memeorandum: A legendary Chicago newspaper columnist bids farewell — and wonders who will be left to tell her city's tale (Paul Farhi/Washington Post)

4:40 PM ET, June 26, 2021

Top Items:

Engineer Warned of ‘Major Structural Damage’ at Florida Condo Complex — A consultant in 2018 urged the managers to repair cracked columns and crumbling concrete. The work was finally about to get underway when the building collapsed. — Three years before the deadly collapse …

Washington Post:
Before condo collapse, rising seas long pressured Miami coastal properties

Discussion: Miami Herald, The Sun, NBC 6 South Florida, Insider and NPR

Adam Serwer / New York Times:

The Cruel Logic of the Republican Party, Before and After Trump — Mr. Serwer is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of the forthcoming “The Cruelty Is the Point: The Past, Present, and Future of Trump's America.” — Donald Trump has claimed credit for any number of things …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:

Progressives' Urgent Question: How to Win Over Voters of Color — A yearslong challenge for the left was starkly illustrated this week as its hopes faded in the New York mayor's race. — Can progressives win broad numbers of the Black and brown voters they say their policies will benefit most?

Discussion: HotAir and Twitchy

Berkeley Lovelace Jr / CNBC:

WHO urges fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks as delta Covid variant spreads — The WHO urged fully vaccinated people to continue to wear masks and practice other Covid-19 pandemic safety measures as the highly contagious delta variant spreads rapidly across the globe.

Discussion: Twitchy, ArkansasTimes and TheBlaze

Politico:
‘A tough slog’: White House struggles to increase vaccination rates as Delta variant surges

Discussion: HotAir

Dov Lieber / Wall Street Journal:
Delta Variant Outbreak in Israel Infects Some Vaccinated Adults

Discussion: HuffPost, Forbes, HotAir, NOQ Report, Common Dreams and The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:
Delta Coronavirus Variant Prompts Limits in Australia, Israel, as India Warns of New Mutation

Discussion: HotAir

Blake Montgomery / The Daily Beast:
WHO Says Keep Your Mask on Even If You're Vaccinated as Delta Variant Spreads

Discussion: HotAir

Michael Wines / New York Times:

In Arizona, G.O.P. Lawmakers Strip Power From a Democrat — The State Legislature shifted legal authority from the secretary of state to a Republican attorney general, and enacted election measures it said would stop fraud. — WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled State Legislature …

Discussion: Mother Jones, LifeZette, Common Dreams and Salon

Aaron Blake / Washington Post: 2 secretaries of state undercut Trump's fraud claims in key, GOP-controlled states. Republicans have now voted to strip both of power.

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

A legendary Chicago newspaper columnist bids farewell — and wonders who will be left to tell her city's tale — In 29 years as a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, Mary Schmich was often adored and occasionally reviled by readers, as are all good newspaper columnists.

Luke Broadwater / New York Times:

Officer Injured in Capitol Riot Asks McCarthy to Disavow Lies About It — Officer Michael Fanone, who was seriously injured by the pro-Trump mob, said he came away disappointed from his meeting with the top House Republican. — WASHINGTON — For weeks, Michael Fanone …

Discussion: The Guardian, CBS News, Associated Press, Honolulu Star-Advertiser and CNN

Stundin:

Key witness in Assange case admits to lies in indictment — A major witness in the United States' Department of Justice case against Julian Assange has admitted to fabricating key accusations in the indictment against the Wikileaks founder. — bjartmar@stundin.is — ritstjorn@stundin.is

Shane Goldmacher / New York Times:

How Deceptive Campaign Fund-Raising Ensnares Older People — Older Americans, a critical source of political donations, often fall victim to aggressive and misleading digital practices. A broad Times analysis points to the scope of the problem. — William W. Vaughan Jr …

Discussion: Raw Story

Dan Merica / CNN:

Trump kicks off revenge tour with eyes on one Ohio Republican — Cleveland (CNN)Donald Trump on Saturday will kick off his revenge tour against Republicans who defied him in the aftermath of the 2020 election and January 6 insurrection, hoping to convince his supporters to fire Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez.

Discussion: The Guardian, UPI, Associated Press, The Hill, Raw Story, One America News Network, The Daily Caller, The Sun, NPR, Mediaite, USA Today and Florida Politics

Andrew Romano / Yahoo News:

New Yahoo News/YouGov poll: Biden's approval rating falls, as both Republicans and Democrats grow more concerned about crime — Rising worries about crime among both Democrats and Republicans are starting to create a drag on President Biden's approval rating, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll …

Discussion: HotAir and The Daily Beast

Politico:

White House scrambles to manage fallout of Biden's ‘tandem’ remarks — Joe Biden said the quiet part out loud and paid a price for it. — Reveling in his bipartisan win on infrastructure Thursday, the president declared that he would not sign the deal he'd just endorsed unless …

Discussion: ABC News, National Review, Washington Post, WTOP, DCReport.org, KVIA-TV, POLITICUSUSA, Grist, USA Today, Outside the Beltway and Mock Paper Scissors

Mike LaChance / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Democrats Trying to Rewrite History on ‘Defund the Police’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

theepochtimes.com:

Election Integrity: The Firewall That Keeps America Free — During the last year and a half it's become obvious to anyone whose head is not in the sand that America has been under assault on multiple levels from within. There is no denying that the COVID-19 viral invasion was a catalyst …

Daniel Dale / CNN:

Fact check: White House national security adviser misleadingly describes pipeline company as ‘not Russian’ — Top WH official responds to bipartisan criticism of Biden-Putin summit — full interview — Washington (CNN)Last Sunday, CNN “State of the Union” co-anchor Dana Bash pressed White …

Paul Bedard / Washington Examiner:

Harvard Poll: 80% see border disaster, want Trump closure restored, reject teaching Critical Race Theory — The Biden administration is failing big time with its inability to control illegal immigration, adding it to one of several issues that could doom Democrats if left unchecked.

Discussion: BizPac Review and Raw Story

Diane Francis / financialpost:

Canadian Forces have right to know if they got COVID at the 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan — Two members told the Post they fell sick with symptoms — This week, lawmakers in the United States called for an investigation into whether the October 2019 Military World Games in Wuhan …

Discussion: Reason

Nicholas Reimann / Forbes:

Democrats Sue Texas Gov. Greg Abbott After He Strips Legislature Of Funding For 2 Years — Democrats in the Texas legislature filed a lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Friday, claiming the governor violated the state constitution when he vetoed all funding for the state legislature …

Discussion: The Texas Tribune

Annie Linskey / Washington Post:

The remarkably unremarkable White House Pride ceremony — The Debrief: An occasional series offering a reporter's insights — Standing at a podium adorned with the presidential seal in the East Room of the White House, a transgender activist announced his pronouns before introducing the president.

Discussion: People.com and The Hill

Washington Post:

U.S. unable to explain more than 140 unidentified flying objects, but new report finds no evidence of alien life — The U.S. government was unable to determine whether more than 140 unidentified flying objects, many of them reported by Navy aviators, were atmospheric events playing tricks …

Discussion: Slate, KVIA-TV, Reuters and The Irish Times