memeorandum: At big moment, Obama goes small (Ben Smith/The Politico)

3:35 PM ET, July 23, 2009

Top Items:

Officer in Henry Gates flap tried to save Reggie Lewis — Denies he's a racist, won't apologize — The Cambridge cop prominent Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. claims is a racist gave a dying Reggie Lewis mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in a desperate bid to save the Celtics …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Michelle Malkin, msnbc.com, CNN, The Campaign Spot, Patterico's Pontifications, Boston Globe, DailyHowler.com, On Deadline, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Pam's House Blend, No More Mister Nice Blog and Political Byline

William Kristol / PostPartisan:

Obama Attacks Docs and Cops — President Obama spent most of his press conference tonight denying what President Kennedy famously affirmed — that to govern is to choose. Obama promised us health care this is at once better and cheaper, with both more regulation and more freedom to choose …

Discussion: Washington Post, Firedoglake, Democratic Strategist, TBogg, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Associated Press, Flopping Aces, Gateway Pundit, Patterico's Pontifications, Right Wing News, DISSENTING JUSTICE, The Huffington Post, Obsidian Wings and The Opinionator

ABCNEWS:

Backlash: Obama's Comments on Gates' Arrest Stirs Reaction — White House Says President Was Not Calling The Police Officer Who Arrested Gates Stupid — The Cambridge, Mass., police officer who arrested Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the officer's union …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Hot Air, Associated Press, Latest Open Salon Blog, The Note, Boston Herald, Christian Science Monitor, American Power, Maggie's Farm, Moe Lane, Taylor Marsh, Political Punch and msnbc.com

Tom Shales / Washington Post:

Obama Goes Off-Topic, Clearly — When a politician says “Let me be clear,” what follows is often anything but. It's a tradition in obfuscation that probably got a big boost from Richard Nixon's “Let me make this perfectly clear,” one of that president's signature phrases.

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Moderate Voice, Philly.com, NewsBusters.org, Los Angeles Times and Top of the Ticket

Boston Weather, Breaking News and Sports from WBZ-TV:

Gates Arresting Officer: Obama ‘Way Off Base’ — BOSTON (WBZ) ― The white police sergeant who arrested black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. said Thursday President Barack Obama was “way off base” claiming Cambridge officers acted “stupidly” during the incident.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Weekly Standard, Ben Smith's Blog, dot.comments, Little Green Footballs and theroot.com

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama on Gates arrest: No regrets

Discussion: Don Surber, Boston Weather …, Talking Points Memo and The Moderate Voice

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
Obama Wades Into a Volatile Racial Issue

Discussion: Booman Tribune, And So it Goes in Shreveport, The Caucus, Outside The Beltway, Donklephant, The Huffington Post, TalkLeft, New York Magazine, Emptywheel and The Moderate Voice

Dan / Riehl World View:
Obama Destroyed His Post-Racial Theme

Discussion: Reason and Right Wing News

Jules Crittenden:
Sensitivity Training Now — The Cambridge cop accused …

Discussion: Bookworm Room, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, NO QUARTER, Right Wing News, On Deadline, Confederate Yankee, Gateway Pundit and The Swamp

The New Republic: Race, Power, and the Law

P.J. Gladnick / NewsBusters.org:
Boston Globe Scrubs Henry Louis Gates Arrest Report From Website

Discussion: MyFox Boston, The Corner and Right Wing News

Joe Ryan / New Jersey Online:

N.J. officials, N.Y. rabbis caught in federal money laundering, corruption sweep — NEWARK — A New Jersey assemblyman and the mayors of Hoboken and Secaucus were among public officials arrested this morning by FBI agents in an international money laundering and corruption probe that includes rabbis …

Discussion: NBC New York, msnbc.com, Law Blog, The Campaign Spot, Townhall.com, Associated Press, Redhot, Above the Law and NewsBusters.org

CNN:

Mayors, rabbis arrested in corruption probe — (CNN) — About 30 people, including some New Jersey mayors and several rabbis, were arrested Thursday in a federal investigation of public corruption, the U.S. attorney's office in Newark, New Jersey, said. — The probe also involves a …

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid, Perez Hilton, The Moderate Voice and JONATHAN TURLEY

David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:
2 N.J. Mayors Arrested in Broad Inquiry on Corruption

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and Blogs and Stories

Wall Street Journal:
N.J. Politicians Snagged in Probe

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Talking Points Memo and Law Blog

Time:

Inside Bush and Cheney's Final Days — Hours before they were to leave office after eight troubled years, George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney had one final and painful piece of business to conclude. For over a month Cheney had been pleading, cajoling, even pestering Bush to pardon …

Discussion: Think Progress, msnbc.com, Buck Naked Politics, Hot Air, Emptywheel, The Swamp, At-Largely, PoliGazette and Zandar Versus The Stupid

Mike Soraghan / The Hill:

More delays in House on healthcare reform — The House Energy and Commerce Committee canceled its healthcare markup session again Thursday, further dimming hopes that the House can complete its work before the August recess is scheduled to begin. — The committee began its drafting sessions on Friday and Monday.

