memeorandum: There's No Good Reason the National Enquirer Shouldn't Win a Pulitzer Prize (John Cook/Gawker)

12:30 AM ET, February 5, 2010

Top Items:

Franken lays into Ax over health bill — Sen. Al Franken ripped into White House senior adviser David Axelrod this week during a tense, closed-door session with Senate Democrats. — Five sources who were in the room tell POLITICO that Franken criticized Axelrod for the administration's failure …

The Huffington Post:

Obama's Engagement On Health Care Has ‘Dried Up’: Dem Senator — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Despite urging Democratic senators on Wednesday to forge ahead on health care reform, President Obama and his aides have been largely hands-off in guiding the legislative process, Senate aides tell the Huffington Post.

Discussion: Hot Air, Political Punch, The Moderate Voice, Commentary, Dennis the Peasant, The Plum Line, The Politico, RedState, Washington Monthly and The Caucus

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
A slowdown on health care

Discussion: CNN

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Palin Camp Rips Limbaugh, Hits His “Retard” Comment As “Crude And Demeaning” — Sarah Palin versus Rush Limbaugh! — Palin believes Limbaugh's repeated use of the word “retard” yesterday was “crude and demeaning,” her spokesperson emails. — In the wake of Palin's demand that Rahm Emanuel …

Discussion: RushLimbaugh.com, US News, The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values, Althouse, Washington Post, Mediaite, Think Progress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Raw Story and Ben Smith's Blog

Jake Gibson / Fox News:

Palin Camp Fires Back at Washington Post — Sarah Palin, the former Governor of Alaska, Republican mega-star and Fox News contributor, was quick to fire back at Washington Post blog, The Plum Line, for a report that Palin is at war with conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Firedoglake, The Note and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

John Cook / Gawker:

There's No Good Reason the National Enquirer Shouldn't Win a Pulitzer Prize — The National Enquirer has thrown its hat in the ring for a 2010 Pulitzer Prize, seeking official recognition from the media Brahmins for its ownership of the John Edwards sex scandal. Said Brahmins are harrumphing, and here's why they're wrong.

Discussion: Majikthise, Mediaite and Romenesko

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

My John Edwards Failure — I've been thinking about what seems to me a double standard in my treatment of vice-presidential frauds, with respect to Sarah Palin and John Edwards, and trying to figure out where I went wrong. No, I'm not backtracking on Palin: all I regret is not being able to expose her for real yet.

Discussion: Mediaite, NewsReal Blog and Opinionator

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Andrew Sullivan's Heroic Self-Appraisal — Is there some world championship for self-deceit and puffery of which I am unaware? Andrew Sullivan seems to have penned a winning entry. His theme, roughly - How I Was So Right About Sarah Palin Yet So Wrong About John Edwards. … Any day now!

Megan Mulligan / The Daily Caller:

Struck Down: Feds Refuse to Explain How Agent Injured Daily Caller Writer — The State Department has refused to answer basic questions about an accident that took place in Washington on Wednesday night, in which a U.S. Diplomatic Security Service vehicle struck Daily Caller employee Sean Medlock as he was crossing the street.

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Awl, POWIP and The DC Trawler

Jim Treacher / The DC Trawler:

Last night I got hit by a car and broke my knee — Sometime between 7 and 7:30, not long after I got home from work, I walked to the CVS on 22nd and M to get some bread, milk, and a SmartTrip card. I was right across the street from the CVS, and I waited for the crosswalk light to tell me to go before I crossed.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Wonkette, Jules Crittenden, The Lonely Conservative, Media Blog on National … and Moe Lane

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Prayers for Jim Treacher; Update: State Dept, not Secret Service

Discussion: Jezebel, Media Matters for America and Jules Crittenden

Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:

NBC Cafeteria Celebrates Black History Month With Fried Chicken Special (Update) — So who at NBC thought it would be a good idea for the special today to be, among other things, fried chicken, “in honor of Black History Month”? — Because, spoiler alert - it wasn't a good idea at all.

Discussion: theGrio, Michelle Malkin, The Confluence, NewsReal Blog, Big Journalism, NewsBusters.org, JammieWearingFool, American Power, The Political Carnival, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

Our Strange Constitution — I'm not even slightly surprised to find out that the Obama administration has some kind of process in place to assassinate American citizens who it's decided are in cahoots with terrorists. I was always raised to appreciate the “out of control spies” …

Discussion: Ezra Klein and Dennis the Peasant

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
On the claimed “war exception” to the Constitution

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hot Air, Raw Story, Emptywheel and Washington Times

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:

National Prayer Breakfast Draws Controversy — For more than 50 years, the National Prayer Breakfast has served as a prime networking event in Washington, bringing together the president, members of Congress, foreign diplomats and thousands of religious, business and military leaders for scrambled eggs and supplication.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, HRC Back Story, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, CNN, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, AMERICAblog Gay, The Caucus, Left Coast Rebel, AMERICAblog News, The Swamp, Towleroad News #gay, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Prairie Weather, Washington Monthly and The Bilerico Project

The White House:
Remarks by the President at the National Prayer Breakfast

Discussion: Hit & Run, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Shakesville and White House.gov Blog Feed

Ben Frumin / TPM LiveWire:
Obama Makes Birther Joke At Prayer Breakfast (VIDEO)

Discussion: The Caucus, Newsalert and Raw Story

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:
Obama's spirituality is largely private, but it's influential, advisers say

Discussion: CBS News, The Foundry, Ben Smith's Blog and Political Punch

TPMDC:

Boehner Distances Republicans From Ryan Budget...But He Can't Name A Single Objection — House Republicans are at pains to point out that a far-reaching budget roadmap unveiled by their top budget guy, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), isn't their budget, but when asked today at a press conference …

