memeorandum: 2 U.S. Architects of Harsh Tactics in 9/11's Wake (Scott Shane/New York Times)

12:50 PM ET, August 12, 2009

Top Items:

Little girl at Obama town hall has not-so-random political connections — As we always like to point out: There are no coincidences in Obama world. — Via the Boston Globe: Surprise! … Tons of readers point to this AR15.com post tracking Hall's political footprint, including this Facebook page and photo:

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Leaning Straight Up, Riehl World View, QandO, The Other McCain, The Jawa Report, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Instapundit, Hyscience, GayPatriot, JammieWearingFool, HotAirPundit and The Atlantic Politics Channel

Michelle Malkin:

The illustrated guide to Obamacare human props — Little Julia Hall is just the latest in-the-tank questioner with Obama campaign/Democrat ties to turn up “randomly” at presidential health care forums. — Here's your illustrated guide to Obamacare human props.

Discussion: Political Punch, American Power, Moe Lane and Pundit & Pundette

Travis Andersen / Boston Globe:

Malden girl to Obama: what about those “mean things” people say about your health plan?? — A girl from Malden asked President Obama a question at Tuesday's town hall meeting in New Hampshire about the signs outside “saying mean things” about his health care proposal.

Discussion: Sweetness & Light, Moonbattery, Below The Beltway and JammieWearingFool

Gateway Pundit:

Bus—ted... Obama Bussed In Supporters For New Hampshire Town Hall (Video) — Bus-ted... Team Obama bussed in their supporters for the socialized health care meeting yesterday in New Hampshire: — Local WMUR has the full video report from the rally. — HotAirPundit has a photo.

Discussion: Wizbang and Cold Fury

HotAirPundit:
Obama Town Hall: Supporters In New Hampshire Bussed In

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Weasel Zippers

Gateway Pundit: Shocker! Little Girl Who Asked Obama Question at New Hampshire …

John Mackey / Wall Street Journal:

The Whole Foods Alternative to ObamaCare — Eight things we can do to improve health care without adding to the deficit. — Printer — Friendly — “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out — of other people's money. —Margaret Thatcher

Discussion: Reason, Cato @ Liberty, Sweetness & Light, The Glittering Eye, Teh Resistance Blog, John Stossel's Take, Cafe Hayek and Wonkette

USA Today:

Obama battles health care ‘chatter’ — PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — This is not the August that President Obama had planned. — Obama, who initially demanded that the House and Senate pass health care overhauls by now, was playing defense at a town-hall-style meeting here Tuesday, his signature initiative under increasingly fierce fire.

Discussion: Hot Air, QandO, Alarming News, Blue Crab Boulevard and Associated Press

The Politico:
The Democrats' senior problem

Discussion: The Treatment, The Hill, Washington Examiner, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Pundit & Pundette and Washington Post

AARP:
AARP Reacts to President's Health Care Townhall

Discussion: Politics Daily, Political Byline, Political Punch and YID With LID

Political Punch:
President Obama's “Senior” Moment?

Discussion: The Foundry, Examiner, Hot Air, Below The Beltway, Fox News, Atlas Shrugs, Gateway Pundit, Kausfiles, Right Pundits, Wake up America, RedState, Dennis the Peasant, JustOneMinute and Patterico's Pontifications

Camille Paglia / Salon:

Obama's healthcare horror — Buyer's remorse? Not me. At the North American summit in Guadalajara this week, President Obama resumed the role he is best at — representing the U.S. with dignity and authority abroad. This is why I, for one, voted for Obama and continue to support him.

Discussion: GayPatriot, Commentary, Pundit & Pundette, Moe_Lane's blog, Liberal Values, Blogs of War, Weekly Standard, CNSNews, The Moderate Voice and Sadly, No!

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Amid Debate, Obama Approval Rating on Healthcare Steady

Discussion: The Swamp and Los Angeles Times

Edward John Craig / The Corner:
Camille Paglia, Dissident

Discussion: Hyscience and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Matthews to Obama protester: Why'd you bring a loaded gun to a town hall with the president? — Good question, especially given the sign this guy was carrying. Considering the lengths to which the Secret Service normally goes to investigate threats against the president …

Discussion: Achenblog, Political Byline, msnbc.com, Below The Beltway, The Confluence, BLACKFIVE, Raw Story, The Reaction, Blue Crab Boulevard, Newshoggers.com, Salon, Jack & Jill Politics, Jules Crittenden and Freedom's Lighthouse

Portsmouth Herald:

Police: Man arrested before Obama event had loaded gun … By Staff reports — news@seacoastonline.com — PORTSMOUTH — Police said a man arrested at the scene of President Barack Obama's visit to the city Tuesday was found to be in possession of an unlicensed loaded gun.

Discussion: Raw Story, Shakesville, Blue Hampshire, TPMDC and Wonkette

Rachel Slajda / Talking Points Memo:
Gun-Toter At Obama Town Hall: 'Who'd Be Silly Enough To Carry An Unloaded Firearm?'

