memeorandum: VT Killer Ruled Mentally Ill by Court; Let Go After Hospital Visit (ABCNEWS)

4:30 AM ET, April 19, 2007

Top Items:

Full coverage: Virginia Tech massacre — April 18: NBC News releases a picture of Cho Seung-Hui that was in the package the Virginia Tech gunman sent to NBC between the two shootings on Monday. — Photos & audio — Virginia Tech students, faculty come to terms with the horror of the mass shooting at the Blacksburg, Va., school.

NBC Nightly / The Daily Nightly:

ONE WORD — This morning, about five miles outside of Roanoke, Va., I watched a Nissan pickup truck merge into traffic in front of us on the interstate. I noticed there was something written on the rear cab window. When we got closer, I was able to read what it was — just one word, written in white shoe polish on the glass: WHY?

Discussion: Threat Level, Dick Polman's American Debate and On Deadline

ABCNEWS:

VT Killer Ruled Mentally Ill by Court; Let Go After Hospital Visit — Harassed Two Female Students; Concerns He Was Suicidal — A Virginia court found that Virginia Tech killer Seung-Hui Cho was "mentally ill" and potentially dangerous. Then the state let him go.

Discussion: Dr. Helen, A Second Hand Conjecture, The Moderate Voice, Leibowitz's Canticle, Liberal Values and Wizbang

Dinesh D'Souza / News Bloggers Blog:

Where Is Atheism When Bad Things Happen? — Notice something interesting about the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings? Atheists are nowhere to be found. Every time there is a public gathering there is talk of God and divine mercy and spiritual healing.

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, The Democratic Daily, TBogg and Pharyngula

Mike Nizza / The Lede:
Updates on Virginia Tech

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Hot Air, Boing Boing, Redstate, Threat Level, Flopping Aces and Sister Toldjah

Calvin Woodward / Associated Press:
McCain says he backs no gun control

Discussion: theneweditor.com

Ragnar / The Jawa Report:
Down the Memory Hole...

Discussion: Jules Crittenden and Wall Street Journal

Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:
Va. Tech gunman sent material to NBC

Discussion: ninemsn, Washington Post, Wake up America and Don Surber

Michelle Malkin:
Wanted: A culture of self-defense

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Columbus Dispatch, Outside The Beltway, WorldNetDaily, Slate, Think Progress, The Reaction, Riehl World View, BLACKFIVE and Ed Driscoll.com

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

High Court Upholds Curb on Abortion — 5-4 Vote Affirms Ban on 'Partial-Birth' Procedure — The Supreme Court broke new ground yesterday in upholding federal restrictions on abortion, with President Bush's two appointees joining a court majority that said Congress was exercising its license to …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Right Wing News, Scared Monkeys, Crunchy Con, Captain's Quarters, Daily Kos, The Democratic Daily, SCOTUSblog and Blue Crab Boulevard

Scott Lemieux / Lawyers, Guns and Money:

Four Things To Remember When Reading Gonzales v. Carhart — As an antidote against the inevitable chorus of fake moderates arguing that today's abortion case is no big deal, four things to keep in mind as you ponder today's decision: — Don't take assertions by the Court …

Discussion: Feministing, Feminist Law Professors, Hullabaloo, the talking dog, a bird and a bottle, LiberalOasis, The Reaction, Matthew Yglesias and Bradford Plumer

Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:

In Reversal, Justices Back Ban on Method of Abortion — The Supreme Court reversed course on abortion on Wednesday, upholding the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-to-4 decision that promises to reframe the abortion debate and define the young Roberts court.

Discussion: Pacific Views, The Galloping Beaver and Think Progress

Bill Mears / CNN:
Justices uphold ban on abortion procedure

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Volokh Conspiracy, AlterNet.org, The Caucus, Washington Post, The Mahablog, Brilliant at Breakfast, Cliff Schecter, Wake up America, Hot Air, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Patterico's Pontifications, SCOTUSblog and ProfessorBainbridge.com ®

LII:
Supreme Court collection

Discussion: Pacific Views

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
Father Knows Best

Discussion: My Left Wing, protein wisdom, Lawyers, Guns and Money and a bird and a bottle

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Commentary: Some consequences of Carhart II

Discussion: The Sideshow

Michael Stokes Paulsen / Balkinization: The Pernicious Doctrine of Stare Decisis

The Hill:

FBI searches Republican lawmaker's home — The FBI searched the Virginia home of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) last Friday in its investigation into ties between the congressman and his wife, Julie, and disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to law enforcement and other Congressional and K Street sources.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, DownWithTyranny!, On Deadline, Firedoglake, TPMmuckraker and Obsidian Wings

Nico / Think Progress:
Breaking: FBI Raids Rep. Doolittle's Home

Discussion: Calitics, CANNONFIRE, Shakesville, The Impolitic and Left in the West

Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:

Can conservative bloggers tell the truth? — Here's a simple challenge for John Hinderaker, a writer for the popular conservative blog Power Line who recently revisited the 2004 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign controversy. Upset by recent media references that suggested …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Power Line, Hullabaloo and Liberal Values

Hindrocket / Power Line: INEFFECTIVE, EVEN FOR A LIBERAL — Eric Boehlert of Media Matters must …

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Video: Carolyn McCarthy doesn't understand her own gun-control legislation — I wish I could show you the bill (H.R. 1859) but the text isn't online at Thomas yet. It's probably identical or nearly identical to this bill, which she introduced in February, to reinstate the assault-weapons ban.

Ian / Hot Air:
Video: Eisner says it's time to get the public "emotional" about gun control

Discussion: Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

Political Radar:

Fred Thompson 2008: A Matter of When — Not If — ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: Fred Thompson's top cheerleader on Capitol Hill — Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn. — said Wednesday that the former Republican senator's entrance into the 2008 presidential race is a matter of when — not if.

Discussion: TIME and Don Surber

Hotline On Call:
Tour De Fred Draws 53 Members

Discussion: Redstate, eyeon08.com and The Right's Field

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Don't Reward Failure By Giving Money to NARAL — I'm sure Nancy Keenan is licking her sweet chops over the latest SCOTUS decision. It is, after all, probably going to be the biggest fundraising opportunity she's had during her tenure at NARAL. Bigger even than Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement.

Discussion: Redstate, Crooks and Liars and The American Street

Rick Maze / Marine Corps Times HOME:

Experts: Force increases may not be enough — The Senate Armed Services Committee heard testimony Tuesday that increasing the size of the Army and Marine Corps may not resolve severe and growing personnel problems. There was even talk of returning to the draft to fill the ranks.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Kirk Semple / New York Times:

Bombings Kill at Least 171 Iraqis in Baghdad — Bombs ravaged Baghdad in five horrific explosions aimed mainly at Shiite crowds on Wednesday, killing at least 169 people in the deadliest day in the capital since the American-led security plan for the city took effect two months ago.

Discussion: Pacific Views and Hullabaloo

Jerry Bowyer / TCS Daily:

Ismail Ax: The Shooter Was Another 'Son of Sacrifice' — First it was Johnny Muhammad, now it was Cho Sueng Hui aka Ismail Ax. Precisely how many mass shooters have to turn out to have adopted Muslim names before we get it? Islam has become the tribe of choice of those who hate American society.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Atlas Shrugs and Blogs of War