memeorandum: Republican war on ‘woke’ policies creeps into U.S. debt-ceiling debate (Reuters)

2:10 PM ET, February 27, 2023

Top Items:

Jennifer Szalai / New York Times:

Preaching Freedom, Ron DeSantis Leads By Cracking Down — In his new book, “The Courage to Be Free,” the Florida governor and potential Republican presidential candidate offers a template for governing based on an expansive vision of executive power. — Buy Book ▾

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Forbes, RedState, Florida's Voice, Florida Politics and The Guardian

NBC News:

Ron DeSantis' 2024 campaign emerges from the shadows — WASHINGTON — Ron DeSantis' shadow campaign for the presidency has suddenly become much more visible, even as his advisers insist he's focused on governing Florida. — DeSantis recently launched a tax-exempt organization that sponsored …

Discussion: CBS News, Fox News, Washington Times, New York Post and Wall Street Journal

Damon Linker / New York Times:

My Fellow Liberals Are Exaggerating the Dangers of Ron DeSantis — To judge by several early polls, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has a decent shot of beating former President Donald Trump in the race to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Some liberals have pronounced …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Media Matters for America, Eschaton and PoliticusUSA

CNN:
DeSantis signs bill that gives him more control of Disney's special district

Discussion: Orlando Sentinel, Fox News, Reuters, The Wrap, Not the Bee, The Daily Caller, Florida's Voice, Forbes, WFLA-TV, CBS News, The Capitolist, Florida Politics and The Florida Standard

Thomas Phippen / Fox News:
Former Disney CEO privately complained to DeSantis about ‘pressure’ from woke left amid Florida fight: book

Discussion: HuffPost, Insider, The Hill, Bloomberg, Associated Press, Deadline, Breitbart, New York Post, National Review, RedState, IndieWire, Washington Examiner, Florida's Voice, The Florida Standard, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Just The News

Steve Peoples / Associated Press:
DeSantis moves toward GOP presidential bid on his own terms

Discussion: RedState, The Post Millennial, The Hill and NewsNation

Emily Peck / Axios:

Supreme Court will consider constitutionality of CFPB — The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would take up a case that challenges the funding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. … - The decision overturned a regulation governing payday lenders that never went into effect …

Discussion: Fox News, Politico, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Vox

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court to Take Up Case on Fate of Consumer Watchdog — A decision against the bureau could cast doubt on every rule and enforcement action the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a case that could hobble …

Discussion: Insider, HuffPost, NBC News, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Bloomberg, Washington Post, CNBC, Associated Press, USA Today, The Western Journal, Law & Crime, SCOTUSblog, CBS News, Roll Call and Las Vegas Review-Journal

Greg Craig / New York Times:

Democratic Voters, Not Biden, Should Choose Vice President — For many months — since the 2020 campaign — Republicans have tried to portray Joe Biden as being too old to be president, as mentally deficient, as one small step away from death or disability.

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog and Fox News

Will Weissert / Associated Press:
Williamson becomes Democratic primary's 1st Biden challenger

Discussion: 19FortyFive, The Times of Israel, Washington Post, UPI, Mother Jones and ABC News

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

So far, Trump's rollback of regulations can't be blamed for Ohio train wreck — “I had nothing to do with it.” — Former president Donald Trump, asked about criticism of his pulling back rail regulations, in East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 22 — Trump's comment during his tour of East Palestine …

Discussion: HotAir, Newsbusters, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

New York Times:
This Is Not How Pete Buttigieg Wanted to Visit Ohio

Discussion: Althouse

Katherine Doyle / Washington Examiner: Trading places: Is Pete Buttigieg the new Kamala Harris?

Washington Post:

Israeli settlers rampage through Palestinian towns in revenge for shooting — HUWARA, West Bank — Dozens of Israeli settlers rampaged through Palestinian towns, torching cars, homes and killing a man, hours after a Palestinian gunman killed two Israelis. — The scenes from the hours-long …

Discussion: Reuters, The Times of Israel, Haaretz, middleeastmonitor.com, New York Times and Associated Press

Isabel Kershner / New York Times:
West Bank Erupts in Violence as Officials Pledge to Work for Calm

Discussion: CBS News, Haaretz, Axios, The Daily Caller, Albuquerque Journal, Financial Times, Associated Press, The Times of Israel, CNN, middleeastmonitor.com, UPI, Fox News, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Al Jazeera

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Embattled Rep. Ogles acknowledges misrepresenting his college major — Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn.), who is facing allegations of embellishing his résumé, acknowledged Monday that he misstated the degree he received from Middle Tennessee State University, claiming he learned …

Discussion: Insider, WTVF-TV, New Republic, Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Emma Roth / The Verge:

Twitter Blue head Esther Crawford is out at Twitter … Crawford headed up various projects at Twitter, including the company's Blue with verification subscription as well as Twitter's forthcoming payments platform. — Alex Heath of The Verge confirmed Crawford and most of the remaining product team …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Fortune, The Information, New York Post, Financial Times, The Wrap, Bloomberg and TechCrunch, more at Techmeme »

New York Times:
In Latest Round of Job Cuts, Twitter Is Said to Lay Off at Least 200 Employees

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Thurrott, Washington Examiner, The Information, The Verge, PCMag, Fortune, New York Post, Sputnik News, Al Jazeera and One America News Network

Washington Post:

5 good points the right is making about the Ohio train disaster — The derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in eastern Ohio has led to calls for an examination of the government's disaster response, new regulation to safeguard public health and safety, and better working conditions for railroad workers.

Discussion: National Review

Brian Slodysko / Associated Press:

GOP leaders, stung by losses, plan to wade into Senate races — 1 of 5 — A football legend who held a gun to his ex-wife's head. Rivals who nearly brawled during a televised debate. A venture capitalist who voiced sympathy for the Unabomber. — And that's just to name a few.