Discussion: Firedoglake, Indecision Forever, Think Progress, Alas, a blog, The Strata-Sphere, The Huffington Post, INSTAPUTZ and New York Magazine

Scott Shane / New York Times:

2 U.S. Architects of Harsh Tactics in 9/11's Wake — WASHINGTON — Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessen were military retirees and psychologists, on the lookout for business opportunities. They found an excellent customer in the Central Intelligence Agency, where in 2002 they became the architects …

Discussion: Reason, Truthdig, The Raw Story, Defense Tech, Boing Boing, Prairie Weather, The BLT and Gateway Pundit

Sarah Abruzzese / Washington Times:

Deeds in hurry on campaign trail, gets ticket — Clocked going 76 mph in a 65 mph zone — Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate R. Creigh Deeds is putting the pedal to the metal these days to secure victory in November - and after receiving his second driving citation in three months, it appears that isn't just a metaphor.

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Virginia Politics:
McDonnell: Not Our Flag — With Update from Show Manager

Discussion: Erick's blog, RedState, Blue Virginia and GOP 12

Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2009: Virginia Governor Election

Discussion: Below The Beltway, Real Clear Politics, The Western Experience and Blue Virginia

Phil Izzo / Wall Street Journal:

Economists Call for Bernanke to Stay, Say Recession Is Over — Economists are nearly unanimous that Ben Bernanke should be reappointed to another term as Federal Reserve chairman, and they said there is a 71% chance that President Barack Obama will ask him to stay on, according to a survey.

Discussion: Free exchange, Clusterstock, Real Time Economics and Chronicle of the Conspiracy

Annys Shin / Washington Post:
‘A Recovery Only a Statistician Can Love’

Discussion: Politics Daily and Blue Crab Boulevard

theblogprof:

BUSTED!: “Obama As Hitler” Poster Was A Democrat/Union Plant At John Dingell Townhall! UPDATED with video interview! — ***scroll to bottom for an important update (after reading the post of course!) Watering the plants, as Glenn Reynolds would say. Nancy Pelosi, the dimmest bulb …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The Washington Independent and Weasel Zippers

Seton Motley / NewsBusters.org:
NBC, CNN and MSNBC All Assign Communist LaRouche's Obama-Hitler Poster …

Discussion: protein wisdom and Black & Right

New York Times:

E-Mail Reveals Rove's Key Role in '06 Dismissals — WASHINGTON — Thousands of pages of internal e-mail and once-secret Congressional testimony showed Tuesday that Karl Rove and other senior aides in the Bush White House played an earlier and more active role than was previously known …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal, The Caucus, Law Blog, Wonkette, New York Magazine, Truthdig, TPMMuckraker and Liberal Values

Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:
Email: Rich Lowry Offered To Help White House Spin Firings

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, At-Largely, ATTACKERMAN and The Impolitic

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Video: Sheila Jackson-Lee shows her respect for constituents — Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) went back to her district in Houston to show her constituents her respect for their concerns, which she demonstrates at about the 4:30 mark of this video. When was the last time one of your employees interrupted …

Discussion: RedState and Pajamas Media

Cindy Horswell / Houston Chronicle:
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee denies trying to dodge foes

Discussion: Freedom's Lighthouse

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Santorum dips toes in 2012 Iowa waters — Add former Sen. Rick Santorum to the list of potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates. — POLITICO has learned Santorum will visit first-in-the-nation Iowa this fall for a series of appearances before the sort of conservative activists …

Discussion: The Note, Indecision Forever, Des Moines Register, MyDD, GOP 12, New York Magazine, Salon, Freedom's Lighthouse, Shakesville, The Page and The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Hugh Muir / Guardian:

Who cares if Stephen Hawking lives or dies? Actually, we all do — So Barack Obama is facing the fight of his life (another one) as he attempts to reform the US healthcare system. The “special interests” - doctors, healthcare companies - don't like it. The “birthers” - crazy types …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, Ezra Klein, Blue Virginia, Dispatches from the …, Donklephant, The Sideshow and First Draft

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Morning Fix: Nelson Strikes Back — Criticized by two liberal groups about his approach to President Obama's health care reform proposal, Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson is hitting back, evidence of the issue's potential political peril for the 13 Senate Democrats who represent states carried by Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in 2008.

Discussion: Salt Lake Tribune, Hot Air and RealClearPolitics Video Log

Wall Street Journal:

The Truth About Health Insurance — Only nine states have the costly rules that Obama wants to impose nationwide. — Printer — Friendly — The White House is priming the defibrillator paddles to revive ObamaCare, and its new strategy is to talk about “health-insurance reform,” rather than “health-care reform.”

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and The Glittering Eye

Domenico Montanaro / msnbc.com:

FIRST THOUGHTS: TOWN HALLS GONE WILD — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg — *** Towns halls gone wild: After going on for several days now, who looks worse in this town-halls-gone-wild story? An Obama administration that promised a new era of American politics, but that isn't delivering on it?

Discussion: Associated Press and JoeTrippi.com