memeorandum: This Isn't a Convention—It's a Republican Funeral Pyre (Rick Wilson/The Daily Beast)

4:55 PM ET, August 25, 2020

Top Items:

Will Thorne / Variety:

Republican National Convention Night 1 Down on DNC in Early Numbers — The first night of the Republican National Convention was down a touch in total viewership on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, at least according to early numbers. — Across the three broadcast networks …

Brian Stelter / CNN:

Sean Hannity receives special White House access for Republican convention — New York (CNN Business)When representatives from all the major TV networks visited the White House's South Lawn on Monday, part of what's known as a “walkthrough” to prepare for President Trump's Thursday night speech there …

Discussion: Breitbart and Raw Story

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

First night of RNC 2020 was very effective, to media's dismay — The first night of the Republican National Convention was, all in all, sensationally effective — and effective in ways that the mainstream media and its Twitter chatterers clearly found it impossible to understand.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Progress Pond and Washington Post

Jason Easley / POLITICUSUSA:

Trump's Convention Flops As Biden DNC Drew 3 Million More Viewers — Another troubling sign for Trump as night one of the Republican convention drew 3.2 million fewer viewers than night one of the DNC. — Via The LA Times: … Trump demanded a blockbuster convention after seeing …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Raw Story and New York Post

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:

First night of GOP convention delivers nearly six times more views than start of Democrats' event on C-SPAN livestream — C-SPAN's livestream of the first night of the Republican National Convention has attracted nearly 440,000 views, marking a substantial increase over the start …

Discussion: Townhall, Reuters, The Guardian, Gizmodo, Breitbart, Associated Press, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Axios, Twitchy, New York Post, Althouse, Fox News, Vox, ABC News and Politico

Kate Bennett / CNN:

Melania Trump aims RNC speech at erasing memories of 2016 — (CNN)In 2016, first lady Melania Trump rejected at least two drafts of speeches provided by seasoned political speechwriters, opting instead to rely on a woman who worked in New York for the Trump Organization, also an occasional ghostwriter for some of Donald Trump's books.

Discussion: The Guardian and WTOP

USA Today:

I never promised you a rose garden: Melania Trump's renovation of a national treasure — On Tuesday, First Lady Melania Trump will address the Republican National Convention from the newly renovated Rose Garden at the White House, a personal project of hers.

Steve Benen / MSNBC:

If the case for Trump is strong, why isn't the truth good enough? — To hear Republicans tell it, the 2020 presidential election is effectively a no-brainer: Donald Trump has been a great success, the argument goes, and Joe Biden is a failure pushing ideas that would take the country backward.

Discussion: National Review, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Raw Story, Breitbart and The Yeshiva World

Bridget Todd / We Are UltraViolet:
News Outlets: Don't help the GOP spread harmful disinformation. Tape delay the Republican National Convention

Discussion: The US Sun, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story, Axios, The Hill and Washington Times, more at Mediagazer »

John Daniel Davidson / The Federalist:
I Was Wrong About Trump. He Didn't Destroy the GOP, He Saved It

Discussion: Washington Times, National Review, Redstate, New York Times, Washington Post, Raw Story, Republican National Convention and electionlawblog.org

Adam Harris / The Atlantic:
The Battle for the Future of the GOP Is No Contest

Discussion: Politico, Wall Street Journal, American Prospect and Redstate

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
GOP Convention Scores First Night Hit [Updated]

Discussion: Instapundit and ABC News

Washington Post: Melania Trump will give her biggest speech in four years. Can she convince skeptical women to vote for her husband?

Washington Post:
Republican convention live updates: First lady Melania Trump to headline second night from Rose Garden

Discussion: Bloomberg

The Daily Beast:

Trump Administration Insider: President Wanted to ‘Maim’ Migrants — Miles Taylor, former DHS chief of staff, recalls the moment he said to himself “what the f*ck is happening” during a Trump meeting. Plus, the gang shits on night one of the RNC. — You thought what happened on-screen during …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

NBC News:
Miles Taylor, other former and current admin officials form anti-Trump group

Discussion: Axios, ABC News and The Hill

Bob Brigham / Raw Story:
Was Donald Trump, Jr. ‘coked out of his mind’ during RNC speech?

Discussion: Althouse

New York Times:

F.D.A. ‘Grossly Misrepresented’ Blood Plasma Data, Scientists Say — Many experts — including a scientist who worked on the Mayo Clinic study — were bewildered about where a key statistic came from. — At a news conference on Sunday announcing the emergency approval of blood plasma …

Discussion: Vanity Fair, GovExec.com, Gothamist, Raw Story, The Week, Washington Post and CNBC

Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:
FDA commissioner says he overstated effects of virus therapy

Discussion: The Hill, CBS Philly, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, Politico and New York Post

Michael Hiltzik / Los Angeles Times:
Column: Thanks to Trump, the FDA just had the worst day in its history

Discussion: The Federalist, Axios, Slate, NPR, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal and CNBC

Rob Eshman / The Forward:

The rabbi who is neighbor to Mark and Patricia McCloskey speaks out: ‘They are bullies’ — When Rabbi Susan Talve heard that Patricia and Mark McCloskey would be among the speakers addressing the Republican National Convention, she decided she could no longer stay quiet.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic, BuzzFeed News, Slate, Vox, Spectator USA, New Republic and The 19th

CNN:
Fact check: First night of the Republican National Convention features more dishonesty than four nights of DNC

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos, Fox News, Associated Press and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Clare Proctor / Chicago Sun-Times:

Jacob Blake's father says son's paralyzed from waist down after police shooting in Kenosha — The police shooting of Jacob Blake, 29, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is drawing national attention, including this protest Monday in Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed by police earlier this year.

