memeorandum: Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Landmark Legislation to Ban Vaccine Passports and Stem Government Overreach (Florida Governor Ron DeSantis)

10:50 PM ET, May 3, 2021

Top Items:

CNN:

Cheney: What Trump did ‘is a line that cannot be crossed’ — Liz Cheney hits back at Trump: 2020 election was not stolen — Washington (CNN)Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican, said on Monday her party cannot accept the “poison” of the idea that the 2020 election was stolen and should not …

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story, Washington Post, The Hill, HotAir, USA Today, Insider, HuffPost and Mediaite

Alayna Treene / Axios:

Scoop: GOP wants to replace Cheney with another woman — House Republicans are moving closer to ousting Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) from leadership, and are already considering replacements — including Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Ann Wagner (R-Mo.) and Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), congressional aides tell Axios.

Discussion: Fox News, New York Post, pjmedia.com, New York Times and Vanity Fair

Michael Gerson / Washington Post:

Elected Republicans are lying with open eyes. Their excuses are disgraceful. — “Lord, Lord, how this world is given to lying!” — “Henry IV,” Part 1, Act 5 — For the activist base of the Republican Party, affirming that Donald Trump won the 2020 presidential contest has become …

Discussion: CNN and Outside the Beltway

The Hill:

Allies of GOP leader vow to oust Liz Cheney — Share to Facebook Share to Twitter — Top allies of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are vowing to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of the harshest critics of former President Trump in either party, from her leadership post by the end of the month.

Discussion: Breitbart, The Guardian, Slate, Talking Points Memo, Newsbusters and TheBlaze

Nick Niedzwiadek / Politico:
Cheney stokes GOP rift with ‘big lie’ rebuke of Trump

Discussion: Bloomberg, Mediaite, The Hill, Forbes, Washington Examiner, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Real America's Voice News, Daily Kos, The Mahablog, NBC News, Townhall and HotAir

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

How three major news organizations all got a story about Rudy Giuliani wrong — Incorrect information from government sources apparently led three separate news organizations to publish the same erroneous claim about Rudolph W. Giuliani last week that all three later corrected.

Discussion: Twitchy, NewsHounds blog, The Western Journal and Talking Points Memo

Glenn Greenwald:

Corporate News Outlets Again “Confirm” the Same False Story, While Many Refuse to Correct it — Journalists with major outlets know they spread a false, retracted story about the FBI and Giuliani but refuse to remove it, because their real job is spreading disinformation.

Eric Boehlert / PRESS RUN:
The Washington Post owes Biden an apology

Discussion: CNN

Apoorva Mandavilli / New York Times:

Reaching ‘Herd Immunity’ Is Unlikely in the U.S., Experts Now Believe — Widely circulating coronavirus variants and persistent hesitancy about vaccines will keep the goal out of reach. The virus is here to stay, but vaccinating the most vulnerable may be enough to restore normalcy.

Colin Kalmbacher / Law & Crime:

‘I Listened to Too Much Propaganda’: Trump Voter Gets Probation After Casting Ballot on Dead Mom's Behalf and Registering Another Dead Woman as a Republican in Pa. — A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to five years probation after he admitted to illegally casting his dead mother's ballot …

CNN:
Pennsylvania man sentenced to 5-year probation after voting in name of dead mother

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis:

Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Landmark Legislation to Ban Vaccine Passports and Stem Government Overreach — St. Petersburg, Fla. - Today, Governor Ron DeSantis was joined by local legislators and small business owners in St. Petersburg where he signed Senate Bill (SB) 2006 …

Amanda Macias / CNBC:

Florida Gov. DeSantis suspends all remaining Covid restrictions: ‘We are no longer in a state of emergency’ — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order on Monday that immediately suspends the state's remaining Covid-19 public health restrictions.

