memeorandum: Supporters Appeal for Clemency for Death Row Inmate in Oklahoma (Michael Levenson/New York Times)

8:00 AM ET, November 18, 2021

Top Items:

Paul Gosar killed his colleague in a cartoon. Kevin McCarthy is killing democracy in real life. — Rep. Paul Gosar, the Arizona Republican who used congressional resources to produce and release a cartoon video of him murdering Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), deservedly became …

Discussion: CBS News, The Week, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy and Mediaite

Politico:

GOP can't escape ‘self-inflicted injuries’ as they fight to reclaim House — House Republicans should be riding high: The majority is in their grasp and President Joe Biden's poll numbers are tanking. — Instead, they're getting in their own way, again. — Ahead of a vote …

Discussion: The Hill, Breitbart, HuffPost, Raw Story and Washington Examiner

Aila Slisco / Newsweek:

Minutes After Being Censured, Gosar Retweets Offending Ocasio-Cortez Video — Representative Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) retweeted a doctored anime video depicting him killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) only minutes after the House censured him over the video.

Discussion: Arizona Daily Independent, AZ FREE NEWS, Raw Story, The Hill, HotAir and Forbes

CNN:

For the GOP now, all roads lead to Donald Trump — (CNN)Sometimes, during a busy week in Washington, a recap is in order. So let's take stock of t he Trump GOP for a moment: — GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, a diehard conservative, daughter of a diehard conservative vice president, has been excommunicated from the Wyoming Republican Party.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Guardian, The Federalist, Sacramento Bee, New York Post, Bloomberg, Raw Story, The National Interest, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and TheBlaze

Jean Guerrero / Los Angeles Times:
Paul Gosar's anime video of killing AOC is not a joke. It displays the new GOP's violent extremist turn

Discussion: BuzzFeed News, Arizona Republic, Washington Post and HotAir

Washington Post:
House censures Rep. Gosar, ejects him from committees over video depicting slaying of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez

Alex Thompson / Politico:

Allegations of bigotry and calls for impeachment rock College Democrats — The kids are not alright. — The College Democrats of America — the Democratic Party's national organization presiding over 500 chapters on campuses across the country — is in turmoil.

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Politico:

Say goodbye to swing districts. Lawmakers are drawing easy wins in dozens of states. — When most voters go to the polls to elect members of Congress next year, the general election will essentially be meaningless. That's because winners are being determined right now …

Politico: States are redrawing every congressional district in the U.S. Here is where we stand.

Aaron Sibarium / Washington Free Beacon:

Yale Law Dean Admits Error, Stops Short of Apologizing to Targeted Students — The dean of Yale Law School expressed “regret” Wednesday for her administration's role in the now-infamous “trap house” incident but stopped short of apologizing to second-year law student Trent Colbert …

Josh Blackman / Reason: Conservative and Libertarian Law Students At Yale Law School Should Transfer Out En Masse

Politico:

Judge in Bannon contempt case once fought Congress' subpoena power — In 2008, a little-known Justice Department attorney stepped into a courtroom to argue that top aides to then-President George W. Bush could simply ignore congressional subpoenas. — “You have to recognize the absolute immunity …

Discussion: CNN, Salon, Yahoo News, Mother Jones, HuffPost, Washington Times and Townhall

Jennifer Cohn / The Independent:
Steve Bannon isn't just a problem for America. He is an international menace

Discussion: The Hill and Breitbart

Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:

For Fifth Time, GOP Boycotts High-Ranking Muslim Nominee Dilawar Syed — Republican senators have refused to allow Syed to get a committee vote to be deputy administrator for the Small Business Administration. — For the fifth time, Senate Republicans blocked Dilawar Syed …

Politico: Where's Marty Walsh sleeping?

Politico:

Redistricting squeezes 2 Democratic rising stars in Georgia — The awkward moment that Georgia Democrats have dreaded all year is finally here. — The state's Republican-controlled legislature revealed a new congressional map on Wednesday that will claw back one of the two seats the party lost …

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Election Law Blog

Stephen Fowler / Georgia Public Broadcasting:
Georgia Republicans release a congressional redistricting map, adding another likely GOP seat

Discussion: Georgia Recorder

Politico:

Dems agonize over tax cuts for rich: ‘Bad policy, bad politics’ — Democrats are struggling with a huge problem that could sink them at the ballot box: They may end up looking more sympathetic to rich people than Republicans. — After spending several election cycles campaigning …

Discussion: NBC News, Bloomberg, The Bulwark and Ballotpedia

Timothy Bella / Washington Post:

Man who raped four teenagers gets no jail time, judge says: 'Incarceration isn't appropriate' — A New York man who pleaded guilty to rape and sexual abuse for assaulting four teenage girls during parties at his parents' home will not face jail time after a judge Tuesday sentenced him to eight years probation.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, TheBlaze and Raw Story

Michael Luciano / Mediaite:

Matt Gaetz Says ‘Kyle Rittenhouse Would Probably Make a Pretty Good Congressional Intern’ and ‘May Reach Out To Him’ — Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) thanked Newsmax host Grant Stinchfield on Wednesday night for his support of Kyle Rittenhouse, who is currently on trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Discussion: BizPac Review and Insider

Alex Vadukul / New York Times:

Justus Rosenberg, Beloved Professor With a Heroic Past, Dies at 100 — As a teenager, he helped provide safe passage to artists and intellectuals out of Vichy France. He went on to teach literature at Bard College for six decades. — For nearly 60 years, Justus Rosenberg was a beloved literature professor at Bard College.

New York Times:

2 Men Convicted of Killing Malcolm X Will Be Exonerated Decades Later — The 1966 convictions of the men are expected to be thrown out after a lengthy investigation, validating long-held doubts about who killed the civil rights leader. — Follow our live coverage of reactions to the exonerations …

Yaniv Kubovich / Haaretz:

Israel Revised Intel File It Gave U.S. on Bombing Gaza High-rise That Housed AP, Al Jazeera — The report was given to senior U.S. officials after Biden demanded an explanation for the May 15 attack from then-Prime Minister Netanyahu — Ruins of the Al Jalaa tower after Israeli airstrike in MayCredit: Adel Hana / AP

Spectrum News 1 Charlotte:

Longtime eastern N.C. congressman to retire, sources say — Rep. G.K. Butterfield, who has represented northeast North Carolina in Congress since 2004, will retire at the end of this term, multiple sources tell Spectrum News 1. — Butterfield's office would not confirm or deny if the congressman …

Discussion: Breitbart, Townhall, The Hill and Politico

Michael Levenson / New York Times:

Supporters Appeal for Clemency for Death Row Inmate in Oklahoma — Hundreds of students walked out of schools and activists demonstrated at the State Capitol, urging Gov. Kevin Stitt to commute the sentence of Julius Jones, who is scheduled for execution on Thursday.

Discussion: NPR, KOSU, Washington Post, ProFootballTalk, NBC4 Washington, New York Post, CBS News and abc7NY

Techno Fog / The Reactionary:

Exemptions to the COVID-19 Vaccine — And an update on the federal vaccine mandates — I've had a ton of questions about the status of the various federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates (OSHA, federal contractors, CMS). In this post I'll explain (1) the status of these mandates; and (2) …

Abigail Constantino / WTOP News:

DC Council members ask mayor to reverse decision to drop indoor mask mandate … D.C.'s indoor mask mandate is scheduled to be lifted Monday, but members of the city council are concerned about the decision and are urging Mayor Muriel Bowser to reverse course and keep the mandate in effect as the holidays approach.

Discussion: Washingtonian

Lawrence H. Summers / Washington Post:

IRS reform will generate a lot more revenue than the CBO thinks — The largest offset in the Build Back Better Act is not a tax increase. Instead, it is an $80 billion investment to restore a depleted IRS. The Treasury Department expects this transformative investment to generate $480 billion …

Discussion: Larry Summers, New York Sun and The Western Journal

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

Maloney's Midterm Messaging Mistake — The Democrats' problem isn't bad salesmanship. It's what they're selling. — Poor Sean Patrick Maloney. He represents an upstate New York district and chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Between a strong GOP showing in New Jersey …

Patricia Mazzei / New York Times:

Florida Curtails Virus Mandates, Reflecting Wishes of Vaccine Skeptics — Florida lawmakers, at the request of Gov. Ron DeSantis, passed new laws sharply curtailing mask and vaccine mandates. Fringe anti-vaccination views met with little pushback. — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Early this year …

Discussion: MyNorthwest.com and Associated Press

Matt Taibbi / TK News:

The Russiagate Whitewash Era Begins — After the WMD mess, Judith Miller got the blame, while a long list of just-as-guilty media villains failed upward. Now, a nervous press is looking for Russiagate's fall guys — “There is an old saying in journalism: You're only as good as your sources …

Reuters:

News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch takes swings at Google, Facebook — Rupert Murdoch renewed his attacks on Google and Facebook during News Corp's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, accusing the tech giants of trying to silence conservative voices and calling for “significant reform.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Bloomberg, New York Post, Mediaite and The Wrap, more at Mediagazer »

Jesse O'Neill / New York Post:

Fauci says COVID-19 booster might become new standard for being vaccinated — COVID-19 booster shots may become the new standard to be considered fully vaccinated, according to the nation's top doctor. — Dr. Anthony Fauci discussed the impending need for hundreds of millions of Americans …

Discussion: CNN, The Western Journal and BizPac Review

Roger Sollenberger / The Daily Beast:

Indicted GOP Congressman Says the Feds Got Him on Tape—Twice — Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) is facing charges that he lied to the FBI over an illegal donation from a foreign billionaire. Now we know the feds got him on tape. — There are tapes. — That's the news from a recent filing …

Discussion: Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:

Tweedledum and Tweedledee at the Fed — Powell and Brainard have both presided over the inflation breakout. — By The Editorial Board — President Biden says he'll announce his choice to lead the Federal Reserve for the next four years by the end of this week, and the leading candidates …

Austin Ahlman / The Intercept:

CBO Director Called Mild Tax Hikes Proposed by Obama “Class Warfare” … Early in his administration, amid backlash to the Affordable Care Act and the rise of the tea party movement, President Barack Obama pivoted toward austerity, culminating in a series of bipartisan negotiations aimed at cutting spending and bolstering revenues.

Discussion: The Hill

FOX13 News Memphis:

Rapper Young Dolph shot and killed in Memphis, law enforcement sources confirm — MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Three independent law enforcement sources confirmed to FOX13 that rapper Young Dolph was shot and killed in Memphis Wednesday afternoon. — Maurice Hill, the owner of the shop where the shooting happened …

Houston Keene / Fox News:

Police report reveals striking details about Biden nom Saule Omarova's ‘retail theft’ arrest — Omarova admitted to stealing $214 worth of items from T.J. Maxx in the police report — Fox News Flash top headlines for November 17 — A police report from 1995 reveals new striking details …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon and The Daily Caller