memeorandum: Rush Announces Female Listener Summit to Discuss EIB Gender Gap (RushLimbaugh.com)

9:10 PM ET, February 25, 2009

Top Items:

Limbaugh Defends Jindal, Warns Conservatives They Are ‘Making A Real Mistake If They Go After’ Him — The response across the political spectrum to Gov. Bobby Jindal's (R-LA) speech last night has been overwhelmingly negative. Even the most enthusiastic conservative talkers had harsh words …

Discussion: Salon, Eunomia, Crooks and Liars, MoJo Blog Posts, Gateway Pundit, The Huffington Post, Political Machine, Firedoglake, TPM TV, Gawker, Wonkette, Indecision, About.com US Liberal Politics, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Your Right Hand Thief, The Swamp, The Nation and Hullabaloo

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Rush: If you think Jindal reeked last night, I don't want to hear from you again — Sounds like Ace and I are now Republican personas non grata. As are an awful lot of commenters in last night's megathread, I might add. — That's okay. One of these days Andy Levy and I are going to start a secular …

Discussion: Riehl World View, Ace of Spades HQ and Below The Beltway

Alexander Mooney / CNN:

Jindal earns bad reviews in national debut — WASHINGTON (CNN) — It was billed as a “coming out party” for one of the GOP's most promising young stars. — But after nearly universal criticism was heaped on Gov. Bobby Jindal's high-profile response to President Obama's address to Congress Tuesday night …

Andy Barr / The Politico:
Limbaugh still loves Jindal

Discussion: First Draft, TVNewser, Salon and TigerHawk

Associated Press:
Gov. Bobby Jindal headed for vacation after GOP speech

Discussion: WBRZ-TV

Paul Krugman:

What should government do? A Jindal meditation — What is the appropriate role of government? — Traditionally, the division between conservatives and liberals has been over the role and size of the welfare state: liberals think that the government should play a large role in sanding off …

Discussion: Marginal Revolution, TalkLeft and Your Right Hand Thief

Andrea Thompson / Yahoo! News:

Gov. Jindal Follow-up: What Is ‘Volcano Monitoring’? — After President Obama's speech on the economy last night, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal criticized government spending in the stimulus bill, citing examples including “$140 million for something called ‘volcano monitoring.’”

Discussion: Anchorage Daily News, Cafe Talk Aggregator, Washington Post, Bouphonia, Washington Monthly, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Newshoggers.com

Jordan Lite / Scientific American:
Bobby Jindal and volcano monitoring: What was he talking about?

Discussion: Sound Politics, MyDD, HorsesAss.Org, MoJo Blog Posts, Think Progress, Matthew Yglesias, David Corn and Liberal Values

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Case for Volcano Monitoring

Discussion: Obsidian Wings

Ceci Connolly / Washington Post:

Obama Budget Would Create $634 Billion Health-Care Fund — President Obama intends to release a budget tomorrow that creates a 10-year, $634 billion “reserve fund” to partially pay for a vast expansion of the U.S. health care system, an overhaul that many experts project will cost as much as $1 trillion over the next decade.

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel, Firedoglake, Political Punch, Wonk Room, Daily Kos, Scientific American, The Field on the Narcosphere, MyDD, Open Left and Hot Air

Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:

Taxes, Cuts to Fund Health Reform — Upper-Income Americans Would See Deductions Cut on Charity and Mortgage Interest — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday will propose $634 billion in new taxes on upper-income Americans and cuts in government spending over the next decade to pay for his promised health-care expansion.