Associated Press:
Jacob Blake's dad says son left paralyzed by police shooting

Discussion: madison.com, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, NBC Los Angeles, The Root, Chicago Sun-Times and Insurance Journal

Carter Sherman / VICE:

An RNC Speaker Said Cops Would Be ‘Smart’ to Racially Profile Her Own Son — “Statistically, my brown son is more likely to commit a violent offense over my white sons,” anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson said in a YouTube video earlier this year. — CS

Discussion: Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

ABC News:

Jerry Falwell Jr. officially resigns from Liberty University — The embattled religious leader says he informed the school Monday night. — LIVE NOW — After a daylong back and forth, Jerry Falwell Jr. officially resigned from Liberty University Monday night, he told ABC News.

Discussion: Liberty News, New York Post, The Hill, Wall Street Journal, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, The Daily Caller, The Week, UPI and Virginia Business

Associated Press:
Falwell says he's resigned from Liberty University

Discussion: New York Post and IJR

John Hudson / Washington Post:

Whip cracking, drinking and profanity-laced threats: Government office in charge of etiquette plagued by etiquette problems, watchdog finds — When the United States hosts foreign leaders and dignitaries, a little-known office at the State Department is in charge of sweating every detail …

Rick Wilson / The Daily Beast:

This Isn't a Convention—It's a Republican Funeral Pyre — His worshippers just occupied the party's temple, threw out its sacraments and put in a personal oath of loyalty. For good measure, he replaced the priests with his family members. — BEAST INSIDE

Discussion: Raw Story

Robert hagan / KREX:

New mail sorting machine at Grand Junction USPS annex thrown out — GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — *UPDATE* We reported Monday that a local USPS annex employee said a brand new mail sorting machine was being thrown out. We got that information from a viewer who called in, but there is more to the story.

Dan Alexander / Forbes:

Trump Has Now Moved $2.3 Million Of Campaign-Donor Money Into His Private Business — Senior editor at Forbes, covering Donald Trump's business. — Donald Trump continued to shift money from his donors to his business last month, as his reelection campaign paid his private companies for rent …

Discussion: Raw Story

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:

Fox News Editor Thought Their Disastrous Seth Rich Story Would Be ‘Vindicated’ — A top editor was convinced their conspiracy theory item would be proven right, weeks after it blew up in the network's face. — As Fox News scrambled to contain the damage from its discredited reporting …

Discussion: Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:

A Black Vice Mayor In Virginia Urged A Police Chief's Firing. Now She Faces Charges. — A white Portsmouth resident filed the charges against Lisa Lucas-Burke, who called for the ouster of city Police Chief Angela Greene. — A mounting political and racial controversy stemming …

Discussion: Blue Virginia and The Root

Natasha Korecki / Politico:

'He's going to be unleashed': Republican DOJ appointees urge against Trump second term — A group of onetime Republican presidential appointees who served as senior ethics or Justice Department aides are endorsing Joe Biden for president, warning that Donald Trump has “weaponized” …

Discussion: The Federalist, National Review, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Politico

Brian Schwartz / CNBC:

Hope Hicks landed lucrative gigs after her first stint at the Trump White House — Hope Hicks, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump's, landed high-paying gigs, including a Wall Street speaking engagement, between White House stints, according to her latest financial disclosure report.

Orion Rummler / Axios:

Trump says he'll nominate Chad Wolf to be DHS secretary — President Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he will nominate acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to be the permanent head of the agency. — Why it matters: It's been more than 500 days since a Senate-confirmed secretary led …

James Dawson / NPR:

Unmasked Protesters Push Past Police Into Idaho Lawmakers' Session — In Boise, the first day of Idaho's special legislative session erupted into chaos before it began. Dozens of unmasked protesters, some of them armed, shoved their way past state troopers to pack the gallery overlooking the state's House of Representatives.

Discussion: Associated Press

David Frum / The Atlantic:

The Platform the GOP Is Too Scared to Publish — Republicans have decided not to publish a party platform for 2020. — This omission has led some to conclude that the GOP lacks ideas, that it stands for nothing, that it has shriveled to little more than a Trump cult. — This conclusion is wrong.

Discussion: National Review and Raw Story

Mike Hayes / Gothamist:

A Black Teenager Was Imprisoned For Two Years After A Botched Drug Bust. His Arresting Officers Had Been Sued 35 Times — On an October night in 2014, an NYPD narcotics officer known as “Undercover 84” parked himself on a Lower East Side bench outside a housing project, and waited to buy some drugs.

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Republican Party Must Be Saved From the Conservative Movement — Conservative intellectuals have spent most of the past four decades claiming — especially during periods of Republican ascent — to be winning the “war of ideas.” Hardly any of them bother to make such a boast now.

Discussion: Jacobin, National Review and Daily Kos

Ben Smith / New York Times:

A Media Pioneer Tries Again With a New Journalism Cooperative — A group of journalists led by Maria Bustillos is building Brick House, a network of publications with an unusual business model. — In 2017, the journalist Maria Bustillos helped lead a bold experiment on the edge of tech …

Discussion: Columbia Journalism Review and Sludge, more at Mediagazer »

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:

Gail Sheehy, Journalist, Author and Social Observer, Dies at 83 — In a raft of books, notably “Passages,” she examined cultural transformations as well as the interior lives of public figures. — Gail Sheehy, a journalist who plumbed the interior lives of public figures for clues …

Discussion: Variety