memeorandum: Ann Romney and Chris Christie (James Freeman/Peggy Noonan's Blog)

3:55 PM ET, August 29, 2012

Top Items:

CNN:

Two people removed from RNC after taunting black camera operator — Tampa, Florida (CNN) - Two people were removed from the Republican National Convention Tuesday after they threw nuts at an African-American CNN camera operator and said, “This is how we feed animals.”

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Advocate, The Moderate Voice, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Huffington Post, Media Decoder, New York Magazine, The Hinterland Gazette, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, New York Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, theGrio, The Daily Dish, The Mahablog and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Jack Hitt / Harper's:

A Troubling Chant on the Convention Floor — An unscripted moment happened late this afternoon that caused the assembled mainstream media to turn away in the hope that it would disappear. As I was standing in line for a sandwich next to an Italian and a Puerto Rican correspondent, a controversy was unfolding on the floor.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Hit & Run, NBC Latino, Stinque, 24Ahead, The Raw Story, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Camp Of The Saints, Addicting Info, Daily Kos, The New Republic, Balloon Juice, Hullabaloo, Pirate's Cove and BuzzFeed

Kyle Leighton / Talking Points Memo:

RNC Attendee Allegedly Threw Nuts At Black CNN Camerawoman, Said ‘This Is How We Feed Animals’ — An attendee at the Republican National Convention in Tampa on Tuesday allegedly threw nuts at a black camerawoman working for CNN and said “This is how we feed animals” before being removed from the convention …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Hullabaloo, Politico, Saint Petersblog, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Poynter, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Wonkette, Jesus' General, Firedoglake, The Raw Story, Crooks and Liars, Guardian, Towleroad News #gay, New York Magazine, Gawker and Balloon Juice

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

CNN's Exquisitely Awkward Spot — You've probably seen that last night a convention attendee was ejected from the hall for pelting a black CNN camerawomen with nuts and saying the words “this is how we feed animals.” Follow up reports this morning say actually two people were ejected.

Discussion: USA Today, more at Mediagazer »

Justin Sink / The Hill: Two RNC attendees removed for taunting black camerawoman

David Taintor / Talking Points Memo:
Two RNC Attendees Removed After Throwing Nuts At Black CNN Camerawoman

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Joe. My. God. and Truthdig

Athenae / First Draft:
Making You Inferior With Your Explicit Consent

Discussion: Washington Post

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Yahoo News fires David Chalian — TAMPA, Fla. — Yahoo News has fired Washington bureau chief David Chalian after he was caught on a hot-mic during an online video broadcast today saying that Mitt Romney and his wife Ann had no problem with African Americans suffering as a result of Hurricane Isaac …

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air, Business Insider, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Poynter and iOwnTheWorld.com, more at Mediagazer »

Matthew Sheffield / NewsBusters.org:

In ABC Webcast, Yahoo! News's Chalian Says Romneys ‘Happy to Have a Party When Black People Drown’ — During live coverage of the Republican National Convention here in Tampa, Yahoo News Washington bureau chief David Chalian provided the perfect example of the pervasive anti-Republican bias Mitt Romney faces …

Discussion: Election 2012, Weasel Zippers, Washington Post, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, Pat Dollard, The Right Scoop, Atlas Shrugs, Outside the Beltway, National Review, Washington Free Beacon, Poynter and The Lonely Conservative

BREITBART.COM:

Send a Tip — ***UPDATE: ABC News reached out Breitbart News to name the man heard mocking the Romneys during this ABC News livecast: David Chalian (pictured) of Yahoo! News. Chalian is a former political director with ABC News, but according to ABC News has no association with the network now.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Roger L. Simon, Mediaite, Pat Dollard, The Lonely Conservative and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, more at Mediagazer »

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard: Reporter: Romneys ‘Happy to Have a Party With Black People Drowning’

Associated Press:
Republican Convention Is in Full-Throated Roar

Discussion: Politico, PennLive.com and Associated Press

Matthew Mosk / ABCNEWS:

Romney Party Yacht Flies Cayman Islands Flag — The yacht where the elite donors of the Romney Victory Council are partying in Tampa bears the flag of the Cayman Islands. Romney's use of offshore accounts for his investments has come under fire during the campaign.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Stinque, US Politics, New York Magazine, Hullabaloo, Wonkette, National Review and Mock, Paper, Scissors

First Read:

First Thoughts: Mixed messages — Mixed messages: Both Ann Romney and Chris Christie gave fine speeches, but they created a disjointed message... Christie raises the bar for Romney... Last night showcased the GOP's governors and its diverse candidates/officials... Isaac slams into Louisiana …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and CNN

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
The big speeches: Why Ann Romney succeeded and Chris Christie didn't

Discussion: Power Line, US News, GayPatriot, No More Mister Nice Blog, Instapundit and Mediaite

James Freeman / Peggy Noonan's Blog:
Ann Romney and Chris Christie

Discussion: New York Post, National Review, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, The Fix, The Daily Caller, Betsy's Page and Saint Petersblog

Bloomberg:
Romney and Christie's Hard Truth Problem

Discussion: Hit & Run and PennLive.com

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:

MSNBC abandons GOP convention during every speech by a minority — One of the left's favorite attacks on the Republican Party is that it is the party of old white people, devoid of diversity and probably racist. — If you were watching MSNBC's coverage of the Republican National Convention …