Discussion: Townhall, Raw Story, Forbes, Florida Politics, The Hill, NBC Chicago, NBC 6 South Florida, FOX 46 Charlotte and Twitchy

Mary Ellen Klas / Miami Herald:
DeSantis declares COVID ‘state of emergency’ over, overrides local restrictions

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, RedState, Axios, Florida Politics, The Daily Caller and NBC 6 South Florida

Danny Hakim / New York Times:

NRA Leadership and Bankruptcy Assailed by U.S. Trustee — In a rare move, the trustee, part of the Justice Department, called for the dismissal of the N.R.A.'s bankruptcy filing or the appointment of an outside monitor. — The National Rifle Association's hopes of end-running a legal challenge …

Discussion: Raw Story

New York Times:

The F.D.A. is set to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for those 12-15 years old by early next week. — The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to authorize use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in adolescents 12 to 15 years old by early next week, according to federal officials familiar …

Discussion: CNN, CNBC, Washington Examiner, Reuters, Bloomberg, Deadline, National Review, Florida Politics, WOWK-TV, Forbes, New York Post, The Week, Townhall and Des Moines Register

Associated Press:
FDA expected to OK Pfizer vaccine for teens within week

Discussion: Washington Post, The Colorado Sun, WCMH-TV, ABC7 and Toledo Blade

Robert Mendick / Telegraph:

MI6 spy Christopher Steele ‘produced second dossier on Donald Trump for FBI’ — The dossier is believed to be raw intelligence that makes claims of Russian meddling and sex tapes — The former MI6 spy Christopher Steele produced a second dossier for the FBI on Donald Trump while he was in the White House, sources told The Telegraph.

Discussion: Raw Story

Jessica Gresko / Associated Press:

Over Thomas dissent, high court rejects West Point case — The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a woman who says she was raped as a West Point cadet — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from a woman who says she was raped as a West Point cadet …

Discussion: Washington Post, SCOTUSblog and UPI

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justice Clarence Thomas, Long Silent, Has Turned Talkative

Discussion: Raw Story, NBC News and Althouse

CNN:

Biden raises refugee cap to 62,500 after blowback — The Biden administration will raise the refugee ceiling to 62,500 people this fiscal year, the White House confirmed, after receiving swift criticism last month when President Joe Biden kept the lower Trump-era cap in place.

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Associated Press, Raw Story, Fox News, HotAir, UPI, Political Wire and Townhall

Politico:
Biden White House reverses on its refugee cap reversal

SFGATE:

Disneyland's new Snow White ride adds magic, but also a new problem — Let's get this out of the way first: Snow White's Enchanted Wish, the revamped ride that replaced Snow White's Scary Adventures in Disneyland, is really good. The attraction preserves much of the charm of what originally opened …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Daily Mail, Raw Story, Fox Business, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Caller, Breitbart, Mediaite, Twitchy and Washington Examiner

Lee Brown / New York Post: Disneyland's Snow White ride attacked for ‘kiss without her consent’

Tracey Tully / New York Times:

Debate Erupts at N.J. Law School After White Student Quotes Racial Slur — A Rutgers Law student repeated an epithet from a legal case, and now Black students at the New Jersey school are calling for a policy on slurs — and apologies. — The controversy over the use of a racial slur …

Discussion: Reason, It Bears Mentioning and New York Post

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The mask slips, revealing the truth about the GOP voter suppression game — Republicans are responding to their 2020 losses by doing everything they can to restrict the size of the electorate wherever possible, in ways they think will advantage them. To disguise this ugly game …

Discussion: HotAir, Daily Kos, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, CBS News, The Week and Jezebel

Jonathan V. Last / The Triad:

The COVID Culture War Will Never End — Pandemics end; culture wars are forever. — 3 hr ago — 1. The COVID Culture War — Donald Trump responded to the pandemic by turning COVID into a culture war. He demonized mitigation efforts, peddled a constant stream of misinformation …

Discussion: HotAir and New York Times

Meg James / Los Angeles Times:

ESPN's Kevin Merida named L.A. Times executive editor — The Los Angeles Times has named veteran journalist Kevin Merida as its top editor and tasked him with transforming the storied 139-year-old newspaper into a digital powerhouse that thrives for decades to come.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Beast, New York Times, The Wrap, Washington Post, Deadline and TheGrio, more at Mediagazer »

Dan Diamond / Washington Post:

The coronavirus vaccine skeptics who changed their minds — The White House and public health experts study the Americans who went from ‘no’ to ‘yes’ on shots — Kim Simmons, a 61-year-old small-business owner in Illinois, vividly remembers the moment she went from vaccine skeptic to vaccine-ready …

Discussion: Mediaite

Michael Stratford / Politico:

Biden admin taps Rich Cordray, former CFPB chief, to oversee federal student loans — The Biden administration has tapped Richard Cordray, the former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to serve as the top official overseeing the federal government's $1.6 trillion portfolio …

Discussion: Insider, CNN, New York Times, HuffPost, Wall Street Journal and Toledo Blade

Adie Vanessa Offiong / CNN:

They've been beaten, trolled, threatened with sexual violence but refuse to be silenced — This story is part of As Equals, CNN's ongoing series on gender inequality. Read more from As Equals here and read our FAQs for information about how the series is funded and more.

