memeorandum: Doubting Case, a Prosecutor Helped the Defense (Benjamin Weiser/New York Times)

1:55 PM ET, June 23, 2008

Top Items:

George Carlin, 71, Irreverent Standup Comedian, Is Dead — George Carlin, the Grammy-Award winning standup comedian and actor who was hailed for his irreverent social commentary, poignant observations of the absurdities of everyday life and language, and groundbreaking routines like …

Discussion: Towleroad.com, The Moderate Voice, Boing Boing, Time, ACLU Blog, First Draft, The Big Picture, TV Decoder, Martini Revolution, Brilliant at Breakfast, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Lance Mannion, Wake up America, Wizbang, American Street and Cogitamus

Dean Goodman / Reuters:
Edgy comic George Carlin dies at 71

Discussion: BBC, CNN, Scared Monkeys, The Carpetbagger Report, Outside The Beltway, Comments from Left Field, Pam's House Blend, Sister Toldjah, Crooks and Liars, Bob Cesca's Goddamn …, Macsmind, PoliBlog (TM) and The American Mind

Ann Althouse / Althouse:
George Carlin died.

Discussion: Reason Magazine and alicublog

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
R.I.P, George Carlin

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Associated Press and The Nation

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The New Republic syndrome — (updated below) — The number one problem facing the Democratic Party is that, as events of the last week demonstrate, it continues to be plagued by The New Republic Syndrome, one of the most fatal political afflictions that exist.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Unfogged and Balloon Juice

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
FISA: Turning Up The Pressure

Discussion: The G Spot and Slobber And Spittle

Larry Rohter / New York Times:

Obama Camp Closely Linked With Ethanol — When VeraSun Energy inaugurated a new ethanol processing plant last summer in Charles City, Iowa, some of that industry's most prominent boosters showed up. Leaders of the National Corn Growers Association and the Renewable Fuels Association …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Confluence, TalkLeft, BuzzFlash.org, TPM Election Central, Donklephant, Sister Toldjah and Spin Cycle

Karl / protein wisdom: Barack Obama in the tank for ethanol

Andrew Stuttaford / The Corner:
Obama and Ethanol — There's an interesting piece in today's …

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

First Obama attack book in the works — The same publisher that distributed the 2004 best-seller that took aim at John Kerry's Vietnam service is planning a summer release of what's scheduled to be the first critical book on Barack Obama. — Conservative journalist David Freddoso's …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Caucus, Ben Smith's Blogs, Comments from Left Field, Donklephant, TIME.com and Prairie Weather

Byron York / The Corner:

“Swiftboating” — It's common to see mentions in the press these days about some “swiftboating” of Barack Obama that is allegedly in the works, or might someday allegedly be in the works, or might someday be thought to be allegedly in the works. While I'm sure there will be some hit jobs on Obama …

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

David Paul Kuhn / The Politico:

Three women who might join the GOP ticket — While the vice presidential slot may be John McCain's best means of wooing those Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters who remain loath to embrace Barack Obama, the Republican party is a thin source of politically viable women, leaving McCain with few top-tier options.

Discussion: Washington Post, Democratic Strategist, Outside The Beltway, The Moderate Voice, Political Perceptions, HillBuzz and TIME.com

Chris Cillizza / The Fix: McCain's Crucial 73 Days

Joe Klein / Swampland:

Too Good to Check — I have no way of knowing if this is true, though the source is excellent...but the word in Republican circles is that John McCain is quite frustrated by the vice presidential selection process because he can't go with any of his top three choices. They are:

Discussion: MoJoBlog and Democratic Strategist

New York Times:
Is He the Ticket? — As the popular governor of Florida …

Discussion: pandagon.net

Roger Kimball / Encounter Books:

Encounter Bids The New York York Times Farewell — Beginning today, June 23, 2008, Encounter Books will no longer send its books to The New York Times for review. Of course, the editors at the Times are welcome to trot down to their local book emporium or visit Amazon.com to purchase our books …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, The Corner, Power Line, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Commentary, alicublog and Roger L. Simon

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Reporters Say Networks Put Wars on Back Burner — Getting a story on the evening news isn't easy for any correspondent. And for reporters in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is especially hard, according to Lara Logan, the chief foreign correspondent for CBS News. So she has devised a solution when she is talking to the network.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Obsidian Wings, Power Line, Think Progress, The Strata-Sphere, Confederate Yankee, Wake up America, Right Wing News, Pajamas Media, Outside The Beltway, The Carpetbagger Report and Truthdig

William Kristol / New York Times:

Someone Else's Alex — The people at MoveOn.org have a new Iraq ad that is, if they do say so themselves, their most effective ever. Then again, for the group that brought us the “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?” ad last September, that might not be saying much.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Shakesville, Blue Girl, Red State, Rising Hegemon, NewsBusters.org, Salon, No More Mister Nice Blog, Commentary, The Mahablog and Connecting.the.Dots

Rebecca Traister / Salon:

Why Clinton voters say they won't support Obama — The attack of the PUMAs, or a dozen reasons why Clinton voters are still too angry to come home. — Hillary Clinton supporters wait for their candidate to arrive at the National Building Museum in Washington on June 7.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, TalkLeft, The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, The Strata-Sphere and The Confluence

Ed Pilkington / Guardian:

Put oil firm chiefs on trial - scientist — James Hansen, one of the world's leading climate scientists, will today call for the chief executives of large fossil fuel companies to be put on trial for high crimes against humanity and nature, accusing them of actively spreading doubt …

Discussion: io9, Dot Earth, Facing South, NewsBusters.org, Don Surber, Macsmind, JammieWearingFool, TigerHawk and Babalu Blog

Daniela Petroff / Associated Press:

Barack Obama inspires Milan men's runway styles — MILAN, Italy - The latest “first” for Barack Obama comes off the Milan runway. — Calling the U.S. presidential hopeful “the man of the moment,” Donatella Versace dedicated her Spring-Summer 2009 collection presented Saturday evening to Obama …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, Political Radar, HillBuzz, Gateway Pundit, The Swamp and Don Surber

Scott W. Johnson / New York Post:

ANTI-TERROR OOPS — BARACK BUMBLES LEGAL QS — SPEAKING without a text in front of him, Barack Obama betrays a troubling lack of knowledge on important issues - such as the law and terrorism. — In his ABC interview last Monday, for example, Obama attacked the Bush approach on fighting terror.

Discussion: Don Surber and Power Line