memeorandum: What It Would Mean to Treat Hamas Like ISIS (David French/New York Times)

5:30 PM ET, October 12, 2023

Top Items:

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Biden aides slam Trump for calling Hezbollah ‘very smart’ — Aides to President Biden and his campaign blasted former President Trump on Thursday for remarks a night earlier in which Trump described Hezbollah as “very smart” amid unfolding violence in Israel.

Discussion: NBC News, The Times of Israel, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Washington Times, Raw Story, The Federalist, The Forward, New York Post, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, No More Mister Nice Blog, The National Pulse+, The Messenger, Insider and Wall Street Journal

Bill Scher / Washington Monthly:

Why is Trump Trashing Netanyahu? — On Wednesday, Donald Trump held a rally in West Palm Beach, Florida. Considering Palm Beach County has one of the highest concentrations of Jewish people in America, the typical person at a Trump rally is quite conservative, and Israel is now responding …

Discussion: The Messenger, The Daily Beast, YouTube, The Washington Monthly …, Forbes, Raw Story, Digby's Hullabaloo, IJR and The Forward

Lee Moran / HuffPost:

Donald Trump Criticizes Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Calls Hezbollah ‘Very Smart’ — The former president admitted he could have been dishing classified information at a campaign event with a claim about the Israeli leader. — LOADING — Former President Donald Trump …

Judy Kurtz / The Hill:

De Niro warns democracy 'won't survive' Trump reelection — Robert De Niro is issuing a dire warning against the country reelecting former President Trump, saying “democracy won't survive the return of a wannabe dictator.” — “I've spent a lot of time studying bad men,” the “Godfather” …

Discussion: The Messenger, Boing Boing, HuffPost and New Republic

Marc Caputo / The Messenger:
Trump to Return to NYC Court for Civil Fraud Trial (Exclusive)

Discussion: The Hill, Raw Story and Political Wire

Associated Press:
Trump says Netanyahu ‘let us down’ before the 2020 airstrike that killed a top Iranian general

Discussion: Politico, Fox News, Sacramento Bee, CNN, USA Today, Raw Story, The Hill, The Messenger, Semafor, Hackwhackers, New York Times, Rolling Stone, Al-Monitor, Reuters and CNBC

Edith Olmsted / New Republic:
How to Make Trump Go “Crazy,” According to George Conway

Discussion: Raw Story

Punchbowl News:

10/12/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM … But worse. Maybe way worse. … Only the stakes this time are higher, the time frame is shorter, the opposition is larger and the House Republican Conference is angrier. … After winning the GOP speaker nomination on Wednesday — barely …

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

The New Republican Establishment — An alternative Trumpist governing elite gets closer to ruling the party. — In the final account, the rise and fall of Kevin McCarthy might read like the familiar tale of a Republican congressional leader toppled by a small but uncompromising right-wing faction.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

Trump suggests Scalise's health a concern in his Speaker bid — Former President Trump suggested this week that Rep. Steve Scalise should focus on his health, as the Louisiana Republican vies for the Speaker's gavel within the House GOP conference while also getting treated for blood cancer.

Discussion: Insider, USA Today, HuffPost, The Messenger, Mediaite, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Fox News, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Vanity Fair and The Daily Caller

Washington Post:

With support for Scalise in limbo, some Republicans look for alternatives — Some House Republicans have begun to privately conclude that Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) has little chance of being elected speaker of the House, throwing the fractured conference further into chaos …

Brady Knox / Washington Examiner:
Speaker vote: Scalise and House Republicans could be facing another floor fiasco

Politico:
Playbook: Why you shouldn't write Scalise off just yet

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Raw Story and Puck

Larry Neumeister / Associated Press:

A new indictment charges Sen. Menendez with being an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government — Federal prosecutors have rewritten their indictment against U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and his wife to charge them with conspiring to have him act as an agent of Egypt and Egyptian officials.

