memeorandum: Rep. Souder And Mistress Recorded Video Praising Abstinence (WATCH) (Justin Elliott/TPMMuckraker)

4:50 PM ET, May 18, 2010

Top Items:

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 Atlantic Online, Beltway Confidential, Raw Story, Matthew Yglesias, Mediaite, Liberty Pundits Blog, Clusterstock, First Draft, Hullabaloo and Outside The Beltway

Fox News:

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.

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 Huffington Post, The New Republic, ABCNEWS, The Hill, The Note, CNN, The Swamp, Swing State Project, Hotline On Call, Swampland, Below The Beltway and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

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: Washington Monthly, The Journal Gazette, Joe. My. God., BuzzFlash.org and Mother Jones

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, D.C. Now, Liveshots, Top of the Ticket and The Eye

Washington Post:
Rep. Mark Souder's resignation comes after anonymous tips about affair

Discussion: Right Now and TPMMuckraker

Chad Pergram / The Speakers Lobby:
Rep. Souder Had Affair with Staffer Tracy Jackson

Discussion: Associated Press, Crooks and Liars, Gawker, Wonkette, Right Pundits and Truthdig

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

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Feministing, National Review, Mediaite and Newsweek Blogs

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

Discussion: The Washington Independent, Beltway Confidential 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: The Plum Line, The Swamp, The Fix, Ballot Box, Washington Monthly, FiveThirtyEight, New Haven Independent, Associated Press, The Atlantic Online, Politics Daily, The Politico, The Hill, Hot Air, PostPartisan, Power Line, Commentary, The Corner on National …, AmSpecBlog, Wonkette, msnbc.com, Newsweek Blogs, Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, This ain't Hell …, Mediaite, MyDD, Lawyers, Guns & Money, TPMMuckraker, Taegan Goddard's …, Dan_McLaughlin's blog, Little Green Footballs, The Huffington Post, BLACKFIVE, Guardian, The Daily Caller, News Desk, Beltway Confidential, NPR Topics, Right Now, Mother Jones, Hotline On Call, Big Journalism, Washington Wire, Mudville Gazette, Stop The ACLU, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Real Clear Politics, Breitbart.tv, The Awl, Top of the Ticket, NewsBusters.org, Cassy Fiano, JustOneMinute, The Note, Washington Post, Daily Kos, This Just In, Talking Points Memo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, DaTechguy's Blog, Sweetness & Light, USA Today, Indecision Forever, LewRockwell.com Blog, National Review, PoliPundit.com and Balloon Juice

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: Linda McMahon for Senate, Swing State Project, The Daily Caller and American Power

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

Discussion: Ballot Box, Newsweek Blogs, The Corner on National …, Guardian, Talking Points Memo and PostPartisan

New York Times:
Blumenthal Calls Military Claim ‘Misplaced Words’

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Dodd Defends Blumenthal, Calls Vietnam Row A ‘Bump’

Discussion: The Politico, New York Times, National Review, msnbc.com, Hot Air, Mediaite, Weekly Standard and TPMMuckraker

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Blumenthal Story — For quite a long time now people …

Discussion: Boston Globe and Ballot Box

CNN:
TRENDING: Blumenthal says he has ‘misspoken’

Discussion: The Politico

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

Discussion: Washington Wire, Ben Smith's Blog, The Plum Line, The Politico, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, The Corner on National …, Wonkette, The Huffington Post, AmSpecBlog, Newsweek Blogs, Taylor Marsh, Hotline On Call, Moonbattery and TPMMuckraker

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

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, The Speakers Lobby, TPMMuckraker, Weasel Zippers and NewsBusters.org

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

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: CBS News, Think Progress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politics Daily, Pam's House Blend, Outside The Beltway, TPM LiveWire, Indecision Forever and Raw Story

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

Fox News:
State Department Defends Official Who Expressed Regret to Chinese Over Arizona Law

Discussion: RealClearPolitics Video Log, Weekly Standard and Gateway Pundit

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: Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Liberty Pundits Blog and Townhall.com

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

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Ben Smith's Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Wonkette, JammieWearingFool, Swampland and RADAMISTO

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: Beltway Confidential, Questions and Observations, Liberty Pundits Blog and Moonbattery

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

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and White House.gov Blog Feed

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Gingrich forecasts Obama loss — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gives President Barack Obama only a 20 percent chance of being reelected — and says he might be the one to give Obama the boot. — Gingrich, who this week published a book called “To Save America: Stopping Obama's Secular …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Daily Kos and Outside The Beltway

Lee Fang / Think Progress:
Gingrich Publishes Book Arguing Obama Poses Hitler-Like Threat

Discussion: The Politico

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake: How Monica Lewinsky Saved Social Security: Clinton, Gingrich, Bowles and “The Pact”

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:

EpicFail: Blanche Lincoln Turned Away From Home Polling Place This Morning — Sen. Blanche Lincoln suffered what might be one of the all-time greatest campaign staff fails this morning. According to her campaign staff, Lincoln was initially turned away when she tried to vote at her home …

Discussion: The Swamp, Swing State Project, Talking Points Memo and Taylor Marsh

Cuffy Meigs / Perfunction:

Video: Obama: Daniel Pearl, Captured & Beheaded By Jihadists, Also “Captured The World's Imagination” — Just like the pair of amazing NASA rovers on Mars, the Yukon Gold Rush, and quirky British skier Eddie the Eagle, the barbaric videotaped slaughter of Daniel Pearl was one of those …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Jennifer Rubin / Commentary:
Obama Won't Say Who Killed Daniel Pearl

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, New York Times, The White House, Gateway Pundit and No More Mister Nice Blog

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, Climate Progress, Scholars and Rogues, The Impolitic, Newshoggers.com 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: Reuters, The Atlantic Online, Laura Rozen's Blog, Politics Daily, Commentary, Outside The Beltway, Guardian, The Politico and Newsweek Blogs

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: Washington Post, The Fix, The Caucus, Capitol Ideas …, The Moderate Voice, American Power and Guardian

Carol E. Lee / The Politico:

Obama slams ‘just-say-no crowd’ — YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Election? What election? — On Tuesday President Barack Obama boarded Air Force One, flew over Pennsylvania, where voters are deciding on the political future of his ally Sen. Arlen Specter - and landed in Ohio.

Discussion: CNN