memeorandum: Sarasota student makes racist prom proposal (Elizabeth Djinis/Sarasota Herald)

4:50 PM ET, April 23, 2018

Top Items:

Kristine Phillips / Washington Post:

‘No credible sightings’ of Waffle House shooting suspect as manhunt continues, police say … Police continued their intensive search Monday for the 29-year-old suspected of opening fire at a Tennessee Waffle House and killing four people one day earlier. — The Metro Nashville Police Department …

Discussion: CNN, Fox News, Townhall, Hit & Run, Splinter, VICE News, National Review, Daily Kos and Tennessean.com

Connor Sheets / al.com:

Outrage growing over black woman's arrest in Alabama Waffle House by white police officers — Censored: Saraland Police arrest woman at Waffle House, exposing her breasts — The treatment of a 25-year-old black Mobile woman who was arrested early Sunday morning inside a Waffle House …

Discussion: Vox, The Root, CBS News, The Guardian, theGrio, The Daily Beast, YouTube, ThinkProgress and Jezebel

New York Times:

'I'm Not a Hero,' Says Unarmed Man Who Wrested Rifle From Waffle House Gunman — For the latest on the Waffle House shooting, read Monday's live updates. — NASHVILLE — The young woman, bandaged and shrouded in bedsheets, began to cry when James Shaw Jr. walked into Trauma Room No. 26 on Monday morning.

Discussion: Townhall, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, The Root, Political Wire, The Daily Caller and twitchy.com

Christal Hayes / USA Today:
Waffle House suspect Travis Reinking deemed himself a ‘sovereign citizen,’ part of anti-government group

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, Tennessean.com, CNN and Washington Post

Anita Wadhwani / Tennessean.com:
Woman gives birth in car outside scene of Waffle House tragedy, with employee assist

Discussion: Bearing Arms

Alex Horton / Washington Post:
Police wrestled a black woman to the ground, exposing her breasts in restaurant, video shows

Discussion: New York Times, al.com, Eater and CBS Chicago

Allison Klein / Washington Post:
Waffle House hero wrestled gun from shooter. The next day, he raised more than $24,000 for the victims' families.

Discussion: Hot Air, Wall Street Journal and VICE News

Vernon Silver / Bloomberg:

Flight Records Illuminate Mystery of Trump's Moscow Nights — President denied overnight Miss Universe stay, Comey memos say — Jet landed on a Friday, left pre-dawn Sunday after pageant — President Donald Trump twice gave James Comey an alibi for why a salacious report …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Raw Story and Daily Kos

Victor Davis Hanson / American Greatness:

Respect Unearned — Washington's self-righteous establishmentarians talk of professionalism when they act unprofessionally. They refer at length to their intellectual and professional pedigrees when they prove incompetent. And they cite their morality and ethics when they possess neither.

USA Today:

Love him or hate him, Jeff Sessions is why Mueller's Russia probe is still on track — Thank Jeff Sessions, Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller for running Justice and the Russia probe by the book despite extreme pressure from Donald Trump. — CONNECT — One of us is a supporter …

Discussion: National Review and Above the Law

Bloomberg:

White House Deterring Republicans From Defending Pruitt, Sources Say — Republicans who fawned over EPA boss now sharpening criticism — Four Republicans and 170 Democrats said Pruitt should quit — White House officials are cautioning Republican lawmakers and other conservative allies …

Discussion: Political Wire, ThinkProgress and Talking Points Memo

CNN:

Trump ramps up personal cell phone use — (CNN)President Donald Trump is increasingly relying on his personal cell phone to contact outside advisers, multiple sources inside and outside the White House told CNN, as Trump returns to the free-wheeling mode of operation that characterized the earliest days of his administration.

Patrick Radden Keefe / New Yorker:

McMaster and Commander — Can a national-security adviser retain his integrity if the President has none? — When Donald Trump had a phone conversation with Vladimir Putin on the morning of March 20th, the two were at an excruciatingly delicate juncture.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Raw Story, Booman Tribune, Politico and Axios

Heidi Przybyla / NBC News:

John Bolton chaired anti-Muslim think tank — WASHINGTON — John Bolton, President Donald Trump's new national security adviser, chaired a nonprofit that has promoted misleading and false anti-Muslim news, some of which was amplified by a Russian troll factory, an NBC News review found.