Discussion: Raw Story

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:

To Tap Federal Funds, Chip Makers Will Need to Provide Child Care — The move seeks to help more women join the work force as industry leaders complain of labor shortages. — WASHINGTON — The Biden administration plans to leverage the federal government's expansive investment …

Discussion: Maryland Matters and The Rising Tide

Justin Baragona / The Daily Beast:

Fox News Rejects Ad From Progressive Group Highlighting Stars' Damning Texts — The MoveOn ad features messages from Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity blasting the baseless election fraud conspiracies being peddled by Team Trump. — Fox News is refusing to run an ad from political action group MoveOn …

Discussion: Votebeat, Washington Post, Raw Story, National Review, RADAR, The Hill, Mediaite, HuffPost, Insider and The Dean's Report, more at Mediagazer »

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:

Emboldened by its majority, House GOP turns up heat on federal workers — At a House hearing this month on fraud and waste in pandemic aid, some Republicans zeroed in on one group in particular for criticism: the federal employees overseeing the money. — “Fire people if they don't do …

Discussion: Raw Story

Will Oremus / Washington Post:

Musk defends ‘Dilbert’ creator, says media is ‘racist against whites’ — The Tesla and Twitter chief blasted media outlets for dropping Scott Adams's comic strip after the cartoonist's rant against Black people — Twitter and Tesla chief Elon Musk defended Scott Adams, the under-fire creator of …

Jordan Valinsky / CNN:
Elon Musk tweets support for ‘Dilbert’ creator after racist tirade

Discussion: Axios, The Hill, Plain Dealer, Raw Story, The Post Millennial, Mediaite, Fortune, Bangor Daily News, The Root, Al Jazeera, IJR, claytoonz, Reuters, UPI, The Daily Caller, Chicago Sun-Times and New Jersey Online, more at Mediagazer »

Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:

FBI arrests man dubbed ‘Sedition Panda’ for allegedly storming Capitol wearing bear head — WASHINGTON — The FBI has arrested a Donald Trump supporter who allegedly stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 while wearing the head of a panda costume. — Jesse James Rumson was arrested in Florida on Monday …

Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:

CNN commentator lobbied for Norfolk Southern; the network didn't tell its audience during East Palestine discussion — Why does CNN continue to employ ethically challenged lobbyist David Urban? — CNN's State of the Union and host Dana Bash held a Sunday roundtable discussion about the East Palestine …

Discussion: NBC News and CNN

Colby Itkowitz / Washington Post:

Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin announces Senate run in Michigan — The U.S. House member abd former CIA analyst is seen by many top Democrats as a formidable Democratic contender in a key battleground — Democratic Rep. Elissa Slotkin announced her candidacy for U.S. Senate in Michigan on Monday …

Summer Concepcion / NBC News:

House China panel leaders defend Rep. Judy Chu after Texas Republican's attack — “We should not question anybody's loyalty to the United States. I think that is out of bounds. It's beyond the pale,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, the GOP chair of the new House China committee. said in response …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, Sacramento Bee, Associated Press and Politico

Jane C. Timm / NBC News:

Fraud hunters challenged 92,000 voter registrations in Georgia last year — Amateur voter fraud hunters challenged 92,000 Georgia voter registrations last year, using voter rolls, public records, door-to-door canvassing and hours of their own time to ferret out the ballot rigging that election workers …

Discussion: American Thinker, The Gateway Pundit, The Federalist and Political Wire

Politico:

The biggest election of 2023 reaches final sprint — Millions of dollars are flowing into the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, as the state rockets toward an election that could decide the future of abortion rights, redistricting and more in the key battleground state.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Associated Press and Wall Street Journal

Reuters:

Republican war on ‘woke’ policies creeps into U.S. debt-ceiling debate — U.S. House Republicans are eyeing $150 billion in spending cuts that reflect a hardline drive to target education, healthcare and housing - particularly efforts to address racial inequities that conservatives deride as …

Discussion: Insider and PJ Media

Justin Rohrlich / The Daily Beast:

New Jersey Man Tried to Fly With AR-15 and Fake U.S. Marshal Badge: TSA — TO THE TEETH — A convicted felon in New Jersey tried to board a flight from Newark to Fort Lauderdale with two unregistered semi-automatic rifles, including an AR-15, as well as a Taser, a switchblade …

Discussion: Raw Story

Alexander Tin / CBS News:

CDC warns about drug-resistant stomach bug deemed “serious public health threat” — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is tracking a rise in stomach illnesses caused by infections with “extensively drug-resistant” bacteria that leave doctors with few antibiotic options to treat patients.

Discussion: New York Post, Forbes and Fox News

Annie Berman / Anchorage Daily News:

Alaska's unprecedented food stamp backlog is taking a harsh toll on rural communities — It's been nearly six months since the Alaska Division of Public Assistance first began to fall behind on processing federal food stamp applications, leaving thousands of Alaskans still waiting for benefits to arrive now.

Discussion: Plain Dealer

DAWN:

Saudi Arabia: Saudi Prosecutor Seeks Death Penalty against 10 Former Judges for “High Treason” — Repression continues to devour Saudi citizens, even government allies, as Crown Prince entrenches his authority — The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Riyadh, used to prosecute “terrorism” …

Lauren Weber / Washington Post:

Doctors who touted ivermectin as covid fix now pushing it for flu, RSV — First, the group of doctors championed ivermectin as a covid panacea. It failed to live up to the hype. Now, they're promoting the anti-parasitic to prevent and treat the flu and RSV.

Discussion: Alternet.org