memeorandum: Bill Clinton visits North Korea in bid to free journalists (Los Angeles Times)

8:20 AM ET, August 4, 2009

Top Items:

Obama ‘Joker’ Poster Causing a Stir in L.A. — Obama “Joker” Poster — What do you think? — When you're taking flak... ÃÂyou know you're over the target,and the person who made this poster is shining the light of truth on the Obama administration.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, field negro, FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog, L.A. Now and RedState

Steven Mikulan / LA Daily:

New Anti-Obama ‘Joker’ Poster — A new poster depicting President Obama as a version of Heath Ledger's Joker character in The Dark Knight has appeared in Los Angeles, according to rightwing sources. Blog posters to such online sites as American Thinker and Tammy Bruce are predictably in the throes of political orgasm.

Discussion: Big Hollywood, Conventional Folly, RedState, Bookworm Room, Daily Dose, The Anchoress, The Confluence, rightofcourse.com, The washington times Blogs, Confederate Yankee, American Thinker and Moonbattery

Hideaki Tailor / Weekly World News:

OBAMA JOKER POSTER — LOS ANGELES, CA - A poster depicting President Obama as Batman's The Joker has begun appearing around Los Angeles. — Someone has been creating posters of President Obama in the famous face paint of The Dark Knight's Joker, famously depicted by Heath Ledger.

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, The Sundries Shack, theblogprof, Don Surber, American Power and The Note

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
LA Weekly wets itself over Obama/Joker poster: “The only thing missing is a noose”

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Cranky T-Rex's Blog, NewsBusters.org, Pundit & Pundette, The Corner and Macsmind

New York Times:

Bill Clinton in North Korea to Seek Release of U.S. Reporters — WASHINGTON — Former President Bill Clinton went to North Korea on Monday to negotiate the release of two American television journalists who were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering North Korean territory …

Discussion: The Note, Politics Daily, Mediaite, THE WEEK News & Opinion, The Caucus, Bloomberg, Connecting.the.Dots and The Page

Los Angeles Times:

Bill Clinton visits North Korea in bid to free journalists — The former president's surprise mission is aimed at negotiating the release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who have been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegal entry. — Reporting from Washington and Seoul …

Discussion: The Swamp, Washington Post, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Taylor Marsh

Reuters: Bill Clinton Reported Heading to North Korea

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

Is This the Source of the Forged ‘Kenyan Birth Certificate?’ — [Update: Credit where it's due—my source tipped me off to this in the Politijab web forums, which have become a good site for “birther” debunking.] — One of my friends in the small community of Obama “birther” …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Below The Beltway, Townhall.com and Dr. Orly Taitz Esquire

Alex Koppelman / Salon:
Birthers release forged Kenyan birth certificate for Obama

Discussion: Jesus' General, The Washington Independent, Right Truth, Unqualified Offerings, Hot Air, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Wonkette, Native and Natural … and MoJo Blog Posts

Evan Perez / Wall Street Journal:

White House Counsel's Job Is at Stake — WASHINGTON — Obama administration officials are holding discussions that could result in White House counsel Gregory Craig leaving his post, following a rocky tenure, people familiar with the matter said. — Mr. Craig, the top lawyer at the White House …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Emptywheel and New York Magazine

Siobhan Gorman / Wall Street Journal:
White House Cybersecurity Chief Quits

Discussion: Danger Room, Emptywheel and On Deadline

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama Renews Vow of No Middle-Class Tax Increase

Discussion: Commentary

Wall Street Journal:

Geithner Vents as Overhaul Stumbles — WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner blasted top U.S. financial regulators in an expletive-laced critique last Friday as frustration grows over the Obama administration's faltering plan to overhaul U.S. financial regulation, according to people familiar with the meeting.

Discussion: naked capitalism, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Real Time Economics, Clusterstock and zero hedge

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:

Are Democrats In For An August Slaughter? — Democrats know the rulebook. The tactics being used against them by Republican and conservative groups were perfected by the party when it set out to defeat President Bush's Social Security privatization proposals.

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo: Ambinder — Marc Ambinder seems to think the tea-bagger effort …

Lee Fang / Think Progress:

Durbin Responds To Lobbyist-Run Efforts To Harass Town Halls: We 'Won't Fall For A Sucker-Punch Like This' — ThinkProgress reported today on the growing number of angry right-wing activists viciously harassing Democratic, as well as moderate Republican, members of Congress on health care reform.

