memeorandum: A Private Liberal Arts College Is Drowning in Debt. Should Alabama Rescue It? (Emily Cochrane/New York Times)

8:10 AM ET, December 27, 2023

Top Items:

Eric Bazail-Eimil / Politico:

Trump shares cryptic ‘dictatorship’ word cloud on Truth Social — It's not the first time Trump has called himself a dictator, but it's the first time he's said it via word cloud. — Voters surveyed by the Daily Mail described former President Donald Trump's political goals as “corruption,” “revenge” and “dictatorship.”

Discussion: Axios, Daily Mail, Althouse and Twitchy

Rob Crilly / Daily Mail:

Voters describe their 2024 choice between a Trump second term and a Biden second term as a choice between REVENGE or NOTHING in Daily Mail poll — JL Partners asked 1000 voters for a word to sum up Biden and Trump's plans — The results suggest the nation has a bleak view of the 2024 candidates

Discussion: HuffPost, The Messenger, Raw Story, The Hill, Mediaite, Axios, The Daily Beast, Breitbart, Business Insider, New Republic, Washington Examiner and The Post Millennial

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
2024 wild card: A banner year for third-party candidates

Discussion: The Hill, Breitbart and Vox

Anat Shenker-Osorio / New York Times:
A Trump Conviction Could Cost Him Enough Voters to Tip the Election

Discussion: Civil Discourse …, Raw Story, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Caller, USA Today, CNN, The Japan Times and Digby's Hullabaloo

NBC News:

Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign stops all TV ad spending less than a month before Iowa and New Hampshire — A spokesperson for the GOP candidate's presidential campaign said it has “the ability to be nimble and hyper targeted” in ad spending going forward. — Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential campaign …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Messenger, DNyuz, Mediaite, New York Times, New York Post, The Hill, Raw Story, Axios, Blaze Media and Political Wire

Debra Kahn / Politico:

Ramaswamy campaign stops TV ad spending — The biotech entrepreneur's campaign for the Republican nomination has been sputtering in recent months. — Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential campaign has ceased spending on television advertising ahead of next month's Republican presidential contests, NBC News reported Tuesday.

Discussion: The Messenger, DNyuz and Mediaite

Danika Fears / The Daily Beast:

Melania Thinks It's Time to ‘Leave Her Mark on History’ — OUT OF THE SHADOWS — Melania Trump is reportedly ready for her moment in the spotlight. The former first lady, who's made only a handful of public appearances since Donald Trump left office, was reportedly encouraged by her …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Gateway Pundit, Metro.co.uk and Political Wire

Alex Wickham / Bloomberg:

Hunt to Announce UK Budget March 6 as Tories Push for Giveaways — Treasury announces budget date in emailed statement Wednesday — Timing gives Conservatives leeway over when to call election — Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt will announce the UK's next budget on March 6 …

Discussion: Politico

Emily Cochrane / New York Times:

A Private Liberal Arts College Is Drowning in Debt. Should Alabama Rescue It? — Birmingham-Southern College was on the verge of receiving a multimillion-dollar loan, but the state treasurer balked, saying it was not a justifiable use of taxpayer money. — On a crisp fall …

Larry Neumeister / Associated Press:

1st Amendment claim struck down in Project Veritas case focused on diary of Biden's daughter — Criminal prosecutors may soon get to see over 900 documents pertaining to the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Joe Biden's daughter after a judge rejected the conservative group Project Veritas' First Amendment claim.

Discussion: Axios, DNyuz, Vanity Fair, The Messenger and Press Herald, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:

The DEI Rollback of 2023 — States start to limit programs that sow racial and political division. — The diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) bureaucracy on campus has proliferated in recent years, but there are signs it's finally meeting resistance. The latest good news is from Wisconsin …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Bloomberg:

Schaeuble, German Minister and Fiscal Guardian, Dies at 81 — Schaeuble oversaw balanced budgets, helped in reunification — Merkel appointed him as German finance minister in 2009 — Wolfgang Schaeuble, who helped forge German reunification before being toppled from party leadership …

Discussion: Associated Press and Reuters

Associated Press:

Prosecutors oppose Sen. Bob Menendez's effort to delay May bribery trial until July — NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday urged a judge to reject U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's request to delay his bribery trial scheduled for next spring by two months, until July.

Discussion: DNyuz, New York Post, New Jersey Globe and The Messenger

New York Times:

After Nashville School Shooting, Parents Push for Gun Control Action — A group of parents reeling from a mass shooting at their children's private Christian school believed no one was in a better position to persuade the G.O.P. to enact limited gun control. — Mary Joyce told herself she would be kind, just as she always had been.

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:

U.S. strikes Iran-backed militias in Iraq after troops are wounded in drone attack — U.S. forces launched retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on Monday after a drone attack that injured three service members, the Pentagon said, the latest response to dozens …

Discussion: The Messenger, The Dispatch, Breitbart, FDD, Bloomberg, Axios, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Semafor, France 24, The Post Millennial, abc7NY, DNyuz, Reuters, WBNS-TV, IJR and The White House

Associated Press:

Israeli military says Gaza ground offensive has expanded into urban refugee camps — Gaza's more than 54,500 wounded include a growing number of amputees. Health officials say overwhelmed hospitals at times had to amputate limbs, which in normal times could have been saved.