters' faith that their ballots will be counted …

Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and New York Times

Washington Post:

House accelerates oversight of Postal Service as uproar grows, demanding top testify at ‘urgent’ hearing — The House Oversight Committee announced a hearing for Aug. 24, inviting Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Postal Service board of governors Chairman Robert M. Duncan

Discussion: New York Daily News, Vanity Fair, Mediaite, Politico, The Guardian, Balloon Juice and Fox News

Mike Allen / Axios:

Pelosi calls House back to act on Postal Service “sabotage” — Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats on Sunday evening that the House will be called back from August recess — likely on Saturday, Axios is told — to act to “save the Postal Service.” — Why it matters: Democratic lawmakers …

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Trump's coup-by-mail is underway. America can't wait until November to fight back — First, they came for the mailboxes. — The once-fantastical notion of a political or military coup in the United States has long lingered in the American imagination. Older Boomers might remember …

Discussion: Scripting News

Allan Smith / NBC News:
Democrats set emergency hearing with top postal officials amid fear over delayed ballots

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Reuters, Vox, Baltimore Sun, Just The News, Vanity Fair and The Hill

Nick Harper:
Stop Panicking about the Post Office

Discussion: ABC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Federalist, Mashable and NBC New York

House Committee on Oversight and Reform:
Oversight Committee Calls Postmaster General to Testify at “Urgent” Hearing on Sweeping Operational and Organizational Changes

Discussion: Politico, Townhall, Reuters, Slate, Associated Press, Gothamist, POLITICUSUSA, Sputnik News and Daily Kos

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.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, The Week and Daily Kos

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 …

Discussion: Raw Story and No More Mister Nice Blog

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

Discussion: The Hill and New York Post

Mark Murray / NBC News:
Biden remains ahead of Trump nationally on eve of conventions in NBC News/WSJ poll

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, Slate, Breitbart and Washington Times

Natasha S. Alford / TheGrio:
Kamala Harris has a message for voters who aren't feeling her and Joe Biden

Discussion: Fox News, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart, IJR, NBC News, The Hill, New York Times, Steve Cortes on FNS and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, more at Mediagazer »

Allie Bice / Politico:
Sanders defends Harris as vice presidential pick

Discussion: NBC News, One America News Network, Reuters, Axios and The Hill

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: POLITICUSUSA, The US Sun, The Guardian, Axios and Bloomberg

Eli Saslow / Washington Post:

‘May rent. June rent. Late fees. Penalties.’ … There's no room for disbelief in my position. I've had other people tell me: “Really? They're evicting you during a pandemic? That's crazy.” I don't know. Maybe it is. I haven't had time to sit and feel sorry.

Andy Borowitz / New Yorker:

Bill Barr Injures Back While Trying to Lift Mailbox Into Truck — WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Attorney General William Barr suffered what was described as a “severe back strain” while trying to lift a mailbox into a pickup truck on Saturday. — According to Barr, he tried to give the mailbox …

John Bolton / Wall Street Journal:

Iran ‘Snapback’ Isn't Worth the Risk — It would weaken the Security Council veto, which serves U.S. interests at the U.N. — For the U.S., there is one point of high principle worth dying in a ditch for at the United Nations: Never impair the Security Council veto.

Wall Street Journal:

We'll Protect America's Suburbs — We reject the ultraliberal view that the federal bureaucracy should dictate where and how people live. — The crime and chaos in Democrat-run cities have gotten so bad that liberals are even getting out of Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Luke Kenton / Daily Mail:

'I'm leaving, you guys won': Moment furious Seattle cop tells activist he's quitting because of constant unrest caused by BLM protests - just days after city's Chief of Police resigned over huge budget cut — While the circumstances surrounding the video remain unclear, the officer …

Discussion: Raw Story

Dave Lawler / Axios:

The U.S. is far behind other rich countries in coronavirus response — Over the past several weeks, the coronavirus has killed Americans at six times the average rate in other rich countries. And we're recording about eight times more infections. — Why it matters: The virus burned through …

Discussion: Reuters

Alyson Krueger / New York Times:

Rapid Testing Is the New Velvet Rope — Determined to proceed with parties and events this summer, hosts are adding screenings at the door. But such measures are hardly a guarantee of safety, medical experts warn. — Dr. Asma Rashid, who runs a members-only medical concierge service in the Hamptons …

Lulu Garcia-Navarro / NPR:

‘Hatemonger’ Tracks How Right-Wing Media Shaped Trump Policy Architect Stephen Miller — Toggle more options — Stephen Miller is the architect of Donald Trump's extreme policies on immigration. — And leaked emails have shown him pushing white-power ideology cloaked in pseudo-science.

James Altucher:

NYC Is Dead Forever... Here's Why — I love NYC. When I first moved to NYC, it was a dream come true. Every corner was like a theater production happening right in front of me. So much personality, so many stories. — Every subculture I loved was in NYC. I could play chess all day and night.

Discussion: Rod Dreher, Althouse and Viking Pundit

Mark Townsend / The Guardian:

Facebook algorithm found to ‘actively promote’ Holocaust denial … Facebook's algorithm “actively promotes” Holocaust denial content according to an analysis that will increase pressure on the social media giant to remove antisemitic content relating to the Nazi genocide.

Discussion: New York Post

Michelle Locke / Associated Press:

‘Hansel and Gretel’ Unfair to Witches, School Board Told — MICHELLE LOCKEJune 1, 1992 GMT — WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (AP) _ Hansel and Gretel: Innocent, resourceful children, or messengers of hate? — To a witch, the answer is clear. — Add the Brothers Grimm classic to the long …

Hans Nichols / Axios:

Biden won't lease a “campaign plane,” breaking a candidate tradition for decades — The “campaign plane” is becoming another casualty of the pandemic. — Driving the news: Joe Biden's team hasn't booked any air travel — and thus has no need to lease an aircraft with the Democratic nominee's name …

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Trump eyes new unproven coronavirus “cure” — To the alarm of some government health officials, President Trump has expressed enthusiasm for the Food and Drug Administration to approve an extract from the oleander plant as a dietary supplement to cure COVID-19, despite lack of proof that it works.

New York Times:

Trump's Policies Are a Boon to the Super Rich. So Where Are All the Seven-Figure Checks? — Only a small fraction of the president's top donors from 2016 have given as much to his re-election effort. — Timothy Mellon, reclusive heir to a Pittsburgh banking fortune …

Discussion: Raw Story

The Bulwark:

Belarus Protests: U.S. and EU Must Act Now — Or else Putin could step in and help destroy or undermine democratic opposition now protesting election fraud. — If the size of protests held across Belarus on Sunday is an indication, Aleksander Lukashenko is hanging by a thread.

Discussion: Bloomberg

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Democrats know exactly what the campaign is about — It speaks volumes about the nature of the presidential race that President Trump plans on popping up for all four nights of his virtual convention. Former vice president Joe Biden, by contrast, will show off “a star-studded array …

Discussion: Raw Story and ABC News