memeorandum: Lavish Kennedy book to sell for $1k a copy (Associated Press)

3:15 PM ET, July 14, 2009

Top Items:

The ‘Cap And Tax’ Dead End — There is no shortage of threats to our economy. America's unemployment rate recently hit its highest mark in more than 25 years and is expected to continue climbing. Worries are widespread that even when the economy finally rebounds, the recovery won't bring jobs.

Ezra Klein:

Sarah Palin: One of Us — “Many in the national media would rather focus on the personality-driven political gossip of the day than on the gravity of these challenges,” writes Sarah Palin in The Washington Post, one of the country's few nationally oriented media outlets.

Discussion: The New Republic, The Curious Capitalist and Grasping Reality …

The New Republic:

Sarah Palin Has An Op-Ed Today! — Her subject matter is the House bill to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Palin argues against it by ignoring the entire question of carbon dioxide emissions and instead arguing that expensive energy is bad and cheap energy is good.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Daily Dish, Democratic Strategist and Liberal Values

Washington Wire:

Sotomayor Surprises Sessions — Jess Bravin reports on Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing. — Ouch! — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), seeking to discredit Judge Sonia Sotomayor's judicial philosophy, cited her 2001 “wise Latina” speech, and contrasted the view that ethnicity …

Discussion: Think Progress, Matthew Yglesias, Wonk Room, Washington Monthly, Zandar Versus The Stupid and The Huffington Post

John / Power Line:

Sotomayor's Nose Grows Longer — Pat Leahy opened the questioning of Judge Sonia Sotomayor by asking her some softball questions about her controversial speeches and decisions. In response, Sotomayor's characterization of her “wise Latina” speech was strikingly disingenuous:

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Reason, PostPartisan, Hot Air, Outside The Beltway, NewsBusters.org, Gateway Pundit and The Huffington Post

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Sotomayor: Comments meant to inspire — After hearing two months of pointed attacks over her so-called “wise Latina” comments, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor publicly backed off the remarks Tuesday, describing them as “a rhetorical flourish that fell flat.”

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Morning Fix: Winners and Losers, Sotomayor Day 1

Discussion: Washington Post and The Politico

Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blog:
Sessions to NRA: “Be afraid” of S'mayor

Discussion: ABCNEWS and The Ninth Justice

Abigail Thernstrom / CNN: Commentary: Why we should worry about Sotomayor

Digby / Hullabaloo:
Looking Different — Steve Benen capably deconstructs Ron …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Shakesville, Swampland, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Firedoglake and Washington Post

CNN:
Sotomayor: ‘wise Latina’ remark a bad choice of words

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story and Connecting.the.Dots

Washington Wire:
Hatch Questions Sotomayor on Gun Rights

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Michelle Malkin:
Day Two: Sotomayor and ritual reassurances

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, The Moderate Voice and Dallas Morning News

Laura E. Gómez / CNN:
Commentary: What the ‘wise Latina’ remark meant

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Say Anything

Mortimer Zuckerman / Wall Street Journal:

The Economy Is Even Worse Than You Think — The average length of unemployment is higher than it's been since government began tracking the data in 1948. — Printer — Friendly — The recent unemployment numbers have undermined confidence that we might be nearing the bottom of the recession.

Discussion: AMERICAN DIGEST, The Strata-Sphere, QandO, Stop The ACLU, Blue Crab Boulevard and Balloon Juice

Jeanne Cummings / The Politico:
Obama's rosy scenario turns thorny

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill, Detroit Free Press, The Strata-Sphere, Bloomberg, The Note, BizzyBlog, YID With LID, The Confluence and Wake up America

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Clinton plans to reassert herself

Discussion: UN Dispatch, Wall Street Journal, ONE, The Plum Line, Los Angeles Times and New York Times

New York Times:

C.I.A. Had Plan to Assassinate Qaeda Leaders — WASHINGTON — Since 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency has developed plans to dispatch small teams overseas to kill senior Qaeda terrorists, according to current and former government officials. — The plans remained vague and were never carried out …

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
Something Not Adding Up — The New York Times is also reporting …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, MyDD, Philly.com, The Opinionator, The Anonymous Liberal, The Huffington Post, Balloon Juice, Corrente, Majikthise and JustOneMinute

Lisa Mascaro / Las Vegas Sun:

Ensign to stay in Senate, seek reelection — Fallout from affair, including ethics complaints, leaves him undeterred — WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John Ensign said Monday that not only does he have no intention of resigning in light of his affair and his parents' payout to the woman's family …

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Wonkette, TPMDC, Balloon Juice, Donklephant, Real Clear Politics and Open Congress

Michael Tracey / The Nation:

Bill Clinton Backs Same-Sex Marriage — Former President Bill Clinton has come out in support of same-sex marriage. — After speaking at the Campus Progress National Conference in Washington, DC, on July 8, the former president was asked if he supported same-sex marriage.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Washington Monthly, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Pam's House Blend, Law Dork and AMERICAblog Gay

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

CBS: Obama dropped six points in a month — How bad has Barack Obama's decline at the polls become? Even CBS has finally realized it. Both approval and disapproval numbers have moved sharply over the last month, and in the wrong direction, as voters have discovered that Obama hasn't a clue about the economy and creating jobs.

Discussion: Pundit & Pundette, CBS News, The Moderate Voice, Macsmind, Wake up America, Scared Monkeys and Transterrestrial Musings

Mark Blumenthal / National Journal Online:
Obama Numbers Follow The Economy

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

The State:

Sanford's office couldn't locate missing governor — E-mails, phone calls outline efforts to contact, cover for AWOL leader — Gov. Mark Sanford's chief of staff, Scott English, called the governor's cell phones 15 times during the governor's secret trip to Argentina to visit his lover last month.

Discussion: Michael Calderone's Blog, Talking Points Memo, Ben Smith's Blog, TPMMuckraker, The Raw Story, Democracy in America, Gawker and GOP 12

Quinnipiac University:

Christie Up 12 In New Jersey, A Step Ahead On Boardwalk, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Approval At 60 Percent Among Likely Voters — Republican challenger Christopher Christie is pulling away from Democratic incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine and now holds a 53 - 41 percent lead among likely voters …

Discussion: City Room and Hotline On Call

Associated Press:
Poll: Christie widens lead in NJ gov's race

Discussion: Scorecard's Blog and JammieWearingFool

Hilzoy / Obsidian Wings:

Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird — First, I'm going to Rwanda this weekend, on vacation. I'm looking forward to it immensely, especially since I discovered that the Bare-Faced Go-Away Bird, which topped my list of Best Bird Names Ever nearly five years ago, lives there. (And did you know that the name ‘Watusi’ comes from the Tutsi?

Discussion: American Power, Outside The Beltway, Newshoggers.com, ATTACKERMAN, The Impolitic, Patterico's Pontifications, American Footprints and The Daily Dish

Dan Lawton / Christian Science Monitor:

Nearly all my professors are Democrats. Isn't that a problem? — After I posed that question, two faculty railed against me. That's a sure sign that universities should address the lack of ideological diversity. — EUGENE, ORE. - — When I began examining the political affiliation …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Wall Street Journal:

The Small Business Surtax — The Obama Democrats pick income redistribution over job creation and economic growth. — Printer — Friendly — Jason Furman owes an apology to Michael Boskin, the Stanford economist who wrote a year ago on these pages that Barack Obama would raise American income tax rates nearly to 60%.

Discussion: Wake up America and Chronicle of the Conspiracy

Agence France Presse:

Hamas says Israel dumping aphrodisiac gum on Gaza — GAZA CITY (AFP) — Hamas suspects that Israeli intelligence services are supplying its Gaza Strip stronghold with chewing gum that boosts the sex drive in order to “corrupt the young,” an official said on Tuesday.

Discussion: FP Passport, Jihad Watch and Commentary

Robert Stacy McCain / American Spectator:

The Little Scandal That Could — “We're not there yet,” one Democratic source on Capitol Hill said last week, when asked about the prospect for hearings on the Obama administration's firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin. Congressional investigators are still conducting interviews …

Discussion: USA Today, The Other McCain, And So it Goes in Shreveport and Moe Lane