memeorandum: How the White House Polices Language in Washington (Olivia Nuzzi/New York Magazine)

11:50 AM ET, May 8, 2021

Top Items:

Liz Cheney's months-long effort to turn Republicans from Trump threatens her reelection and ambitions. She says it's only beginning. — Rep. Liz Cheney had been arguing for months that Republicans had to face the truth about former president Donald Trump — that he had lied …

Discussion: The Guardian, Raw Story, Michael-In-Norfolk, BizPac Review, DJHJ Media, JNS.org and The Takeaway

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:

Marooned at Mar-a-Lago, Trump Still Has Iron Grip on Republicans — The vilification of Liz Cheney and a bizarre vote recount in Arizona showed the damage from his assault on a bedrock of democracy: election integrity. — Locked out of Facebook, marooned in Mar-a-Lago and mocked …

Discussion: CNN, Electoral-vote.com, The Guardian, Daily Kos, Mother Jones, HuffPost and The Time of Monsters

Brad Bannon / The Hill:

GOP is consumed by Trump conspiracy theories — Share to Facebook Share to Twitter — President Joe Biden's happy 100 days have been a sad time for Republicans. While the new president has unified Americans behind his proposals for building America back better, the Republican Party has been consumed by conspiracy theories.

Discussion: CNN and Morning Shots

Geoff Earle / Daily Mail:
Final nail in Liz's coffin? Cheney 'secretly orchestrated Washington Post op-ed by all ten living former Defense Secretaries - including her father …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times and Breitbart

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post:

Trump Justice Department secretly obtained Post reporters' phone records — The Trump Justice Department secretly obtained Washington Post journalists' phone records and tried to obtain their email records over reporting they did in the early months of the Trump administration on Russia's role …

Discussion: TheGrio, Slate, The Week, Joe.My.God., New York Times, HuffPost, The Hill, NBC News, Associated Press, Balloon Juice, Fox News, Bloomberg, Politico, USA Today, emptywheel, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Examiner, Insider, Raw Story and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Heather Long / Washington Post:

It's not a ‘labor shortage.’ It's a great reassessment of work in America. — Hiring was much weaker than expected in April. Wall Street thinks it's a blip, but there could be much deeper rethinking of what jobs are needed and what workers want to do on a daily basis.

Discussion: Common Dreams, CNBC and Althouse

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Elizabeth Warren's Book Shows She Has No Idea Why Her Campaign Failed — The 2020 Democratic primary took place in a disorienting atmosphere. The 2016 election, in which the supposedly unelectable candidate had defeated the supposedly safe one, seemed to overturn all the conventional assumptions …

Discussion: Scripting News

Miguel Bustillo / Wall Street Journal:

Cyberattack Forces Closure of Largest U.S. Refined-Fuel Pipeline — Operator of the Colonial Pipeline, the leading fuel conduit to the East Coast, said it had temporarily halted operations after discovering the threat Friday — The Colonial Pipeline, the main conduit carrying gasoline …

Discussion: National Review, Politico, New York Times, Forbes, FOX 46 Charlotte and Toledo Blade, more at Techmeme »

Zeynep Tufekci / New York Times:

Why Covid's Airborne Transmission Was Acknowledged So Late — Dr. Tufekci is a contributing Opinion writer who has extensively examined the Covid-19 pandemic. — This article has been updated. — A few sentences have shaken a century of science. — A week ago, more than a year …

HuffPost:

Josh Hawley Says He Doesn't Know If He Saluted Any Rioters, So We Checked — The junior senator from Missouri has been saying he waved to peaceful demonstrators who had nothing to do with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. — On Jan. 6, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) walked outside the U.S. Capitol …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jimmy Vielkind / Wall Street Journal:

Andrew Cuomo Investigation Expands as State Attorney General Looks at Aide's Calls — Inquiry into sexual-harassment allegations looks at whether a top adviser linked access to Covid-19 vaccines to support for the governor — ALBANY, N.Y.—The state attorney general's office has expanded …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Wall Street Journal:

Militants Attack Afghan Schoolgirls, Killing 25 People in Blast — The attack on Shiite area amplifies concerns that Afghanistan will slip into sectarian violence as U.S. withdraws — KABUL—Militants killed at least 25 people in three explosions targeting girls outside a school …

Christopher F. Rufo / City Journal:

On the Ground … The Wokest Place on Earth — Disney mounts an internal campaign against “white privilege” and organizes racially segregated “affinity groups.” — The Social Order — The Walt Disney Corporation famously bills its amusement parks as “the happiest place on Earth,” …

Discussion: National Review

Joyce Vance / MSNBC:

Judge Amy Berman Jackson's Barr rebuke opens the door to DOJ accountability — Good government requires transparency. It's why we have a free press, enshrined in the First Amendment. It's why Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once wrote, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants …

Olivia Nuzzi / New York Magazine:

How the White House Polices Language in Washington — At Wilmington Country Club recently, after playing his first round of golf as president, Joe Biden engaged in another cherished pastime: He made a gaffe. Speaking to reporters, Biden used the term crisis to refer to the state of the U.S.-Mexico border …

Discussion: Bloomberg and Althouse

Yahoo News:

‘Conspiracy is hard’: Inside the Trump administration's secret plan to kill Qassem Soleimani — Three teams of Delta Force operators peered through their scopes from concealed locations at Baghdad International Airport last January, waiting for their target: Qassem Soleimani, Iran's most powerful military commander.

