memeorandum: It's Showdown Week for the Baucus Six, With a Medicaid Fight Looming (David M. Herszenhorn/Prescriptions)

5:15 PM ET, September 14, 2009

Top Items:

Press Accuracy Rating Hits Two Decade Low — Public Evaluations of the News Media: 1985-2009 — The public's assessment of the accuracy of news stories is now at its lowest level in more than two decades of Pew Research surveys, and Americans' views of media bias and independence now match previous lows.

Discussion: Don Surber, Think Progress, TVNewser, Hot Air, Reason, YID With LID, Michael Calderone's Blog, Weasel Zippers, TVbytheNumbers, New York Times, Media Research Center, Wake up America, The Confluence, Gateway Pundit and On Deadline

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Unamplified, Beck's Voice Still Carries — Establishment Outlets Missed Van Jones Story — It has become a familiar chain reaction: Talk-show hosts whip up a noisy controversy, which hits higher decibels as it spreads to the establishment media, which costs some unfortunate soul his job.

Discussion: Politics Daily, Commentary, Newshoggers.com and five feet of fury.

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Creeping Birtherism at WaPo? — I think this must be just really hasty or poor word choice ('native' for ‘ancestral’?). But TPM Reader AH just flagged for us that in his column today Howie Kurtz refers to Kenya as President Obama's “native country.” … Late Update: As I suspected, poor word choice.

Discussion: Washington Post and Michael Calderone's Blog

Adam Nagourney / The Caucus:

Obama May Do Back-to-Back TV Interviews Sunday — If there's one thing this White House doesn't seem worried about, it is that Americans will get tired of seeing President Obama. — After a week of speeches and rallies, the appearance on “60 Minutes,” the speech on Wall Street today …

Discussion: The Hill, Michael Calderone's Blog, The Corner on National …, The Swamp, The Page and FishBowlDC

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
On Wall Street, Obama Pushes Stricter Finance Rules

Discussion: City Room, WhiteHouse.gov Blog, Cafe Hayek and No More Mister Nice Blog

Washington Post:

Opposition to Obama's Health-Reform Plan Is High, but Easing — President Obama continues to face significant public resistance to his drive to initiate far-reaching changes to the country's health-care system, with widespread skepticism about central tenets of his plan, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

George Stephanopoulos / George's Bottom Line:

Obama Speech No Game-Changer — Our new ABC News/Washington Post poll out this morning shows that the President's joint session speech may have stopped his summer slide, but it doesn't appear to have been the “game-changer” Democrats were hoping for. — No doubt Obama's passionate …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Ruby Slippers, The Note, FiveThirtyEight, Bloomberg, The New Republic, Hot Air, YID With LID, GayPatriot, Wake up America, The Swamp, Don Surber and NewsBusters.org

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
When You Assume, You Make a Mess Out of Your Poll

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, The Hill, Rasmussen Reports, MoJo Blog Posts, AmSpecBlog, Commentary, Pollster.com and The Daily Dish

James O'Keefe / Big Government:

ACORN Video: Prostitution Scandal in New York, NY … So, we headed up to New York... [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.] — [There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Jeremy Olshan / New York Post:

‘Pimp & hooker’ catch B'klyn staff — The scandal surrounding the left-wing activist organization ACORN has spread to New York, with employees at its Brooklyn office caught on video helping supposed ladies of the night get loans for their dream houses of ill repute.

Discussion: Don Surber, Fox News, Moonbattery and Cold Fury

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

House Dems: We Will Condemn Wilson For “Breach Of Decorum,” Not For “Speech” — The House Dem leadership has decided that it must condemn Joe Wilson for his “you lie,” outburst, and is likely to decry his “conduct” and his “breach of decorum” as early as tomorrow, rather than censure him for …

Discussion: neo-neocon, TPMDC and Real Clear Politics

Glenn Thrush / Glenn Thrush's Blog:
Boehner will vote “no” on anti-Wilson resolution

Discussion: Townhall.com

Michael Kinsley / Washington Post:
Democrats Need to Stop the Umbrage Game on Rep. Joe Wilson

Discussion: Commentary

Peter Wallsten / Los Angeles Times:

Some fear GOP is being carried to the extreme — The Republican establishment hopes cooler heads will prevail over strongly anti-Obama parts of the conservative base. — Reporting from Washington - Amid a rebirth of conservative activism that could help Republicans win elections next year …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, 24Ahead, pandagon.net, The Mahablog, The Sundries Shack and The Washington Independent

Simon Parry / Daily Mail:

Revealed: The ghost fleet of the recession — The biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history lies at anchor east of Singapore. Never before photographed, it is bigger than the U.S. and British navies combined but has no crew, no cargo and no destination …

Discussion: Mish's Global Economic …, The Big Picture and Snapped Shot

Shailagh Murray / Capitol Briefing:

Baucus Remains Hopeful That Republicans Will Like Committee's Health Bill — Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus announced Monday that he may unveil his long-awaited health-care bill as soon as Tuesday — and he predicted that Republicans will find plenty to like about it.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

David M. Herszenhorn / Prescriptions:
It's Showdown Week for the Baucus Six, With a Medicaid Fight Looming

Discussion: Wonk Room, DailyHowler.com and The Page

Josh Rogin / The Cable:

Murtha to Obama: No more troops — House defense spending cardinal John Murtha, an early bellwether of congressional opposition to the Iraq war, has made his strongest comments yet opposing more U.S. troops for the war in Afghanistan. — The Pennsylvania lawmaker and Vietnam veteran …

Discussion: Glenn Thrush's Blog, SpyTalk, The Hill, Taylor Marsh and The Washington Independent

Tony Romm / The Hill:
Rep. Murtha compares surge to Vietnam

Discussion: Townhall.com

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Does Health Care Reform Debate Carry Risks For The GOP, Too? — One point that hasn't gotten the attention it deserves: When it comes to health care, Dems are not the only major American political party courting serious political risk. — The vast majority of commentary, understandably …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, Brendan Nyhan and Ezra Klein

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Warning Signs for GOP in Health Care Poll

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The American Scene and The Plum Line

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

A Simple Request — The Atlantic has done me the honor of putting my open letter to George W. Bush on torture on the cover. Commercially, this is not exactly an easy call (although the magazine did alternate a few newsstand editions with a more sellable cover of Jon Stewart).

Discussion: Riehl World View and MoJo Blog Posts

Andrew Romano / Newsweek:

Wait a Second. Why Shouldn't We Insure Illegals? — Insuring undocumented immigrants might be unpopular, but it would be good for the economy. — Call it the shout heard round the world. Since last Wednesday, when Rep. Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, interrupted Barack Obama's big speech …

Discussion: Megan McArdle, Matthew Yglesias, The Huffington Post, Ezra Klein and Wonk Room

Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:

Boortz compares President Obama to a child molester. — Today, on the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, President Obama will speak on Wall Street to “try to breathe new life into efforts to overhaul the financial regulatory system.” Hate radio host Neal Boortz used …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post, Wonk Room, The Moderate Voice and DownWithTyranny!

Daniel W. Drezner:

I'm setting the protectionist threat level to safety orange — When the Obama administraton announced the decision to slap a 35% tariff on Chinese tire imports, I was pretty sure that free traders would be incensed. And I haven't been disappointed — even the financial markets are freaking out over this one.

Discussion: Grasping Reality …, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Business Channel, New York Times, Financial Times, Associated Press, Outside The Beltway, MoJo Blog Posts, The Corner on National … and Taylor Marsh

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Who are the undeserving “others” benefiting from expanded government actions? — The New York Times' Ross Douthat argues, uncontroversially, that the tea-party protests, townhall outbursts and related appendages aren't about specific health care proposals but, instead, are motivated …

Discussion: New York Times, Philly.com, pandagon.net, INSTAPUTZ and Eschaton

BBC:

Aceh passes adultery stoning law — Indonesia's province of Aceh has passed a new law making adultery punishable by stoning to death, a member of the province's parliament has said. — The law was passed unanimously by Aceh's regional legislature, said assembly member Bahrom Rasjid.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Jihad Watch

News24:

Media barred from Palin speech — Hong Kong - The first keynote speech outside North America by former US vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will be closed to the media, organisers of the Hong Kong event said on Monday. — Palin, mocked during last year's presidential campaign for her lack …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, The Hill, Think Progress, Governor Palin 4 President and The Political Carnival

Forbes:

The Price Of A Scoop: Two Dead — The moral of Stephen Farrell's story. — What should one make of the tale of Stephen Farrell—the seemingly reckless New York Times reporter who was rescued by British soldiers on Sept. 9 after spending four days as a captive of the Taliban?

Discussion: Wizbang

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Huckabee: Journalism is dead — Former Arkansas GOP Gov. Mike Huckabee, currently a Fox News talk show host, ripped the media this weekend, claiming that journalism has been reduced to “ink-stained drivel that smeared the pages of paper and the people who attempted to read it.”

Evan Thomas / Newsweek:

The Case for Killing Granny — Rethinking end-of-life care. — Dana Neely / Getty Images — From the magazine issue dated Sep 21, 2009 — My mother wanted to die, but the doctors wouldn't let her. At least that's the way it seemed to me as I stood by her bed in an intensive-care unit …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Christopher Knight / Culture Monster:

Glenn Beck's ‘9-12’ logo based on communist and socialist designs — Ever since Glenn Beck took to the Fox television airwaves recently to offer a bizarre reading of the art commissioned 70 years ago for New York's Rockefeller Center, I've been puzzled by the graphic design element of his 9-12 Project.

Discussion: The Swamp, Little Green Footballs, NewsBusters.org, BuzzFlash.org, five feet of fury. and 24Ahead