memeorandum: Blumenthal Responds to Vietnam Allegations (Marc Ambinder/The Atlantic Online)

2:05 PM ET, May 18, 2010

Top Items:

Exclusive: Indiana Rep. Mark Souder to Resign Amid Allegations of Affair With Staffer — Eight-term Rep. Mark Souder will announce his resignation Tuesday after it came to light that he was conducting an affair with a female staffer who worked in his district office, Fox News has learned.

Justin Elliott / TPMMuckraker:

Rep. Souder And Mistress Recorded Video Praising Abstinence (WATCH) — Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) had an affair with a part-time staffer named Tracy Jackson, Fox is reporting. Jackson played the role of interviewer for a Souder Web video show on the issues of the day — including one on the value of abstinence.

Discussion: The Speakers Lobby, Matthew Yglesias, Wonkette, Right Pundits, Clusterstock, Ben Smith's Blog, Mediaite, Hullabaloo, Liberty Pundits Blog, First Draft, Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

The Politico:

Souder: ‘I am so shamed’ — Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) is resigning from Congress after telling colleagues he had an affair with a female aide. — “I sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff,” Souder said in a statement Tuesday.

Discussion: The Note, CNN, The Swamp, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Below The Beltway, The Hill, Townhall.com, Swing State Project, Hotline On Call, Swampland and Advocate

Justin Elliott / TPMMuckraker:

Family Values GOP Rep To Resign Over Affair (VIDEO) — Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN), a champion of abstinence education and traditional family values, will resign effective Friday after an affair with a female staffer in his district office, he announced today. — He said in a statement that he …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Associated Press, The Huffington Post, Gawker, Mother Jones, BuzzFlash.org, Talking Points Memo, Instapundit and Right Wing Watch

Michelle Malkin:

The GOP Crapweasel Club — Yep, it's time again for my upside-down elephant again. Just when CT Democrat Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's Vietnam fables should be front and center political news, here's a creepy Republican to steal the ignominious spotlight: … Ick.

David Weigel / Right Now:
What does Mark Souder's resignation mean for abstinence education?

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Top of the Ticket

Sylvia A Smith / The Journal Gazette:
Citing ‘relationship’ with staffer, Souder to resign

Discussion: Joe. My. God.

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Mark Souder to resign after affair

Discussion: Liveshots, Newsweek Blogs, Mediaite and The Eye

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
ANOTHER ‘FAMILY-VALUES’ REPUBLICAN RESIGNS AFTER SEX SCANDAL. …

Discussion: The Impolitic

Chad Pergram / The Speakers Lobby:
FOX Exclusive: Rep. Mark Souder to Resign Amid Affair with Staffer

Discussion: The Washington Independent and Guardian

Raymond Hernandez / New York Times:

Blumenthal's Words Differ From His History — At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life. — Multimedia — Enlarge This Image

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politics Daily, Michelle Malkin, FiveThirtyEight, The Hill, TPMDC, Washington Wire, msnbc.com, JustOneMinute, Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, Hotline On Call, Big Journalism, Guardian, Wonkette, MyDD, Dan_McLaughlin's blog, Mother Jones, News Desk, NewsBusters.org, The Corner on National …, Real Clear Politics, BLACKFIVE, AmSpecBlog, Breitbart.tv, Associated Press, The Politico, Commentary, Stop The ACLU, Washington Post, Mudville Gazette, DaTechguy's Blog, Top of the Ticket, Newsweek Blogs, The Awl, LewRockwell.com Blog, USA Today, PostPartisan, Cassy Fiano, The Powers That Be, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, This Just In, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Fix, Gateway Pundit, Right Now, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Another Black Conservative, Don Surber, Outside The Beltway, Sweetness & Light, TPM LiveWire, Betsy's Page, Taegan Goddard's …, Indecision Forever, Sister Toldjah, This ain't Hell …, TPMMuckraker, The Moderate Voice, Political Insider, PoliPundit.com, Open Left, YID With LID, Blogs of War, Law Blog, NPR Topics, Gawker, Liberty Pundits Blog, JammieWearingFool, Clusterstock, TigerHawk, The Eye and Mouth of the Potomac

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:

Blumenthal Responds to Vietnam Allegations — Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal is denying a New York Times report that he routinely lied about his service in Vietnam. — “The New York Times story is an outrageous distortion of Dick Blumenthal's record of service,” …

Discussion: Hot Air, Ballot Box, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather, This ain't Hell … and The Eye

The Politico:

GOP takes credit for N.Y. Times hit — Pulling back the curtain on journalistic sausage-making usually hidden from voters, a Republican Senate candidate is taking credit for the front-page New York Times story accusing Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of “plainly untrue” remarks about Vietnam service.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Gawker, American Power and Ben Smith's Blog

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

The Blumenthal Story — For quite a long time now people have been urging Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to run for hire office, but he always seemed reluctant to go for the prize until this year Chris Dodd's troubles forced him out of the Connecticut Senate race and Blumenthal in.

Discussion: Boston Globe and Dennis the Peasant

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Bombshell: Democratic Senate candidate lied about serving in Vietnam …

Discussion: National Review, The Strata-Sphere, Public Policy Polling and Real Clear Politics

Paul Bass / New Haven Independent:
Simmons Stands To Gain Most From Blumenthal Expose

Discussion: The Corner on National …, Ben Smith's Blog and Talking Points Memo

Kevin / Daily Ructions:
McMahon Strikes. Turns Blumenthal into Bruce Caputo.

