memeorandum: Conrad says he won't support government-run health care program (Katie Ryan/Jamestown Sun)

11:26 PM ET, August 14, 2009

Top Items:

False ‘Death Panel’ Rumor Has Some Familiar Roots — WASHINGTON — The stubborn yet false rumor that President Obama's health care proposals would create government-sponsored “death panels” to decide which patients were worthy of living seemed to arise from nowhere in recent weeks.

Amy Sullivan / Swampland:

Oh, Those Death Panels — You would think that if Republicans wanted to totally mischaracterize a health care provision and demagogue it like nobody's business, they would at least pick something that the vast majority of them hadn't already voted for just a few years earlier.

Discussion: The Plum Line, Salon, Radio Iowa, Iowa Independent, MyDD, RedState, Michigan Messenger, Washington Monthly and The Political Carnival

Jordan Fabian / The Hill: Senators use Twitter to argue about ‘death panels’

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
The Obama Death Panel “Rumors” - The Times Looks Everywhere But The Mirror

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, Conservatives4Palin.com, Kausfiles, Neptunus Lex, Brendan Nyhan and American Power

Katie Ryan / Jamestown Sun:

Conrad says he won't support government-run health care program — CARRINGTON, N.D. — Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. presented his cooperative health care proposal here Thursday and told an audience of 100 that he would not vote for a government-run health care program.

Discussion: Salon, Taegan Goddard's …, The Political Carnival, Say Anything and Daily Kos

Carol E. Lee / The Politico:

Obama: ‘TV loves a ruckus’ — BELGRADE, Mont. - It was another town hall and another well-mannered crowd for President Barack Obama as he took his pitch for health care reform to the Rockies, telling residents of a small town in this big Republican state that none of the health care nightmares raised by opponents will come true.

Discussion: the talking dog, The Swamp and The Political Carnival

Slinkerwink / Firedoglake:
Senator Conrad Says He'll Vote Against the Public Option

Discussion: DownWithTyranny! and Ezra Klein

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Conrad Says He'll Vote Against The Public Option

Discussion: Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

William Spain / MarketWatch:

Advertisers deserting Fox News' Glenn Beck — Cable host calls Obama ‘racist’ and sponsors move to distance themselves — STORY QUOTES COMMENTS SCREENER (1815) … NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — In what is shaping up to be one of the more effective boycott campaigns in years …

Discussion: Hot Air, St. Louis Tea Party, THE WEEK News & Opinion, Moonbattery, Wonkette and Human Events

Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT COLOR OF CHANGE IS HAMMERING GLENN BECK.

Discussion: Politics Daily, ColorOfChange.org and The Impolitic

Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Host Loses Some Sponsors After an Obama Remark

Discussion: RBO, DownWithTyranny!, Townhall.com, skippy the bush kangaroo, Erick's blog, Washington Monthly and Jack & Jill Politics

ABCNEWS:

Fear for Obama's Safety Grows as Hate Groups Thrive on Racial Backlash — Violent Signs, Gun, Standoff Latest in Emerging Anger Towards the President — Experts who track hate groups across the U.S. are growing increasingly concerned over violent rhetoric targeted at President Obama …

Discussion: Raw Story, Gateway Pundit, Atlas Shrugs, THE WEEK News & Opinion, Right Wing News, Townhall.com, Lone Star Times, Instapundit, Politics Daily and Reason

Steve / Sweetness & Light:
Potok/ABC: White Hate Groups Thrive

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Verum Serum, QandO, Chicago Boyz and Pat Dollard

Jonathan Martin / Ben Smith's Blog:

Obama embraces the new “exception not the rule” strategy on town halls — The double-down on the town hall drama — highlighting the outbursts and deeming protesters as “mobs” — was probably untenable for the White House and Dems. — For one thing, it's tough for members of Congress …

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Jonathan Martin / Ben Smith's Blog:
Out with “Mobs”... ...in with There Are Far More Civil Town …

Discussion: Salon, Democratic Strategist, Blue Crab Boulevard and The Huffington Post

Bloomberg:

Climate Change Measure Should Be Set Aside, U.S. Senators Say — Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. Senate should abandon efforts to pass legislation curbing greenhouse-gas emissions this year and concentrate on a narrower bill to require use of renewable energy, four Democratic lawmakers say.

Discussion: Senate Guru, American Spectator, Grist, YID With LID, Say Anything, The Minority Report, Hot Air, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Political Byline, The Foundry, The Corner on National …, OpenMarket.org, AmSpecBlog, RedState, Erick's blog, JustOneMinute, Don Surber and Americans for Prosperity

David Mark / The Politico:

Armey leaves firm amid health care flap — Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) is resigning from DLA Piper law firm amid a wave of negative attention his grassroots organization, Freedom Works, has drawn for helping to organize protesters at health care town hall meetings with members of Congress.

