memeorandum: The Big Lie is the GOP's one and only truth (Zack Beauchamp/Vox)

3:05 PM ET, May 7, 2021

Top Items:

POLITICO Playbook: Scarred DeSantis staffers form a support group — DRIVING THE DAY — There may be turbulence ahead for Rep. ELISE STEFANIK as she wrestles the GOP leadership post from Rep. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) next week. DONALD TRUMP is sold on the New York Republican after her unbending show …

Discussion: CNN, Insider, Orlando Weekly, Talking Points Memo, Slate and Florida Politics

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:

The Big Lie is the GOP's one and only truth — Liz Cheney's downfall shows how the GOP threat to democracy is getting worse. — Rep. Liz Cheney (WY), the third-ranking Republican in the House, is set to be stripped of her leadership post. Her crime? Voting to impeach Trump and then …

Discussion: Salon, Occupy Democrats, Jacobin, Breitbart, Raw Story, The Hill and Associated Press

Axios:

Institutionalizing Trumpism — Republican officials are rendering an unequivocal verdict: They want to cement former President Trump's politics and policies into the foundation of the GOP for many years to come. — Why it matters: The debate over Trump's post-election hold on the GOP is over …

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story, Salon, Wall Street Journal, The American Independent, The Week, The Yeshiva World, Washington Times, Mock Paper Scissors and Associated Press

Susan B. Glasser / New Yorker:

Forced to Choose Between Trump's “Big Lie” and Liz Cheney, the House G.O.P. Chooses the Lie — “Liz is a living reproach to all these cowards,” a friend of Cheney's said, but the cowards have the votes. — On January 11, 2017, Donald Trump held his first Presidential press conference following …

Discussion: USA Today, Raw Story, BizPac Review, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, Florida Politics, Politico, The Week, Informed Comment, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, New York Times, LifeZette, Los Angeles Times, Zenger News, Daily Kos and The Hill

David Siders / Politico:

How Trump is hunting down the GOP's leading families — In the civil war between Donald Trump and the GOP's waning establishment, no Republican has crossed the former president and come out ahead. — Yet as Rep. Liz Cheney's likely ouster from House leadership lays bare …

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today, Vanity Fair, BizPac Review, The American Conservative, The Takeaway, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Insider, Michael-In-Norfolk, Raw Story and RealClearPolitics

Washington Post:

Trump's out-of-power agenda: Retribution against foes, commanding the spotlight and total domination of GOP — Former president Donald Trump is moving to handpick members of the House GOP leadership team — relentlessly attacking Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 House Republican …

Discussion: Electoral-vote.com, Washington Times, BBC and Occupy Democrats

Daniel J. Flynn / The American Spectator:
What Liz Cheney Really Wants

Discussion: NBC News, RedState, spectator.us, American Greatness and Mother Jones

Morgan Gstalter / The Hill:
Cheney GOP conference deputy has complained about ‘coronation’ of Stefanik: report

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Raw Story, IJR, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, HotAir and Associated Press

Jeff Cox / CNBC:

April's expected hiring boom goes bust as nonfarm payroll gain falls well short of estimates — Hiring was a huge letdown in April, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by a much less than expected 266,000. — The unemployment rate rose to 6.1%, the Labor Department said.

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, National Review, Forbes, The Gateway Pundit, HotAir, RedState, Instapundit, KIFI-TV, The National Interest, Twitchy and justoneminute.typepad.com

Neil Irwin / New York Times:

The Jobs Report: The Boom That Wasn't — April's anemic job creation was so out of line with what other indicators have suggested that it will take some time to unravel the mystery. — It's a little secret of the news business that for some anticipated events, like a Supreme Court decision …

Discussion: The Week, UPI and Twitchy

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
Behind the April jobs report: Is there a shortage of jobs or a shortage of workers?

Discussion: The Intercept and Slate

Axios:
U.S. adds just 266,000 jobs in April, far below expectations

Discussion: Vox, Washington Post, RedState, Talking Points Memo and The Week

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

The Jolt: Why Keisha Bottoms isn't running for election - and who might jump in now — Politics is a fickle beast. In the span of two years, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has gone from one of President Joe Biden's most prominent surrogates — important enough to get vetted as a potential VP pick …

Discussion: Breitbart, The 19th, Insider, UPI, New York Post, Althouse and The Hill

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
BREAKING: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won't run for reelection

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, RedState, New York Times, WSB-TV, HotAir, TheGrio, Washington Examiner, USA Today, NPR, Raw Story, Fox News and BizPac Review

Washington Post:
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says she won't seek reelection

Discussion: The Root and Townhall

Tyler Olson / Fox News:
Atlanta Mayor Bottoms says it's time to ‘pass the baton’ as she announces she won't seek reelection

Discussion: CBS News, The Daily Caller, Associated Press and KIFI-TV

Jessie Balmert / Cincinnati.com:

Ohio GOP calls on Rep. Anthony Gonzalez to resign for impeaching ex-President Trump — Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, R-Rocky River — COLUMBUS - The Ohio Republican Party's leaders called on Rep. Anthony Gonzalez to resign for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump, a stunning rebuke of one of their own.