Discussion: AOL, IJR, Front Page Magazine, Media Matters for America, Splinter, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Trump's Re-Elect Figures Similar to Those of Obama, Clinton — WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. registered voters solidly believe that President Donald Trump does not deserve to be re-elected, by 59% to 37%. The percentage of voters who say Trump deserves re-election is essentially identical …

Discussion: Political Wire

Sean Hannity:

Sean Hannity Responds to Latest Fake News Attack — It is ironic that I am being attacked for investing my personal money in communities that badly need such investment and in which, I am sure, those attacking me have not invested their money. The fact is, these are investments …

Discussion: USA Today, CNNMoney, Splinter and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Jon Swaine / The Guardian:
Michael Cohen case shines light on Sean Hannity's property empire

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, CNNMoney, CNBC, Raw Story, Pajiba, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Hill, New York Magazine, Splinter, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Axios, RedState and Political Wire, more at Mediagazer »

Caleb Ecarma / Mediaite:

EXCLUSIVE: Joy Reid Claims Newly Discovered Homophobic Posts From Her Blog Were ‘Fabricated’ — Mediaite has obtained a series of homophobic posts from Joy Ann Reid's old blog that she denies were actually written by her. — In an exclusive statement to Mediaite, the MSNBC host claims …

Discussion: Daily Wire, National Review, Breitbart, Sean Hannity and twitchy.com

Brett Samuels / The Hill:

First lady releases menu, details for Macron's state visit — The White House on Monday revealed the menu, entertainment and other details of the first state visit of the Trump administration in anticipation of the French president's arrival. — French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife …

Discussion: CNN

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Macron wants to be Trump's buddy. Can it last? Five flash points to watch.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Guardian, France 24 and Al Jazeera English

Chauncey Devega / Salon:

Pulitzer-winning reporter David Cay Johnston: “The evidence suggests Trump is a traitor” — Investigative reporter who has covered Trump for 30 years dares to imagine impeachment — and President Nancy Pelosi — The saga of President Donald Trump consists of several parallel and intersecting stories.

Discussion: Washington Press

Nataliya Vasilyeva / Associated Press:
Russian lawyer questions why Mueller hasn't contacted her

Discussion: IJR, Daily Wire, Politico and JustOneMinute

Washington Post:

How merchants use Facebook to flood Amazon with fake reviews — SAN FRANCISCO — On Amazon, customer comments can help a product surge in popularity. The online retail giant says that more than 99 percent of its reviews are legitimate because they are written by real shoppers who aren't paid for them.

more at Techmeme »

Elizabeth Djinis / Sarasota Herald:

Sarasota student makes racist prom proposal — Riverview High School says it is investigating. — SARASOTA COUNTY — A Riverview High student is under fire after using a racist sign to ask his girlfriend to the school's prom. — The sign, reading “If I was black, I'd be picking cotton …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Root

Patrick Svitek / The Texas Tribune:

Texas AG Paxton gives Abbott green light on sped-up special election for Farenthold seat — It's unclear when Gov. Greg Abbott hopes to call the election to represent a district ravaged by Hurricane Harvey. — Gov. Greg Abbott got the go-ahead Monday from Attorney General Ken Paxton …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Roll Call

Karma Allen / Yahoo:

Starbucks' ‘unconscious bias training’ isn't enough, protesters say — Members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity rallied at a Starbucks in Philadelphia on Sunday after their fraternity brother, Rashon Nelson, was arrested there earlier this month in an incident the city's mayor called an example of racial profiling.

Discussion: IJR, TheBlaze, Daily Wire and twitchy.com

Juliegrace Brufke / The Hill:

Keeping up with the cosmetics: Kourtney Kardashian to urge makeup reform on Capitol Hill — Reality TV star Kourtney Kardashian is set to make an appearance on Capitol Hill Tuesday to speak on cosmetics reform alongside Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. — (D-N.J.).

