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1:45 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.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, JustOneMinute, The Caucus, Towleroad News #gay, Pam's House Blend, Wonkette, The Eye, Indecision Forever, Daily Kos, Weekly Standard, Liberty Pundits Blog, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Politics Nation, Riehl World View and AMERICAblog Gay

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, Clusterstock, Ben Smith's Blog, Mediaite, Liberty Pundits Blog, Hullabaloo, First Draft, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and The Washington Independent

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, Townhall.com, The Hill, Swampland, Hotline On Call, Advocate and Swing State Project

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, Right Wing Watch and Instapundit

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. and Betsy's Page

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

Discussion: The Washington Independent and Guardian

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

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

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 and This ain't Hell …

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, Ben Smith's Blog, American Power and Balloon Juice

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Bombshell: Democratic Senate candidate lied about serving in Vietnam; Update: Blumenthal responds, sort of — Not just any Democratic Senate candidate, either. It's Richard Blumenthal, current attorney general of Connecticut, whom Chris Dodd made way for by retiring earlier this year.

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

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

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

Discussion: Boston Globe and Dennis the Peasant

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

Discussion: The Speakers Lobby, TPMMuckraker and NewsBusters.org

Meredith Shiner / The Politico:
Dems still back Blumenthal

Discussion: Weekly Standard

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Power Line, The Caucus and The Note

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

Discussion: The Corner on National …

J. Taylor Rushing / Ballot Box:
Lieberman undecided on whether to back Republican or Dem in Senate race

Discussion: The Politico and CNN

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, Liberty Pundits Blog, Questions and Observations, Pajamas Media and Sweetness & Light

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

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, JammieWearingFool, TPMMuckraker, The Foundry, Law Blog and Main Justice

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

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, Tablet Magazine and Mother Jones

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, Raw Story, Don Surber and Gawker

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.

Benjamin Joffe-Walt / Jerusalem Post:

Saudi woman beats up virtue cop — Incident follows a wave of challenges to religious authorities. — Talkbacks (16) — Make JPOST.COM your Home Page — Iranian Threat — Jewish World — Local Israel — Arts & Culture — Français — Classifieds — Israel — Middle East