Discussion: The Note, The Politico, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, TPMDC, Salon, Hullabaloo, Campaign Silo, Open Congress, Political Punch and Below The Beltway

Mike Soraghan / The Hill:
Pelosi backs off recess healthcare deadline

Discussion: Hot Air, Reuters, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Roll Call, Commentary, Political Byline and Campaign Silo

Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:
Dems punting on August deadline

Discussion: Firedoglake, Townhall.com, RHRealityCheck.org, Campaign Silo and Newsweek Blogs

Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Reid: No Vote on Health-Care Reform Before Aug. Recess

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, RedState and Zandar Versus The Stupid

New York Times:

Obama's Fifth News Conference — Following is a transcript of President Obama's fifth news conference, the fourth given in prime-time, as provided by Federal News Service. — PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good evening. Please be seated. — Before I take your questions, I want to talk for a few minutes …

Discussion: The Politico, The Treatment, Swampland, The Hill, The Huffington Post, The Foundry, AmSpecBlog, Patterico's Pontifications, Newsweek Blogs, Mediaite, Connecting.the.Dots, The Moderate Voice and Washington Post

Ben Smith / The Politico:

At big moment, Obama goes small — President Barack Obama came alive about 50 minutes into Wednesday night's news conference — when somebody finally changed the subject. — The president's remarks on his chosen subject, health care, were cautious and choreographed, hemmed in on one side …

Discussion: Time, Flopping Aces, PrairiePundit, Don Surber, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Huffington Post, Althouse, Indecision Forever, ABCNEWS, Commentary, Michelle Malkin, The Fix and The Note

Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:
Obama's Overreach — Obama Presser: Instant[ reaction] rant:

Discussion: Boston Globe, Commentary, The Strata-Sphere, Neptunus Lex, Bookworm Room, Wizbang, QandO, Wake up America and Betsy's Page

Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:

Conservative Activist Forwards Racist Pic Showing Obama As Witch Doctor — The election of our first black president has brought with it a strange proliferation of online racism among conservatives. — And we've got the latest example. — On Sunday night, Dr. David McKalip forwarded …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Wonkette

Quinnipiac University:

Dodd In Slump In Connecticut Reelection Bid, Quinnipiac University Connecticut Poll Finds; Obama Approval Down 8 Points — Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a likely Republican challenger 48 - 39 percent in the 2010 Senate race, but he is inching …

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Fix, The Hill's Twitter Room, Scorecard's Blog, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and msnbc.com

CNN:

North Korea launches attack on Clinton — BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) — North Korea launched a scathing personal attack on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday after she likened the leadership in Pyongyang to “small children and unruly teenagers and people who are demanding attention.”

Discussion: Washington Post and Taylor Marsh

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
N. Korea Escalates War of Words, Calls Clinton Vulgar, Unintelligent

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner and PrairiePundit

The Politico:

Dems raise concerns about Boxer — A big chunk of the House climate change bill is in the hands of Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer — and some of its supporters are worried that she's not up to the task. — In private conversations …

Discussion: Wonk Room

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias: Politico's Anonymous Sources Slam Barbara Boxer's “Abrasive Personal Style”

Harold Meyerson / Los Angeles Times:

GOP: Going Over the Precipice — Because of a quirk in California's Constitution, the minority Republicans have managed to push through a budget that makes the state sicker and dumber. Where is the Democrats' white knight? — The most basic principle of any democracy is that of majority rule …

Discussion: Reason, Opinion L.A., Democratic Strategist, MoJo Blog Posts and Zandar Versus The Stupid

Jackie Kucinich / Roll Call:

Democrats Block GOP Health Care Mailing — Democrats are preventing Republican House Members from sending their constituents a mailing that is critical of the majority's health care reform plan, blocking the mailing by alleging that it is inaccurate. — House Republicans are crying foul …

Discussion: Hot Air and Moe Lane

New York Times:

Experts Dispute Some Points in Health Talk — WASHINGTON — President Obama showed great fluency in the intricate details of health policy at his news conference on Wednesday night, but experts said some of his points were debatable. — Mr. Obama said doctors, nurses, hospitals …

Discussion: Washington Post, American Power and The Foundry