memeorandum: Trump blames George W. Bush for 9/11 (Katie Glueck/Politico)

12:55 PM ET, February 14, 2016

Top Items:

Senior U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia found dead at West Texas ranch — Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of apparent natural causes Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, federal officials said. — Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Yahoo Politics, Mother Jones, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, The Hill, USA Today, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, CBS Dallas, The Right Scoop, TIME, Media Matters for America, ABC News, The Atlantic, AOL, Vox, Mashable, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Signal, Guardian, Power Line, BuzzFeed, The Hinterland Gazette, Above the Law, Slantpoint, SCOTUSblog, Bangor Daily News, Office Of The Governor, The Daily Caller, CNBC, Courthouse News Service, Taylor Marsh, The Week, Liberal Values, Washington Free Beacon, No More Mister Nice Blog, Instapundit, Balkinization, New York Post, Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, New York Magazine, The Resurgent, Hot Air, CANNONFIRE, Politicus USA, Washington Blade, The Last Refuge, Friendly Atheist, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite, Little Green Footballs, New York's PIX11, Althouse, Balloon Juice, addictinginfo.org and Daily Kos

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

Is a recess appointment to the Court an option? (UPDATED) — UPDATED Sunday 8:48 a.m. The Senate is currently in recess until February 22. The recess began on Friday. Whether this opens an opportunity for a recess appointment depends upon how Senate leaders interpret an adjournment resolution approved last Friday.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Politico and The Resurgent

Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:

Judiciary chair: ‘Standard practice’ to not confirm SCOTUS nominee in election year — It is “standard practice” to not confirm nominations to the Supreme Court in an election year, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Saturday, following news of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, RedState, CBS News, Outside the Beltway, Vox, ABC News, WiredPen, New York Times, Politico and Towleroad

Linda Hirshman / Washington Post:

If Republicans block Obama's Supreme Court nomination, he wins anyway — After Justice Antonin Scalia's death Saturday at 79, the Supreme Court is now evenly divided between four liberal justices and four conservatives, even with Anthony Kennedy's occasional swings.

Discussion: Mashable

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

The Next Supreme Court Nominee — Let me put down a few thoughts about two circulating talking points on the possible treatment of a nominee to replace Scalia. Here is the Times framing the use of the filibuster: — Filibusters of Supreme Court nominations are rare …

Jessica Hopper / ABC News:

Ted Cruz Plans to Filibuster Any Supreme Court Nominee Made by President Obama

Discussion: Associated Press, abc11.com, The Week and Washington Post

New York Times:

Justice Antonin Scalia's Supreme Court Legacy — Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Saturday at the age of 79, served on the Supreme Court for 30 years and made as big a mark on the court and on American law and politics as some of the chief justices under whom he served.

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Daily Kos

Scott Lemieux / Guardian:

Antonin Scalia's legacy: blistering zingers and a more partisan America — The US supreme court justice will be remembered more for his dissents than legal opinions that changed lives. Given his analyses, that may be for the best — hen Antonin Scalia was nominated to the US supreme court …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico, Constitution Daily, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Vox

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Battle Begins Over Naming Next Justice — The death of Justice Antonin Scalia on Saturday immediately set off a partisan battle over a vacancy that could reshape the Supreme Court for years to come, as Senate Republicans called on President Obama to let his successor fill the seat.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Los Angeles Times, CNN, alan.com and Political Wire

Tom Goldstein / SCOTUSblog:
What happens to this Term's close cases? (Updated)

Discussion: CNN, The Huffington Post, Slantpoint, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Shot in the Dark, Daily Kos and Betsy's Page

New York Times:
How Long Does It Take to Confirm a Supreme Court Nominee?

Discussion: Guardian, Trail Blazers Blog and The Scoop Blog

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at 79

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
The Simply Breathtaking Consequences Of Justice Scalia's Death

Discussion: naked capitalism, addictinginfo.org, The Atlantic, fox13now.com, Guardian and Slantpoint

Gabriel Malor / The Federalist:
There's Ample Precedent For Rejecting Lame Duck Supreme Court Nominees

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Glenn Thrush / Politico:
McConnell throws down the gauntlet: No Scalia replacement under Obama

Discussion: Fox News, Towleroad, Unqualified Offerings and Vox

Josh Blackman / Josh Blackman's Blog:
Nominations to Supreme Court in Election Year with Divided and Unified Governments

Discussion: USA Today, BizPac Review, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit and Trail Blazers Blog

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Conservatives Quickly Refuse Any Obama Court Replacement After Antonin Scalia's Death

Discussion: USA Today, Guardian, Slantpoint, Common Dreams, Raw Story, Politico, Business Insider, FiveThirtyEight and KXAN-TV

Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Antonin Scalia, Conservative Legal Giant

Discussion: The Atlantic and Slate

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
How Scalia's Death Will Change the Supreme Court, America, and the Planet

Discussion: Slantpoint, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Weekly Standard and Politicus USA

Harper Neidig / The Hill:
McConnell: Don't replace Scalia until after election

Discussion: Politico, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, Vox, The Hinterland Gazette, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, RedState, Slantpoint and The Moderate Voice

Darren Hunt / KVIA-TV:
BREAKING: Supreme Court Justice Scalia dies during hunting trip in Marfa

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, theGrio, National Review, The Daily Caller, RedState, Guardian, Mediaite, Washington Post, CBS News, The Huffington Post, Common Dreams, Scared Monkeys, TPNN, The Hill and Slantpoint

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Antonin Scalia, Justice on the Supreme Court, Dies at 79

Discussion: BloombergView.com, Guardian, Crooked Timber, Eduwonk, Business Insider, Politico, AOL, New York Daily News, Discourse.net, Outside the Beltway, RH Reality Check and alan.com

CNN:
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dies at 79

Discussion: CNNMoney, NPR, Washington Post, New Republic, Politicus USA, The Right Scoop, The Reality-Based Community, ABC News, Yahoo Politics, KFOR-TV, BuzzFeed, Vox, The Daily Caller, ImmigrationProf Blog, New York Magazine, SCOTUSblog and USA Today

Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia dead at 79

Discussion: Slantpoint, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, The Hill, electionlawblog.org, Mother Jones and Vox Popoli

Liz Goodwin / Yahoo Politics:
GOP candidates urge Senate to block Obama's Supreme Court pick

Discussion: Politico, ABC News and The Hill

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Mitch McConnell rules out replacing Antonin Scalia until new president is elected

Discussion: RedState and JustOneMinute

Jonathan H. Adler / Washington Post: The passing of a legal giant — Antonin Scalia, R.I.P.

Michael C. Bender / Bloomberg Business:

The ‘You Lie’ Debate: Republicans Running Out of Time to Stop Trump in South Carolina — A Republican slugfest in South Carolina Saturday night pitted Marco Rubio against Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush against John Kasich and Donald Trump against just about all of them.

Discussion: TIME

CBS News:

Poll: South Carolina still solidly for Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton — The CBS News Battleground Tracker poll Donald Trump keeps a large lead in South Carolina, bolstered by support from conservatives and also from evangelical voters, who make up a large share of the electorate here.

Discussion: Politico, us3.campaign-archive1.com, New York Times, YouGov US Opinion Center News, The Week, Florida Politics, Vox and Slantpoint

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Cruz starts speaking Spanish after Rubio says he doesn't know the language … Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio clashed vigorously on illegal immigration during the Republican presidential debate Saturday night, with the candidates at one point tussling over who speaks Spanish.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, U.S. News, Washington Post, Trail Blazers Blog, Infowars, Mashable and The Week

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart:

Exclusive — Donald Trump, Ted Cruz Campaigns Bash RNC for Stacking Audience with Pro-Amnesty Donor Class — GREENVILLE, South Carolina — Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager for 2016 GOP frontrunner billionaire Donald Trump, bashed the Republican National Committee (RNC) …

Noah Weiland / Politico:
Trump dominates talking time at Republican debate

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, CNN, The Hill, Yahoo Politics, Hot Air and The Hinterland Gazette

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Trump blames George W. Bush for 9/11 — Donald Trump invoked the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center to tear into Jeb Bush at Saturday night's debate, saying they were in part a result of George W. Bush's national security failures. — “The World Trade Center came down during your brother's reign.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Yahoo Politics, Liberal Values and Raw Story

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Republican debate: Raised voices, name calling and personal attacks

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint, Hit & Run, Des Moines Register and Independent Journal Review

Patrick Healy / New York Times:
In Republican Debate, Jeb Bush Attacks Donald Trump

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and Washington Monthly

Kate Bowler / New York Times:

Death, the Prosperity Gospel and Me — Durham, N.C. — ON a Thursday morning a few months ago, I got a call from my doctor's assistant telling me that I have Stage 4 cancer. The stomach cramps I was suffering from were not caused by a faulty gallbladder, but by a massive tumor. — I am 35.