Discussion: NBC Politics, Washington Wire, Hot Air, Mediaite, Wake up America, neo-neocon, Jammie Wearing Fools, Clash Daily, The Lonely Conservative, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, protein wisdom, The Right Scoop, small dead animals, GayPatriot, National Review and Wizbang

Francesca Chambers / Red Alert Politics:
MSNBC cuts every speech made by a minority from RNC speech coverage

Discussion: Townhall.com, TheBlaze.com, Mediaite, Right Wing News, Michelle Malkin, National Review and Say Anything

David Horsey / Los Angeles Times:
Republican National Convention puts a brown face on a white party

Discussion: Riehl World News, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Jammie Wearing Fools

Ryan J. Reilly / Talking Points Memo:

Federal Judge Will Permanently Remove Florida Voter Registration Restrictions — A federal judge said Wednesday he would permanently remove harsh restrictions on third-party voter registration groups that have handicapped registration efforts in Florida this year.

Discussion: The Maddow Blog

Erik Opsal / Brennan Center for Justice:

Florida Victory: Federal Court Removes New Restrictions on Voter Registration Groups — League of Women Voters of Florida, Rock the Vote, and Florida PIRG Hail Settlement as Victory for Florida Voters — Tallahassee, FL - Civic groups and Florida voters scored a decisive victory today …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Election Law Blog

Matt Dixon / Florida Times Union:
Democratic registration all but dries up since new Florida laws

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Addicting Info and The Maddow Blog

Marcus Baram / The Huffington Post:

‘No Easy Day,’ Bin Laden Raid Book: Osama Was Unarmed … FOLLOW: — Osama bin Laden, Video, Bin Laden Dead, Bin Laden Operation, Bin Laden Raid, Bin Laden Raid Book, Bin Laden Unarmed, Mark Owen, No Easy Day, World News — NEW YORK — The much-anticipated firsthand account …

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, ABCNEWS, AEIdeas, emptywheel, Hot Air, Ricochet Conversations Feed, americanthinker.com, Tim Blair, Gawker and Judicial Watch, more at Mediagazer »

Noah Shachtman / Wired:
Bin Laden Raid Became Re-Election Mission, SEAL Book Says

Discussion: Associated Press, The Jawa Report, Media Decoder, Weasel Zippers and Washington Free Beacon

Aaron Blake / The Fix:

Why the GOP is winning the battle over Paul Ryan — TAMPA — Say what you want about Paul Ryan's politics; even Democrats in Congress struggle to find a negative word to say about him. — At least, that's what Republicans have been arguing for the last two weeks.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Gallup, The Monkey Cage, TheBlaze.com and Via Meadia

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Paul Ryan in a Word: ‘Conservative,’ ‘Intelligent’

Discussion: Politico, Guardian, TheBlaze.com, GOP 12 and Washington Post

Rebecca Cohen / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

S.C. lawmaker admits positive response to racist email on voter ID bill — WASHINGTON — A South Carolina lawmaker and the author of a voter ID law considered discriminatory by the Justice Department testified in federal court Tuesday that, while crafting the bill, he had responded favorably …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's … and The Raw Story

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:
Author Of South Carolina Voter ID Law Acknowledges Racist Emails

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Wonkette

John Fund / National Review:

Akin's Options — One name that is never mentioned from the podium here at the Tampa convention is Congressman Todd Akin, the hyper-controversial GOP Senate nominee from Missouri. But in innumerable side conversations, lots of folks are talking about him.

Discussion: Politico and Hot Air

Geneva Sands / The Hill:
Missouri Sen. Blunt predicts Akin will drop out of race

Discussion: Riehl World News and Hot Air

Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:

Erin Burnett Moved to Tears by Romney Appearance — Your ‘liberal media’ hard at work: … Scintillating analysis, don't you think? — Next on CNN: how taking away social safety nets and reproductive rights are totally awesome for American women, and then we'll go to the Chris Christie 2016 rally already taking place!

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Mediaite

Rolling Stone:

Greed and Debt: The True Story of Mitt Romney and Bain Capital — How the GOP presidential candidate and his private equity firm staged an epic wealth grab, destroyed jobs - and stuck others with the bill — The great criticism of Mitt Romney, from both sides of the aisle, has always been that he doesn't stand for anything.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

Joshua Green / Washington Monthly:

Why Aren't Conservatives Funny? — An academic's doomed attempt to explain why there are no good right-wing comedians. — Facebook Twitter Digg Reddit StumbleUpon Delicious — A Conservative Walks Into a Bar: The Politics of Political Humor — by Alison Dagnes — Palgrave Macmillan, 255 pp.

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Joan Walsh / Salon:

Rick Santorum's dirty hands — In a dishonest, anti-welfare race-baiting speech, he quietly told white people they're “dependents” too — Chris Christie got tapped to make the keynote attack on President Obama, but Rick Santorum was assigned to throw out some of the reddest meat at the GOP convention …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Spectacle Blog

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Mitt camp: Williams ‘wrong, unfair’ — Mitt Romney's campaign charged Wednesday that Fox News analyst Juan Williams's comments labeling Ann Romney a “corporate wife” after her convention speech were “unfair” and “deeply disappointing.” — “We respect our colleagues in media and appreciate …

Discussion: Hot Air, BuzzFeed and The Daily Caller