Kara Scannell / CNN:
Sen. Bob Menendez charged with conspiracy to act as a foreign agent of Egypt in new indictment

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Messenger, Politico, UPI, Associated Press, RedState, New York Post, CBS News, Mediaite and Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Erica Orden / Politico:
Menendez accused of acting as foreign agent for Egypt while helming Senate Foreign Relations Committee

Discussion: The Hill and National Review

Washington Post:

U.S., Qatar agree to stop Iran from tapping $6 billion fund after Hamas attack — U.S. officials and the Qatari government have agreed to stop Iran from accessing a $6 billion account for humanitarian assistance in light of Hamas's attack on Israel, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told House Democrats …

New York Times:
U.S. and Qatar Deny Iran Access to $6 Billion From Prisoner Deal

Discussion: Fox News, ABC News, National Review, Breitbart, RedState, The Hill and Semafor

Gabe Bullard / Nieman Reports:

Six Months Ago NPR Left Twitter. The Effects Have Been Negligible — A lot of people threaten to leave Twitter. Not many of them have actually done it. — This was true even before Elon Musk's purchase of the platform a year ago. But the parade of calamities since …

Discussion: The Hill, El País, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Times of Israel and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Shannon K. Crawford / ABC News:

Blinken describes images of Hamas attack victims, pledges US support on trip to Israel — “It's simply depravity in the worst imaginable way,” Blinken said. — Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday described gruesome photos and videos he reviewed depicting victims of Hamas' terrorist attack on Israeli civilians.

Discussion: CNN, The Times of Israel and New York Post

Todd Spangler / Detroit Free Press:
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, facing censure motion, calls Hamas actions ‘war crimes’

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, RedState, Michigan Advance, Raw Story, Washington Examiner, Insider and Fox News

David French / New York Times:

What It Would Mean to Treat Hamas Like ISIS — The instant I understood the scale of Hamas's attack on Israel, I understood the probable response. As I read reports of Hamas terrorists murdering entire families, raping Israeli women beside the bodies of their dead friends and dragging Israeli hostages …

Discussion: The Daily Signal, New York Post, Truthout, Frontpage Mag and vaticannews.va

Reid J. Epstein / New York Times:

Wisconsin Republicans Retreat From Threats to Impeach Liberal Justice — Republicans had floated the idea of impeaching Janet Protasiewicz, newly seated on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, before she could undo the party's legislative gerrymander. But on Thursday, they backed off.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Hill, Journal Sentinel, Political Wire and Raw Story

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Republican Sen. Tuberville Warns Against ‘Picking Sides in the Middle East’ in Jaw-Dropping Interview — Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is under fire for telling an interviewer that “when you start picking sides in the Middle East, it can get really messy very quick” amid the violence in Israel spurred by Hamas.

Discussion: The Hill, al.com, BizPac Review, The Messenger and Political Wire

Beege Welborn / HotAir:

Waahmbulance time: When your water pipes become rockets, it's Israel's fault there's no water — Since Hamas didn't seem to be getting any sympathy at the moment in the “Look what Israel's doing to our buildings!” quarter (I'm admittedly biased)... ...they've apparently decided to switch tacks.

Discussion: PJ Media and Twitchy

Reuters:

France bans pro-Palestinian protests, citing risk of ‘disturbances to public order’ — French police used teargas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinian people in Paris on Thursday after the interior minister said such gatherings were “likely to generate disturbances to public order”.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, BBC, The Hill, The Daily Beast, National Review, Al Jazeera, Forbes, Semafor, Breitbart, IJR, The Guardian, The Daily Caller, ZeroHedge News, Politico and The Messenger

Tara Suter / The Hill:

Van Orden defends outburst at Biden officials over Israel, denies cursing — Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) on Thursday defended his questioning of Biden administration officials at a briefing this week on Israel after other lawmakers criticized him for what they called rude and obnoxious behavior.

Discussion: HuffPost, The Messenger, Raw Story, NBC News and Forbes

Lisa Needham / Public Notice:

North Carolina's cautionary tale for purple states — Republicans have made themselves so powerful, it doesn't matter if Dems win elections. … North Carolina Republicans are having a very good year, and now that they've locked down both the legislature and the judiciary …

Discussion: NC Newsline

NBC News:

Law enforcement steps up patrols of Jewish houses of worship, businesses as calls for attacks in the U.S. intensify online — Former Hamas leader Khaled Mashal recently called for Friday to be a global day of “anger” in support of the recent Hamas attack on Israel.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Daily News and RedState

Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:

Trump Doral event with Eric Trump will feature a Hitler-promoting antisemite who killed someone — This is at least the fourth Hitler-promoting antisemite who's toured with Eric Trump — Trump National Doral Miami is scheduled to host a ReAwaken America tour event featuring Eric Trump …

Discussion: Forbes

Anthony Capaccio / Bloomberg:

US Gives First Iron Dome Interceptors to Israel — US to send more Tamir interceptors to Israel, official says — Interceptors are located in Israel but owned by the US — The Pentagon has transferred to Israel the first missiles in US inventories for the Iron Dome air-defense system …