memeorandum: EPA Officials Weigh Sanctions Against BP's U.S. Operations (Abrahm Lustgarten/ProPublica)

12:00 PM ET, May 22, 2010

Top Items:

David Weigel / Right Now:

Defending Rand Paul, Part II — A number of liberal writers have included or featured me in essays about the Rand Paul flap. — First, Adele Stan: — Then, Gabriel Winant: … This is complicated stuff, but the Pauls are used to it. I first grappled with it in a 2008 story …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, New York Times, American Power, Newsweek, Salon, Israpundit, Ben Smith's Blog, The Huffington Post and Grasping Reality …

David Weigel / Right Now:

Rand Paul cancels Meet the Press appearance — After two days of bruising media coverage about his views on elements of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the campaign of Kentucky U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul tells me it has canceled the candidate's upcoming appearance on NBC's “Meet the Press” …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, TPMDC, Betsy's Page, Grim's Hall, Talking Points Memo, Power Line, The Political Carnival, Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, Newsweek Blogs, Liberal Values, Wonkette and FrumForum

Joshua Green / The Atlantic Online:

Explaining the Rand Paul Disaster — After getting himself into trouble on Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC, and everywhere else, Rand Paul has decided to cancel an interview on Sunday's “Meet the Press” rather than risk further damage. It's pretty amazing that a guy who embraced the role …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

AOL News:

Cato Scholar Scolds Rand Paul, Gives OK to Soup Nazi — Politico reporter Shira Toeplitz tweeted it well: “You know it's a rough day on campaign trail when you have to issue a statement that says you will not repeal Civil Rights Act of '64.” — She was referring, of course …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Volokh Conspiracy, EconLog, Right Now, Matthew Yglesias, The Reality-Based Community and Below The Beltway

Matt Welch / Hit & Run:
Salon: “Libertarianism is juvenile,” “stupid,” “silly,” “bratty”

Discussion: RedState, Right Now, Balloon Juice and Hullabaloo

Andrew Leonard / Salon:
Who is more “un-American”? Rand Paul or Obama?

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Hullabaloo, Conservatives4Palin.com, Right Now, Hit & Run, pandagon.net and Daily Kos

Christina Bellantoni / TPMDC:
Paul Backs Out Of Meet The Press Appearance

Discussion: The Hill, TPM LiveWire, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, Big Brass Blog, The Political Carnival, TPMMuckraker, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, Balloon Juice, unbossed.com, Daily Kos, Salon and Think Progress

Kate Phillips / The Caucus:
Paul Cancels Sunday TV Appearance

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, New York Times, Riehl World View, Politics Daily, Newsweek Blogs and Washington Post

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Rand Paul ducks question about minimum wage

Discussion: The New Republic, Infowars, Liberty Pundits Blog, Ezra Klein, Page One, Daily Kos, The Washington Independent and TPMMuckraker

CNN:
Conway on Rand Paul: 'he's clearly backpedaling'

Discussion: Commentary, The Politico and The Atlantic Online

Jordan Fabian / Ballot Box:

Cuomo makes NY governor bid official — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday he is officially running for governor. — Cuomo had long been expected to enter the race to replace unpopular Gov. David Paterson (D), who is not running for reelection this fall.

Discussion: CNN, The Politico and The Note

Danny Hakim / New York Times:

Cuomo Video Announces Campaign for Governor — Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced his campaign for governor with a video released early Saturday morning, finally making official his entrance into the race for governor this fall. — Mr. Cuomo's announcement comes only days …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Gothamist, The Awl, Hotline On Call, Gawker and FrumForum

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Andrew Cuomo announces run for NY-Gov — The Plan from Andrew Cuomo on Vimeo. — New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) made it official this morning: he's running for governor this fall. — “New York is upside down and backwards; high taxes and low performance,” said Cuomo.

Discussion: Joe. My. God.

Associated Press:

Man Who Shot Police Had Antigovernment Views — LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An antigovernment Ohio man who had had several run-ins with the police around the country was identified Friday as one of two people suspected of gunning down two officers during a traffic stop in Arkansas.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Gawker and Hullabaloo

Fox News:

Key Al Qaeda Figure Accidentally Blows Himself Up, U.S. Officials Say — U.S. officials had been watching him, but Fox News' sources insist the U.S. had nothing to do with his death

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, Jules Crittenden and Moe Lane

NY Daily News:

Tiger willing to give Elin $750M - to keep quiet … TIGER SCANDAL SCORECARD … EDITORS' PICKS … BEST OF NYDN.COM

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

Blumenthal allies turn tables on NYT — What at first appeared to be a potentially career-ending New York Times exposé of Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has generated a messy fight between the newspaper, Blumenthal's liberal supporters, and his leading Republican rival …

Discussion: CNN, Gothamist, American Thinker, Big Journalism, FrumForum and Taylor Marsh

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
What Makes Richard Blumenthal So Special to Connecticut Democrats?

Discussion: Hot Air

Fox News:

Top Official Says Feds May Not Process Illegals Referred From Arizona — A top Department of Homeland Security official reportedly said his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona authorities.

Discussion: Power Line, The Corner on National …, Gateway Pundit, Scared Monkeys, Pundit & Pundette, Left Coast Rebel and JammieWearingFool

Rasmussen Reports:
68% Oppose Boycotts of Arizona Over New Immigration Law

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Moe_Lane's blog, The Huffington Post, Wake up America and Top of the Ticket

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Arizona Law Reveals Tension in G.O.P. on Immigration

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, American Power, NewsBusters.org and Hot Air

A. G. Sulzberger / New York Times:

Judge Weinstein Takes On Child Pornography Laws — In his 43-year career as a federal judge, Jack B. Weinstein has come to be identified by his efforts to combat what he calls “the unnecessary cruelty of the law.” His most recent crusade is particularly striking because of the beneficiary …

Discussion: TalkLeft, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Gateway Pundit

Carol E. Lee / The Politico:

Obama campaigns against Bush - again — President Barack Obama is trying to ride the wave of anti-incumbency by taking on an unpopular politician steeped in the partisan ways of Washington. — It doesn't matter that George W. Bush left office 16 months ago.

The Right Scoop:

Mark Levin throws down the gauntlet - challenges David Gregory to have him on ‘Meet the Depressed’ — Since Rand Paul has canceled his Sunday appearance on MTP, there's an opening, and Levin wants in. He challenges Gregory to have a real conservative on for a change.

Discussion: Breitbart.tv, Freedom's Lighthouse and Gateway Pundit