memeorandum: Donald Trump does not understand democracy (Philip Bump/Washington Post)

1:05 PM ET, March 29, 2023

Top Items:

Nashville Shooter's Gun Purchases Could Have Been Blocked, and Weren't — On the menu today: The Nashville shooter purchased seven guns from five stores before the mass shooting at a Christian school, and there is mounting evidence that those purchases could have and should have been prevented.

Discussion: New York Post, Cyprus Mail, Poynter, The Daily Beast, Washington Times and HotAir

NBC News:
Fear pervades Tennessee's trans community amid focus on Nashville shooter's gender identity

Ron Dicker / HuffPost:
Katie Hobbs' Press Secretary Josselyn Berry Slammed For Trans-Rights Gun Meme After Shooting

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice: The GOP's gun obsession goes deeper than campaign donations

Hannah Schoenbaum / Associated Press:
N. Carolina lawmakers scrap permit requirement to buy pistol

Discussion: The Hill, The Right Scoop, Associated Press, Just The News, CBS17.com and Political Wire

S.E. Cupp / New York Daily News:
Gun massacres & the collapse of American values: Nashville elementary school shooting is just another that we accept

Discussion: Washington Post, New Republic, Raw Story, NBC News, The Hill and LGBTQ Nation

Tom Knighton / Bearing Arms:
Attempt at examining shooting statistics falls flat

Discussion: HotAir and Axios

Washington Post:

GOP donors open to other Trump challengers as DeSantis tries to find footing — Interviews show the desire for a backup option in 2024 has intensified amid questions about the Florida governor — Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis were nowhere to be found at this year's spring gathering …

Discussion: NBC News, Raw Story and Axios

Charlie Sykes / Morning Shots:

Judge Luttig Has a Warning for America — It was called the “tweet heard round the world.” — On the morning before the January 6th attack on the Capitol, one of the nation's most prominent conservative jurists, former Federal Appeals Court Judge J. Michael Luttig, posted a message aimed at Vice President Mike Pence.

Discussion: Raw Story

Dennis Aftergut / Slate:

Mike Pence Will Testify Against Donald Trump — On Tuesday, a federal district court in Washington ordered former Vice President Mike Pence to testify before the grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Amanda Carpenter / Bulwark+:
Why Does DeSantis Keep Letting Trump Take Shots at Him?

Discussion: Tampa Bay Times, Mediaite, Washington Post, BizPac Review and Fox News

Jonathan V. Last / The Triad:
Chris Christie Is the Worst Never Trumper

Associated Press:

Poll: Cut federal spending — but not big-ticket programs — In the federal budget standoff, the majority of U.S. adults are asking lawmakers to pull off the impossible: Cut the overall size of government, but also devote more money to the most popular and expensive programs.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Examiner, HotAir and Peoria | WMBD AM & FM

Punchbowl News:
NEW: Inside McCarthy's debt limit plan

Discussion: Bloomberg, Forbes, PoliticusUSA, The Hill, UPI, Roll Call, New York Post, CBS News, Fox News and Washington Examiner

AP-NORC:
Many dissatisfied with the government's spending priorities

Discussion: NBC News and The Hill

Politico:
Playbook: What Dems really think of the GOP's debt demands

Discussion: Associated Press, The Forward and NBC News

Ankush Khardori / New York Magazine:

How Michael Cohen's Big Mouth Could Be Derailing the Trump Prosecution — As we continue week two of the Donald Trump-indictment watch, questions abound. Is it really going to happen? Did last week's testimony from lawyer Robert Costello in defense of Trump successfully throw a wrench in the process?

Discussion: Just Security, Raw Story, Althouse and Los Angeles Times

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:
Stormy Daniels Set to Host OnlyFans Livestream Q&A Ahead of Possible Trump Indictment

Discussion: New York Post, Raw Story and Political Wire

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:
Manhattan DA Insiders Worry the Trump Hush Money Case Is Weak Sauce

Discussion: New York Daily News, Raw Story, BizPac Review, Mediaite, Fox News and 77 WABC

Keith L. Alexander / Washington Post:

D.C. U.S. Attorney declined to prosecute 67% of those arrested. Here's why. — 'I can promise you, it's not MPD holding the bag on this,' D.C. Police Chief Robert J. Contee III said. 'That's B.S.' — As the District grapples with rising crime and increasing attention from federal lawmakers …

Discussion: HotAir, Fox News, Breitbart and The Daily Caller

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

A new book-ban fiasco in Florida reveals the monster DeSantis created — By now, it should be blindingly obvious that many red-state book crackdowns are designed to encourage the impulse toward censorship. By enabling lone actors to get dozens of titles removed from school library shelves …

Discussion: Raw Story, Digby's Hullabaloo, Balloon Juice, Politico and ABC News

Erica Orden / Politico:

Manhattan Trump grand jury set to break for a month — A previously planned hiatus would push back a potential indictment of the former president. — NEW YORK — The Manhattan grand jury examining Donald Trump's alleged role in a hush money payment to a porn star isn't expected to hear evidence …

Discussion: Insider, Washington Examiner, The Right Scoop, Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, PIX11, El País and NBC New York

Natasha Lomas / TechCrunch:

Twitter is dying — It's five months since Elon Musk overpaid for a relatively small microblogging platform called, Twitter. The platform had punched about its weight in pure user numbers thanks to an unrivalled ability to both distribute real-time information and make expertise available.

