memeorandum: George Shultz, 1920-2021 — George P. Shultz's life gave meaning to the phrase “the greatest generation.” (Elliott Abrams/Commentary Magazine)

10:05 AM ET, February 8, 2021

Top Items:

POLITICO Playbook: Democratic impeachment managers feeling muzzled — DRIVING THE DAY — Democrats who've struggled for years to hold DONALD TRUMP accountable are at a crossroads again: Do they go all out to convict Trump by calling a parade of witnesses to testify to his misdeeds?

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Roll Call, HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Fox News, TheBlaze, Raw Story and Real Clear Politics

Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:

Breaking With G.O.P., Top Conservative Lawyer Says Trump Can Stand Trial — Charles J. Cooper, a stalwart of the conservative legal establishment, said that Republicans were wrong to assert that it is unconstitutional for a former president to be tried for impeachable offenses.

Discussion: Insider, Deadline, InsideSources, Boston Herald, Progressive Eruptions, New York Post and Political Wire

Chuck Cooper / Wall Street Journal:

The Constitution Doesn't Bar Trump's Impeachment Trial — Removal from office is best understood as akin to a ‘mandatory minimum’ sentence for a crime. — During the impeachment of Bill Clinton, his defenders argued that his misconduct was ultimately private and didn't rise to the level of an impeachable offense.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, The American Independent, Raw Story, The Week, Vox and Political Wire

Michael J. Stern / USA Today:
Impeachment trial: The Senate is unlikely to convict Trump. Can we count on the courts?

Discussion: Washington Times, Raw Story and HotAir

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:
Impeachment Case Aims to Marshal Outrage of Capitol Attack Against Trump

Discussion: CNN, The Sun, Associated Press, NBC News, Washington Post, The American Spectator, The Week, ABC News, Eurasia Review, CNBC, Boston Herald, Washington Times, MyNorthwest.com, Fox News, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today

Gallup:

Americans' Views of Impeachment, Trump's Record on Issues — WASHINGTON, D.C. — As former President Donald Trump's second Senate impeachment trial is about to begin, a new Gallup poll finds a slim majority of Americans (52%) saying they would like their senators to vote to convict him.

Discussion: The Hill, The Nation and Fox News

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:
Where Democrats and Republicans agree on Trump

Discussion: USA Today, CNN, Washington Post, The Guardian, Hackwhackers, NOQ Report, The Week, New Republic, Bloomberg and Raw Story

Tyler Olson / Fox News:
Trump impeachment conviction? ‘Zero chance,’ Republicans say, as Dems move forward with case

Discussion: National Review, Mediaite, Raw Story and New Republic

Politico:

Inside Bidenworld's plan to punish the GOP for opposing Covid relief — Democrats are plowing forward with plans to pass a massive Covid-19 relief package. And if Republicans don't join them, they won't forget it. — Already, there's talk about midterm attack ads portraying Republicans …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Crooks and Liars, Jacobin, Raw Story, NBC News and Pennsylvania Capital-Star

Jewish Currents:

How the ADL's Israel Advocacy Undermines Its Civil Rights Work — This report will appear in our Spring 2021 issue. Subscribe now to get a copy in your mailbox. — IN THE SUMMER OF 2016, a handful of senior Anti-Defamation League (ADL) staff members and executives in New York and Washington …

Peter Beinart / The Beinart Notebook:

Why Matt Duss Matters — Christian hostility to Jews draws more attention than Jewish hostility to Christians. And for good reason. Christian hostility has produced millennia of persecution. Jewish hostility, for the most part, hasn't produced much more than the occasional nasty line in a prayerbook …

Discussion: Common Dreams

Associated Press:

AP-NORC poll: Few in US say democracy is working very well — WASHINGTON (AP) — Only a fragment of Americans believe democracy is thriving in the U.S., even as broad majorities agree that representative government is one of the country's bedrock principles, according to a new poll …

Discussion: Bloomberg, ABC News, CNN, Political Wire, Slate and Washington Post

Chris Stirewalt / The Dispatch:

The Dangers of the Derp State — How we became a nation of so many dupes and fools is a matter at least as complicated as the causes of Donald Trump's presidency. — 1 hr ago — One of the aphorisms of our populist era goes that Donald Trump is more of a symptom than a cause. Fair enough.

Discussion: Raw Story

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Forces That Stopped Obama's Recovery Will Not Stop Biden's — Joe Biden assumed the presidency confronting an economic crisis reminiscent of the one that faced him when he and Barack Obama took office 12 years earlier. But it is already apparent that the political atmosphere surrounding Biden is unrecognizable.

Discussion: PRESS RUN, Raw Story and Insider, more at Mediagazer »

David Marcus / The Federalist:

This Impeachment Is A Disgraceful Sham — Your betters want to decide who you can and cannot vote for. You should be angry. — So the petty little fascists in the Democratic Party have decided that their first order of business is telling you who you are allowed to vote for in the future.

