memeorandum: The Misery at the Heart of the Conflict (New York Times)

10:00 PM ET, May 22, 2021

Top Items:

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:

CNN Drops Rick Santorum After Racist Comments About Native Americans — The former GOP senator lost his contract with the network after claiming there was “nothing” in America before white colonizers arrived. — CNN has terminated its contract with senior political commentator Rick Santorum after racist …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Forbes, Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, Joe.My.God., The Guardian, The Hill, Mediaite, Insider, TVNewser, Political Wire and New York Post, more at Mediagazer »

Jesus Jiménez / New York Times:

CNN Drops Rick Santorum After Dismissive Comments About Native Americans — Mr. Santorum, a former Republican presidential candidate, said at a conservative political event last month that “we birthed a nation from nothing — I mean, there was nothing here.”

Discussion: Bloomberg

New York Times:

The Misery at the Heart of the Conflict — An eviction in East Jerusalem lies at the center of a conflict that led to war between Israel and Hamas. But for millions of Palestinians, the routine indignities of occupation are part of daily life. — JERUSALEM — Muhammad Sandouka built …

Discussion: CNN and Al-Monitor

Barak Ravid / Axios:

11 days, 8 calls and a ceasefire: Inside Biden's response to the Gaza crisis — Before 11 days of fighting in the Gaza Strip ended in a ceasefire, President Biden held six phone calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and one with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Discussion: RedState

Rula Jebreal / Washington Post:

The cease-fire may hold. But Israel's treatment of Palestinians won't change. — We're second-class citizens in what's supposed to be our country, too — We Palestinians in Israel are never permitted to forget what we are: second-class citizens. Israel's political establishment regularly …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Guardian and HuffPost

Andy Sullivan / Reuters:

U.S. seizes $90,000 from man who sold footage of U.S. Capitol riot — U.S. authorities have confiscated roughly $90,000 from a Utah man who sold footage of a woman being fatally shot during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump, according to court filings.

Discussion: Raw Story, HotAir, RedState, Insider and Townhall, more at Mediagazer »

Reuters:

EXCLUSIVE In tactical shift, Iran grows new, loyal elite from among Iraqi militias — Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS — Iran has hand picked hundreds of trusted fighters from among the cadres of its most powerful militia allies in Iraq, forming smaller …

Discussion: Associated Press and Algemeiner.com

Reuters:
Pentagon chief unable to talk to Chinese military leaders despite repeated attempts

Discussion: Townhall

Reuters:
Blinken to visit Israel, West Bank on May 26-27, source says

Discussion: National Review, Fox News and Bloomberg

Hamed Aleaziz / BuzzFeed News:

Biden Will Allow Haitian Immigrants In The US To Obtain Temporary Protected Status — The Biden administration will grant more than 100,000 Haitians in the US the opportunity to gain Temporary Protected Status, shielding them from deportation and allowing them to obtain work permits …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, CBS News, Fox News, Breitbart, TheGrio, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Florida Politics and KEYT-TV

Department of Homeland Security:

Secretary Mayorkas Designates Haiti for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months — New Designation Allows Eligible Haitians to Apply for TPS and Employment Authorization — WASHINGTON - Today, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced a new 18-month designation of Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS).

Discussion: UndocuBlack Network, Al Jazeera, New York Post and ImmigrationProf Blog

Ali Velshi / MSNBC:

Ted Cruz roundly criticized after sharing Russian propaganda — GOP Sen. Ted Cruz received a lot of criticism after sharing a Russian propaganda video on Twitter in an apparent attempt to criticize the idea of a ‘woke, emasculated’ U.S. military. MSNBC's Brian Williams has the details. — Read More

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Twitchy, RedState, Raw Story, TheBlaze, Crooks and Liars and NOQ Report

Jon Levine / New York Post:

Hamas founder's son says Israel should kill terror group's leaders after ceasefire — The son of Hamas founder Hassan Yousef urged Israel to target the terror group's leaders for assassination, even after the ceasefire reached Friday. — “Assassinating Hamas leadership will not destroy Hamas …

Politico:

A Biden-friendly economist is creating a big headache for president's spending plans — The White House and congressional Democrats have argued for weeks that the lack of child care services poses a major obstacle to the economic recovery, pressing for a massive and immediate investment to get parents back to work.

Discussion: HotAir, TheBlaze and Wall Street Journal

David Nather / Axios:

Axios-Ipsos poll: Black Americans' police experiences are getting worse — Nearly seven out of 10 Black Americans say police treatment has gotten worse in the past year, and about the same percentage believe police shootings of Black and brown youths have become worse in that time, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll.

