memeorandum: Vivek Ramaswamy's “cold, cultural civil war” (Davidrlurie/Public Notice)

12:10 PM ET, September 1, 2023

Top Items:

Benjamin Mueller / New York Times:

Mitch McConnell May Be Experiencing Small Seizures, Doctors Suggest — Two episodes, where the Republican senator froze and did not respond to some questions, may be symptoms of a serious illness, according to neurologists not involved in his medical care. — A four-line letter …

Discussion: Insider, The Daily Caller, NewsNation, Breitbart and Mediaite

Kelby Vera / HuffPost:
Nikki Haley Calls Senate A ‘Privileged Nursing Home’ After McConnell Freezes

Discussion: USA Today, The American Spectator, Mediaite, Los Angeles Times, The Messenger, The Hill, RedState, The Daily Caller, One America News Network, Breitbart, Raw Story, Fox News, CNN and Twitchy

Timothy Nerozzi / Fox News:
Nikki Haley calls Senate ‘most privileged nursing home in the country,’ says McConnell freeze-up was ‘sad’

Discussion: Washington Examiner, HuffPost, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, DC Enquirer, PBS NewsHour, CBS News and CNN

Jack Shafer / Politico:
Why Is Nobody Doing Anything About Mitch McConnell?

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Bloomberg Government, Washington Examiner, Forbes, Florida Phoenix, HuffPost, The Hill, Raw Story, IJR, CBS News, Axios, CNN and Digby's Hullabaloo

Washington Post:
McConnell ‘medically clear’ to do job, says attending physician to Congress

Politico:
Playbook: Mitch McConnell's untenable silence

Discussion: Punchbowl News, The Daily Beast and Vanity Fair

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:
Ingraham Wants Mitch McConnell to Resign Just So She Can Keep Calling Biden ‘Decrepit’

Discussion: RedState, New Republic, New York Post, IJR, Washington Examiner, NBC News, The Daily Caller, Fox News, The Hill, The Messenger, Insider, Mediaite, Politico, Raw Story and UPROXX

Holly Otterbein / Politico:

Pennsylvania is key for Biden. Democrats there say the party is in shambles. — It's not just the presidential race at stake. A major state Supreme Court race is this year. — PHILADELPHIA — In anticipation of a major gathering of rural activists a few weeks ago …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller

Politico:

Playbook: How Chuck Schumer sees September — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — STATE OF THE ‘BLUE WALL’ — “'It's amateur hour': Democrats panic about state of the Pennsylvania party,” by Holly Otterbein: “'It's a f—ing disaster,' said a former state party staffer.

Discussion: The Hill, Forbes and The Messenger

New York Times:
DeSantis Super PAC's Urgent Plea to Donors: ‘We Need 50 Million Bucks’

Discussion: Yahoo News, New York Post, ABC News, Nevada Globe, Raw Story, The Post Millennial and NBC News

CNN:
DeSantis-aligned super PAC asked for $50 million from donors on day of first GOP primary debate, leaked audio shows

Discussion: HotAir, Florida Politics, Daily Mail, Twitchy, The Messenger and DC Enquirer

Tom Jackman / Washington Post:

Proud Boys leader, Capitol window smasher set to be sentenced — Prosecutors are seeking 30 years for Ethan Nordean and 20 years for Dominic Pezzola, but judge gave shorter terms to two Proud Boys on Thursday — Two of the most visible members of the Proud Boys, one who helped lead …

Brett Bachman / The Daily Beast:

Trump Aide Outed as Jan. 6 Rioter Who Threatened Cops — SHOWING HIS TRUE COLORS — A powerful campaign official with former President Donald Trump's New Hampshire operation was outed Thursday as one of the rioters who confronted police outside the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, telling one officer: “go hang yourself.”

NBC News:
Trump campaign aide told police officers to ‘go hang yourself’ at Jan. 6 riot

Discussion: HuffPost, Raw Story, NH Journal, Associated Press and The Hill

CNN:

'Trump isn't funding any of us': Co-defendants in Georgia case are struggling with mounting legal bills — Some of Donald Trump's co-defendants in the sprawling election subversion case in Georgia are trying all sorts of ways to fund their mounting legal bills - yet the costs …

Discussion: NewsNation, UPROXX and PoliticusUSA

Graham Kates / CBS News:
Giuliani to enter not guilty plea in Fulton County case, waive arraignment

Caroline Kitchener / Washington Post:

Highways are the next antiabortion target. One Texas town is resisting. — A new ordinance, passed in several jurisdictions and under consideration elsewhere, aims to stop people from using local roads to drive someone out of state for an abortion — LLANO, Tex. — No one could remember …

Discussion: Eschaton

Davidrlurie / Public Notice:

Vivek Ramaswamy's “cold, cultural civil war” — His embrace of right-wing extremism is transparently phony. But it's working. … Events are proceeding according to plan for Vivek Ramaswamy. He's using a destined-to-fail run for the presidency as a vehicle for becoming …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

ABC News:

State election officials prepare for efforts to disqualify Trump under 14th Amendment — New Hampshire, Michigan and Arizona are bracing for lawsuits. — Efforts to keep former President Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment are gaining momentum as election officials …

Discussion: The Hill, One America News Network, The Bulwark and CNN

Mother Jones:

A New Rudy Scandal: FBI Agent Says Giuliani Was Co-opted by Russian Intelligence — The whistleblower says his probe of Giuliani's ties to suspected Russian operatives was thwarted. — It was big news when Rudy Giuliani, once hailed as America's Mayor, was indicted last month …

Chris Geidner / Law Dork with Chris Geidner:

Judge doubles down on Southwest “religious-liberty training” sanctions order — Judge Starr refused to put the sanctions on hold while the airline appeals, called questions about requiring the training from a far-right group a “gripe.” — U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr stood by his …

Roger Sollenberger / The Daily Beast:

Matt Schlapp Held an Exorcism at CPAC Offices After Junior Employees Resigned — Matt Schlapp wanted to rid the CPAC offices of evil spirits, so he got a Catholic priest to sprinkle holy water on the office furniture and employees, multiple sources said.

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Mediaite, Raw Story and Political Wire

Tyler Kingkade / NBC News:

California's Democratic leaders escalate fights with conservative school boards — Top Democratic officials have intervened in school board politics more than in any other blue state. Conservatives hope it'll drive more support to their side. — Democratic state officials in California …

Discussion: Al Jazeera

Washington Examiner:

Biden's bad gift to Big Pot — The Biden administration ignored “the science” this week and exacerbated a growing national health problem, all to win young people's votes and give massive tax breaks to friends in the marijuana industry. — The federal Drug Enforcement Agency …

Discussion: Marijuana Moment, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, One America News Network, ABC News, The Post Millennial and The Hill

Matt Seyler / ABC News:

Daring helicopter rescue earns Vietnam veteran Medal of Honor 55 years later — President Joe Biden will make the award Sept. 5, the White House said Friday. — Army attack helicopter pilot Larry Taylor scrambled to rescue a small patrol of soldiers surrounded by enemies on the ground in Vietnam …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Times and The White House

Associated Press:

Election workers have gotten death threats and warnings they will be lynched, the US government says — More than a dozen people nationally have been charged with threatening election workers by a Justice Department unit trying to stem the tide of violent and graphic threats against people who count and secure the vote.

Discussion: Raw Story and New York Daily News