memeorandum: FDA authorizes Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccine, adding to the nation's arsenal against the pandemic (Washington Post)

6:46 PM ET, February 27, 2021

Top Items:

Tara Palmeri / Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: Trump stewing over McCarthy again ahead of big CPAC speech — DRIVING THE DAY — BREAKING OVERNIGHT — “House passes Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package,” by Caitlin Emma and Sarah Ferris — ORLANDO, Fla. — Friday was the warm-up act at TPAC (get it?) …

Discussion: Vox, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, CBS News, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story and ABC News

The Guardian:

Golden Trump statue turning heads at CPAC was made in ... Mexico … A golden statue of Donald Trump that has caused a stir at the annual US gathering of conservatives was made in Mexico - a country the former president frequently demonized. — Mitch McConnell says he'd ‘absolutely’ support Trump as 2024 nominee

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Humanizing The Vacuum, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story, New York Post and CNN

David Weigel / Washington Post:

Rep. Gosar criticizes ‘white racism’ after speaking at event whose organizer called for white supremacy — ORLANDO — Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) said Saturday that he opposed “white racism,” hours after speaking at a far-right conference whose organizer spoke approvingly of the Capitol insurrection …

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Washington Examiner and POLITICUSUSA

Will Steakin / ABC News:

GOP congressman headlines conference where organizers push white nationalist rhetoric — The group's leader said of Jan. 6, “We need a little bit more of that.” — House GOP leaders clash over Trump at CPAC — Former President Donald Trump was the subject of an awkward clash Wednesday …

Tommy Beer / Forbes:
GOP's Gosar Skipped Covid-19 Aid Vote To Speak At Conference With Ties To White Nationalism

Discussion: Arizona Republic

Will Sommer / The Daily Beast:
GOP Rep. Appears at White Nationalist Event Where Organizer Calls Capitol Riot ‘Awesome’

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Political Wire

Washington Post:

'It's Donald Trump's party': How the former president is building a political operation to cement his hold on the GOP — Any lingering doubts about Donald Trump's primacy in the Republican Party have been settled in recent weeks by the parade of petitioners he has welcomed to his Florida social club.

Discussion: Townhall, One America News Network and Raw Story

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Trump Will Return to Spotlight With Appearance at CPAC — Most presidents leave the White House and adopt low profiles. Donald Trump is returning to the national stage with a prominent appearance at a conservative conference on Sunday. — For decades, the normal course of action …

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Peter Wehner / The Atlantic:

The Man Who Refused to Bow — adam Kinzinger is a liberated individual—liberated from his party leadership, liberated from the fear of being beaten in a primary, liberated to speak his mind. The 43-year-old representative was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Washington Post:

FDA authorizes Johnson & Johnson's single-shot coronavirus vaccine, adding to the nation's arsenal against the pandemic — Shipments to states are expected to begin within days and accelerate during the next several weeks. — The Food and Drug Administration late Saturday granted emergency …

Discussion: Politico and The Week

New York Times:
F.D.A. Clears Johnson & Johnson's Shot, the Third Vaccine for U.S.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Forbes and MIT Technology Review

Jesse McKinley / New York Times:

Cuomo Is Accused of Sexual Harassment by a 2nd Former Aide — The woman, 25, said that when they were alone in his office, Gov. Andrew Cuomo asked if she “had ever been with an older man.” — ALBANY, N.Y. — A second former aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is accusing him of sexual harassment …

Discussion: Tennessee Star and Fox News

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Grenell to discuss potential California governor run with Trump Saturday — Former acting national intelligence director Ric Grenell is slated to have dinner with former President Donald Trump Saturday evening to discuss his potential run for California governor, among other issues, according to three people familiar with the plans.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNN, Los Angeles Times, Fox News, Forbes and Bloomberg

Lee Moran / HuffPost:
Former CPAC Chair Minces No Words Slamming What The Event, GOP Have Now Become

Discussion: The Guardian and Raw Story

Michael Kranish / Washington Post:

The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right — Cawthorn has emerged as one of the most visible figures among newly arrived House Republicans, who have promoted baseless assertions and pushed a radicalized ideology that has become a driving force in the GOP

Discussion: Vox, RedState, Insider, The Daily Caller and BuzzFeed News

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

High on Their Own Supply — Democrats work the refs. — WASHINGTON — I've been waiting for this moment. The moment when some on the left would react indignantly to journalists doing their job. — It was so enthralling and gratifying to assail Donald Trump as a liar and misogynist …

Discussion: RedState, more at Mediagazer »

Osita Nwanevu / New Republic:

The Democrats Are Blocking a $15 Minimum Wage — According to the Center for Economic Policy and Research, the national minimum wage in this country rose in tandem with both inflation and productivity gains in the workforce until around 1968. If this had continued, the federal minimum today would be over $24.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Jacobin, Digby's Hullabaloo, New York Times and The Guardian

Julie Pace / Associated Press:
Analysis: Biden ambitions run into reality of Senate's rules