Discussion: The BLT, The Political Carnival, Firedoglake, Above the Law and MoJo Blog Posts

Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:
Armey Leaves Lobby Firm, Citing Negative Attention Brought by FreedomWorks

Discussion: TPMDC and The Reaction

Lane Hudson / Firedoglake:

Why I Interrupted Bill Clinton's Speech at Netroots Nation — I love Bill Clinton, but we all make mistakes. Sometimes we even are forced to do things we don't want to. That's why I was prepared to ask Bill Clinton a tough question last night as he delivered the opening keynote address at Netroots Nation 2009.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, #gay, Think Progress, Julian Sanchez and Outside The Beltway

Charles Mahtesian / The Politico:
Bill: ‘New era of progressive politics’

Discussion: AMERICAblog News and Ben Smith's Blog

Emily Friedman / ABCNEWS:

Whole Foods CEO's Op-Ed: Bad Taste? — Branding Experts Say CEOs Should Stay Quiet When It Comes to Politics — Joshua has been taking the bus to his local Whole Foods in New York City every five days for the past two years. This week, he said he'll go elsewhere to fulfill his fresh vegetable and organic produce needs.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Power Line, About.com US Liberal Politics, BuzzFlash.org, Don Surber, Reason, Comments from Left Field, GayPatriot, Dennis the Peasant, NewsBusters.org, AmSpecBlog, TigerHawk, Moe_Lane's blog, The Agonist, QandO, Below The Beltway and The Huffington Post

Jules Crittenden:

Woodstock, Celebrating 40 Years Of ... ... flaming hypocrisy from the back-to-nature crowd, which trashed a meadow, disturbed the bucolic peace with electronic noise, disrupted dairy operations, narrowly avoided a public health disaster, contributed to the destruction of untold thousands upon thousands …

Discussion: Boston Globe and Don Surber

Ed Henry / CNN:

Obama's big problem in Big Sky country — LIVINGSTON, Montana (CNN) — Spend a day in this tiny town about 23 miles or so from where President Obama held a town hall meeting on Friday, and it's easy to see why his health-care push is facing big problems in Big Sky country — even from the people he's trying to help.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and Right Wing News

JammieWearingFool:

Brooklyn Mobsters: ‘You Are Bankrupting Our Country. You Guys are Crooks’ — Angry, un-American evil-monger dares to question a Democrat — Keep in mind as you read this that Anthony Weiner's district votes overwhelmingly for him every two years, and prior to that it was Chuckie Scumer's …

Discussion: NY Daily News, GayPatriot, Blue Crab Boulevard, Gawker and New York Magazine

Zombie / zomblog:

Bush as Hitler, Swastika-Mania: A Retrospective — At recent rallies, town hall meetings and “tea parties,” a few protesters have shown up with signs comparing Obama to Hitler (i.e. depicting him with a Hitler mustache), or displaying swastikas in the context of implying that Obama and/or his administration are Nazi-like.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Little Green Footballs and Sister Toldjah

BBC:

Deadly gun battle in Gaza mosque — At least 13 people have been killed and at least 85 injured in a fierce gun battle in Gaza, emergency services say. — Eyewitnesses say hundreds of Hamas fighters and policemen surrounded a mosque where followers of a radical Islamist cleric were holed up.

Discussion: PoliGazette and Jihad Watch

Wall Street Journal:

From ‘Yes, We Can,’ to 'No! Don't!' — Obama turns out to be brilliant at becoming, not being, president. — Printer — Friendly — Don't strain the system. Don't add to the national stress level. Don't pierce when you can envelop. Don't show even understandable indignation when you can show legitimate regard.

Discussion: RIGHTWINGSPARKLE, Hot Air, The New Republic, Firedoglake, GayPatriot, And So it Goes in Shreveport and No More Mister Nice Blog

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:

Down with the health insurers — Dear conservatives: Health insurance companies are not your friends. Keep opposing a new government-run insurer, a single-payer plan, and new regulations on the HMOs. But grant that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is correct on this: Insurance companies are villains.

Discussion: Reason and OpenMarket.org

Scot Lehigh / Boston Globe:

When the kooks take the stage — IT'S HARD TO SAY what's more amusing, the wild-eyed rants at town hall meetings or the conservative attempts to portray those snarling sentiments as genuine mainstream anger about the president's health care plans. — Some Republicans are gleeful in the hope …

Discussion: Sister Toldjah and Don Surber

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Republican Death Trip — “I am in this race because I don't want to see us spend the next year re-fighting the Washington battles of the 1990s. I don't want to pit Blue America against Red America; I want to lead a United States of America.” So declared Barack Obama in November 2007 …

Discussion: BuzzFlash.org, Weekly Standard, The Sideshow, The Confluence, Greg's Opinion, The Political Carnival, Economist's View, The Reaction, Jules Crittenden and TalkLeft

Jon Boone / Guardian:

Afghan law savages women's rights — Rehashed legislation allows husbands to deny wives food if they fail to obey sexual demands — Afghanistan has quietly passed a law permitting Shia men to deny their wives food and sustenance if they refuse to obey their husbands' sexual demands …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Jihad Watch, Truthdig and Shakesville

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

Nazis for Me, but Not for Thee — It's this week's fashion on the left, and among such fashionably contemplative moderates as Mort Kondracke, to blast Rush Limbaugh for comparing Democrats to the Nazis. It's no surprise that the Obama hardcores are misrepresenting the sequence and substance of events …

Discussion: Right Pundits

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Septuagenarian Twitter Flame War: Grassley Warns Specter He Never Said “Death Boards” — Earlier today, I reported that Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) planned to call his old friend Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to admonish him that health care legislation will not result in the creation of death panels.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, MoJo Blog Posts and MoJo Blog Posts

CNN:

‘Squeaky’ Fromme released from prison — (CNN) — Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was released from federal custody Friday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said. — Fromme was convicted in 1975 of pointing a gun at then-President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California.

Discussion: Right Pundits