Joseph Choi / The Hill:

Sharpton responds to Tim Scott: ‘The practice of America was built on racism’ — Share to Facebook Share to Twitter — Al Sharpton on Monday argued that “the practice of America was built on racism,” while addressing GOP Sen. Tim Scott's (S.C.) claim last week that “America is not a racist country.”

Discussion: New York Times, The American Spectator, IJR, Breitbart and Townhall

Politico:

'It's an act of war': Trump's acting Pentagon chief urges Biden to tackle directed-energy attacks — The suspected directed-energy attacks on U.S. government personnel worldwide are “an act of war,” said former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, who launched an initiative to investigate …

Jordan Davidson / The Federalist:

CIA Head Writes Memo Celebrating Chauvin Guilty Verdict, Pledges To Address ‘Trauma Of Racism’ — Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns sent an internal memo to agency staff praising the jury in former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin's trial and sharing his willingness …

Discussion: CNN, New York Post and The Gateway Pundit

Sue Halpern / New Yorker:

Facebook and the Normalization of Deviance — The trouble with waiting to address problems long after you know that they exist. — When the sociologist Diane Vaughan came up with the term “the normalization of deviance,” she was referring to nasa administrators' disregard of the flaw …

Discussion: Vanity Fair

Deena Yellin / NorthJersey.com:

‘Good Jewish boy’ or chief ‘infiltrator’? NJ man spent years as fake rabbi in Israel, groups say — A self-professed “good Jewish boy from New Jersey,” Rabbi Michael Elkohen had come a long way. — In the ultra-Orthodox enclave in Jerusalem where Elkohen now lives …

Discussion: Raw Story

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic:

Millions Are Saying No to the Vaccines. What Are They Thinking? — Several days ago, the mega-popular podcast host Joe Rogan advised his young listeners to skip the COVID-19 vaccine. “I think you should get vaccinated if you're vulnerable,” Rogan said. “But if you're 21 years old, and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’

BBC:

Hillary Clinton warns of ‘huge consequences’ in Afghan US troop withdrawal — Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned of “huge consequences” of President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan. — Mrs Clinton told CNN there was a risk the Taliban …

Discussion: Townhall, TheBlaze, IJR and Washington Examiner

Ken Dilanian / NBC News:

Intruder stopped by armed guards from driving through CIA main entrance … WASHINGTON — A police spokesman tells NBC News there is an ongoing security incident outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia that is being handled by the spy agency's guard force.

Discussion: New York Post, The Guardian, Insider, MSNBC and CNN

Lily Kuo / Washington Post:

Chinese man crosses Taiwan Strait by rubber dinghy, seeking ‘freedom and equality’ — A Chinese man appeared to sail undetected through the highly militarized Taiwan Strait in a rubber dinghy, fleeing his native China for Taiwan in search of “freedom,” according to Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration.

Discussion: HotAir

NBC News:

CVS, Walgreens have wasted more Covid vaccine doses than most states combined — Two national pharmacy chains that the federal government entrusted to inoculate people against Covid-19 account for the lion's share of wasted vaccine doses, according to government data obtained by Kaiser Health News.

Discussion: The Week, Chicago Sun-Times, The Guardian, NBC Chicago, TheGrio and Raw Story

Laura A. Bischoff / USA Today:

Ohio state senator sees nothing wrong with driving while video conferencing — Laura A. BischoffThe Columbus Dispatch — On the same day a distracted driving bill was introduced, state Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, participated in a government video meeting while driving. — “I wasn't distracted.

Gregg Re / Fox News:

Samantha Power appears on Flynn unmasking list seven times, despite testifying she had ‘no recollection’ of doing so — Gowdy: Leaking name of ‘unmasked’ Michael Flynn is a felony — Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power sought to obtain Michael Flynn's redacted identity using an …

Discussion: Breitbart

Tim Miller / The Bulwark:

Lin Wood Is Just Asking Questions — On a late pandemic Friday night, the Richland County Republican Party held its convention in a drab, windowless conference room, with the AC blowing full blast. — Among the overwhelmingly maskless congregants was Lin Wood, candidate for state party chairman …

Discussion: Raw Story, Morning Shots, The Week and Post and Courier