Discussion: Gawker, AmSpecBlog, The Political Carnival, Gateway Pundit, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Wonk Room, My Left Nutmeg, Lean Left, Macsmind, the talking dog, American Power, TPMDC, Hot Air, Wonkette, D-Day and Hullabaloo

Weekly Standard:

And That's the Way It Wasn't — From the Scrapbook. — It seems somehow oddly appropriate that the passing of TV news giant Walter Cronkite should have produced in turn a gigantic correction in the New York Times, which we reproduce here for your delectation:

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Kevin Helliker / Wall Street Journal:

Killer App for Clunkers Spurs Market — Rebate Program Prescribes Chemical to Stop Car Engines — for Good; Mechanics 'Can't Wait' — Robert Mueller deals in chemicals for a living — things that can unstick glue, thin paint, make plastic — but he'd never seen an order like the one he got for sodium silicate.

Discussion: Clusterstock

Michael Barone / Real Clear Politics:
Beware the High Cost of Unintended Consequences

Discussion: Sense of Events, Fausta's Blog, Betsy's Page and Wall Street Journal

Jon Ralston / Las Vegas Sun Blogs:

Emails between Ensign NRSC lieutenants, Hamptons show affair was known inside organization more than a year ago — The emails, between Mike Slanker and Doug Hampton and Lindsey Slanker and Cindy Hampton, show the Slankers knew of the affair between John Ensign and Cindy Hampton while they were working …

Discussion: Las Vegas Sun, The Political Carnival and The Huffington Post

Dion Lefler / Kansas City Star:
Kansas casino partner linked to son's sex scandal

Discussion: Glenn Thrush's Blog and TPMMuckraker

Ezra Klein:

Should We Envy Texas? — Ross Douthat has a strange column today arguing that Texas — yes, Texas — represents the sort of “model” economy that Barack Obama promised but can't quite seem to achieve. “The president wants to govern America like a blue state,” writes Douthat.

Discussion: Economix, Free exchange, Obsidian Wings and The Plank

Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Blue-State Blues

Laura A. Munson / New York Times:

Those Aren't Fighting Words, Dear — LET'S say you have what you believe to be a healthy marriage. You're still friends and lovers after spending more than half of your lives together. The dreams you set out to achieve in your 20s — gazing into each other's eyes in candlelit city bistros …

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Kathy Kiely / USA Today:

Republican support for Sotomayor looks paltry — WASHINGTON — As the Senate begins debate Tuesday on Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, the veteran federal judge appears assured of confirmation but without the sweeping bipartisan majority her backers hoped for the nation's first Hispanic high court pick.

Discussion: Blue Virginia, The Page and Associated Press

Hotline On Call:
McCain To Vote “No” On Sotomayor

Discussion: Hot Air and Wonkette

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

And for the Blue Team? — We spent most of Monday reporting on these tea-bagging crowds going to Democratic health care town hall meetings to shout down the hosts and shut the events down. It's classic agitprop, very akin to the ‘Brooks Brothers riot’ down in Florida during the recount.

Discussion: The Plum Line

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:

5 things to watch during recess — House Minority Leader John Boehner has predicted a “very, very hot summer.” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bracing for what she calls “the fight of our lives.” — Sleepy, sweltering August, typically a month for congressional beach getaways …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Maggie's Farm and Wonk Room

Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:
As recess begins, the heat is on

Discussion: Firedoglake, Wizbang and NolanChart.com

Gwen Ottinger / Washington Post:

When ‘Clunkers’ Are Greener — Want to be green? Consider keeping your “clunker.” — The wildly popular “Cash for Clunkers” program is one of a number of policies funded by this year's stimulus package that encourage consumers to make major purchases in the name of the environment.

Discussion: Environmental Capital and Postcards

Alexandra Topping / Guardian:

Terror suspects detained in Australia — Australian police launched a major security operation last night, arresting four men accused of planning to stage a terrorist attack on a military establishment. — The four Australian men of Somali and Lebanese descent were arrested after a series …

Discussion: RADAMISTO

David Paul Kuhn / Real Clear Politics:

Both Parties Have Their Fanatics — Fully 35 percent of Democrats believe George W. Bush had advance knowledge of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Fully 28 percent of Republicans believe Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States. — Meet the fanatical third.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Democratic Strategist and PrairiePundit