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Daily Caller, The Huffington Post, Moonbattery, Guardian, Hotline On Call, Taylor Marsh, msnbc.com, Outside The Beltway, Politics Daily, Commentary and The Moderate Voice

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Richard Blumenthal video: ‘I did not serve in Vietnam’

Discussion: New York Times, The Speakers Lobby, TPMMuckraker, NewsBusters.org and Washington Monthly

Meredith Shiner / The Politico:
Dems still back Blumenthal

Discussion: Ballot Box, Weekly Standard and CNN

Linda McMahon / Linda McMahon for Senate:
In Case You Missed It: McMahon Strikes Blumenthal In NYT Article

Discussion: The Plum Line, TPMMuckraker, The Daily Caller and This Just In

Jordan Fabian / The Hill: Sen. Menendez confident Blumenthal will stay in Connecticut Senate race

Joshua Green / The Atlantic Online: Richard Blumenthal's Bogus War Record

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Simmons attacks Blumenthal — and McMahon

Discussion: The Corner on National …

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Blumenthal shocker puts Senate in play …

Discussion: Power Line, The Caucus and The Note

Todd Ackerman / Houston Chronicle:

Texas doctors fleeing Medicare in droves — Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare at alarming rates, frustrated by reimbursement cuts they say make participation in government-funded care of seniors unaffordable. — Two years after a survey found nearly half of Texas doctors weren't taking …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Moonbattery, Liberty Pundits Blog, Questions and Observations and Pajamas Media

Scott Gottlieb / Wall Street Journal:
No, You Can't Keep Your Health Plan

Discussion: Betsy's Page

The Politico:

What to watch in Tuesday's primaries — Just four states go to the polls Tuesday, but together they cast a long shadow. — It's the biggest single-day primary so far in 2010, and the outcomes in a handful of key races will provide the clearest indication yet of the depth and intensity …

Discussion: CNN, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, The Caucus, Guardian and New York Times

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Incumbent Armageddon?: What to watch for

Discussion: The Politico, American Power, Newsweek Blogs, Washington Wire, FiveThirtyEight and TPMDC

Walter Alarkon / The Hill:
Democrats prepare to pass war funding bill without Republican support

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, The Politico and Weasel Zippers

Fox News:

Rev. Wright: ‘Obama Threw Me Under the Bus’ — NEW YORK — The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's controversial former pastor, said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that he is “toxic” to the Obama administration and that the president “threw me under the bus.”

Discussion: Townhall.com, Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers and Questions and Observations

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Weiner targets Beck and gold retailer

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, JammieWearingFool and Swampland

Jerry Markon / Washington Post:

Memo from 2002 could complicate challenge of Arizona immigration law — In the legal battle over Arizona's new immigration law, an ironic subtext has emerged: whether a Bush-era legal opinion complicates a potential Obama administration lawsuit against Arizona.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Hot Air, La Shawn Barber's Corner, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Think Progress, TPMMuckraker, The Foundry, JammieWearingFool, Law Blog and Main Justice

Marie Leech / The Birmingham:

Jefferson County geometry teacher uses wrong example to teach angles — assassination of President Barack Obama — and Carol Robinson — The Birmingham News — A Jefferson County teacher picked the wrong example when he used assassinating President Barack Obama as a way to teach angles to his geometry students.

Discussion: TPM LiveWire and Raw Story

Jeff Masters / Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog:

Oil enters the Loop Current and is headed to the Florida Keys — Satellite imagery today from NASA's MODIS instrument confirms that a substantial tongue of oil has moved southeast from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and entered the Gulf of Mexico's Loop Current.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Wonk Room, The Great Beyond, The Impolitic, Scholars and Rogues, Climate Progress and SkyTruth

Palm Beach Post:
Tar balls wash up at Key West beaches; surveys continue today

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Major Powers Have a Deal on Sanctions for Iran, U.S. Says — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Tuesday morning that it has struck a deal with other major powers, including Russia and China, to impose new sanctions on Iran, a sharp repudiation of the deal Tehran offered …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Reuters, Laura Rozen's Blog, Guardian, Newsweek Blogs, The Politico, Taylor Marsh and Tablet Magazine

The Atlantic Online:

Rand Paul Wraps Up in Kentucky — BOWLING GREEN — Now it's up to you, Kentucky GOP voters: Rand Paul just wrapped up the last public event of his insurgent campaign for the Senate in his hometown of Bowling Green with a full-throated endorsement of the Tea Party.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly and The New Republic

CNN:
Democrats think Tea Party favorite could hurt GOP chances

Discussion: The Politico

Heather Ratcliffe / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Ballwin resident gets jail sentence over yard art — BALLWIN — A retired art teacher in Ballwin was sentenced to 20 days in jail Monday after he refused to make changes to art pieces in his front yard that the court and city officials have deemed dangerous.

Kerry Eleveld / Advocate:

Pelosi Talks ENDA, DADT With Advocates — As LGBT activists prepared to voice their support Tuesday for taking immediate legislative action on employment discrimination protections, House speaker Nancy Pelosi convened a conference call Monday afternoon with advocacy organizations to discuss pending LGBT legislation.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Joe. My. God. and Towleroad News #gay