memeorandum: Bill Press: Town Meeting Protestors ‘Taking a Page Right Out of a Nazi Playbook’ (P.J. Gladnick/NewsBusters.org)

5:35 PM ET, August 7, 2009

Top Items:

Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:

Republicans Propagating Falsehoods in Attacks on Health-Care Reform — As a columnist who regularly dishes out sharp criticism, I try not to question the motives of people with whom I don't agree. Today, I'm going to step over that line. — The recent attacks by Republican leaders …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Matthew Yglesias, Firedoglake, The Hill's Pundits Blog, Washington Monthly, The Talent Show, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Campaign Spot, Brendan Nyhan, The Foundry, QandO, DownWithTyranny!, Neptunus Lex, Media Research Center, AMERICAblog News, rubber hose and Prairie Weather

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Town Hall Mob — There's a famous Norman Rockwell painting titled “Freedom of Speech,” depicting an idealized American town meeting. The painting, part of a series illustrating F.D.R.'s “Four Freedoms,” shows an ordinary citizen expressing an unpopular opinion.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Pajamas Media, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, D-Day, The Volokh Conspiracy, Think Progress, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Cato @ Liberty, NewsBusters.org, Eunomia, The Campaign Spot, Feministe, The Foundry, Discriminations and Jules Crittenden

Wall Street Journal:

‘You Are Terrifying Us’ — Voters send a message to Washington, and get an ugly response. — Printer — Friendly — We have entered uncharted territory in the fight over national health care. There's a new tone in the debate, and it's ugly. At the moment the Democrats are looking …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Liberty Street, National Review, Boston Globe, Gawker, Stop The ACLU, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Mediaite, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Hot Air, The Strata-Sphere, The Opinionator, The Anchoress and PrairiePundit

Adam Smith / St. Petersburg Times:
Protesters drown out Tampa health care summit

Discussion: CBS News, The Plum Line, The Huffington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, Pam's House Blend, NewsBusters.org, News Hounds, NPR Blogs, The Buzz, msnbc.com, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly and The Glittering Eye

Blue Texan / Firedoglake:
Peggy Noonan: Health Care Protests Haven't “Gotten Out of Hand” …

Discussion: Facing South

Leah Thorsen / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Six people, including P-D reporter, arrested at Carnahan meeting — UPDATE: St. Louis County police say six people were arrested. Two of those were arrested on suspicion of assault, one of resisting arrest and three on suspicion of committing peace disturbances. Carnahan was gone when the ruckus started.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Right Wing Nut House, Gateway Pundit, Moe_Lane's blog, Outside The Beltway, NewsBusters.org, QandO, Althouse, Media Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Moonbattery, Wake up America, Political Punch and Confederate Yankee

Gateway Pundit:

RAW VIDEO!!.....TEA PARTY PROTESTERS ATTACKED— 1 Black Conservative Seriously Hurt in St. Louis!... 6 Arrested Including SEIU Members — ** RAW VIDEO from Missourah blog: — A black conservative was attacked by the Carnahan-supporting mob. — At least one SEIU member is arrested by St. Louis police in this video:

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, St. Louis Tea Party, The Greenroom, thedanashow.wordpress.com, Power Line, Stop The ACLU and Founding Bloggers

Dana Loesch / thedanashow.wordpress.com:
BREAKING: Carnahan staffer admits to causing trouble?

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Moe_Lane's blog

K. Daniel Glover / Accuracy in Media:
The Media Take Aim At ‘The Mob’

Discussion: Right Wing News and St. Petersburg Times

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Town Halls Turning Into Town Brawls

Discussion: Think Progress and Ezra Klein

Patterico's Pontifications:
Angry Mob of Racist Extremists Beats Black Man at Town Hall Meeting

Discussion: Examiner, Gateway Pundit and American Power

Jon Henke / The Next Right:
The Mob Revealed — Reports out of Florida indicate that Democrats …

Discussion: TBO.com, Fox News, The Foundry, Little Green Footballs, NewsBusters.org, Red County, Erick's blog, 209.157.64.200, Power Line and Pundit & Pundette

Gateway Pundit:
Black Conservative's Attorney Sends Out Letter After Brutal Attack …

Discussion: St. Louis Tea Party, Flopping Aces and Pajamas Media

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Dueling protesters disrupt Carnahan forum on aging

Discussion: St. Louis Beacon, Atlas Shrugs, On Deadline, Below The Beltway, Salon and Fired Up! Missouri

CNN:

First on the CNN Ticker: Florida senator to resign seat — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Florida, will announce that he is resigning his seat, three GOP sources tell CNN. — The sources said that Martinez will officially announce his intention to step down on Friday.

Discussion: The Note, The Huffington Post, Salon, Shakesville, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Liberal Values and The Plank

Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard's Blog:

Mel Martinez resigning — Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) will be resigning from the Senate, according to several senior Republican sources familiar with his thinking. — He made the announcement at a morning staff meeting, where he said he will not be returning to the Senate after the August recess.

Discussion: Central Florida Political …, The Hill, The Politico, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, NPR Blogs, Swing State Project, FiveThirtyEight, Senate Guru, Daily Kos, The Page, Salon and The Buzz

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
FL-Senate: Martinez to Resign

Discussion: Naked Politics, The Atlantic Politics Channel and Washington Monthly

The Campaign Spot:
Mel Martinez, Leaving Office a Little Early? (UPDATED)

Discussion: MiamiHerald.com, Naked Politics, TPMDC and The Washington Independent

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Mel Martinez out, placeholder coming

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Rasmussen Reports:

41% View Town Hall Protesters Favorably, 35% Don't — Forty-one percent (41%) of U.S. voters have a favorable opinion of the people opposing health care reform at town hall meetings now being conducted by members of Congress, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Hartford Courant: The Tea Baggers Are Back — Crazy as Ever

P.J. Gladnick / NewsBusters.org:
Bill Press: Town Meeting Protestors ‘Taking a Page Right Out of a Nazi Playbook’

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hot Air and Little Green Links

Jack Healy / New York Times:

247,000 Jobs Lost in July; Rate Falls Slightly to 9.4% — The American economy lost 247,000 jobs in July, and in a reversal, the unemployment rate fell slightly, to 9.4 percent, the government reported Friday. — Although businesses are expected to keep cutting jobs through the rest of the year …

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Post, Economix, Womenstake, Economic Policy Institute, Indecision Forever, RedState, Wonk Room, ProPublica, Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias and The Daily Dish

Daniel Indiviglio / The Atlantic Business Channel:
Did The Unemployment Rate Really Go Down? — As Derek wrote …

Discussion: The Confluence and Glenn Thrush's Blog

New York Times:

Taliban Leader in Pakistan Is Reportedly Killed — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Baitullah Mehsud, the main leader of Pakistan's fearsome Taliban movement, was killed Wednesday in a C.I.A. drone missile strike, two Taliban fighters said Friday, though American and Pakistani officials could not confirm the reports.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Long War Journal, Washington Post, The Daily Dish, Newsweek, Hot Air, ATTACKERMAN, The Jawa Report, The Washington Independent, Newshoggers.com, Democracy in America, PrairiePundit, Danger Room and BBC

Juan Cole / Informed Comment:
Pakistani Taliban Leader Possibly Killed Supreme Court Challenges …

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org

Susan Crabtree / The Hill:

Dodd, Conrad cleared in Countrywide probe — The Senate Ethics Committee on Friday dismissed complaints against Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Kent Conrad (N.D.) over their participation in Countrywide Financial Corp.'s VIP lending program. — But the panel cautioned the senators …

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Monthly, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Michelle Malkin

Ben Pershing / Capitol Briefing:
Ethics Panel Dismisses Complaints on Dodd, Conrad Mortgages

Discussion: U.S. Senator Christopher …, CREW and MoJo Blog Posts

Fox News:

White House Move to Collect ‘Fishy’ Info May Be Illegal, Critics Say — The White House has been under fire since posting a blog on Tuesday that asks supporters to e-mail any “fishy” information seen on the Web or received electronically. — FOXNews.com — The White House strategy …

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid and The Jawa Report

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Reactions to Rush Limbaugh's Obama/Hitler comparison — [updated below (ADL) - Update II (Simon Wiesenthal Center) - Update III] — As I noted yesterday, the comparison of an anonymous person in the 2004 MoveOn.org ad contest of Bush to Hitler generated a massive media firestorm for a full week …

Discussion: Political Punch, The Washington Independent and Below The Beltway

Abf / We'll Know When We Get There:

Sincerely, John Hughes — I was babysitting for my mom's friend Kathleen's daughter the night I wrote that first fan letter to John Hughes. I can literally remember the yellow grid paper, the blue ball point pen and sitting alone in the dim light in the living room, the baby having gone to bed.

Bill Maher / The Huffington Post:

New Rule: Smart President ≠ Smart Country — New Rule: Just because a country elects a smart president doesn't make it a smart country. A few weeks ago I was asked by Wolf Blitzer if I thought Sarah Palin could get elected president, and I said I hope not, but I wouldn't put anything past this stupid country.

Discussion: Pajamas Media

Elinor Mills / CNET News:

Twitter, Facebook attack targeted one user — A Georgian blogger with accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal, and Google's Blogger and YouTube was targeted in a denial-of-service attack that led to the sitewide outage at Twitter and problems at the other sites on Thursday, according to a Facebook executive.

Discussion: Guardian, TechCrunch, The Register, Silicon Alley Insider, Bits, MediaFile, Gawker, On Deadline and New York Times

Felix Salmon:

Ben Stein finally Expelled from NY Times — You'll forgive me if I take some small measure of credit for this one: after something in the region of 35,000 words of the Ben Stein Watch, the world's worst financial columnist has finally been fired from the New York Times. And I couldn't be happier.

Discussion: Gawker and Mediaite

Jonathan D. Glater / New York Times:

Another Hurdle for the Jobless: Credit Inquiries — Digging out of debt keeps getting harder for the unemployed as more companies use detailed credit checks to screen job prospects. — Out of work since December, Juan Ochoa was delighted when a staffing firm recently responded to his posting …

Discussion: Megan McArdle, The Atlantic Business Channel, MoJo Blog Posts and The Washington Independent

David Harsanyi / Denver Post:

Presenting new rules for radicals — If you're a virtuous and patriotic American, you may find this column either offensive or misleading. If so, please forward it to White House authorities at the Department of Fishy Activity. (E-mail the good people at flag@whitehouse.gov.)

Discussion: Dr. Helen