memeorandum: 100 Days of the Poser Presidency (Michelle Malkin)

10:00 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: Taegan Goddard's …, MSNBC, Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Glenn Thrush's Blog, The Fix, progressiverepublican.info, Washington Post, The Hill, Balloon Juice, Donklephant 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, Political Punch, Time, The Next Right, Wall Street Journal, Jules Crittenden and The Politico

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Defection reshapes Senate — Sen. Arlen Specter stunned Capitol Hill on Tuesday by switching parties and bringing Senate Democrats within one seat of a filibuster-proof majority. — Specter's move shocked and angered Republicans, while Democrats rejoiced and contemplated a Congress …

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

Newt Gingrich / Washington Post:
Arlen Specter's Switch

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

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

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

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

Discussion: The New Republic, The New Ledger, JammieWearingFool and Blue Crab Boulevard

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

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

CNN:
Limbaugh to Specter: Please take McCain with you

Discussion: The Swamp, The Politico, The Strata-Sphere, Salon and Hot Air

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

The Huffington Post:
Limbaugh To Specter: Take McCain And His Daughter With You

Discussion: Democrats.com, Media Matters, The Politico, Hot Air, Vanity Fair, AmSpecBlog, Daily Kos and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

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, Israel Matzav, 24Ahead and Don Surber

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

New York Times:

First U.S. Death From Swine Flu Is Reported — American authorities confirmed the first death outside of Mexico from swine flu on Wednesday, as the number of confirmed cases of the disease continued to rise in Europe. — President Obama, in a morning news conference …

David P. Fidler / asil.org:

ASIL Insights — The Swine Flu Outbreak and International Law — A new swine influenza virus is causing outbreaks in humans in Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and the virus has possibly spread to other countries. This outbreak has alarmed public health officials …

Discussion: SF Appeal

Lauran Neergaard / Associated Press:
Officials confront first US death from swine flu

Discussion: Clusterstock, Hot Air and Sister Toldjah

Associated Press:
Israeli official: Swine flu name offensive

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money, Shakesville, normblog, The Corner and Pundit & Pundette

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

Discussion: The Swamp and Macsmind

Spencer S. Hsu / Washington Post:
With Eye on Industry, Ag Secretary Stops Calling Outbreak ‘Swine Flu’

Discussion: MyDD and Perez Hilton

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: Scared Monkeys, Fausta's Blog, JONATHAN TURLEY, BitsBlog, Gateway Pundit, Don Surber, DISSENTING JUSTICE, The Strata-Sphere, Gawker and Blue Crab Boulevard

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 …

Discussion: Jules Crittenden

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

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

Discussion: GretaWire, Hot Air, Betsy's Page and TigerHawk

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, Emptywheel, The Washington Independent, Time, Buck Naked Politics, Think Progress, The Volokh Conspiracy, TalkLeft, Democracy in America and Balloon Juice

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

Martin Kady II / The Politico:
Sebelius wins Senate confirmation

Discussion: The Swamp

Robert Pear / The Caucus:
Senate Confirms Sebelius as Health Secretary

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics, Colorado Independent, The Washington Independent and DownWithTyranny!

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

Charles Lane / Washington Post:

Electric Cars — Not Ready to Roll — General Motors has announced a plan to stave off bankruptcy that includes cutting 21,000 jobs, reducing its dealer network and eliminating its Pontiac division. “I'm a believer in dealing with reality,” GM chief executive Fritz Henderson said.

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: Washington Post and AmSpecBlog