Discussion: The Treatment

Associated Press:
Obama seeks $634B over 10 years for health care

Discussion: Agence France Presse and Reuters

Sandra Sobieraj Westfall / People.com:

Michelle Obama: White House Dog Coming Soon! — Michelle and Barack Obama with daughters Malia, left, and Sasha — The whole world, it seems, wants to know: What kind of dog are the Obamas getting and, for goodness sake, when? — Speaking to PEOPLE at the White House recently …

Discussion: The Swamp, The Sleuth, Gawker, CBS News, Wonkette, Top of the Ticket, Anne Schroeder's Blogs and Guardian

Fox News:
Obama Family Picks Their Dog Breed, But Clash on Name

Discussion: The Swamp and Moonbattery

Luke Baker / Reuters:

Exclusive: Lawyer says Guantanamo abuse worse since Obama — LONDON (Reuters) - Abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay has worsened sharply since President Barack Obama took office as prison guards “get their kicks in” before the camp is closed, according to a lawyer who represents detainees.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, On Deadline, RedState, Newshoggers.com, Political Radar and The Daily Dish

Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:
AG Holder says closing Guantanamo won't be easy

Discussion: Weekly Standard and JammieWearingFool

Ernest Luning / Colorado Independent:

Schultheis: HIV testing for pregnant moms rewards ‘sexual promiscuity’ — State Sen. Dave Schultheis, a Colorado Springs Republican (Photo/Bob Spencer, The Colorado Independent) — Democrats were outraged Wednesday morning when Republican state Sen. Dave Schultheis said he planned to vote …

Discussion: Think Progress, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Feministe, RHRealityCheck.org, Pam's House Blend and pandagon.net

Lynn Bartels / Rocky Mountain News:
Lawmaker's HIV, promiscuity comments cause uproar

Discussion: Colorado Independent

Byron York / Beltway Confidential:

“A Major Doctrinal Shift for Republicans” — Chief Political Correspondent — I just got off the phone with a very plugged-in Republican strategist who told me that Republican reaction to President Obama's speech, which the party will roll out in the next few days, will mark the beginning …

Discussion: Below The Beltway, Political Byline, The New Republic, Hot Air, Donklephant and Riehl World View

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

Byrd: Obama in power grab — Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the longest serving Democratic senator, is criticizing President Obama's appointment of White House “czars” to oversee federal policy, saying these executive positions amount to a power grab by the executive branch.

Discussion: Associated Press, NO QUARTER, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Reuters, Townhall.com, Weasel Zippers, CBS News, Hot Air, RedState, AmSpecBlog and TIME.com

M Peretz / The New Republic:

Chas Freeman Is Bigoted And Out Of Touch — Here is the most stunning prospective appointment of the Obama administration as yet. Not stunning as in “spectacular” or “distinguished” but stunning as in bigoted and completely out of synch with the deepest convictions of the American people.

Discussion: Moonbattery, Sister Toldjah, Israel Matzav, Commentary, FP Passport and Riehl World View

Ron Kampeas / JTA:
Potential intel pick peddled Saudi-funded textbook accused of bias

Discussion: The Cable and Weekly Standard

Gabriel Schoenfeld / Wall Street Journal:
Obama's Intelligence Choice

Discussion: Power Line, AlterNet.org, Mondoweiss and FP Passport

Media Matters / Media Matters for America:

Will's “final thought” on Obama speech: “I don't know when men started to hug each other, but hug they do, and look at that”

Discussion: The New Republic

Rachel Weiner / The Huffington Post:
George Will On Obama Speech: “I Don't Know When Men Started To Hug Each Other”

Discussion: Political Machine and Washington Monthly

William Kristol / Washington Post:

Republicans' Day of Reckoning — After Tuesday night, no one should doubt Barack Obama's ambition. His silent dismissal of the efforts of his immediate predecessors — he mentioned none of them — is only one indication of the extent to which he intends to be a new president breaking new ground in a new era.

