memeorandum: Cruz warns of ‘liberal fascism’ targeting Christians (Mark Hensch/The Hill)

8:45 AM ET, April 27, 2015

Top Items:

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Our Mean-Spirited President Cuts Loose — There has been quite a bit of news coverage of this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner. Don't ask me why. The annual lovefest between Democratic politicians and Democratic journalists hasn't generated any actual news in a long time.

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

At correspondents dinner, Obama lets second-term anger out — Depending on your perspective, President Obama's performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner Saturday night was either funny or filled with rage. Or perhaps it was funny about being filled with rage.

Discussion: RedState

Domenico Montanaro / NPR: 8 Obama Jokes That Stood Out From The White House Correspondents Dinner

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:

Stephanopoulos Challenges Clinton Cash Author: ‘Is There a Smoking Gun?’ — Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer appeared on This Week and faced a very skeptical George Stephanopoulos, who argued that his accusations that Hillary Clinton exchanged favorable treatment from the U.S. State Department …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, FOX News Radio, Liberaland and The Last Refuge

Betsy McCaughey / New York Post:

Hillary actually warned us about Clinton Foundation scandals — At her 2009 confirmation hearing, Hillary bucked requests to restrict foundation fundraising. — Contrary to what is widely reported, the Clinton Foundation never agreed to stop raising money from foreign governments while Hillary Clinton was secretary of state.

Discussion: Betsy's Page, BREITBART.COM, The Week and Washington Post

Isabel Vincent / New York Post:
Charity watchdog: Clinton Foundation a ‘slush fund’

Discussion: Power Line, The Daily Caller, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, BizPac Review and The Last Refuge

Maura Pally / Clinton Foundation:
A Commitment to Honesty, Transparency, and Accountability

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Post, Mashable, Mediaite, The Hinterland Gazette, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Caller, Liberaland and Yahoo Politics

Ali Elkin / Bloomberg Business:
Clinton Foundation Acknowledges Mistakes as Schweizer Calls for Investigation

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Politico, The Week and ABC News

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Gay Businessman Who Hosted Cruz Event Apologizes — Ian Reisner, one of the two gay hoteliers facing boycott calls for hosting an event for Senator Ted Cruz, who is adamantly opposed to gay marriage, apologized to the gay community for showing “poor judgment.”

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Ian Reisner, RedState, Advocate, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Gothamist, Politico and Mondoweiss

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

G.O.P. Struggling With Shifts on Gay Marriage — Rick Santorum said he would never attend a same-sex wedding. Marco Rubio said he might attend one. Scott Walker actually went to a same-sex wedding reception, not to be confused with an actual same-sex wedding ceremony.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Frank Bruni / New York Times: The G.O.P.'s Gay Pretzels

Mark Hensch / The Hill:

Cruz warns of ‘liberal fascism’ targeting Christians — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Saturday said Democrats had gone to extremes in their persecution of Christians. — “Today's Democratic Party has decided there is no room for Christians in today's Democratic Party,” he said at the Iowa Faith …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, Joe. My. God., Political Wire, FOX News Radio, Liberaland and The Week

Josh Rogin / Bloomberg View:

George W. Bush Bashes Obama on Middle East — In a closed-door meeting with Jewish Donors Saturday night, former President George W. Bush delivered his harshest public criticisms to date against his successor on foreign policy, saying that President Barack Obama is being naïve about Iran …

Discussion: New York Times, “The Lid” and Israel Matzav

New York Times:
George W. Bush Opens Up About 2016 Race

Discussion: The Week, BizPac Review, Washington Post, Hit & Run, Bloomberg Business and Hot Air

Paul Caron / TaxProf Blog:

The Plight Of A Christian Professor At An Elite Law School — Rod Dreher, The Post-Indiana Future for Christians: — I spent a long time on the phone last night with a law professor at one of the country's elite law schools. This professor is a practicing Christian, deeply closeted in the workplace …

Discussion: ProfessorBainbridge.com

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Foes of Iran deal take aim in Senate — Sen. Marco Rubio and other foes of a nuclear deal with Iran are readying several poison-pill amendments — some of which could have broad appeal — aimed at unraveling the bipartisan compromise endorsed by President Barack Obama.

Discussion: Political Wire

Juan Williams / The Hill:

Democrats must show unions tough love on trade — In love affairs, sentimental feelings are welcome. In Washington politics, however, they lead to pandering. And pandering is the only way to explain why most Congressional Democrats remain opposed to a new foreign trade deal.

Ric Anderson / LasVegasSun.com:

The big lie: Las Vegan watches as his Reid tale takes off — A Las Vegas man claims he started a false rumor that the injuries suffered by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid several months ago were the result of an attack by Reid's brother, not an exercise accident.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Liberaland, Power Line, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and Little Green Footballs

Annie Gowen / Washington Post:

Climbers trapped on Mount Everest ‘are getting desperate’ — ITANAGAR, India — Helicopter teams began evacuating critically injured climbers at Mount Everest's base camp Sunday morning, but the effort came to an abrupt halt when a significant new aftershock triggered more avalanches and fears …

Discussion: WFMY-TV, Climb Your Everest, Wall Street Journal and The Week

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

How to Read the Ups and Downs of Polling in the G.O.P. Race — The polling roller coaster, as FiveThirtyEight's Harry Enten put it, has begun. One week the headline is “Ted Cruz Surging in Polls.” Three weeks later, it's “Marco Rubio Surges to Front of G.O.P. Pack.”

Discussion: CNN, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and Democratic Strategist

Evan Serpick / citypaper.com:

City Paper photo editor J.M. Giordano beaten by police at Freddie Gray protest — City Paper Photo Editor J.M. Giordano was tackled and beaten by Baltimore City police outside of Western District headquarters last night while covering protests over the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.

Discussion: Liberaland, CBS DC and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »