memeorandum: The New Right-Wing Bogeyman — On January 12, Keith Ammon, a Republican member … (Adam Harris/The Atlantic)

2:25 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: Insider, CNN, 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: Washington Post, Salon, Washington Times, Occupy Democrats, Jacobin, Breitbart and Wall Street Journal

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, Wall Street Journal, Salon, The American Independent, The Week, The Yeshiva World, Washington Times and Mock Paper Scissors

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, Politico, Associated Press, The Gateway Pundit, Florida Politics, spectator.us, The Week, Informed Comment, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, LifeZette, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Zenger News and Daily Kos

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, 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

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

Discussion: NBC News, American Greatness, USA Today, Washington Post and Mother Jones

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
Liz Cheney Confronts a House of Cowards

Discussion: Occupy Democrats, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, ABC News, Raw Story, Morning Shots, The Hill and Real Clear Politics

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

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Mother Jones, Raw Story, IJR, Daily Kos, 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, HotAir, RedState, KIFI-TV, Instapundit, The National Interest, Twitchy and justoneminute.typepad.com

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

Neil Irwin / New York Times:
The Jobs Report: The Boom That Wasn't

Discussion: The Week and UPI

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: Associated Press, Breitbart, The 19th, Insider, UPI, New York Post and Althouse

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

BREAKING: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won't run for reelection — By J.D. Capelouto - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wilborn P. Nobles III - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Greg Bluestein - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — In a stunning announcement Thursday night …

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

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

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Caller, The Root and Townhall

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

Christopher Cadelago / Politico: Is Fox's Peter Doocy Just Asking Questions — Or Trolling the White House?

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

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

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, Law & Crime, Forbes, HotAir, New York Post, National Review and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

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

NBC News:
Derek Chauvin, three other ex-Minneapolis police officers indicted by federal grand jury

Discussion: The Police Tribune, The Western Journal, The Week, Raw Story and The Wrap

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: CNN, WCMH-TV, National Review, Associated Press and Fox 8 Cleveland WJW

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

Discussion: Fox News, 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

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.

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: Common Dreams 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, New York Post, The American Independent, KIFI-TV, Washington Times and Townhall

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:
F.E.C. Drops Case Reviewing Trump Hush-Money Payments to Women

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, OpenSecrets.org, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze, Talking Points Memo, Reason, The Week, Bloomberg, The Hill, Law & Crime, Washington Examiner and Washington Times

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

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

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 Free Beacon, Fox News, 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

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: Crooks and Liars and Raw Story

Adam Harris / The Atlantic:

The New Right-Wing Bogeyman — On January 12, Keith Ammon, a Republican member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, introduced a bill that would bar schools as well as organizations that have entered into a contract or subcontract with the state from endorsing “divisive concepts.”

Washington Post:

Senior CDC official who met Trump's wrath for raising alarm about coronavirus to resign — Nancy Messonnier has been director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases since 2016. — Nancy Messonnier, a senior health expert at the Centers for Disease Control …

Discussion: CNBC, Insider, NPR, UPI and The Guardian

Paul Szoldra / Task & Purpose:

Retired Army Lt. Col. Allen West embarrasses himself in one-man push-up contest — Zero, zero, zero... Video evidence shows retired Army Lt. Col. Allen West can move his body as if doing a push-up but it is unclear whether or not he can still do one correctly.

Becky Sullivan / NPR:

New Study Estimates More Than 900,000 People Have Died Of COVID-19 In U.S. — A new study estimates that the number of people who have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. is more than 900,000, a number 57% higher than official figures. — Worldwide, the study's authors say …

Discussion: Institute for Health Metrics …, STAT, Mediaite, Daily Kos, The Week, Washington Examiner, Forbes and TheBlaze

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

The Daily Beast:

Melinda Gates Warned Bill About Jeffrey Epstein — After a secret meeting between the couple and the wealthy sex offender, Melinda was furious and told friends she wanted nothing to do with Epstein, The Daily Beast has learned. … Melinda Gates met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein alongside …

Discussion: TheBlaze, New York Post, Pharyngula, Raw Story and The Daily Caller

Mari Yamaguchi / Associated Press:

Packed trains, drinking: Japanese impatient over virus steps — TOKYO (AP) — Trains packed with commuters returning to work after a weeklong national holiday. Frustrated young people drinking in the streets because bars are closed. Protests planned over a possible visit by the Olympics chief.