memeorandum: Pumpkin pies, pilgrims and pre-existing conditions: PolitiFact's 2018 Thanksgiving dinner guide (Kyra Haas/PolitiFact)

5:20 PM ET, November 19, 2018

Top Items:

Robert Draper / New York Times:

Nancy Pelosi's Last Battle — As she prepares to lead the House of Representatives again, the most powerful Democrat in Washington will have to navigate between a rampaging president and her colleagues' plans for fighting back. — Four days before the election that would return …

Discussion: Townhall, The Atlantic, CNN, The Daily Caller, Splinter and Mediaite

John Bresnahan / Politico:

Pelosi's bid for speaker imperiled as public opposition grows — Sixteen Democrats vowed Monday to oppose Nancy Pelosi for speaker on the House floor, placing the California Democrat's bid to reclaim the gavel in serious jeopardy. — In a highly anticipated letter that went public Monday …

Discussion: ABC News, The Daily Caller, LifeNews.com, IJR, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Times

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Sixteen dissident Democrats vow to oppose Pelosi as next speaker

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Townhall and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

CBS News:
At least 16 Democrats signal they would oppose Pelosi as House speaker

Discussion: CNN, Roll Call, Political Wire, Daily Wire and CBS Boston

NBC News: Sixteen Democrats sign letter opposing Pelosi as speaker

Brian Stelter / CNN:

CNN asks for emergency hearing after Trump threatens to revoke Acosta's press pass again — (CNN)The White House has issued a new warning to CNN's Jim Acosta, saying his press pass could be revoked again at the end of the month. — In response, CNN is asking the U.S. District Court for another emergency hearing.

WHCA:

WHCA announces acclaimed author Ron Chernow as featured speaker for 2019 dinner — The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is pleased to announce that Ron Chernow, one of the most eminent biographers of American presidents and statesmen, will be the featured speaker at its annual dinner on Saturday, April 27, 2019.

Mike Allen / Axios:
Trump targets Acosta ouster — again

Discussion: Politico, The Intellectualist, RedState, twitchy.com and Breitbart

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Trump Says in Interview He Is the Sole Arbiter of Truth — The conservative movement has long dismissed the value of neutral expertise — environmental scientists, arms control analysts, budget forecasters, or any other meddlesome nerds who question the simple verities of right-wing politics — as biased.

Discussion: Washington Post, New Republic, Fox News and Snopes.com

Peter Bergen / CNN:

Trump's preposterous bin Laden comments — Retired admiral pens stunning rebuke of Trump — Peter Bergen is CNN's national security analyst, a vice president at New America, a professor of practice at Arizona State University, and the author of “Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden from 9/11 to Abbottabad.”

Discussion: Shareblue Media, New York Post, NBC News, Politico and Daily Kos

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
3 takeaways from Trump's testy Fox News interview

Discussion: ABC News, Hot Air, IJR, CNN and Hullabaloo

Wesley Morgan / Politico:

Troops at U.S.-Mexican border to start coming home — The Pentagon is set to begin a drawdown of its 5,800 troops from the Southwest border as early as this week, the Army commander overseeing the mission told POLITICO today — even as the approaching caravan of refugees prompted U.S. customs officers …

Discussion: Political Wire and Mediaite

Jason Wilson / The Guardian:

FBI now classifies far-right Proud Boys as ‘extremist group’, documents say — Group is now designated ‘with ties to white nationalism’ according to report produced by Washington law enforcement — The FBI now classifies the far-right Proud Boys as an “extremist group with ties to white nationalism” …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Gateway Pundit, Wonkette, Raw Story, Right Wing Watch and Boing Boing

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Book Offers Firsthand Account of a Venomous Den Inside the White House — A firsthand account of the tumult inside President Trump's White House is scheduled to be published in January, the latest in a string of books that seek to decipher his unprecedented presidency.

