memeorandum: Now, Sarah's Folly — Sarah Palin showed on Friday … (Maureen Dowd/New York Times)

4:45 PM ET, July 5, 2009

Top Items:

Now, Sarah's Folly — Sarah Palin showed on Friday that in one respect at least, she is qualified to be president. — Caribou Barbie is one nutty puppy. — Usually we don't find that exquisite battiness in our leaders until they've been battered by sordid scandals like Watergate (Nixon) …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Althouse, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Patterico's Pontifications, Vox Popoli and The Moderate Voice

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Palin attorney warns press on ‘defamatory material’ — Ratcheting up her offensive against the news media, Gov. Sarah Palin's attorney threatened Saturday to sue mainstream news organizations if they publish “defamatory” stories relating to whether Palin is under federal investigation.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Political Byline, Polimom, Too and The Page

Josh Meyer / Los Angeles Times:

Sarah Palin not under FBI investigation, agency spokesman says — The former GOP vice presidential candidate's surprise resignation as Alaska governor had set off speculation, including rumors of a pending federal corruption probe or charges. — Reporting from Washington …

Bill Quick / New York Post:

RUN, SARAH, RUN — PALIN SAYS SHE HAS A ‘HIGHER CALLING’ — HERE'S HOW SHE SHOULD GO AFTER IT — Opponents — and even some former allies — were quick to criticize Sarah Palin's announcement Friday that she will step down as governor of Alaska. The suddenness of the decision …

Discussion: The Sundries Shack and Top of the Ticket

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Concerns About Spotlight's Glare, Effect on Family, Prompted Palin's Decision — Unease in Spotlight, Family Concerns Sparked Decision — Why did Sarah Palin step down? — Theories abound. But some of the people closest to the Alaska governor say she wanted to regain control …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and No More Mister Nice Blog

Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
Palin attorney decries ‘defamatory’ rumors

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, TalkLeft, The Mudflats, Wonkette, Progressive Alaska, Boing Boing and Bloggasm

Gateway Pundit:
It's On!... Palin's Legal Counsel Threatens to Sue Liberal Blogs …

Discussion: KN@PPSTER and The Other McCain

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Sarah Palin's 4th of July Message

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo and Ben Smith's Blog

The Bobblespeak Translations:
This Week with George Stephanolpous with Joe Biden

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

AKMuckraker / The Huffington Post:
Huffington Post Blogger Shannyn Moore in Palin's Cross Hairs

Discussion: Progressive Alaska, Crooks and Liars, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis, The Mudflats, Gothamist and MyDD

R. A. Mansour / Conservatives4Palin.com:
Statement from Gov. Palin's Legal Counsel on Defamatory Allegations

Discussion: Post Right, City of Wasilla, Don Surber, Sweetness & Light and Progressive Alaska

Kurt Schlichter / Big Hollywood: The Force is With Sarah Palin

Mel / Conservatives4Palin.com:
Baseless Rumors — Most of the following posts/stories seem …

Discussion: Progressive Alaska, Right Pundits, The Post Chronicle, Politics Daily and Post Right

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
If White House Is Her Goal, Palin's Route Is Risky

Discussion: The Page

Rod Liddle / Times of London:

Saudis give nod to Israeli raid on Iran — Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv and Sarah Baxter — The head of Mossad, Israel's overseas intelligence service, has assured Benjamin Netanyahu, its prime minister, that Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli jets flying over the kingdom during any future raid on Iran's nuclear sites.

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, Power Line, Newshoggers.com, Yourish.com, Israel Matzav, Weasel Zippers, Jihad Watch, Hot Air and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Brian Knowlton / New York Times:
Biden Suggests U.S. Not Standing in Israel's Way on Iran

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Prairie Weather

CNN:
Report: Ahmadinejad says he wants public talks with Obama

Discussion: Israel Matzav, GayPatriot and Weasel Zippers

CNN:

D.C.'s Marion Barry arrested again — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former D.C. mayor, now Washington councilman, Marion Barry has been arrested again. — On July 4, the U.S. Park Police arrested Barry and charged him with misdemeanor stalking. — About 8:45 p.m. in Anacostia Park …

Discussion: The Sundries Shack, Scared Monkeys and Conventional Folly

Washington Post:

D.C. Councilmember Marion Barry Arrested for Stalking — D.C. Council member Marion Barry was arrested last night and charged with stalking a woman after the woman reported that Barry was “bothering her” as the two traveled in separate vehicles in Anacostia Park, police said this morning.

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Don Surber and Joe. My. God.

New York Times:

Leading Clerics Defy Ayatollah on Disputed Iran Election — CAIRO — An important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country's supreme leader and the most public sign …

Discussion: BBC, Neptunus Lex, The Daily Dish, The Field on the Narcosphere, Guardian, Political Byline, The Sideshow, YID With LID, The Sundries Shack, Power Line, Matthew Yglesias, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, The Strata-Sphere, AmSpecBlog and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Thomas Erdbrink / Washington Post:
Mousavi Details Alleged Election Fraud in Iran

Discussion: Informed Comment, Prairie Weather and BBC

Jennifer Parker / George's Bottom Line:

Biden: We ‘Misread the Economy’ — Big admission from Vice President Joe Biden today. — “The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy,” Biden told me during our exclusive “This Week” interview in Iraq. — Biden acknowledged administration officials were too optimistic earlier …

Discussion: The Swamp

Katharine Weymouth / Washington Post:

A Letter to Our Readers — Dear Reader: — I want to apologize for a planned new venture that went off track and for any cause we may have given you to doubt our independence and integrity. A flier distributed last week suggested that we were selling access to power brokers …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Hot Air, Althouse, Emptywheel, JammieWearingFool, Politics Daily, Donklephant and Romenesko

Kristina Wong / Political Punch:

US-Russian Arms Negotiators “Under the Gun,” Might Temporarily Bypass Senate Ratification for Treaty — MOSCOW — With the clock running out on a new US-Russian arms treaty before the previous Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, expires on December 5, a senior White House official …

Discussion: Hot Air, Atlas Shrugs, The Anchoress, JammieWearingFool, The Rhetorican, Flopping Aces and Little Green Links

Paul Krugman:

Al Franken's secret — David Broder has a column this morning calling for bipartisanship. I know, you're shocked. But what struck me was this bit about Al Franken: … Two points. — First, implicit in this characterization of Franken is the notion of the Senate as a decorous gentlemen's club.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Lawyers, Guns and Money and Washington Post