memeorandum: Graydon Carter and Michael Lewis: The Unabridged Conversation … (Jessica Flint/Vanity Fair)

2:05 PM ET, April 7, 2010

Top Items:

McDonnell's Confederate History Month proclamation irks civil rights leaders — RICHMOND — Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a controversy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tuesday …

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:

Proud Of Being Ignorant — A lot of you have e-mailed me to note that Virginia governor Bob McDonnell has decided to honor those who fought to preserve, and extend, white supremacy. I don't really have much to say. The GOP is, effectively, the party of willfully unlettered Utopians.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

McDonnell Says Slavery Wasn't a “Significant” Part of Confederate Virginia; Virginia Secessionists Disagree — Bob McDonnell explains why his proclamation about the glories of a short-lived herrenvolk republic founded on the principle of chattel slavery didn't mention the word “slavery.”

Discussion: FrumForum, Lean Left, Daily Kos and INSTAPUTZ

Paul / Power Line:

The wrong proclamation in Virginia — Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell has declared April to be Confederate History Month in Virginia. He will thus issue a proclamation honoring soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War. — So far, so good. McDonnell's two Democratic predecessors refused …

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
McDonnell: Slavery Wasn't ‘Significant’ …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, NPR Topics, Newshoggers.com and Below The Beltway

Washington Post:
Gov. McDonnell's airbrushing of Virginia history

Discussion: American Prospect, Betsy's Page, Top of the Ticket, Foreign Policy, Daily Kos, Political Byline, Jack & Jill Politics, Right Now and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:

FIRST THOUGHTS: THE GOP'S VOID — The GOP's leadership void... The hits keep on coming for Steele, though the RNC reported raising $11.4 million in March... But that is less than the $13 million-plus the DNC is reporting... Is Bart Stupak going to call it quits?... Obama heads to Prague this evening …

Discussion: YID With LID, Beltway Confidential, Baltimore Sun, Dallas Morning News, Gawker, HazZzMat, National Review Online, Right Now, Gateway Pundit, JammieWearingFool and The Political Carnival

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

On the edge: Clues to Steele's future — A week after revelations that the Republican National Committee reimbursed a fundraiser for expenses incurred at a sex-themed nightclub, the reverberations continue to shake the GOP. — The committee's chief of staff has been pushed …

Discussion: Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, CNN, The Moderate Voice, Riehl World View, Swampland, Guardian, Washington Monthly, The Daily Beast, The Note, The Page and Daily Kos

Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:

Former RNC official: Steele struck a deal with Michigan GOP to increase fundraising numbers, possibly to circumvent federal funding limits — Into the RNC coffers, and back out again. — The Republican National Committee at the end of last year struck a deal with the Michigan Republican Party …

Discussion: TPMDC, New York Times, Ben Smith's Blog, The Note, Liberty Pundits dot net, Hot Air, TPM LiveWire and MyDD

Anne Schroeder Mullins / The Politico:
STORMY DANIELS SWITCHES TEAMS

Discussion: CNN, The Note, Left Coast Rebel, Another Black Conservative, Mediaite, Big Government, The Gun Toting Liberal, Below The Beltway, Hot Air and Hotline On Call

Byron York / Beltway Confidential:
Fear and loathing in the RNC

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

CNN:

Reporter's notebook: What really happens at Tea Party rallies — (CNN) — When it comes to the Tea Party movement, the stereotypes don't tell the whole story. — Here's what you often see in the coverage of Tea Party rallies: offensive posters blasting President Obama and Democratic leaders …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, iOwnTheWorld.com, Right Now, Wake up America, JustOneMinute and JammieWearingFool

Valerie Bauman / Associated Press:

Black conservative tea party backers take heat — ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - They've been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement …

Discussion: Hot Air, Big Journalism, Wake up America, NewsBusters.org, Questions and Observations, theblogprof, Shot in the Dark, Nice Deb, No More Mister Nice Blog, Pundit & Pundette, Liberty Pundits dot net, Another Black Conservative, Left Coast Rebel, Instapundit, The Rhetorican, The American Pundit and The Lonely Conservative

Allison Sossaman / WJKT-TV:
Email Threat to Congressman Cohen

Discussion: The Hill and TPM LiveWire

Fox News:

Obama Bans Islam, Jihad From National Security Strategy Document — The change is a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventative war.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Corner on National …, Cold Fury, Maggie's Notebook, The Jawa Report and Jihad Watch

Scott Shane / New York Times:

U.S. Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks …

Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
American Extremist Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki Targeted for Killing by U.S.

Discussion: The Washington Independent

Margaret Talev / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Health care overhaul spawns mass confusion for public — WASHINGTON — Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them. — Questions reflecting confusion …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, The Mahablog, Beltway Confidential, The Lonely Conservative and JammieWearingFool

Ali Akbar Dareini / Associated Press:

Iran ridicules Obama's “cowboy” nuclear strategy — TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line president on Wednesday ridiculed President Barack Obama's new nuclear strategy, which turns the U.S. focus away from the Cold War threats and instead aims to stop the spread of atomic weapons to rogue states or terrorists.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Liberty Pundits dot net, Commentary and The Lonely Conservative

New York Times:
Obama's Nuclear Strategy Intended as a Message

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, The Duck of Minerva, Washington Examiner and Mediaite

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
New Nuclear Policy Enrages Republicans

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Times and Washington Post

Richard Wolf / USA Today:

Upper-income people would lose tax cuts in Obama plan — WASHINGTON — Fresh from raising taxes on upper-income Americans to help expand health insurance coverage, President Obama and Democratic lawmakers are targeting them again. — When Congress takes up Obama's proposed $3.8 trillion budget this year …

Discussion: WILLisms.com

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
For the wealthy, less in taxes is not always more

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Lonely Conservative and Cato @ Liberty

David Ignatius / Washington Post:

Obama weighs new peace plan for the Middle East — Despite recent turbulence in U.S. relations with Israel, President Obama is “seriously considering” proposing an American peace plan to resolve the Palestinian conflict, according to two top administration officials.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Commentary, The Majlis, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Wonk Room, The Washington Independent and Yourish.com

Jennifer Swift / The Hill:

Murdoch: Palin not on Fox as journalist — Sarah Palin's role on Fox News is as a commentator, not a journalist, according to media mogul and Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch. — Murdoch also said ratings leap whenever the former Alaska governor is on, and “we're not adverse to high ratings.”

The Huffington Post:
Murdoch: MSNBC, CNN ‘Tend To Be Democrats,’ New York Times Carries Obama's Water

Discussion: Think Progress, Mediaite and News Hounds

Geoff Dornan / Carson City Nevada:

Reid likes his chances for re-election — Senator stops in Carson City on statewide bus tour — Sen. Harry Reid made it clear Tuesday he believes he can and will win in November despite polls showing him trailing his major Republican competitors. — “If the election were held today …

Discussion: The Hill, Weekly Standard, The Political Carnival and TPM LiveWire

Alexander Bolton / The Hill: Specter claims Reid deal for Judiciary chair

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Parties Even in Congressional Midterm Preferences — Rise in voter enthusiasm after passage of healthcare has since steadied — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup Daily tracking for the week ending April 4 finds the two major parties tied at 46% in the congressional voting preferences of registered voters nationally.

Discussion: Hot Air, Left Coast Rebel, HotAirPundit and National Review Online

Nina Totenberg / NPR:

Supreme Court May Soon Lack Protestant Justices — text sizeAAA — With U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens talking openly about retirement, attention has focused on the “who” — as in who is on President Obama's short list of potential nominees.

Discussion: The Confluence, SCOTUSblog, Bench Memos …, Slate, msnbc.com, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Online, The Hill and Prairie Weather

JSOnline:

Juneau County DA warns districts on sex ed law — Teaching curriculum could lead to criminal charges against teachers, he writes — By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel — Madison — A district attorney is telling Juneau County schools to abandon their sex education courses …

Discussion: The Confluence, This Just In, Pharyngula, TPM LiveWire and Talking Points Memo

Reuters:

Volcker: Taxes likely to rise eventually to tame deficit — (Reuters) - The United States should consider raising taxes to help bring deficits under control and may need to consider a European-style value-added tax, White House adviser Paul Volcker said on Tuesday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Liberty Pundits dot net, James Pethokoukis, Ruby Slippers, Below The Beltway, Questions and Observations, The Foundry, Capital Gains and Games blogs, The Page, Sister Toldjah, protein wisdom, Sweetness & Light, JammieWearingFool and Weasel Zippers

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

‘Riot Is the Voice of the Unheard’ — Tea-party foe Maxine Waters once made excuses for real political violence. — “The Tea Party emerges as not only outrageous, but they have turned up the volume in ways that even Code Pink have not been able to do,” Rep. Maxine Waters said the other day on MSNBC.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weasel Zippers and Political Byline

David Boaz / Reason:

Up from Slavery — There's no such thing as a golden age of lost liberty — For many libertarians, “the road to serfdom” is not just the title of a great book but also the window through which they see the world. We're losing our freedom, year after year, they think.

Discussion: Below The Beltway, LewRockwell.com Blog, Cato @ Liberty, alicublog, Dean's World and Hit & Run

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Economic Scene: To Cut Health Costs, U.S. Needs to Learn to Say No — How can we learn to say no? — The federal government is now starting to build the institutions that will try to reduce the soaring growth of health care costs. There will be a group to compare the effectiveness …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air, Washington Post, Questions and Observations, Beat the Press and Riehl World View