Discussion: American Power, On Deadline and The Corner

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:
Thoughts on strategy — Over the weekend, I did a post whacking …

Discussion: Moe Lane

The Huffington Post:

Reid: Congressional Budget Increased To Pay GOP Staffers — A ten percent increase in the budget for Congressional operations was needed because Senate Republicans wanted to retain previous staff levels despite having lost roughly 20 percent of their ranks in the 2008 elections, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Wednesday.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Walter Alarkon / The Hill:
Some Dems balk at controversial budget maneuver

Discussion: The Politico and Matthew Yglesias

Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:

Limbaugh To Convene A ‘Female Summit’ To Figure Out Why Women Hate Him — Limbaugh To Convene A ‘Female Summit’ To Figure Out Why Women Hate Him — Women don't really like Rush Limbaugh. On Feb. 23, Public Policy Polling released findings showing that only 37 percent of women hold …

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and The Moderate Voice

RushLimbaugh.com:
Rush Announces Female Listener Summit to Discuss EIB Gender Gap

Discussion: Writes Like She Talks and Public Policy Polling

Chris / TVNewser:

“Oh God” Book II: Chris Matthews Responds — MSNBC's Chris Matthews has responded to his uttering of the words “Oh God” just as Gov. Bobby Jindal emerged to deliver the GOP response last night. TVNewser has obtained some of what Matthews will say on “Hardball” tonight:

Discussion: Hot Air, Political Machine, Video, Townhall.com and NewsBusters.org

Patrick Gavin / The Politico:

Wurzelbacher laughs at Obama speech — In town to promote his new book, “Joe the Plumber: Fighting for the American Dream”, Samuel J. Wurzelbacher — aka “Joe the Plumber” — stopped by Americans for Tax Reform Wednesday to review President Barack Obama's Tuesday address before Congress …

Paul Krugman:

All the President's zombies — Ben Bernanke's testimony over the past two days gives us our best clue yet about where the administration and the Fed are going with bank rescue. And the answer seems to be ... nowhere. — Simon Johnson and James Kwak read it the same way I do:

Discussion: TalkLeft, Talking Points Memo, The New Republic and The Daily Dish

Jaimee Lynn Fletcher / Orange County Register:

Mayor is criticized for White House watermelon patch e-mail — Businesswoman receives e-mail with image showing watermelon patch in front of White House. — Recommend — LOS ALAMITOS - The mayor has sent an apology for an e-mail sent to a local businesswoman and community volunteer that she says is racist and offensive.

Discussion: Associated Press, Shakesville, Political Byline and Pam's House Blend

The official Dilbert website …:

User Name: — Wow! I work in the business jet industry. This strip is posted all over. 2 Thumbs up!!! — Log in to flag this comment — This is bare none, the best Dilbert of all time. — Log in to flag this comment — User Name: — apease Feb 25, 2009 — One of the best ever.

Discussion: Reason

Conor Clarke / The Atlantic Politics Channel:

America invented everything — Two of Obama's claims from the SOTU: … and … After a period of prolonged study and meditation (ie, I consulted Wikipedia for 45 minutes after the speech), I have concluded that these claims are questionable at best and false at worst.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Fausta's Blog and Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin / Pajamas Media:

Obama Removes the Mask — The president's speech to Congress eliminated any doubt about the agenda he is promoting. — President Obama's speech Tuesday night should put to rest the argument as to who he really is. He revealed plans so sweeping and so expensive that, if they came to pass …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, TalkLeft and New York Times

David Stout / New York Times:

Justices Rule Sect Cannot Force Placing of Monument — WASHINGTON — A public park in Utah that includes a monument to the Ten Commandments need not make room for a similar monument reflecting the beliefs of an unusual religion called Summum, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

Discussion: TalkLeft, MoJo Blog Posts, The Hill, Reason, Preemptive Karma and Althouse

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

EXCLUSIVE: Bill Clinton Says Obama's Speech Was “Terrific” And Struck Right Tone Of Optimism — Bill Clinton — who recently urged President Obama to show more optimism about the future — hailed Obama for getting the tone right in his speech last night, praising Obama's effort as “terrific” …

Discussion: TIME.com

Ryan Powers / Think Progress:

Evolution Of A Headline: Drudge Blames Obama For Market Declines, Accidentally Gives Him Credit For Rally — The markets opened this morning with a sustained decline, which Reuters attributed to a new “report showing yet more deterioration in the housing market.”

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Reuters and Hullabaloo