Discussion: Mediaite, Fortune, HuffPost and Axios

The Daily Beast:

Senate Democrats Sue To Block Matt Whitaker From Serving as Attorney General — This is now the second legal action seeking to stop the now-acting AG from serving any longer — A group of Senate Democrats is suing to block Matt Whitaker from serving as acting attorney general on grounds …

Discussion: RedState, Reuters, Vox, Booman Tribune, Raw Story, Politico, CNN, Common Dreams, TheBlaze, IJR, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Axios, Mediaite, Political Wire and The Hill

Fred Hiatt / Washington Post:

Why bring a bonesaw to a kidnapping, Your Highness? — Why bring a bonesaw to a kidnapping? — That is a question the crown prince of Saudi Arabia should be asked at every opportunity. — “Thank you for granting me an audience, Your Majesty,” everyone should say. “Why bring a bonesaw to a kidnapping?”

Discussion: CNBC, Media Matters for America, Mediaite, VICE News and New Republic

Yeni Safak: The audio recordings of the Khashoggi case will be released today or this week... A quake …

Aaron Rupar / Vox:
Trump indicates he trusts Saudi crown prince's Khashoggi denials over his own intelligence agency

Discussion: New York Times, One America News Network and Reuters

David Siders / Politico:

Beto O'Rourke blows up the 2020 Democratic primary — Sparked by his narrow defeat in a Texas Senate race, Beto O'Rourke is scrambling the 2020 presidential primary field, freezing Democratic donors and potential campaign staffers in place as they await word of his plans.

Discussion: CNBC, RedState, JustOneMinute, The Daily Caller, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Axios and Talking Points Memo

Madeline Buckley / Chicago Tribune:

Multiple people, including police officer and shooter, wounded in ‘active shooter’ attack at Mercy Hospital: Officials — Chicago police and Fire Department crews at the scene near Mercy Hospital, where multiple people were reported shot Monday afternoon. (Madeline Buckley, Chicago Tribune)

Discussion: Townhall

New York Times:

Did a Tax Increase Tucked Into Trump's Tax Cut Come Back to Bite Republicans? — Republicans capped a popular deduction for state and local taxes to pay for the tax bill. That may have hurt some House Republicans in the midterms. — President Trump's $1.5 trillion tax cut was supposed …

Discussion: Raw Story

Jack Crowe / National Review:

Women's March Founder Calls on Leaders to Step Down amid Accusations of Bigotry — Theresa Shook, founder of the Women's March, called on leaders of the liberal political-protest movement to step down on Monday amid widespread backlash against their refusal to condemn anti-Semitic and homophobic allies.

Discussion: Townhall, CNN and Linda Sarsour

steveschale.squarespace.com:

So, About Tuesday Night... OK, it is time to talk about that thing that happened. No, not the Jaguars blowing a 16-point lead in the 4th quarter - though I have plenty to say about that - I am talking about the election. — Before I get into it, this election was the third consecutive …

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:

A $12 Billion Program to Help Farmers Stung by Trump's Trade War Has Aided Few — WASHINGTON — America's farmers have been shut out of foreign markets, hit with retaliatory tariffs and lost lucrative contracts in the face of President Trump's trade war. But a $12 billion bailout program …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, ThinkProgress, Wonkette and Raw Story

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

If an Election Was Stolen, Say It Was Stolen — Lessons from Sherrod Brown and Chuck Todd. — In our old feature, — What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days?, — we used to do a semi-regular weekly survey of the state of Our National Dialogue based on what went down on The Sunday Showz …

Discussion: Althouse

David Leonhardt / New York Times:
Was Georgia's Election ‘Legitimate’?

Discussion: National Review, Washington Post and No More Mister Nice Blog

Edmund Lee / New York Times:

Founder's Big Idea to Revive BuzzFeed's Fortunes? A Merger With Rivals — Jonah Peretti, the chief executive, says his company could eventually merge with other online publishers in order to negotiate better terms with tech platforms like Facebook. — BuzzFeed has long positioned itself …

more at Mediagazer »

Jay Michaelson / The Daily Beast:

Thomas Farr Devised Ways to Keep Blacks From Voting. Mitch McConnell Wants to Make Him a Judge. — A protégé of Jesse Helms wrote a law targeting minority voters with ‘surgical precision’ in North Carolina. His nomination is part of a plan to pack the courts with extremists.

