memeorandum: ‘Why? Why? Why?’ Ukraine's Mariupol descends into despair (Associated Press)

10:55 PM ET, March 16, 2022

Top Items:

As Russian Troop Deaths Climb, Morale Becomes an Issue, Officials Say — More than 7,000 Russian troops have been killed in less than three weeks of fighting, according to conservative U.S. estimates. — Give this article- - - Read in app — WASHINGTON — In 36 days of fighting …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Guardian and Associated Press

Yaroslav Trofimov / Wall Street Journal:

A Ukrainian Town Deals Russia One of the War's Most Decisive Routs — In the two-day battle of Voznesensk, local volunteers and the military repelled the invaders, who fled leaving behind armor and dead soldiers — VOZNESENSK, Ukraine—A Kalashnikov rifle slung over his shoulder …

Discussion: Raw Story and HotAir

Financial Times:

Ukraine and Russia explore neutrality plan in peace talks — Fifteen-point draft deal would involve Kyiv renouncing Nato ambitions in return for security guarantees — Ukraine and Russia have made significant progress on a tentative peace plan including a ceasefire and Russian withdrawal …

Anton Troianovski / New York Times:

Putin Assails Russians Who Back the West, Signaling More Repression — President Vladimir V. Putin on Wednesday referred to pro-Western Russians as “scum and traitors” who needed to be removed from society, describing the war in Ukraine as part of an existential clash with the United States …

Discussion: Military.com, UnHerd, Washington Examiner, Al Jazeera, One America News Network and Politico

Associated Press:

Live updates: Ukraine's military says it hit Kherson airport — LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian military forces have dealt a punishing blow to the airport in Kherson, which Russian troops had seized early in the war, the General Staff said late Wednesday. It said the Russians were trying to remove any surviving military equipment.

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Ja's topic of the day and president.gov.ua

Illia Ponomarenko / The Kyiv Independent:
Ukraine's old air defense proves unexpectedly effective in combat

Discussion: Associated Press and Raw Story

Associated Press:
‘Why? Why? Why?’ Ukraine's Mariupol descends into despair

Glenn Thrush / New York Times:
Videos Show Ruin of Theater in Ukraine Where Many Had Sheltered

Doha Madani / NBC News:
World War III ‘may have already started’ with Russian invasion, Zelenskyy says

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, New York Times, Fox News, Insider, The Daily Caller, New York Post, Alternet.org, Politico, Raw Story, Washington Post and Deseret News

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Zelensky's speech powerfully shamed Biden. But in truth, both men are right.

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Times, Florida Phoenix, Washington Examiner, Vox, Ineptocracy Chronicles, Contemporary Commentary, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, The Mahablog, FOX News Radio, New York Post and Politico

Allyson Chiu / Washington Post:

Sleep experts say Senate has it wrong: Standard time, not daylight saving, should be permanent — Sleep experts widely agree with the Senate that the country should abandon its twice-yearly seasonal time changes. But they disagree on one key point: which time system should be permanent.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway and WFLA-TV

Very Serious:

This Week In the Mayonnaise Clinic: Actually, Changing the Clocks Is Good — Plus, why Los Angeles is awesome. — Dear readers, — As you may have seen, the US Senate agreed by unanimous consent on Tuesday to abolish standard time and keep clocks on daylight saving time all year.

Discussion: Common Dreams, Wall Street Journal, Tangle, Mother Jones and Washington Post

New York Times:

Hunter Biden Paid Tax Bill, but Broad Federal Investigation Continues — The Justice Department inquiry into the business dealings of the president's son has remained active, with a grand jury seeking information about payments from around the world. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Fox News, Raw Story, The Western Journal and Political Wire

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:

Trump says Pence partnership over as ex-president eyes 2024 comeback bid — EXCLUSIVE — Former President Donald Trump is effectively ruling out tapping former Vice President Mike Pence as his running mate should he mount a third White House bid in 2024 and win the Republican nomination.

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:

‘Mo Brooks is disappointing’: Trump mulls pulling Alabama Senate endorsement — EXCLUSIVE — Former President Donald Trump is unhappy with Rep. Mo Brooks, the Republican he endorsed for Senate in Alabama, and is mulling a switch to primary rivals Katie Britt or Mike Durant.

Discussion: Breitbart, Insider, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, HotAir, The Hill and New York Post

New York Times:

Spain seizes another Russian yacht believed to belong to an oligarch. — MADRID — Spain, which has pledged to seize the suspected superyachts of Russian oligarchs targeted for sanctions imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on Wednesday impounded the third such vessel …

Discussion: HillReporter.com and Мед …

Paul Kirby / BBC:

Russia's state TV hit by stream of resignations — When Marina Ovsyannikova burst into Russian living rooms on Monday's nightly news, denouncing the war in Ukraine and propaganda around it, her protest highlighted a quiet but steady stream of resignations from Russia's tightly controlled state-run TV.

Discussion: Political Wire, France 24, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

David Gutman / The Seattle Times:

Former WA Rep. Matt Shea, accused of domestic terrorism, working to secure adoptions for Ukrainian children in Poland — Former Washington state Rep. Matt Shea, the far-right Republican who was found by a House-commissioned investigation to have planned and participated in domestic terrorism …

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

GOP senator gives trucker protesters a Capitol tour — Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) gave truckers in the so-called “People's Convoy” a tour of the Capitol last week — even as the building remains mostly closed to the public. — A senior congressional aide alerted the Department of Justice …

Discussion: RedState, The Hill, Boing Boing, IJR and Talking Points Memo

Henry Rodgers / The Daily Caller: Sen. Marshall Responds To News Senior Hill Aide Alerted DOJ After He Gave Biden-Critical Truckers Tour Of Capitol

Associated Press:

‘Right in the trash’: Texas ballot rejections soar, AP finds — AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas threw out mail votes at an abnormally high rate during the nation's first primary of 2022, rejecting nearly 23,000 ballots outright under tougher voting rules that are part of a broad campaign …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Vox and Political Wire

Reuters:

Ukraine says Russia strikes Mariupol theatre sheltering residents, Moscow denies attack — Russian forces dropped a powerful bomb on a theatre in the encircled Ukrainian port city of Mariupol where hundreds of civilians were sheltering on Wednesday, Ukraine's foreign ministry said.

Discussion: The Kyiv Independent

Associated Press:

Court orders Jussie Smollett release from jail during appeal — CHICAGO (AP) — Jussie Smollett was ordered released from jail Wednesday by an appeals court that agreed with his lawyers that he should be free pending the appeal of his conviction for lying to Chicago police about a racist and homophobic attack.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, WGN-TV, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, NBC New York, Rolling Stone, Townhall, CBS News, National Review, NOQ Report and TMZ.com

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Ex-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo considers running against Kathy Hochul despite opposition from his own party — Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been fielding calls from supporters about a possible campaign against his replacement and fellow Democrat, Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Discussion: HotAir, Breitbart, Washington Examiner, PIX11, No More Mister Nice Blog, National Review and Fox News

Sacramento Bee:

Sacramento Democratic Congressman Vic Fazio dies at 79 — Vic Fazio, a powerful congressman who represented the Sacramento area in Washington for 20 years and became known as a Democratic stalwart who could work with Republicans, has died. He was 79. — A former state assemblyman …

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:

‘The Era of the Foreign Correspondent Is Over’: Justin Smith on His Media Start-Up — The former Bloomberg Media C.E.O. offered new details on the venture he is starting with the journalist Ben Smith. — Give this article- - - Read in app — It will be named for a word that is the same in dozens of languages.

Discussion: Gawker and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »

The Columbus Dispatch:

Ohio Supreme Court rejects statehouse maps, ending hopes of full May primary — The Ohio Supreme Court struck down the third set of state House and Senate maps late Wednesday, effectively ending any hope of a May 3rd primary with both legislative and statewide races.

Discussion: The Statehouse News Bureau

Aaron Sibarium / Washington Free Beacon:

Hundreds of Yale Law Students Disrupt Bipartisan Free Speech Event — More than 100 students at Yale Law School attempted to shout down a bipartisan panel on civil liberties, intimidating attendees and causing so much chaos that police were eventually called to escort panelists out of the building.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Reason, Yale Daily News and The Daily Caller

Bryan Schott / Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah Democrats face dilemma: help an independent to try to beat Sen. Mike Lee or stand with the party — Some Democrats want to clear the field to help independent candidate Evan McMullin defeat Republican Mike Lee, but that means kicking a Democratic hopeful to the curb.

Callie Patteson / New York Post:

Kamala Harris tweet mistakenly suggests Ukraine is part of NATO — A now-deleted tweet from Vice President Kamala Harris stated Tuesday that the US was supporting Ukraine against invading Russian forces “in defense of the NATO alliance” — wrongly indicating that Ukraine was a member of the 30-nation bloc.

Discussion: TheBlaze, Fox News, Townhall and The American Spectator

Gillian Tett / Financial Times:

Why I should have listened to Garry Kasparov about Putin … A few years ago, the exalted Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov came to dinner at my house in New York. It was a memorably intense evening. As we dug into our desserts, Kasparov regaled the assembled group of American policymakers …

Politico:

Kamala's comms reset — Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. — Vice President KAMALA HARRIS' press shop overhaul is almost complete. — After months filled with tough headlines …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNN and Twitchy

Mike Allen / Axios:

Inside Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns' new Biden book — President Biden confessed in private that he didn't understand Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who helped stymie his biggest legislative dreams, New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns write in the first major book …

Discussion: Insider, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Vanity Fair, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Washington Post, RedState, Alternet.org, Raw Story and LGBTQ Nation

Myah Ward / Politico:

Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin tests positive for Covid while in D.C. to meet Biden — Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin tested positive for Covid on Wednesday night and had to leave the Ireland Funds Gala event, where he was photographed sitting maskless beside Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Discussion: Washington Post

The Boston Globe:

Founder of Violence in Boston and husband charged with fraud in federal indictment — Prosecutors alleged they pocketed money intended for the needy — In a June 2019 ceremony at the Suffolk district attorney's office, Monica Cannon-Grant was handed a check for $6,000, a grant awarded to her nonprofit …

Discussion: New York Post, Townhall, Justice News, Fox News, HotAir, National Review, American Greatness, Washington Examiner, TheBlaze, RedState, The Daily Caller, Boston Herald and CBS Boston

Reuters:

U.S. bars ex-spies from becoming ‘mercenaries,’ following Reuters series — A new law bans the United States' former spies from hiring themselves out to foreign governments right after they stop working for Washington. — The legislation, signed into law by President Joseph Biden on Tuesday …

Slate:

Idaho's New Anti-Abortion Law Offers Cash Bounties to Rapists' Family Members — The slow impending death of Roe v. Wade at the hands of the Supreme Court has encouraged red states to experiment with different approaches to tormenting abortion patients. In the months since it became clear …

Discussion: Mic, Texas Standard, Gideon Knox Group and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:

Tucker Carlson favorite Douglas Macgregor on “Stone Age” Indigenous people, South Asian immigrants, “rootless cosmopolitans,” and more — Retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor, a frequent Fox News guest, has denigrated South Asian immigrants as insufficiently patriotic, described Indigenous Americans displaced …

Discussion: HillReporter.com, Mediaite and Media Matters for America

Politico:

Top Trump ally gears up for Romney primary challenge — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, who backed Donald Trump's efforts to challenge the 2020 election results, is preparing for a 2024 Senate run that could pit him against Sen. Mitt Romney in a GOP primary.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Western Journal, Deseret News, Raw Story, Political Wire and Washington Examiner

Kate Gibson / CBS News:

Koch Industries stays in Russia, backs groups opposing U.S. sanctions — As hundreds of major U.S. companies exit Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Koch Industries is staying put. — The industrial conglomerate — the second-largest privately owned business in America …

Discussion: Washington Post, MarketWatch and Newsweek