Discussion: NBC News, Bangor Daily News, The New Arab, Washington Times, HotAir, Michigan Advance, KYMA-TV, Maryland Matters, IJR, USA Today, The Hill, Slate, Florida Politics, Roll Call, Washington Monthly, The Guardian and FOX 46 Charlotte

Washington Post:
Senior Democrats explore tax largely hitting Fortune 1000 companies not paying $15 an hour

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Texas Tribune and National Review

Sarah Baxter Orlando / The Sunday Times:

Bad news for Donald Trump Jr: the right is fast tiring of Trumps … Donald Trump will stride into Orlando, Florida, for his first public engagement since Joe Biden's inauguration, confident that he remains the biggest political superstar on the planet. The Conservative Political Action conference …

Discussion: USA Today

Michael Wines / New York Times:

In Statehouses, Stolen-Election Myth Fuels a G.O.P. Drive to Rewrite Rules — Republican legislators want big changes to the laws for elections and other aspects of governance. A fight over the ground rules for voting may follow. — WASHINGTON — Led by loyalists who embrace former …

Discussion: Raw Story, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, Washington Post and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

US Food and Drug Administration:

FDA Issues Emergency Use Authorization for Third COVID-19 Vaccine — Action Advances Fight Against COVID-19, Follows Comprehensive Evaluation of Available Safety, Effectiveness and Manufacturing Quality Information by FDA Career Scientists, Input from External Experts — For Immediate Release:

Discussion: STAT

Sarah Dadouch / Washington Post:

After dissident vanishes in Canada, Saudi exiles fear they are now in jeopardy — The mysterious disappearance last month of a Saudi dissident living in Montreal after visiting the kingdom's embassy in Ottawa has sent fear rippling across Canada's community of Saudi exiles.

Discussion: The Guardian, Progress Pond and CBS News

Patrice Taddonio / FRONTLINE:
Saudi Crown Prince Approved Plan to “Capture or Kill” Columnist Jamal Khashoggi, According to Declassified U.S. Report

Discussion: The Hill, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Bloomberg, IJR, The New Arab, The Moderate Voice, Mic, Vanity Fair, The Times of Israel, Insider and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Bob Brigham / Raw Story:

Trump is making noises about a 2024 run to get rich off the ‘rubes’: ex-White House official — President Donald Trump will be running for president for a third time in 2024, but the effort will be largely geared towards personal enrichment, a former official explained on Saturday.

Marc Tracy / New York Times:

How Marty Baron and Jeff Bezos Remade The Washington Post — The celebrated editor is ending his tenure at the helm of a very different newspaper than the one he originally signed on to run. — On July 30, 2013, Martin Baron left The Washington Post building and crossed 15th Street for an extremely rare happy hour drink.

more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Swan / Axios:

Scoop: Biden admin call on Putin pipeline provokes GOP anger — A briefing between the State Department and congressional staff over Vladimir Putin's Russia-Germany gas pipeline got tense this week, with Biden officials deflecting questions about why they hadn't moved faster and more aggressively with sanctions to stop its completion.

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Examiner, Florida Politics, POLITICUSUSA and Politico

Washington Post:

Biden tells the world ‘America is back.’ The world isn't so sure. — For President Biden and his circle, a low point in America's global standing under President Donald Trump came when he blew up a meeting of U.S. allies in 2018, accusing close partners of “robbing” the United States and hurling insults at his Canadian host.

Discussion: Politico, Boston Herald, Salon and The Babylon Bee

Ben Leonard / Politico:

Noem slams Covid shutdowns, defends South Dakota's record at CPAC — Potential 2024 presidential hopeful Gov. Kristi Noem defended South Dakota's record on the coronavirus, railing against lockdowns in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday,

Discussion: Fox News

Cal Newport / New Yorker:

E-mail Is Making Us Miserable — In an attempt to work more effectively, we've accidentally deployed an inhumane way to collaborate. — In early 2017, a French labor law went into effect that attempted to preserve the so-called right to disconnect. Companies with fifty or more employees …

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Sasse marches to own tune as GOP implodes around him — Ben Sasse is about to be censured by the Nebraska GOP for his antagonistic stance toward Donald Trump — again. But he doesn't care. — As Sasse's fellow Republican critics of Trump fret over blowback from a base that demands loyalty …

Discussion: Omaha World-Herald and Raw Story

Martha Ross / Mercury News:

California may get Kimberly Guilfoyle back, running for public office — A report that Guilfoyle might return to her home state raised the specter of a run against her ex, Gov. Gavin Newsom — When Kimberly Guilfoyle left California 17 years ago, bound for cable news stardom in New York City …

Discussion: Raw Story

Politico:

How Trump upended the race to control the House through 2030 — Days after the 2020 election, House Democrats convened to address some of the party's most surprising losses, and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Cheri Bustos name-checked one in particular: Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a freshman from South Florida.

Discussion: Raw Story

Umair Haque / Eudaimonia and Co:

The Dems are Blowing It — What Grade Would You Give the Democrats For Their First Month in Power? Here's Mine — I'm sorry. Accept my apology in advance. I'm going to say something ugly, and many of you aren't going to like it. But it needs to be said. — The Democrats are blowing it.