memeorandum: The Axis of the Obsessed and Deranged (Frank Rich/New York Times)

6:55 PM ET, February 28, 2010

Top Items:

Pelosi: Lawmakers Should Sacrifice Jobs for Health Care — House Speaker Pelosi says lawmakers aren't in Washington for job security but ‘to do the job for the American people.’

Discussion: GayPatriot, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air, The Greenroom, Dennis the Peasant, American Conservative … and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

ABCNEWS:

‘This Week’ Transcript: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) — Transcript: “This Week” with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and George Will, Sam Donaldson, Paul Krugman and Cokie Roberts. — ABC News/THIS WEEK Elizabeth Vargas Interview with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly, PERRspectives, The Swamp, YID With LID, D.C. Now, The Daily Caller, Liberal Values and New York Times

The Note:

Alexander: Health Care Reform a ‘Political Kamikaze Mission’ for Democrats — Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander says pushing health care reform through Congress by a simple majority using the reconciliation process would be political suicide for Democrats and vowed to campaign for the repeal the bill if it passes.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, The Impolitic and The Strata-Sphere

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:

Sunday Snapshot: Get Ready To Reconcile, Baby — The White House and Democrats had one mission today: prepare the political class for the President's announcement, probably Wednesday, that he thinks the Senate ought to proceed with reconciliation to ****pass or modify**** a comprehensive health care bill …

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Daily Kos

The Hill:

Pelosi: GOP has had its day; confident Dems can pull together on health bill — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Sunday that Republicans have left their mark on the healthcare bill and should accept that the bill will go forward. — “They've had plenty of opportunity to make their voices heard …

Jordan Fabian / The Hill: Menendez predicts Democrats will get votes to pass health bill

Frank Rich / New York Times:

The Axis of the Obsessed and Deranged — No one knows what history will make of the present — least of all journalists, who can at best write history's sloppy first draft. But if I were to place an incautious bet on which political event will prove the most significant of February 2010 …

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, NewsBusters.org, CentristNet, No More Mister Nice Blog, Osborne Ink, The Mahablog, Democratic Strategist, Prairie Weather, Gateway Pundit and AMERICAblog News

The Note:
Pelosi and the Tea Party ‘Share Views’

Discussion: Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, The Hill, Think Progress, CentristNet, Washington Monthly, American Conservative …, Taylor Marsh, JammieWearingFool, Left Coast Rebel, The Lonely Conservative and The Swamp

Steve Tetreault / Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Lowden leads GOP Senate field

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, JammieWearingFool and The Political Carnival

Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Unlikely Activist Who Got to the Tea Party Early

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Hullabaloo, Moonbattery, The Caucus, Instapundit, Grim's Hall, distributedrepublic … and American Power

David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:

Glenn Beck's eliminationist attacks on progressives: How long before someone acts on this violent rhetoric? — David Sirota observes in his column this week the really ugly nature of Glenn Beck's express hatred of progressives, embodied in his CPAC speech:

Discussion: The Impolitic, AlterNet and AMERICAblog News

Michael Calderone / The Politico:

Edwards epilogue: Does the press really vet presidential candidates? — Over the past few weeks, the world has learned quite enough about John Edwards - from the lies he told in trying to cover up an adulterous affair to the compulsive vanity that left some people close to him questioning his judgment and even his grip on reality.

Discussion: TigerHawk and unbossed.com

Andrew Gilligan / Telegraph:

Islamic radicals ‘infiltrate’ the Labour Party — A Labour minister says his party has been infiltrated by a fundamentalist Muslim group that wants to create an “Islamic social and political order” in Britain. — The Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) — which believes in jihad and sharia law …

Discussion: Power Line, Harry's Place, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Jawa Report and Jihad Watch

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:

Kristol: 'I Didn't Watch' The Health Care Summit, But I'll Comment On It As If I Did — On the Fox News Sunday roundtable this morning, the panelists discussed President Obama's health care summit. NPR's Mara Liasson said that while it may have been “political theater,” it was also …

Discussion: News Hounds and The Political Carnival

Reuters:

Quake, tsunamis kill more then 700 in Chile — CONCEPCION, Chile (Reuters) - The death toll from a massive earthquake that struck Chile surged above 700 on Sunday as reports emerged of coastal towns devastated by the tremor and tsunamis that followed. — President Michelle Bachelet …

Discussion: AOL News Collection, Politics Daily, BBC and ABCNEWS

New York Times:
Chile Toll at 700; 2 Million Are Displaced

Discussion: BBC, Truthdig, Mashable!, New York Magazine, The Lede and PoliBlog

Times of London:

Gordon Brown on course to win election — GORDON BROWN is on course to remain prime minister after the general election as a new Sunday Times poll reveals that Labour is now just two points behind the Tories. — The YouGov survey places David Cameron's Conservatives on 37% …

Discussion: thetorydiary, Harry's Place, Guardian, UK Polling Report, Ben Smith's Blog, MyDD and Marbury

Rasool Dawar / Associated Press:

Video of Taliban commander leaves fate unclear — DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — The Pakistani Taliban released a video of their militant chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, but his taped comments fail to prove he survived a U.S. missile strike earlier this year. — U.S. and Pakistani officials …

Discussion: The Jawa Report and The Long War Journal