Jack Healy / New York Times:

‘You Can Feel the Tension’: A Windfall for Minority Farmers Divides Rural America — A $4 billion federal fund meant to confront how racial injustice has shaped American farming has angered white farmers who say they are being unfairly excluded. — LaGRANGE, Mo. — Shade Lewis had just come …

Jordan Lancaster / The Daily Caller:

Ted Cruz Has Some Savage Words For The ‘Woke Cancer’ In US Military Turning Soldiers Into ‘Pansies’ — Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz slammed the “woke cancer” in the U.S. military Friday on Fox News. — Fox News host Harris Faulkner asked Cruz about his reaction to an advertisement for the military.

Discussion: New York Post

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Ted Cruz turns up the trolling to fill the Trump Twitter void

Discussion: MSNBC, RedState, Raw Story, Washington Monthly and The Hill

Ashley Fetters / Washington Post:

Masks are off — which means men will start telling women to ‘Smile!’ again — The photographer at CVS told Quintana Carter to make a “neutral face.” Not smiling, not frowning, just expressionless. This was, after all, a photo for a new passport, just in case she decides to leave Boston on her first post-pandemic vacation.

Discussion: Twitchy

New York Times:

How the Coming Population Bust Will Transform the World — Fewer babies' cries. More abandoned homes. Toward the middle of this century, as deaths start to exceed births, changes will come that are hard to fathom. — All over the world, countries are confronting population stagnation …

Rukmini Callimachi / New York Times:

For Colleges, Vaccine Mandates Often Depend on Which Party Is in Power — Hoping for a return to normal, more than 400 colleges and universities are requiring students to be vaccinated for Covid-19. Almost all are in states that voted for President Biden.

Brahma Chellaney / Open The Magazine:

Did China Get Away with Creating a Pandemic? — THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, much like a world war, has become a defining moment for the world. Our lives have profoundly changed since 2020. The pandemic-triggered economic and social disruptions have set in motion, as some early research indicates …

Discussion: Page Array, Wall Street Journal and UnHerd

Becket Adams / Washington Examiner: PolitiFact retracts Wuhan lab theory ‘fact-check’

Shi Jiangtao / South China Morning Post:

China positions itself as peace broker in Israel-Gaza crisis — Beijing's offer to host talks between Israelis and Palestinians is also a chance to seize moral high ground from the US, observers say But the Middle East is not likely to become another arena for US-China rivalries Beijing's offer …

Nicole Yang Globe / The Boston Globe:

Ex-Patriot Eugene Chung, looking to be an NFL head coach, says he was told, ‘You are not the right minority’ — When former Patriots offensive tackle Eugene Chung was pursuing an NFL coaching job this offseason, a comment made by one of his interviewers struck a chord.

Discussion: Breitbart, RedState, ProFootballTalk, New York Post, Sports Illustrated and TheBlaze

Roger Sollenberger / The Daily Beast:

Trump Flack Jason Miller Ordered To Pay $42,000 in Legal Fees For Failed Suit — BITTER PILL — A U.S. District Court judge in Florida has ordered Jason Miller, a spokesperson for former President Trump, to pay G/O Media 42,000 in legal expenses. This comes after a federal appeals court rejected …

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:

Coronavirus infections drop below 30,000 daily in continuing sign of recovery — For the first time in 11 months, the daily average of new coronavirus infections in the United States has fallen below 30,000 amid continuing signs that most communities across the nation are emerging from the worst of the pandemic.

Discussion: Forbes and Joe.My.God.

Allyson Chiu / Washington Post:

Explaining HIPAA: No, it doesn't ban questions about your vaccination status — As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to relax safety measures for people who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus and the country begins to reopen, many employers, businesses …

Discussion: Raw Story

Politico:

Patrick Leahy signals he'll run for ninth Senate term — The Senate's longest-serving Democrat, long assumed to be on the cusp of retirement, is leaning toward giving it another go. — Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who has served since 1975 and is in the line of presidential succession …

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and The Atlantic

Lawrence Richard / Washington Examiner:

Forty-two percent say confidence in Fauci dropped over past year: Poll — A new survey shows that confidence in Dr. Anthony Fauci has significantly decreased over the past year. — Out of all participants, 42.2% said their confidence in the White House COVID-19 Response Team member's ability …

Discussion: Townhall and Breitbart