Josh K. Elliott / CTVNews:

Suspect in custody after van strikes people on Toronto sidewalk — Police have arrested a suspect after a white van mounted the curb and struck numerous pedestrians in Toronto. — The incident happened on Yonge Street south of Finch Avenue around 1:30 p.m. Monday, according to the Toronto Police Service.

Discussion: ABC News, Breitbart and Mediaite

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

GOP candidates are now mimicking Trump's authoritarianism. That's ominous. … THE MORNING PLUM: — Around the country, Republicans embroiled in tough primaries are increasingly emulating President Trump — by echoing his xenophobia, his veiled racist appeals, his attacks on the news media …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, Salon, Hullabaloo, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Bloomberg

Debbie Nathan / The Intercept:

How the Border Patrol Faked Statistics Showing a 73 Percent Rise in Assaults Against Agents — Last November, reports that a pair of U.S. Border Patrol agents had been attacked with rocks at a desolate spot in West Texas made news around the country. The agents were found injured and unconscious …

Discussion: Splinter

New York Times:

Mueller Guides Us Through the Swamp — The editorial board represents the opinions of the board, its editor and the publisher. It is separate from the newsroom and the Op-Ed section. — The special counsel, Robert Mueller, has not yet presented evidence that the Trump campaign conspired …

Associated Press:

Penn State says wilderness is too risky for outdoors clubs — STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — A near-century-old outdoor recreation club will now refrain from going outside because it is too dangerous out in the wilderness, according to officials at Penn State University.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Andrew Khouri / Los Angeles Times:

Southern California home prices jump to a new record high — Southern California's median home price jumped 8.4% in March from a year earlier, setting a new all-time high, as hopeful buyers engaged in bidding wars over a limited supply of homes on the market.

Sam Stein / The Daily Beast:

Republican National Committee Spent $225K at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Resort Just Last Month — The Republican National Committee spent more than $224,000 at President Donald Trump's private Mar-a-Lago club in March, according to newly filed FEC reports. The expenditures, which were for rental …

Bloomberg:

U.S. Softens Stance on Rusal Sanctions; Aluminum Plunges — Mnuchin says U.S. is reviewing Rusal request to lift sanctions — U.S. statement adds pressure on Deripaska to give up control — The U.S. softened its position on sanctions against Russian metals giant United Co. Rusal, sparking a record plunge in aluminum prices.

Discussion: New York Magazine and Politico

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

'She's a lucky duck': GOP implodes again for McCaskill — Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill is up for reelection. And like clockwork, the Republican Party of Missouri is in complete turmoil again. — McCaskill won a second term term in 2012 when GOP Rep. Todd Akin's campaign imploded …

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Daniella Diaz / CNN:

2 more Democratic senators say they'll vote for Pompeo — Washington (CNN)Secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo now has the support of three Democratic senators, after two lawmakers said Monday they'd back the CIA director to be the nation's next top diplomat.

Discussion: National Review, Townhall, RedState, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, The Daily Beast and USA Today

Virginia Beach / The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation:

Understanding Short-Term Limited Duration Health Insurance — Karen Pollitz, Michelle Long, Ashley Semanskee, and Rabah Kamal — Short-term, limited duration (STLD) health insurance has long been offered to individuals through the non-group market and through associations.

Discussion: Vox, ThinkProgress and HuffPost

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

Bernie Sanders to announce plan to guarantee every American a job … Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will announce a plan for the federal government to guarantee a job paying $15 an hour and health-care benefits to every American worker “who wants or needs one,” embracing the kind …

Discussion: Common Dreams and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Democrats Have Great Female Presidential Candidates. They Need to Avoid the Victim Trap. — Last June, Senator Kamala Harris used a televised hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee to mercilessly dismantle Jeff Sessions, the attorney general. Sessions told the committee he could not answer …

Discussion: New Republic

Associated Press:

AP-NORC Poll: Amid strikes, Americans back teacher raises — WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans overwhelmingly believe teachers don't make enough money, and half say they'd support paying higher taxes to give educators a raise. — The findings of the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press and Axios

Mallory Shelbourne / The Hill:

Sarah Sanders: Dems have to decide if they love the US more than they hate Trump … White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said early Monday that Democrats must decide if they love the United States more than they hate President Trump — 's nomination to lead the State Department.