memeorandum: Five reasons Biden's approval ratings have taken a pounding (W. James Antle III/Washington Examiner)

3:20 PM ET, September 4, 2021

Top Items:

I'm a Conservative Who Hates Abortion. The Texas Law Is a Disaster. — Imagine making the anti-abortion case when doing so means you have to defend allowing people to sue Uber drivers. … A deeply polarizing new law in Texas takes the person who cares about unborn children and asks …

Discussion: National Review, Raw Story, Associated Press, Alternet.org and HotAir

Will Wilkinson / Model Citizen:

Republicans Finally Caught the Car — The Back-Alley Reversal of Roe Just Made the GOP Unsafe for Right-leaning Women — Texas has banned abortion, more or less. Terminating a pregnancy is now categorically forbidden in the Lone Star State except in the brief period before the embryo develops something …

Discussion: San Antonio Current

Washington Post:

Texas created a blueprint for abortion restrictions. Republican-controlled states may follow suit. — Republican officials in more than a half-dozen states across the country moved this week to replicate Texas's restrictive abortion ban after the Supreme Court declined to step in and stop the law from taking effect.

Discussion: Politico, claytoonz, Wall Street Journal, CNN, HuffPost, Mock Paper Scissors and WUSF Public Media

John Kruzel / The Hill:
Texas judge hands narrow win to abortion providers fighting new 6-week ban

Discussion: PPFA, National Review, Townhall, New York Post, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, CBS News, CNN and Insider

CNBC:
GoDaddy to terminate hosting of Texas anti-abortion tip website

Discussion: Breitbart, BizPac Review, Washington Examiner, National Review, Raw Story, Townhall, TheBlaze and Ars Technica, more at Techmeme »

Associated Press:
Judge shields Texas clinics from anti-abortion group's suits

Discussion: Insider, Rolling Stone, BizPac Review, Law & Crime, The Daily Beast and New York Times

David Gelles / New York Times:
Companies Stay Quiet on Texas' New Abortion Law

Discussion: Financial Times, Hawaii Tribune-Herald and Daily Kos, more at Techmeme »

Sarah Isgur / Politico:
What the Texas Law Really Means for Abortion in America

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Fox News, The Atlantic, Reuters, frcblog.com, Bipartisan Report and The Colorado Sun

Lyft:
Defending drivers and women's access to healthcare

Discussion: Washington Examiner, UPI, HuffPost, Insider, KXAN-TV, National Review, The Hill, BizPac Review, Mediaite, The Wrap, The Gateway Pundit, Reuters, Townhall, New York Post, CBS News, Gizmodo, CNBC and Forbes, more at Techmeme »

Axios:

Scoop: Trump nears deal for D.C. hotel — Former President Trump is in advanced talks to sell rights to his Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., sources tell Axios. — Why it matters: The removal of Trump's big, golden name from Pennsylvania Avenue would be a symbolic bombshell savored by opponents.

Discussion: The Guardian, Insider, Bloomberg, The Daily Caller and Raw Story

CNN:

January 6 select committee refutes claim by McCarthy that the Justice Department cleared Trump of any role in insurrection — (CNN)The top members of the select committee investigating the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill refuted recent claims by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Raw Story and KGET-TV

Select Committee to Investigate …: Thompson & Cheney Statement on McCarthy's January 6th Misinformation Campaign

Alex Hasenstab / opb:

Portland City Council to vote on ending trade and travel with Texas in response to abortion restrictions — Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced on Friday that Portland City Council will vote on an emergency resolution on Wednesday with the intent to ban city business and employee travel related to the state of Texas.

Discussion: KOIN-TV and Political Wire

Justice Sonia Sotomayor / The Nation:

Sotomayor's Defiant Dissent — In her blistering dissent, the Supreme Court justice calls out her conservative colleagues' breathtaking disregard of precedent and the Constitution. — Conservatives would have you believe that the Supreme Court's decision to allow Texas's law banning abortions …

Justin Rohrlich / The Daily Beast:

Angry Men With Zip-Ties Ambush School Principal After COVID Masking Request — The surreal confrontation stemmed from the Arizona school asking a child who was exposed to the virus to abide by public health guidelines. — Police arrested a 40-year-old Arizona dad after he stormed …

Discussion: BizPac Review, Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Crooks and Liars and Washington Post

WFTV:

Florida to issue $5,000 fines for businesses, schools who ask for proof of COVID-19 vaccine — Florida businesses, government entities and schools will soon face fines of up to $5,000 fines for asking a customer or visitor to show proof they have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Isabella Grullón Paz / New York Times:

‘Sexist,’ ‘Racist,’ ‘Classist’: Georgia 8th Grader Challenges School Dress Code — After being cited for a rip in her jeans on the first day of school, Sophia Trevino has led a protest seeking changes to the district's dress code, which she says unfairly targets girls.

Discussion: Althouse

Carla Babb / Voice of America:

VOA Exclusive: American Stuck in Afghanistan Shares Her Story — Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can download this video to view it offline. — Download File — Embed — In a chaotic effort, the U.S. managed to evacuate more than 124,000 civilians …

Paul Flahive / Houston Public Media:

Doctors Say Texas Leaders Failed To Stop COVID-19 From Spreading — Hospitals across the state are running low on pediatric intensive care unit beds. Texas' Department of State Health Services says only 81 of them remain — and just a couple hundred more regular ICU beds are available in the state of 29 million people.

W. James Antle III / Washington Examiner:

Five reasons Biden's approval ratings have taken a pounding — As the summer comes to a close, President Joe Biden's job approval ratings have taken a major hit. — Both the RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight polling averages show pluralities disapproving of Biden's performance in office …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
The pandemic is almost certainly a bigger political risk for Biden than Afghanistan

Discussion: The White House, The Western Journal, The Hill and Wall Street Journal

Karen Attiah / Washington Post:

Texas gives in further to the seductiveness of its gun culture — but it's a trap — DALLAS — The evening before some of the most backward gun laws in America went into effect in Texas, I checked out Ladies Night at the gun range. — Every Tuesday is Ladies Night at DFW Gun Range & Academy near downtown Dallas.

Jack Jenkins / Religion News Service:

Trump and his religion advisors launch new National Faith Advisory Board — Acknowledging he lost Catholic voters over his presidency, the former president referenced hypothetical future scenarios 'if we're able to get back in.' — WASHINGTON (RNS) — In another sign Donald Trump is eyeing …

Discussion: Raw Story and Friendly Atheist

David Mack / BuzzFeed News:

Her Leaks Exposed Global Financial Corruption. Now She Is In Prison. — Former Treasury Department official Natalie “May” Edwards said she is a whistleblower who sent suspicious activity reports to BuzzFeed News after trying in vain to work through lawful channels.

New York Times:

Satellite Images Find Oil Spill in Gulf Left in Ida's Wake — Satellite and aerial survey images show oil spreading off the coast of an oil and gas hub in Louisiana. — Cleanup crews are working to contain what experts called a substantial oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico …

Isaac Stanley-Becker / Washington Post:

Corporate boards, consulting, speaking fees: How U.S. generals thrived after Afghanistan — Stanley A. McChrystal exemplifies how ex-generals sell their battlefield experience in other arenas, from corporations to covid-19 response. — When Stanley A. McChrystal was the top general in Afghanistan …

Matt Mcnulty / Daily Mail:

Florida diner that posted note refusing service to Biden voters because of his botched Afghan withdrawal is forced to close after it SOLD OUT of food following a boom in customers — Angie Ugarte posted the sign in the window of DeBary Diner in DeBary, Volusia County

Discussion: RedState and TheBlaze