memeorandum: I never promised you a rose garden: Melania Trump's renovation of a national treasure (USA Today)

2:15 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 …

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, Washington Post and Progress Pond

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

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

Discussion: Redstate, New York Times, Washington Post, Republican National Convention, Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Times

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

Discussion: Instapundit and ABC News

NBC News:
Diplomats aghast as Pompeo set to address GOP convention from Jerusalem

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos, The Week, Axios, Project On Government …, Vox and Politico

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
The Mirror-Image Convention — The first night of the 2020 Republican National Convention …

Discussion: Reason

Associated Press:
Republican convention showcases rising stars, dark warnings

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, AFP, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, The Hill, The Moderate Voice, Associated Press, NPR, The American Spectator, The Week, The American Independent and The Guardian

Politico:
A GOP convention surprise: Trump goes all-in on race

Discussion: The Hill

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: Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

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

Discussion: Althouse

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

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

Daniel Lippman / Politico:
Former Trump DHS officials launch anti-Trump group

Discussion: ABC News, NBC News, Fox News, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Post, IJR, CNN, Breitbart, One America News Network, The Hill, The Week, The Daily Beast, Reuters, CNN, The Daily Caller, CNBC, Just The News and Al Jazeera

CNN:
Transcript: Nikki Haley's RNC speech

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Post, Fox News and Townhall

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

CNN:

Fact check: First night of the Republican National Convention features more dishonesty than four nights of DNC — Washington (CNN)The Republican National Convention started off with a parade of dishonesty, in stark contrast with last week's Democratic convention.

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

Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:
I Thought I'd Be Mocking the McCloskeys. Boy, Was I Wrong.

Discussion: Raw Story, Althouse, Politico and Breitbart

Washington Post:
Fact-checking the first night of the 2020 Republican National Convention

Discussion: Fox News, Vox, National Review, Reuters, Sean Hannity, New York Times, electionlawblog.org and The Week

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: Gothamist, Raw Story, The Week, Washington Post and CNBC

Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:

FDA commissioner says he overstated effects of virus therapy — WASHINGTON (AP) — Responding to an outcry from medical experts, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn on Tuesday apologized for overstating the life-saving benefits of treating COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, Politico and Bloomberg

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

Discussion: Axios, Wall Street Journal, Daily Kos and CNBC

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: The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times, Fox News, NPR, Associated Press, FOX 5 San Diego, NBC Los Angeles, The Root, The Daily Caller and Insurance Journal

Stephen Maturen / Reuters:
Wisconsin city center burns amid protests over police shooting of Black man

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Redstate and Washington Post

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, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller, The Week, Fox News, UPI, Talking Points Memo, Virginia Business, Associated Press, New York Post and CNN

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

Discussion: IJR

Religion News Service:
Jerry Falwell Jr. resigns from Liberty University. Again.

Discussion: BillMoyers.com, Right Wing Watch, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, New York Post, Virginia Business, Washington Post, Politico, Daily Kos, National Review, The Daily Caller, Political Flare and The Hill

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.

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

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: Associated Press, POLITICUSUSA and Raw Story

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 …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ABC News, National Review, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Reuters, Fox News, The Hill, The American Independent, Just The News, The Daily Caller, UPI and Washington Times

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: Raw Story

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.

Keith Ridler / Associated Press: Crowd shatters glass to get to Idaho House session on virus

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

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

Arizona Republic:

California is a failed state. How do we know? They're moving to Arizona in droves — Driving across Arizona, it's hard not to notice a surge in California license plates. The reason for this is becoming more apparent every day. California is a failed state.

Teo Armus / Washington Post: Kimberly Guilfoyle trashed California. She goes way back with two of the state's most important Democrats.

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.