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, WCMH-TV, National Review, Associated Press, Fox 8 Cleveland WJW and Balloon Juice

Jeremy Pelzer / Plain Dealer:
Ohio GOP calls on U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez to resign for voting to impeach Donald Trump

Discussion: Fox News, The Hill, Washington Examiner and Associated Press

Grace Segers / CBS News:
Historian Jon Meacham says GOP “has descended into fantasy, conspiracy and falsehoods” - on “The Takeout”

Discussion: Raw Story

Associated Press:

4 ex-cops indicted on US civil rights charges in Floyd death — MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd's arrest and death, accusing them of willfully violating the Black man's constitutional rights …

Discussion: Washington Post, BizPac Review, NewsOne, JONATHAN TURLEY, New York Post, HotAir, Forbes, National Review, Law & Crime and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Dakin Andone / CNN:
Federal grand jury indicts four former Minneapolis police officers in George Floyd's death

Heather Murphy / New York Times:

4 Years After an Execution, a Different Man's DNA Is Found on the Murder Weapon — Lawyers' request to conduct additional DNA testing before Ledell Lee was executed had been denied. — For 22 years, Ledell Lee maintained that he had been wrongly convicted of murder.

Discussion: Slate

CNN:

The ‘headache’ Trump left behind for Biden on the White House lawn — (CNN)The project that's currently tearing up the White House's South Lawn initially landed on Donald Trump's desk. — The White House was in need of substantial upgrades to its future security apparatus …

Discussion: Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Brian Stelter / CNN:
Jen Psaki says she talked with the Biden transition team about a roughly one-year term

Discussion: The Hill, The Western Journal, Mediaite, The US Sun, Talking Points Memo, RedState, IJR, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, BizPac Review, Twitchy, HuffPost, Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller

Louis Keene / The Forward:

‘They Own The Media’: New Van Morrison song amplifies antisemitic trope — Legendary singer-songwriter Van Morrison released a new song on streaming platforms Thursday whose title espouses a classic antisemitic trope. — The lyrics of the song, “They Own The Media,” never indicate who the pronoun in its title refers to.

Discussion: Religion News Service

Max Fisher / New York Times:

‘Belonging Is Stronger Than Facts’: The Age of Misinformation — Social and psychological forces are combining to make the sharing and believing of misinformation an endemic problem with no easy solution. — There's a decent chance you've had at least one of these rumors, all false …

Discussion: Angry Bear

Jim Geraghty / National Review:

The Wuhan-Lab Theory Is Not Far-Fetched. Just Look at China's Reckless Rocket Program — On the menu today: The Chinese space program is about as careful and safety-conscious as the Chinese viral-research program; a deep look at the mounting evidence pointing to a lab leak …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News, Washington Free Beacon, Instapundit, Townhall and New York Times

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:
Congress is finally investigating the lab accident covid-19 origin theory

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Michael Tracey, The Federalist and National Review

Astead W. Herndon / New York Times:

Eric Adams Says He Has Something to Prove. Becoming Mayor Might Help. — Mr. Adams is the top fund-raiser in the New York City mayoral race, with key endorsements and strong polling, but he still faces questions about his preparedness for the job. — Nearly three decades ago …

Katie Shepherd / Washington Post:

Democrats on FEC blast decision to drop probe into Trump hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels: ‘Defies reality’ — The Federal Election Commission on Thursday dropped its inquiry to determine whether Donald Trump violated campaign finance laws when his personal lawyer paid an adult-film actress $130,000 …

Discussion: New York Times, OpenSecrets.org, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo, Common Dreams, The Week, Reason and BizPac Review

Nihal Krishan / Washington Examiner:
Trump celebrates FEC dropping case over Stormy Daniels and illegal campaign contributions: ‘Fake news’

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, New York Post, The American Independent, KIFI-TV, Washington Times and Townhall

Daniel Nichanian / The Appeal:

Nevada Prosecutors Are Standing in the Way of Abolishing the Death Penalty — Time is running out for the state Senate to advance a bill repealing the death penalty. Two influential Democratic senators also work as prosecutors, and the state's DA association is fighting the reform.

YouTube:

We're in it Together! Bobby Valentine for Stamford — With great humility and perspective from a lifetime of service, I'm asking for your support to be the next Mayor of Stamford - the city I'm proud to have alw...

Danya Hajjaji / Newsweek:

Marjorie Taylor Greene Insists Capitol Rioters Weren't Trump Supporters — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has sought to distance supporters of former President Donald Trump from the January 6 Capitol riot. — During a town hall in Rockmart, Georgia held on Wednesday, Greene …

Discussion: Raw Story and Crooks and Liars

Cathy Merrill / Washington Post:

As a CEO, I worry about the erosion of office culture with more remote work … Cathy Merrill is chief executive of Washingtonian Media. — Like many of my fellow small-business owners, I am excited about the prospect of returning to in-person work but am struggling with when and how to safely reopen …

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Beast, KIFI-TV, Nieman Lab, New York Times, Mediaite and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

Taylor Lorenz / New York Times:

Elon Musk: Memelord or Meme Lifter? — The billionaire has been posting content creators' work without credit. Some are frustrated; others, simply puzzled. — Elon Musk — the Tesla chief executive, SpaceX founder and soon-to-be “Saturday Night Live” host — is an open admirer of memes.

United States Capitol Police:

USCP Response to OIG Report #3 — The United States Capitol Police has already taken significant steps to implement the recommendations detailed in the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) third flash report on counter-surveillance and threat assessments. — All recommended policy updates …

Discussion: Insider, CNBC, Politico, CBS News and Forbes

Christopher Cadelago / Politico:

Is Fox's Peter Doocy Just Asking Questions — Or Trolling the White House? — It was late March, days before Joe Biden would hold his first formal news conference, and the on-air personalities at Fox News were setting the stage for a titanic collision between the president and the network's new, 33-year-old White House correspondent.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars