memeorandum: Sergeant Who Arrested Professor Defends Actions (Abby Goodnough/New York Times)

2:00 PM ET, July 24, 2009

Top Items:

911, police tapes key in Gates case — Officials mull release of recorded evidence — Mounting pressure to get to the bottom of the controversial arrest of black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. is centering on recorded police tapes that may offer a dose of reality amid all the media and political noise.

Discussion: The Hill's Pundits Blog, sara in italy, Taylor Marsh, The Sundries Shack, The Confluence, Wizbang, American Thinker, Gateway Pundit, Boston Globe and Macsmind

a Phantom Negro / Salon:

Skip Gates, please sit down — You are suffering from what I call the “Ivy League Effect” … Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home in Cambridge, Mass., in 2008. — The Ivy League is not real life. College in general is not real life, and the Ivy League is a more fantastic version of college.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Opinionator, The Daily Dish, Patterico's Pontifications, Pam's House Blend, Taylor Marsh and The Jawa Report

Sam Youngman / The Hill:

Obama regrets ‘distraction’ of comment ‘obsession’ — President Obama regrets the distraction that his comments about a police incident in Cambridge, Mass., caused, according to a White House spokesman. — White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that if the president knew …

Discussion: D-Day and Riehl World View

ABCNEWS:

Gates Arrest — Case Heats Up As Police Organizations Criticize Obama For Jumping into the Controversy — The police sergeant who arrested Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. last week in his own home may be considering a defamation lawsuit against Gates who has implied his arrest was racially motivated.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Washington Wire, The Politico, JONATHAN TURLEY, TalkLeft, New York Post, CNN, American Power, Gateway Pundit, Fox News, New York Magazine, Political Punch, Los Angeles Times, NewsBusters.org, The Gun Toting Liberal, PrairiePundit and VDARE.com

Patrick Hynes / ConsiderThisNews:
FNC News Break: Prez Blames Media for Cops Remark Dustup

Discussion: Hot Air and Dr. Melissa Clouthier

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
More On President “Stupidly”, Gates, And Crowley

Discussion: The Plum Line, Ben Smith's Blog, On Deadline, ABCNEWS and Sister Toldjah

Abby Goodnough / New York Times:
Sergeant Who Arrested Professor Defends Actions

Discussion: WEEI Online Audio …, Clive Crook and The Confluence

Lynn Sweet:
The story behind my Obama press conference question

Discussion: Don Surber and Wilshire & Washington

Washington Post:

Palin's Favorability Rating Drops as She Prepares to Leave Office, Poll Finds — As Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin prepares for the next stage of her political career, a majority of Americans hold an unfavorable view of her, and there is broad public doubt about her leadership skills and understanding …

Amanda Carpenter / Washington Times:
Hot Button — More ethics claims — The Associated Press claims …

Discussion: palingates, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis, SHANNYN MOORE, Progressive Alaska, The Mudflats and Firedoglake

Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:

Obama's Health Expert Gets Political — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's health-care plan is in jeopardy because of serious concerns that costs will spin out of control. As much as anyone, it's White House budget director Peter Orszag's job to save it.

Discussion: Ezra Klein, The Caucus, Weekly Standard, Vox Popoli and Pundit & Pundette

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Why Obamacare Is Sinking

Discussion: Time, Little Green Footballs, The Note, Betsy's Page, Angry Bear and Mediaite

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Obamacare haunted by unkept promises of stimulus

Discussion: Media Blog

The New Republic:
The Politics of Health Care Reform

Discussion: National Journal Online and Matthew Yglesias

Washington Post:
Health Reform Deadline In Doubt

Discussion: The Politico, The Huffington Post, FiveThirtyEight, NY Daily News, McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Note, ABCNEWS, TPMDC, Open Left, Wall Street Journal and New York Times

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

McCain Campaign Investigated, Dismissed Obama Citizenship Rumors — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during his presidential campaign (WDCpix) — In the final months of the 2008 presidential race, Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) campaign learned of a lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania that asked the state …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, PoliBlog, Latest Open Salon Blog, Gawker, Michael Calderone's Blog, Taegan Goddard's … and Indecision Forever