Discussion: Daily Kos, PERRspectives, AMERICAblog News, Talking Points Memo and National Review

Wall Street Journal:
GOP Chases Wall Street Donors

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Hill, Washington Wire, Matthew Yglesias, The New Republic, Democracy in America, Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Political Carnival, Ben Smith's Blog and Washington Post

Patrick Yoest / Wall Street Journal:
Two Senators Seek Bonus Tax at Bailed-Out Firms

Discussion: Politics Daily

Chicago Sun Times:

Details surface of Scott Lee Cohen's 2005 domestric violence arrest — Scott Lee Cohen — a pawnbroker who shocked state Democratic leaders Tuesday night by winning the party's nomination for lieutenant governor — was arrested about four-and-a-half years ago and accused of holding a knife …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Hot Air, Another Black Conservative, The Capitol Fax Blog, Clout St, Matthew Yglesias, Townhall.com, NewsReal Blog, The Glittering Eye, Newsalert, TPMMuckraker, JammieWearingFool, Real Clear Politics and PoliBlog

Newsdesk / Clout St:
Quinn's running mate says he has “no intention of stepping down”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Capitol Fax Blog, msnbc.com, The Hill, TPMDC, Chicago Breaking News, RedState and The Eye

Chicago Sun Times:
Lt. gov. nominee: I won't drop out of race over abuse history

Discussion: Lynn Sweet, Don Surber and TPMDC

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

New Hampshire independents abandoning Obama in droves: Poll — The crucial independent voters of notoriously independent New Hampshire, the ones who were so vital to Barack Obama's 2008 victory there and nationally, are fast falling out of love with the Democrat.

CNN:

Brown sworn in as new senator from Massachusetts — Washington (CNN) — Republican Scott Brown was sworn in Thursday as the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts to fill the seat formerly held by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, and immediately signaled opposition to President Obama's spending plans.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Sister Toldjah, Jules Crittenden, JammieWearingFool, Left Coast Rebel, Mudville Gazette, Another Black Conservative, The Lonely Conservative and Boston Globe

CNN:
Brown to take Kennedy's office

Discussion: The Politico and The Hill

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:

Report: Shelby Blocks All Obama Nominations In The Senate Over AL Earmarks — Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary “blanket hold” on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, CongressDaily (sub. req.) reports. The hold means no nominations …

Discussion: Daily Kos and MyDD

James Oliphant / Los Angeles Times:
Senate Democrats unveil job-creation package

Discussion: Associated Press, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Politico and Truthdig

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:

Poll: Republicans Prefer Having A Deficit With Tax Cuts, Over A Balanced Budget And Higher Taxes — A new Rasmussen poll supplies a very interesting data point in the ongoing debate about the budget deficit: As it turns out, Republican voters would prefer having a deficit if it meant …

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports, Guardian, Liberal Values, QandO, The Daily Dish, Taegan Goddard's …, Matthew Yglesias and TalkLeft

Tony Romm / The Hill:

Gibbs to Sen. Bond: Apologize to law enforcement, White House for leak claim — Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is calling on Republican Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) to apologize “to the law enforcement community and those that work in this building” for alleging the White House had leaked classified information …

Discussion: Political Punch, The Caucus, Raw Story and Connecting.the.Dots

Retracto / Big Journalism:

Correction Request: Max Blumenthal, Salon.com — In Max Blumenthal's article “James O'Keefe's race problem” for Salon.com of February 3, 2010, Mr. Blumenthal makes a number of unverifiable and provably false claims regarding James O'Keefe's attendance at a 2006 conference called “Race and Conservatism.”

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Moe Lane, Runnin' Scared and The Greenroom

Marc Lacey / New York Times:

10 Americans in Haiti Are Charged With Abduction — PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Ten Americans detained after trying to take 33 Haitian children across the border last week were charged Thursday with abduction and criminal association, according to prosecutors.

Discussion: RHRealityCheck.org, The Lede, Newshoggers.com, Associated Press and Truthdig

Bloomberg:

Ken Lewis, Bank of America Sued by Cuomo for Fraud — Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) — Former Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis was sued by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for defrauding investors and the government when buying Merrill Lynch & Co. The bank agreed …

Discussion: CNNMoney.com, The Hill and Hullabaloo

Peterhamby / CNN:

Club for Growth targets Gingrich — Newt Gingrich is being attacked by the conservative Club for Growth. — Washington (CNN) - The conservative Club for Growth is hitting back at former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for criticizing the small government group during an appearance in Utah for Republican Sen. Bob Bennett.

Discussion: American Power

The Note:

Landrieu says Republicans should ‘shut their mouth’ — ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: Don't mess with Mary Landrieu. — The Democratic Senator from Louisiana has had about enough of people criticizing the clause she helped put into the Senate version of health care reform and she took …

Discussion: The Politico, No Sheeples Here and And So it Goes in Shreveport

Thom Shanker / New York Times:

U.S. General Offers Upbeat Views on Afghan War — ISTANBUL — The senior commander of American and allied forces in Afghanistan offered a guarded but unexpectedly upbeat assessment of the war effort on Thursday, saying that while the situation remained dangerous it was no longer deteriorating …

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, democracyarsenal.org, Registan.net, ATTACKERMAN, The Washington Independent and The Majlis

CNN:

Biden ponders filibuster reform — Washington - Moments after swearing in Sen. Scott Brown, R-Massachusetts, whose presence in the Senate means Democrats no longer have their 60-vote filibuster-proof supermajority, Vice President Joe Biden told reporters he thinks filibusters have been abused …

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Sherrod Brown: Senate should use 50-vote tactic on more than healthcare — Senate leaders should use a parliamentary maneuver to sidestep filibuster rules “a lot more,” one Senate Democrat urged Thursday. — Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), one of the more liberal members of the upper chamber …