memeorandum: Where the Jobs Are — An estimated 2.8 million employees … (New York Times)

4:10 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, Atlas Shrugs, sara in italy, Wizbang, Taylor Marsh, The Confluence, The Sundries Shack, Gateway Pundit, Boston Globe, VDARE.com 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: The Daily Dish, Pam's House Blend, The Opinionator, Taylor Marsh and The Jawa Report

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.

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: MyDD, D-Day and Riehl World View

The Politico:

Obama walks back police criticism — President Obama made a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Friday in an attempt to tamp down the escalating controversy over his comments on the Monday arrest of Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates by the Cambridge, Mass., Police Department.

Discussion: Political Byline, New York Magazine, Fox News, Flopping Aces, Political Punch, Ben Smith's Blog and The Note

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Obama Expresses His Regrets On Gates Incident

Discussion: TalkLeft and Political Insider

Ann Althouse / Althouse:
What's missing from this NYT article about Henry Louis Gates?

Discussion: WEEI Online Audio …, Christian Science Monitor, Patterico's Pontifications and The Confluence

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

Discussion: Dr. Melissa Clouthier and Hot Air

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
A Presidential Mea Culpa To Sgt. Crowley

Discussion: Obsidian Wings

Fox News:
Obama Seeks to Clarify ‘Stupidly’ Comment, Praises White Policeman

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and New York Magazine

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

Discussion: Clive Crook

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

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

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: Washington Monthly, Ben Smith's Blog, Open Congress, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Michelle Malkin, The Mahablog and Angry Bear

The Hill:
House healthcare talks break down in anger

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Taegan Goddard's …, The Strata-Sphere and The Caucus

Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:
Health care talks fall apart

Discussion: RedState, Hot Air and The Page

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
House Democrats Contemplate Putting National Interest Ahead …

Discussion: The Hill, D-Day, TPMDC and msnbc.com

Jane Hamsher / Campaign Silo: Waxman: Blue Dogs Trying To “Eviscerate” Health Care

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, Taegan Goddard's …, Latest Open Salon Blog, Gawker, PoliBlog, Indecision Forever and New York Magazine

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: The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Raw Story, PrairiePundit, Right Pundits, The Washington Independent, Hullabaloo, The Huffington Post and Nashville Scene

Chris / TVNewser:
Jon Klein on Birthers: “It Seems This Story is Dead”

Discussion: Michael Calderone's Blog, Ben Smith's Blog, Democracy in America and BuzzFlash.org

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 …

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Why Obamacare Is Sinking — What happened to Obamacare? Rhetoric met reality. As both candidate and president, the master rhetorician could conjure a world in which he bestows upon you health-care nirvana: more coverage, less cost. — But you can't fake it in legislation.

Discussion: Ezra Klein, The Note, The New Republic, Time, Wake up America, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Little Green Footballs, Betsy's Page, Political Punch and ABCNEWS

Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:
Obama's Health Expert Gets Political

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

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

Discussion: Media Blog

Dave Montgomery / Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Perry raises possibility of states' rights showdown with White House over healthcare — AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry, raising the specter of a showdown with the Obama administration, suggested Thursday that he would consider invoking states' rights protections under the 10th Amendment to resist …

Discussion: Think Progress, Below The Beltway, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and LewRockwell.com Blog

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Secessionist Governor Rick Perry Considering Nullifcation of Health Care Reform

Discussion: TalkLeft

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, AmSpecBlog, Cold Fury, DownWithTyranny!, Jay Bookman and Club for Growth

US Senator Orrin Hatch:
HATCH WILL NOT SUPPORT SOTOMAYOR NOMINATION

Discussion: Politics Nation, Salon and The Washington Independent

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

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 QUARTER, 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: The Moderate Voice, Townhall.com, QandO and Right Wing News

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: And So it Goes in Shreveport, Michelle Malkin, Don Surber and PrairiePundit

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, RedState, Don Surber, Real Clear Politics, AmSpecBlog, PrairiePundit and Redhot

Bluegal / Crooks and Liars:

Elizabeth Edwards Shows How to Tell a Liar on Healthcare — In an interview with Rachel Maddow, Elizabeth Edwards dropped this enormously helpful key on when to tell if an opponent to healthcare reform is lying: … Our friends at Sadly, No! take a look at the actual outcomes between the US and Canada.

Discussion: Sadly, No!