memeorandum: Annals of the Predictable — Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (wikimedia) (Myglesias/Matthew Yglesias)

11:30 AM 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: CNN, Michelle Malkin, Boston Globe, Pam's House Blend, Patterico's Pontifications, On Deadline, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Confluence

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: The New Republic, The Opinionator, And So it Goes in Shreveport, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Right Wing News, Hullabaloo, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Pundit & Pundette, Firedoglake, Flopping Aces, Patterico's Pontifications and Gateway Pundit

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Obama: Cambridge police acted ‘stupidly’ — After spending most of an hour patiently reiterating his arguments for changing the health insurance system, President Barack Obama turned his press conference sharply toward an iconic moment in American race relations: The arrest …

Discussion: The Politico, Fox News, Confederate Yankee, American Power, Sister Toldjah, Achenblog, The Swamp, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Washington Post, JONATHAN TURLEY, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and JammieWearingFool

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, The Note, The Huffington Post, Althouse, ABCNEWS, American Power, Commentary, Indecision Forever and The Fix

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: Weekly Standard, Los Angeles Times, David Corn, Taegan Goddard's …, Salon, FishBowlDC, Power Line, The Campaign Spot, ACS Blog and GalleyCat

ABCNEWS:

Obama's Comments on Gates Arrest Stir Reaction — The Cop Who Arrested The Harvard Professor Says He Will Not Apologize — President Obama's comments about the arrest of prominent Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates has added fuel to the story that has dominated national headlines …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Moe Lane

Dan / Riehl World View:

Obama Destroyed His Post-Racial Theme — Update 4: From ABC: … So, the liberal lawyer goes on TV and basically lies while another eyewitness supports the on scene report. Special, real special. Meanwhile, Gates is pleased at Obama's remarks. Gee, ya think?

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Jules Crittenden, Gateway Pundit, Don Surber and Michelle Malkin

Helene Cooper / New York Times:
Obama Criticizes Arrest of Harvard Professor

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice, Blogs and Stories, Shakesville, TalkLeft, New York Times and The Nation

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

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, TalkLeft, Emptywheel and Taylor Marsh

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

Discussion: MyFox Boston, Boston Globe, Raw Story, amnation.com and Open Left

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: Hullabaloo, AmSpecBlog, Washington Post, The Foundry, Shakesville, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Newsweek Blogs, The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, The Strata-Sphere, The Reaction, Pam's House Blend and Cato @ Liberty

Mickey Kaus / Kausfiles:

Obama's Overreach — Obama Presser: Instant[ reaction] rant: … He's still in the thrall of Orszagism! Here we're dramatically changing insurance (no more “preexisting conditions") and insuring the uninsured and creating a health care exchange and promoting a public option …

Discussion: Boston Globe, Commentary, Neptunus Lex, QandO, Betsy's Page and Wizbang

Jonathan Cohn / The Treatment:
Obama Has a Grown-Up Talk With America (Gulp)

Discussion: Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Boston Globe, Brendan Nyhan, Salon, AMERICAblog News and Washington Post

Joe Klein / Swampland:
Obama's Press Conference

Discussion: The Treatment

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: Law Blog, USA Today, The Campaign Spot and On Deadline

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: The Moderate Voice and Zandar Versus The Stupid

JammieWearingFool:
Huge Corruption Sweep in NJ; Hoboken, Secaucus Mayors Arrested

Discussion: New York Times and Redhot

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: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

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

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Mark Landler / New York Times: Clinton Trades Gibes With North Korea

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: The Foundry, msnbc.com and NewsBusters.org

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Barack Obama news conference: Full text on healthcare and Q & A

Discussion: Don Surber, Associated Press and Althouse

The Huffington Post:
Obama Press Conference On Health Care: TEXT, VIDEO

Discussion: Guardian and Firedoglake

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 Page

Time:

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: The Swamp, Hot Air and Taegan Goddard's …

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: The Fix, Scorecard's Blog, Glenn Thrush's Blog, msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's …, TPMDC and The Campaign Spot

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

ObamaCare in Trouble — Polls are turning against President Barack Obama's health-care plan. The political calendar is, too. — On Monday, the Washington Post/ABC poll reported that 49% of Americans approve of his handling of health care while 44% disapprove.

Discussion: Commentary and RedState

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: Townhall.com and Moe Lane

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Cold Shoulder to Climate ‘Urgency’ — Unfortunately, China's president had to dash home to suppress ethnic riots. Had he stayed in Italy at the recent Group of Eight summit, he could have continued the Herculean task of disabusing Barack Obama of his amazingly durable belief …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, The Glittering Eye, Obsidian Wings and The Huffington Post

Tomoeh Murakami Tse / Washington Post:

On Wall Street, Compensation Is Rocketing Back to Pre-Crisis Levels — Lawmakers Warn Against Return to Pre-Crisis Levels — Wall Street's biggest banks are setting aside billions of dollars more to pay their executives and other employees just months after these firms were rescued …