Alex Koppelman / Salon:

No, Obama's grandmother didn't say he was born in Kenya — Among those on television who've been covering the sudden public resurgence of the Birther movement — but in a much more responsible way than Lou Dobbs — is MSNBC's Chris Matthews. The other day, he beat up pretty badly on Rep. John Campbell …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, PrairiePundit, Think Progress, Raw Story, Right Pundits, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Hullabaloo, The Washington Independent, The Huffington Post and Nashville Scene

The Hill:

Waxman may let health bill skip committee — Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) says there is “no alternative” but to have healthcare legislation bypass his Energy and Commerce Committee if Blue Dog Democrats don't accept a deal worked out Friday. — Waxman is hoping the inclusion of a study …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Michelle Malkin and Angry Bear

Jared Allen / The Hill:
Dems mull skipping panel, bringing healthcare to floor

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Post, DownWithTyranny!, Glenn Thrush's Blog, TPMDC and msnbc.com

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Costs and Compassion — The talking heads on cable TV panned President Obama's Wednesday press conference. You see, he didn't offer a lot of folksy anecdotes. — Shame on them. The health care system is in crisis. The fate of America's middle class hangs in the balance.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, DailyHowler.com, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, D-Day, Stop The ACLU, The Treatment and Cafe Hayek

Unfair Park:

How a Local Rally For Obama's Health Care Proposal Turned Into a Rally Against It — Local MoveOn.org members had penciled in on today's schedule a protest in front of Senator John Cornyn's Spring Valley Road office, during which they had hoped to pressure the senator to support President Barack Obama's public health care legislation.

Discussion: PrairiePundit, Michelle Malkin and Don Surber

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2010: California Senate — California Senate: Boxer 45%, Fiorina 41% — Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer leads former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in an early look at California's 2010 race for the U.S. Senate. — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds …

Discussion: Money & Politics, Power Line, Scorecard's Blog, Don Surber, RedState, Real Clear Politics, AmSpecBlog, PrairiePundit and Redhot

Wall Street Journal:

Common Sense May Sink ObamaCare — It turns out the president misjudged the nation's mood. — Printer — Friendly — This is big, what's happening. President Obama appears to have misstepped on a major initiative and defining issue. He has misjudged the nation's mood …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Townhall.com and Dr. Helen

Connie Hair / Human Events:

GOP Not Allowed to Say ‘Government-Run Healthcare’ — Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), the secretary of the House Republican Conference and a former District Court Judge, is having his messages to constituents censored by Democrats on the Franking Commission. Republicans are no longer allowed …

Discussion: Townhall.com, QandO and Right Wing News

Charles Duhigg / New York Times:

Traders Profit With Computers Set at High Speed — It is the hot new thing on Wall Street, a way for a handful of traders to master the stock market, peek at investors' orders and, critics say, even subtly manipulate share prices. — It is called high-frequency trading …

Discussion: MoJo Blog Posts, Floyd Norris, Emptywheel, Achenblog, On Deadline and TPMCafe

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Obama Complains About the News Cycle but Dominates It, Worrying Some — WASHINGTON — It has become his common lament. Challenged about difficulties with his economic or legislative programs, President Obama complains about the tyranny of “the news cycle,” pronouncing the words with an air …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Michael Calderone's Blog, Mediaite and Sweetness & Light

Manu Raju / The Politico:

Graham takes on conservatives — When Sen. Lindsey Graham announced his support for Sonia Sotomayor this week, right-wing radio talk show host Mark Levin said it was a sign that Graham is “unreliable ... as a thinker and a leader.” — Wendy Long, counsel for the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network …

Discussion: Glenn Thrush's Blog, DownWithTyranny!, AmSpecBlog, Jay Bookman and Club for Growth

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Wilder cool to W.H. overture in Va. race — The Obama administration dispatched a senior aide to Richmond Wednesday to urge former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder to get behind state Sen. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee. — Patrick Gaspard, the White House political director …

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Morning Fix: A One-Month Sprint on Health Care — Photo by Lionel Cironneau of the Associated Press — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's decision to postpone a final vote on President Obama's health care proposal until September sets up a one-month campaign sprint between supporters …