Caroline Downey / National Review:

California Population Fell by More Than 180,000 in 2020, State's First Ever Yearly Drop — California's population dropped in 2020 for the first time in the state's recorded history. — The Golden State lost 182,083 people in 2020, according to data from the state Department of Finance.

Discussion: Fox News and Associated Press

Michael Brendan Dougherty / National Review:
The Next Reality Candidate

Discussion: HotAir and alicublog

Maria L. La Ganga / Los Angeles Times:
Caitlyn Jenner struggles to go from OMG moment to a campaign for California governor

Discussion: Twitchy

Thomas Colson / Insider:

Trump's widely-mocked new blog shows he is now just ‘shouting into the void,’ say social media experts — Donald Trump's new blog shows he is now just “shouting into the void,” since being banned by Facebook and Twitter, say experts. — Trump has struggled for attention since the bans announced in January.

Discussion: Raw Story and Townhall

Steven Lemongello / Sun-Sentinel:

Controversial U.S. Reps. Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene find refuge at raucous joint rally in The Villages — By STEPHEN M. DOWELL / ORLANDO SENTINEL “,sourceId: “QPEEXRFYSZCJTHWTR7BW5I2DJE”, shareUrl: “https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sun-sentinel.com%2Fv isuals%2Fos- pictures-gaetz-greene-20210508 …

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

Maryland A.G. To Appoint Panel To Audit Record of Chauvin Expert Witness Dr. David Fowler — Chauvin had two experts who testified — one (Barry Brodd) had his house targeted and the other (Dr. David Fowler) his professional license attacked. This will make it difficult if not impossible …

Detroit News:

James Craig will challenge Whitmer for governor — Detroit — James Craig, one of the longest-serving police chiefs in the city's history, will run in a bid to challenge Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in next year's gubernatorial race, a source close to the chief said Friday.

Discussion: WDIV-TV, Breitbart, WJBK-TV, National Review and Politico

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:

As Virginia GOP readies for nominating convention, Trump looms large — RICHMOND — Republicans will pick their nominees for Virginia governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general Saturday at a novel and unpredictable convention with just one certainty: former president Donald Trump still dominates …

Discussion: CNN, Vox and Fox News

JONATHAN TURLEY:

“Keep As Much Money As You Can”: Hunter Biden Disclosures Offer New Details On His Chinese Financial Dealings And Associations — There are new disclosures from Hunter Biden's laptop that offer an added perspective on his dealings with Chinese figures, including Patrick Ho …

Discussion: Daily Mail, Townhall, DJHJ Media and Breitbart

BuzzFeed News:

The Oath Keepers Are Facing New Obstacles To Recruit And Raise Money Since The Capitol Riot — Despite an apparent surge in membership following the 2020 presidential election, the Oath Keepers are facing significant new obstacles to spreading their message and raising money since …

Hayes Brown / MSNBC:

Why a Black ‘Superman’ movie could be bigger than ‘Black Panther’ — Superman is an American legend. At this point, it may not be too much of a stretch to call him the American legend, an archetype from which all iterations of the superhero mythos flow. He is a homegrown demigod …

Discussion: Forbes

Brianna Scott / NPR:

Amid Wave Of Anti-Trans Bills, Trans Reporters Say ‘Telling Our Own Stories’ Is Vital — At least 35 states are considering bills that target transgender youth, according to the bipartisan Freedom For All Americans campaign. — The bills range from restricting what team trans athletes …

Discussion: On the Media

Wall Street Journal:

Police-Overhaul Bill Draws Bipartisan Agreement on Key Issues — Congressional aides reach compromise on military equipment, no-knock warrants and chokeholds; differences remain on prosecution and liability of individual police officers — WASHINGTON—Democratic and Republican staff …

Discussion: Politico, KIFI-TV and Political Wire

Pradheep J. Shanker / National Review:

Tucker Carlson's Faulty Complaint about Coronavirus Vaccines — The cable-news host has misinterpreted data to support a dangerous strain of vaccine skepticism. — ocial media have been a source of fabulous exchanges of data, ideas, and suggestions during this coronavirus pandemic …

Discussion: HotAir

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

Ted Cruz said his election objections weren't about blocking Biden. Then someone asked about it. — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) was not about to let an upstart like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) outmaneuver him in pandering to Donald Trump's base of support. So when Hawley announced a few days …

Discussion: IJR, Mediaite, Occupy Democrats, Raw Story, Jacobin and Associated Press

Ben Leonard / Politico:

McSally's former deputy campaign manager pleads guilty to stealing campaign funds — Anthony Barry faces up to five years in prison. — Then-Republican U.S. Senate candidate Sen. Martha McSally speaks to supporters at the AZGOP Headquarters on November 2, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Discussion: Arizona Republic, Fox News, The Hill and Political Wire