Discussion: CNN, Garbage Day, Raw Story, Mashable, Forbes, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg, Metro.co.uk, Slate, CNBC, Boing Boing and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

Eamon Javers / CNBC:

Credit Suisse whistleblowers say Swiss bank has been helping wealthy Americans dodge U.S. taxes for years — The bank notoriously pleaded guilty in 2014 to criminal charges for “knowingly and willfully” helping U.S. clients hide offshore assets and income from the IRS.

Discussion: Politico, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Raw Story and Peoria | WMBD AM & FM

Steve Vladeck / Slate:

A Federal Judge Couldn't Handle My Criticism. So He Made Fun of My Tweets. — Two decades ago, writing about Bush v. Gore, my friend and former dean Ward Farnsworth suggested that “those who accuse the majority of having partisan motives underestimate the good faith of the justices …

Discussion: Reuters

Greg Miller / Washington Post:

He came to D.C. as a Brazilian student. The U.S. says he was a Russian spy. — Johns Hopkins graduate Victor Ferreira was unmasked as GRU operative Sergey Cherkasov, according to a federal indictment and Western security officials — THE HAGUE — Like anyone who gets into his dream college …

Discussion: Raw Story

Popular Information:

The dangers of Dollar General — Dollar General is one of the most successful retailers in the world. Last year, it recorded $37.8 billion in sales, up more than 10% over the prior year, and generated $3.3 billion in operating profit. Over the last five years, its stock has increased by more than 120%.

Discussion: UPI and New York Times

Dan Ladden-Hall / The Daily Beast:

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Twitter Account Restricted Over Trans Post — LOCKED OUT — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's congressional Twitter account was restricted Tuesday after the Georgia Republican shared an image about a “Trans Day of Vengeance.” Greene said the graphic was promoting an …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, Gizmodo, The Federalist, BizPac Review, USA Today, Agence France-Presse, UPI, New York Post, Political Wire, The Hill, The Post Millennial, Just The News, NOQ Report and Boing Boing

Quinnipiac University Poll:

Mixed Signals On Trump: Majority Says Criminal Charges Should Disqualify '24 Run, Popularity Is Unchanged, Leads DeSantis By Double Digits, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds — mail_outline — Americans 57 - 38 percent think criminal charges should disqualify former President Donald Trump …

Discussion: The Hill and Insider

Associated Press:

Ukraine's Zelenskyy: Any Russian victory could be perilous — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Tuesday that unless his nation wins a drawn-out battle in a key eastern city, Russia could begin building international support for a deal that could require Ukraine to make unacceptable compromises.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Institute for the Study of War, Bloomberg Politics, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, CBS News, New York Post, Euractiv, Voice of America, Al Jazeera, Wide World of News, Politico and Political Wire

Associated Press:
Russia stops sharing information on nuclear forces with the U.S.

Discussion: Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg, Fox News and Al Jazeera

John F. Harris / Politico:

Why Glenn Youngkin Would Be Crazy Not to Run for President — The Virginia governor offers two things Republicans need: A non-hostile alternative to Trump and a compelling centrist challenge to Biden. — RICHMOND, Va. — People, please, implored the Republican governor of Virginia: Let us …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Blue Virginia and Political Wire

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Obamacare Keeps Winning — Its North Carolina victory is a sign of larger changes. — The government benefits began their existence as objects of partisan rancor and harsh criticism. Eventually, though, they became so popular that politicians of both parties promised to protect them.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Dispatch, Raleigh News & Observer and Fox News

Neil Vigdor / New York Times:

Republicans Face Setbacks in Push to Tighten Voting Laws on College Campuses — Party officials across the country have sought to erect more barriers for young voters, who tilt heavily Democratic, after several cycles in which their turnout surged. — Alarmed over young people increasingly proving …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune

Starbucks Workers United:

TELL Starbucks New CEO: Respect Workers' Rights! — Starbucks claims to be a progressive company, but when it comes to respecting their workers' rights, they're anything but progressive. Instead of listening to baristas and respecting their right to a union and a fair union contract …

Discussion: ABC News, Bloomberg, USA Today, NBC News, PBS NewsHour, CounterPunch, Financial Times and New Republic

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Donald Trump does not understand democracy — For decades, Donald Trump's only boss was Donald Trump. As head of the Trump Organization, the real estate magnate did what he wanted with near-total impunity, hemmed in only by (surprisingly malleable) legal or contractual constraints and by his thirst for media attention.

Tunku Varadarajan / Wall Street Journal:

DEI at Law Schools Could Bring Down America — After the Stanford episode, Ilya Shapiro sounds a warning: The threat to ‘dismantle existing structures’ is an idle one in English class. But in legal education it targets individual rights and equal treatment under the Constitution. — Falls Church, Va.

Rand Paul / Courier-Journal:

Do Congressional Republicans really want to emulate China by banning TikTok? — Congressional Republicans have come up with a national strategy to permanently lose elections for a generation: Ban a social media app called TikTok that 94 million, primarily young Americans, use.