Kyra Haas / PolitiFact:

Pumpkin pies, pilgrims and pre-existing conditions: PolitiFact's 2018 Thanksgiving dinner guide — The conversation may start out innocently enough, but there will be hints of what's to come after the turkey's been carved. — “I love all of you, regardless of your pre-existing conditions.”

Discussion: twitchy.com

BuzzFeed News:

A Lawyer With Conservative Ties And No Diplomatic Experience Is Being Vetted For US Ambassador to Mexico — WASHINGTON — Christopher Landau, a veteran appellate lawyer in Washington, DC, who does not have formal diplomatic experience, is being vetted as a potential nominee for US ambassador to Mexico …

Washington Post:

Trump administration officials suggested sharing census responses with law enforcement, court documents show — In internal communication filed as part of discovery for a California case over the citizenship census question, Trump administration officials suggested the possibility of …

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Embattled and in over his head, Mark Zuckerberg should — at least — step down as Facebook chairman — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg once set out a bit of digital-world wisdom that became his company's informal motto: “Move fast and break things.” — After the past week's developments …

Discussion: TechCrunch, New York Post, CNBC and CNN, more at Techmeme »

Ben Terris / Washington Post:

Elijah Cummings endured two painful years. Soon he'll be more powerful than ever. — When the word of the Lord came to Elijah, it arrived on a slip of paper tucked in a stranger's bra. — In 2017, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings had been laid up in a Johns Hopkins hospital bed for two months …

Discussion: Politico

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:

Anti-vaccination stronghold in N.C. hit with state's worst chickenpox outbreak in 2 decades — Chickenpox has taken hold of a school in North Carolina where many families claim religious exemption from vaccines. — Cases of chickenpox have been multiplying at the Asheville Waldorf School …

Discussion: KARE-TV, Raw Story, KFOR-TV, myfox8.com, KTLA and ThinkProgress

Tatiana Siegel / Hollywood Reporter:

The Dick Cheney Dossier: Inside Adam McKay's Searing Exposé of D.C.'s “Ultimate Gamesman” in ‘Vice’ — Christian Bale (who gained 45 pounds) and Amy Adams star in a satirical takedown of one of the most cunning figures in American politics as the director opens up about the current climate …

Discussion: Breitbart

Benjamin Wood / Salt Lake Tribune:

Election update from Utah County widens Mia Love's lead to 1,516 votes — Rep. Mia Love widened her lead over Democratic challenger Ben McAdams on Monday after a morning update from Utah County. — Love, a two-term Republican congresswoman, is current winning the race by 1,516 votes …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

James Barragán / Dallas Morning News:

Gina Ortiz Jones concedes to Will Hurd in race for Texas' most competitive congressional district — AUSTIN — Nearly two weeks after Election Day, Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones on Monday conceded to Republican incumbent Will Hurd in the race for Texas' most competitive congressional district.

Discussion: Political Wire and Axios

Eugene Henderson / Daily Express:

University lecturers told DON'T USE CAPS as it frightens students — UNIVERSITY lecturers have been told not to use words in capital letters when setting assignments because it might frighten students into failure. — Staff at Leeds Trinity's school of journalism have also been told to …

Discussion: Metro.co.uk, Daily Wire, TheBlaze and The Daily Caller

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo:

Op-Ed from Governor Andrew M. Cuomo — The Amazon transaction is an historic transformative moment for the entire New York City region. I have done enough development work during my career to know there is no large development project that is accomplished without controversy …

Discussion: Breitbart, Raw Story, Curbed NY and Gizmodo

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:

Trump's Lies Are a Virus, and News Organizations Are the Host — The news media today face an epistemic crisis: how to publish the president's commentary without amplifying his fabrications and conspiracy theories. — One flashpoint came several weeks ago, when President Donald Trump told Axios reporters …

more at Mediagazer »

Lawrence Richard / SARAH PALIN:

YIKES: Ocasio-Cortez Fumbles Basic Civics TWICE In 1 Statement — Email address: — Leave this field empty if you're human: — New York Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez again proved that her transition into the political fray has been bumpy, to say the least, as she recently fumbled basic civics twice in one sentence.