memeorandum: U.S. officials want ‘swine’ out of flu name (Tabassum Zakaria/Reuters)

10:30 AM ET, April 29, 2009

Top Items:

We Didn't Have to Lose Arlen Specter — IT is disheartening and disconcerting, at the very least, that here we are today — almost exactly eight years after Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party — witnessing the departure of my good friend and fellow moderate Republican …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Taegan Goddard's …, MSNBC, Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Boston Globe, progressiverepublican.info, Washington Post, The Hill, Donklephant, Balloon Juice and NY Daily News

William Kristol / PostPartisan:

Good News for Republicans! — On May 24, 2001, I wrote an op-ed for The Post in the wake of Vermont Sen. James Jeffords's party switch. I argued that the switch, which cost Republicans control of the Senate, could well turn out to be good for President Bush.

Discussion: The Mahablog, pandagon.net, Washington Post, Time, The Next Right, Wall Street Journal, Jules Crittenden and The Politico

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Defection reshapes Senate

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Politico and Washington Post

The Politico:
Dems win Specter bidding war

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

New York Times:
Specter Joins Democrats; Senate Count May Reach 60

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, The Note, The Caucus, Washington Post, Chris Floyd Online, MSNBC, Philly.com, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Los Angeles Times, Political Punch, New York Times and Joshua Treviñ

Newt Gingrich / Washington Post:
Arlen Specter's Switch

Discussion: The Hill, The Washington Independent, Booman Tribune, Sadly, No!, TPMDC, The Moderate Voice, D-Day, Crooks and Liars and skippy the bush kangaroo

Ramesh Ponnuru / The Corner:
Specter on Jeffords — When Jim Jeffords became an “Independent” …

Discussion: The New Republic, The New Ledger and JammieWearingFool

CNN:
Limbaugh to Specter: Please take McCain with you

Discussion: The Politico, The Swamp, AMERICAblog News, The Strata-Sphere and Salon

Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Steele: Specter ‘flipped the bird’ at GOP

Discussion: The Politico, GayPatriot, Pro Patria, The Democratic Daily, The Huffington Post, The Caucus and Raw Story

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Specter and the Flat Tax

Discussion: CQ Politics, Open Left and Marginal Revolution

Peter Nicholas / Los Angeles Times:
Specter condemned Jim Jeffords' party switch in 2001

Discussion: Nashville Post, Think Progress, MSNBC, the talking dog and Glenn Thrush's Blog

Tabassum Zakaria / Reuters:

U.S. officials want ‘swine’ out of flu name — Source: Reuters — What's in a name? U.S. pork producers are finding that the name of the virus spreading from Mexico is affecting their business, prompting U.S. officials to argue for changing the name from swine flu.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, protein wisdom, Fausta's Blog, Fox News, MoJo Blog Posts, PoliBlog, Israel Matzav, 24Ahead, Washington Post and Don Surber

Associated Press:

Toddler in Texas becomes 1st swine flu death in US — HOUSTON - A 23-month-old toddler in Texas became the first confirmed swine flu death outside of Mexico as authorities around the world struggled to contain a growing global health menace that has also swept Germany onto the roster of afflicted nations.

Discussion: Clusterstock, Hot Air and Sister Toldjah

Doug Gross / CNN:

Regular flu has killed thousands since January — (CNN) — There had been no confirmed deaths in the United States related to swine flu as of Tuesday afternoon. But another virus had killed thousands of people since January and is expected to keep killing hundreds of people every week for the rest of the year.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Blue Crab Boulevard and Telegraph

New York Times: First U.S. Death From Swine Flu Is Reported

David P. Fidler / asil.org:
ASIL Insights — The Swine Flu Outbreak and International Law

Discussion: SF Appeal

Associated Press:
Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive

Discussion: pandagon.net, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Shakesville, normblog, TPMDC and The Corner

Andie Coller / The Politico:
Dems put swine flu to good use

Discussion: The Swamp and Macsmind

WCBS-TV:

FAA Memo: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic — Threatened Federal Sanctions Against NYPD, Secret Service, FBI & Mayor's Office If Secret Ever Got Out — Furious Obama Apologizes: “It Will Never Happen Again” — CBS News Interactive: Sept. 11 And Since

Discussion: CBS News, Scared Monkeys, Fausta's Blog, JONATHAN TURLEY, BitsBlog, Gateway Pundit, Don Surber, DISSENTING JUSTICE and The Strata-Sphere

Michelle Malkin:

100 Days of the Poser Presidency — My syndicated column commemorates Barack Obama's 100 days with the Scare Force One story as a take-off point. Imagine if this fiasco had happened under George Bush's watch. It would have made the Left's incessant carping over the “fake plastic turkey …

Bloomberg:

Obama Orders Review of New York Flight as Cost Put at $328,835 — President Barack Obama ordered a review of a publicity-photo shoot with one of the planes that serves as Air Force One that cost taxpayers $328,835 and caused a furor in New York City. — Obama said he wasn't informed …

Discussion: Fausta's Blog, The Corner, The Virginian, NewsBusters.org, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Redhot, Clusterstock, Gateway Pundit, The New Ledger, Power Line and JammieWearingFool

JammieWearingFool:
Wonderful: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic, Proceeded Anyway

Discussion: GretaWire, Hot Air and Betsy's Page

Neil A. Lewis / New York Times:

Official Defends Signing Interrogation Memos — WASHINGTON — Judge Jay S. Bybee broke his silence on Tuesday and defended the conclusions of legal memorandums he had signed as a Bush administration lawyer that allowed use of several coercive interrogation practices on suspected terrorists.

Discussion: Hot Air, Time, Emptywheel, ATTACKERMAN, Buck Naked Politics, Think Progress, The Volokh Conspiracy, TalkLeft, Democracy in America and Balloon Juice

Jeannine Aversa / Associated Press:

Economy shrinks at 6.1 percent pace in 1Q — Economy shrinks at worse-than-expected 6.1 percent pace in first quarter — General Motors Corporation - , Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. - , Lockheed Martin Corporation — WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy shrank at a worse …

Discussion: Don Surber

Lucia Mutikani / Reuters:

U.S. economy tumbles in first quarter — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy contracted at a surprisingly sharp 6.1 percent rate in the first quarter as exports and business inventories plummeted. — The drop in gross domestic product, reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday …

Discussion: Felix Salmon and JammieWearingFool

Bloomberg:

Fed Is Said to Seek Capital for at Least Six Banks — At least six of the 19 largest U.S. banks require additional capital, according to preliminary results of government stress tests, people briefed on the matter said. — While some of the lenders may need extra cash injections from the government …

Discussion: Wonk Room, The Big Picture, New York Times, Clusterstock and Newsweek Blogs

Wall Street Journal:
Citi Seeks Approval to Pay Out Bonuses

Discussion: Hot Air and Clusterstock

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

A Torturous Compromise — Weighing everything, President Obama got it about as right as one could when he decided to ban the use of torture, to release the Bush torture memos for public scrutiny and to not prosecute the lawyers and interrogators who implemented the policy.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Commentary

New York Times:

Obama's Stand in Auto Crisis Shows Early Resolve — WASHINGTON — By the time he sat down in the Oval Office to brief Michigan's Congressional delegation, President Obama had made up his mind. Days earlier, he had decided to oust the head of General Motors and give it and Chrysler weeks to fix themselves.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Washington Post and AmSpecBlog

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Senate Confirms Kansas Governor as Health Secretary — WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of health and human services on Tuesday, allowing President Obama to fill the last vacancy in his cabinet with a seasoned politician who will take charge of the fight against swine flu.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Washington Monthly