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5:30 PM ET, March 20, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
TMZ.com:
Special Olympics Champ to Barack: Bring it On!  —  A bowling phenom in the Special Olympics has just challenged Prez Barack Obama to a White House roll-off ... and he'll probably kick Barack's butt.  —  Kolan McConiughey, a Special Olympics competitor who has bowled three perfect 300 games …
RELATED:
Michelle Malkin:
Why can't Obama tell a good joke?  —  Why are the president's “jokes” (scripted or not) so lame?  —  The answer is a three-letter-word (or is that four letters, Joe?):  E-G-O.  —  Barack Obama is constitutionally incapable of self-deprecation, because self-deprecation requires sincere humility.
The Campaign Spot:
Palin Hits Obama on ‘Special Olympics’ Joke  —  Gov. Sarah Palin responded to remarks made last night by President Obama related to the Special Olympics on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”: … Well, after the way his allies went after her, he really couldn't count on a full-throated defense of a boneheaded comment.
Toby Harnden / Toby Harnden's blog listings:
Top 10 gaffes by Barack Obama and Joe Biden
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
THIS FEED IS CLOSED TO THE PRESS.  —  Huh, I wonder why Jake Tapper, press access warrior, has blocked me from following his Twitter feed.  —  Time for a blogger ethics panel?  —  UPDATE: Tapper has also blocked Talking Points Memo.  —  Bonus Tapper: His exchange with White House Press …
Discussion: Outside The Beltway and Gawker
RELATED:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
TAPPER, TWITTER, AND ONLINE ETIQUETTE.... It was bound to be of interest to the political world anyway, but ABC News' Jake Tapper helped get the ball rolling on the Special Olympics/Obama story last night.  He was first out of the gate with a news item and a report on the president's comment on his Twitter feed.
Discussion: Greg's Opinion
David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
NOT A MENTALITY BUT A DISEASE  —  Everything you need to know about the DC journo establishment, from ABC News White House correspondent Jake Tapper's Twitter feed: … Late Update: Tapper gets his revenge: He has “blocked” me from following him on Twitter.  —  Later Update: Seems to be a trend.
Discussion: D-Day and Taylor Marsh
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
Is ABC's Jake Tapper blocking journalists who criticize his Twitter updates?
Discussion: Talking Points Memo
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
THE RELUCTANT REPORTING OF FLUFF.
Discussion: Jack & Jill Politics
Washington Post:
GOP Pressed on Health Care  —  House Democrats Set September Deadline for Compromise  —  House Democrats, in consultation with the White House, will give Republican lawmakers until September to reach a compromise on President Obama's signature health-care initiative — otherwise …
RELATED:
Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
WH: Agenda on track despite worsening deficits  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's budget would generate unsustainably large deficits averaging almost $1 trillion a year over the next decade, according to new estimates released Friday.
Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
U.S. Federal Deficit Soars Past Previous Estimates
David Rogers / The Politico:
Budget: Red ink far as the eye can see
Discussion: The Swamp, Commentary and TPMDC
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:   CBO's Score Won't Deter Obama
Michael Lewis / Bloomberg:
Mass Hysteria Over AIG Obscures Simple Truths: Michael Lewis  —  Last September the U.S. government began to dole out the first of $173 billion to American International Group.  A big chunk of it passed right through to banks that had bought insurance from AIG against mortgage and corporate defaults …
RELATED:
David Reilly / Bloomberg:
JPMorgan Might Lose Dimon to a Geithner Flameout: David Reilly
Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Portfolio
Paul Krugman:
AIG  —  Preliminary thoughts on the tax bill:  —  1. It's not the way you should make policy — it's clumsy, and it will punish some innocent parties while letting the most guilty off scot-free  —  2. But — there wasn't much alternative at this point.  And for that I blame the Obama people.
Mary Ann Akers / The Sleuth:
Joe the Plumber Wants to Make Love to Washington  —  The Republican's Working Man hero Joe the Plumber could barely contain himself last night before a crowd of adoring, media-bashing conservatives.  —  “God, all this love and everything in the room - I'm horny,” declared Joe, whose real name is Samuel Wurzelbacher.
Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
Palin rejects over 30% of stimulus money  —  31 PERCENT: She says state can't commit to continuation.  —  JUNEAU — Gov. Sarah Palin is refusing to accept over 30 percent of the federal economic stimulus money being offered to Alaska, including dollars for schools, energy assistance and social services.
RELATED:
Ali Akbar Dareini / Associated Press:
Iran plays down new Obama video message  —  TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran played down President Barack Obama's new video message to the Iranian people on Friday, saying it welcomed the overtures but warned that decades of mistrust can't easily be erased.  —  Obama released the video to coincide …
RELATED:
Alan Cowell / New York Times:
Obama and Israeli Leader Make Taped Appeals to Iran
Portfolio:
CNN's March Ratings So Far: More Lamb than Lion  —  More evidence that CNN is going to have to find a new strategy fast or risk becoming a cable news also-ran: In the month of March so far, the Time Warner-owned network has come in fourth place in prime time among adults 25 to 54 …
Discussion: Media Blog, Gawker and Don Surber
Tom Grace / The Daily Star, Oneonta, NY:
Tedisco: I'm focused on local interests  —  ONEONTA _ Political commentators may see the 20th Congressional District race as a contest of national consequence, but Republican James Tedisco, 58, is focused closer to home.  —  “Rush Limbaugh is meaningless to me,” Tedisco told the editorial board of The Daily Star on Thursday.
Hotline On Call:
Is Norm Coleman's Attorney “Done” ... ?  —  Transcribed from KFAN Radio broadcast, March 18, 2008.  (Dan Barreiro show, Ron Rosenbaum interviewing.)  —  Joe Friedberg, attorney for former Sen. Norm Coleman's recount effort, seemed to suggest in a MN radio interview yesterday that Democrat Al Franken …
Telegraph:
Iran responds to Barack Obama's video appeal with nuclear pledge  —  US President Barack Obama's appeal for a ‘new beginning’ with Iran has been met by a pledge to turn on the country's nuclear power plant this year.  —  Mr Obama sent Iran an unprecedented videotaped message offering …
Discussion: Reuters, Power Line and Political Punch
Alessandra Stanley / New York Times:
Seeking Everyman, Obama Does Leno  —  President Obama didn't look burdened by his office on “The Tonight Show” on Thursday; he seemed bemused.  —  As he described the problems of American International Group and the credit crisis to Jay Leno, Mr. Obama behaved less like a beleaguered president …
Discussion: Spin Cycle and Washington Post
James Rainey / Los Angeles Times:
Newspaper cuts open door to more political trickery  —  Political consultants aren't exactly rubbing their hands together and snickering.  But as the hired guns look over a landscape of closing newspapers and laid-off investigative reporters, they sense an opening that leaves them both excited and queasy.
Discussion: Gawker and Democracy in America
Henry Blodget / Clusterstock:
90% Tax?  Now We Really ARE Screwed  —  The frantic passage of the Populist Rage Tax was a new low in the US government's response to this crisis.  It shows just how likely we are to doom ourselves to a decade or more of misery—by choking our markets, closing our borders …
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Support for Nuclear Energy Inches Up to New High  —  Majority believes nuclear power plants are safe  —  PRINCETON, NJ — A majority of Americans have been supportive of the use of nuclear energy in the United States in recent years, but this year's Gallup Environment Poll finds new high levels of support …
CNN:
Dodd says he was misled on bonus legislation  —  (CNN) — A defensive Sen. Chris Dodd said Friday that he was misled on the issue of bonuses for AIG executives.  —  He claimed he would not have drafted key legislative changes allowing the bonuses to move forward if he knew the purpose of those changes.
Discussion: TPMMuckraker and Riehl World View
Monika Scislowska / Associated Press:
Polish documentary shows prewar Jewish life  —  WARSAW, Poland - Poland's Jews were nearly wiped out in the Nazi Holocaust, then the communists who ruled the country for decades after World War II waged anti-Semitic campaigns and made Jewish history a taboo topic.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Felix Gillette / New York Observer:
MSNBC In Discussions with Ed Schultz
Discussion: Think Progress
Paul Krugman:
Fiscal aspects of quantitative easing (wonkish)
Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog and D-Day
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Dems Choosing Health Care Over Cap-N-Trade?
Discussion: FiveThirtyEight
Douglas Birch / Associated Press:
Former US officials seek improved Russia ties
Sasha Issenberg / Boston Globe:
Democrat outside looking in
Discussion: MSNBC and Newsweek Blogs
Dan Gilgoff / US News:
Newt Gingrich Steps Up Efforts to Mobilize Religious Conservatives
Discussion: Washington Monthly
TPMMuckraker:
The Rise And Fall Of AIG's Financial Products Unit
Discussion: BuzzFlash.org
John Hughes / Bloomberg:
GM, Chrysler May Need Additional Aid, Rattner Says
Discussion: Clusterstock, TIME.com and Zero Hedge
 Earlier Items: 
Mike Corder / Associated Press:
Dutch hospital to send Ghanaian chief's head home
The Politico:
Greta defends access to Palin family Politico - 43 minutes ago
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Pollitt On Douthat  —  For a column that's critical of me …
Discussion: The Other McCain and Hullabaloo
Reem Khalifa / Associated Press:
2 US Navy vessels collide in Strait of Hormuz
Discussion: D-Day
Washington Post:
Latest CIA Scandal Puts Focus on How Agency Polices Self
Discussion: Gawker
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Caitlin Huston / The Hollywood Reporter:
Internal memo: Hearst Magazines president announces layoffs as part of a decision to “reallocate resources” to “continue our focus on digital innovation”

Jon Brodkin / Ars Technica:
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced she will leave the agency on January 20; she was the first woman to be confirmed to lead the agency

Lachlan Cartwright / The Ankler:
Sources: MSNBC renewed Rachel Maddow's contract early this fall, but with a pay cut; MSNBC bosses' plan to shake up daytime and weekend programming

 
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