Discussion: New York Post and Florida Politics

Jim Mustian / Associated Press:

Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, once foes, talk Trump — NEW YORK (AP) — When he was Donald Trump's attorney, Michael Cohen was hellbent on silencing Stormy Daniels, even arranging a hush-money payment to the porn actress that landed him in federal prison.

Discussion: The Hill, Insider, Towleroad Gay News and JONATHAN TURLEY

Perry Bacon Jr / FiveThirtyEight:

In America's ‘Uncivil War,’ Republicans Are The Aggressors — In his inaugural address, President Biden described America as in the midst of an “uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal.” His invocation of a civil war and the American Civil War was provocative.

Wall Street Journal:

Capitol Riot Warnings Weren't Acted On as System Failed — The federal security apparatus retooled after 9/11 fielded intelligence on the Jan. 6 rally but didn't mobilize to prevent the violence — The elaborate national security network set up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to identify …

Kate Bachelder Odell / Wall Street Journal:

‘Kill Switch’ Review: When 51 Votes Aren't Enough — Harry Reid made frequent use of the ﬁlibuster when he led the Senate. A former Reid staffer is shocked that GOP leaders have done the same. — One thing Americans can probably agree on right now is that Americans don't agree on much of anything.

Max Brantley / ArkansasTimes:

Tim Griffin abandons race for governor, to run for attorney general instead — The rumor circulated here Saturday was correct: Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin is quitting a race for governor. — His announcement early today: … The attorney general, with some limited exceptions, is not a law enforcement agency.

Dean Russell / THE CITY:

NYC Nursing Home Gave Dozens of Veterans Experimental COVID-19 Treatments. Some Families Had No Idea — This story was produced in collaboration with THE CITY, Columbia Journalism Investigations and Type Investigations as part of “MISSING THEM,” THE CITY's ongoing collaborative project to remember every New Yorker killed by COVID-19.

Associated Press:

Water fired at crowd as anti-coup protests swell in Myanmar — YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Police fired a water cannon Monday at hundreds of protesters in Myanmar's capital who are demanding the military hand power back to elected officials, as demonstrations against last week's coup intensified and spread to more parts of the country.

Discussion: The Hill, Bloomberg, BBC, The Irrawaddy, Reuters, The Guardian, Associated Press, Al Jazeera and Axios

Jason Slotkin / NPR:
Tens Of Thousands Rally In Myanmar Protesting Military Coup

Discussion: Bloomberg, Common Dreams, MyNorthwest.com, Kyodo News+, Al Jazeera, The Irrawaddy, Reuters and Associated Press

Associated Press:

Biden administration plans to reengage with UN rights council, reversing Trump — The decision is likely to draw criticism from conservative lawmakers and many in the pro-Israel community. — Time for schools to reopen safely: President Biden — The United States announced plans Monday …

Discussion: Politico and Florida Politics

Matthew Lee / Associated Press:
US moves to rejoin UN rights council, reversing Trump anew

Discussion: Reuters, New York Times, Insider and Townhall

CBS News:

Biden says “I hope to God I live up to” the job of being president — thIn his first network news interview since being sworn in, President Joe Biden said he “hopes to God that I live up to” the job of being president. — Mr. Biden told “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O'Donnell that he …

Discussion: CBS Pittsburgh and UPI

Justine Coleman / The Hill:

AFL-CIO head said he wished Biden hadn't canceled Keystone XL on his first day — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said he wished that President Biden hadn't canceled the Keystone XL pipeline project on his first day in office and instead paired it with an announcement about job creation …

Discussion: National Review

Chris Hayes / The Atlantic:

The Republican Party Is Radicalizing Against Democracy — The GOP is moderating on policy questions, even as it grows more dangerous on core questions of democracy and the rule of law. — Host of “All In with Chris Hayes” on MSNBC — The republican party is radicalizing against democracy.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Jacob Kornbluh / The Forward:

Andrew Yang on yeshiva education: 'We shouldn't interfere' — Andrew Yang said he would not take action to boost secular education in yeshivas if elected mayor of New York City, staking out a position likely to win him support in Brooklyn's Orthodox communities.

Hannah Knowles / Washington Post:

False claims hang over a Trump-loving county's plans to buy Dominion voting machines — Late last year, amid rampant conspiracy theories of a stolen presidential election, officials in a Trump-loving county in Ohio took a stand: They voted 4 to 0 to buy Dominion voting machines.

Discussion: Raw Story

Ben Smith / New York Times:

Big Publishing Pushes Out Trump's Last Fan — Top editors at Hachette have told employees that they've learned the lessons of the Capitol siege of Jan. 6: no hate speech, no incitement to violence, no false narratives. — If you were a certain kind of distinctly Trumpy public figure …

more at Mediagazer »

OCCRP:

OpenLux … THE BIG PICTURE — Why does Luxembourg matter? What's a beneficial owner? Where did the OpenLux data come from? And how did OCCRP and partners manage to use it, anyway?