memeorandum: The Scariest Unemployment Graph I've Seen Yet (Derek Thompson/The Atlantic Online)

8:55 PM ET, July 20, 2010

Top Items:

NAACP STATEMENT ON THE RESIGNATION OF SHIRLEY SHERROD — (BALTIMORE, MD) - NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous issued the following statement today after a careful investigation into the presentation of former USDA Official Shirley Sherrod. — “The NAACP has a zero tolerance policy …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Hot Air, DaTechguy's Blog, Little Green Footballs, Balloon Juice and HotAirPundit

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Farmer's wife says fired USDA official helped save their land — Despite being defended by the white farmer she allegedly discriminated against, former U.S. Department of Agriculture official Shirley Sherrod will not get her job back. — Sherrod “kept us out of bankruptcy,” said Eloise Spooner, 82.

Discussion: The Anchoress, Comments from Left Field, Outside the Beltway, Sister Toldjah, American Power, The Plum Line, New York Magazine, JustOneMinute, Taylor Marsh, RedState, Ben Smith's Blog, CNN and Weekly Standard

Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:

Breitbart On Sherrod's NAACP Speech: ‘I Did Not Edit This Thing’ — The crux of the Shirley Sherrod controversy is what she said outside of the two-minute video clip posted by Big Government — whether she was, as she claims, telling a story about how she overcame racial prejudice …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Little Green Footballs, Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller

CNN:

NAACP ‘snookered’ over video of former USDA employee — Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) — The NAACP has retracted its original statement condemning comments made by a former Agriculture Department official who resigned after a video clip surfaced of her discussing a white farmer.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Politics Daily, The Politico, Big Government, Raw Story, Mediaite, PostPartisan, This Just In, Obama Foodorama, Rumproast, Jack & Jill Politics and newsfeed.time.com

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Official: No White House pressure on Sherrod — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack this afternoon took responsibility for firing an official, Shirley Sherrod, whose appearance on video recalling her behavior toward a white farmer drew charges of racism, and whose immediate firing drew suggestions …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, CNN, Big Government, PostPartisan, The Plum Line, TPMMuckraker, Say Anything, The Rachel Maddow Show and Daily Kos

Fox News:

Ex-Ag Official Says White House Forced Her Out Without Hearing ‘Truth’ About Video — Shown here is USDA Georgia official Shirley Sherrod. (YouTube) — The Department of Agriculture official who resigned Monday over a YouTube clip said the White House forced her out of her job without bothering to hear her side of the story.

Discussion: Associated Press, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, Mediaite, Townhall.com, Gateway Pundit, YID With LID and Riehl World View

Digby / Hullabaloo:

The White House's Weak Back Hand — Update below: — Weak Back Hand — by digby — When our new overlord Andrew Breitbart says jump, the White House says, “how high?” Kevin Drum: … Naturally, the administration panicked like a bunch of frightened little children:

Discussion: Federal Eye, TalkLeft, The Plum Line, Fact-esque, Talking Points Memo and Politics Daily

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:

Not Looking Good For Breitbart — The 82-year-old wife of the white Georgia farmer who was supposedly discriminated against some quarter century ago by the black USDA official forced to resign this week — if the video released by Andrew Breitbart's Big Government and re-run by Fox is to be believed …

Discussion: TPMMuckraker and No More Mister Nice Blog

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Our Summer Race War Heats Up — Hoo boy. Conservatives apparently aren't going to back down from ever more overt appeals to racial resentment this summer. BigGovernment.com “broke” a story yesterday about a speech given a few months ago by Shirley Sherrod, USDA Georgia Director of Rural Development, at an NAACP Freedom Fund dinner.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Corner on National …, NewsBusters.org and Wizbang

Tom Blumer / Washington Examiner:

Shirley Sherrod's Disappearing Act: Not So Fast — My oh my, that happened quickly. Perhaps too quickly. — Until yesterday, Shirley Sherrod was Georgia Director of Rural Development for the USDA. Earlier in the day at Big Government, Andrew Breitbart put up a video that exposed …

Discussion: RedState, NewsBusters.org, Don Surber, Big Government, Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers, Patterico's Pontifications, Little Green Footballs and protein wisdom

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Breitbart's Skilled Editing

Discussion: msnbc.com and Mediaite

Datechguy / DaTechguy's Blog:
One thing about the NAACP video of Shirley Sherrod

Discussion: The Other McCain

Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:
Agriculture Secretary Stands By Asking For Sherrod's Resignation

Discussion: Salon

Marcus K. Garner / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Resigned USDA official says racial story misconstrued

Discussion: The Politico, Jay Bookman, TPMMuckraker, YID With LID, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, Left Coast Rebel, Little Green Footballs, Sweetness & Light, Talking Points Memo, THEROOT.COM and The Right Scoop

Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
White House Uses Misleading Breitbart Video As Basis To Hastily …

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press and Shakesville

Rachel Slajda / TPMMuckraker:
USDA Appointee Forced To Resign After Edited Speech Released By Breitbart (VIDEO)

Discussion: Political Punch, Crooks and Liars, Think Progress, Salon, Moonbattery, The Nation, Hot Air and Media Matters for America

Jonathan Strong / The Daily Caller:

It was the moment of greatest peril for then-Sen. Barack Obama's political career. In the heat of the presidential campaign, videos surfaced of Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, angrily denouncing whites, the U.S. government and America itself. Obama had once bragged of his closeness to Wright.

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The Corruption Of Journo-list — The latest revelations from Journo-list are deeply depressing to me. What's depressing is the way in which liberal journalists are not responding to events in order to find out the truth, but playing strategic games to cover or not cover events and controversies in order to win a media/political war.

Discussion: The New Republic, The Daily Caller, Conservatives4Palin.com and Pajamas Media

Ben Domenech / The New Ledger:
Lessons From Journolist: Why Ross Douthat is Useful

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Big Journalism, Stop The ACLU, Right Wing News, Riehl World View and Mother Jones

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Lindsey Graham's vote on Elena Kagan ensures primary challenge — South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R) announcement that he will vote in favor of Elena Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court is likely to further incite conservatives already unhappy with him and, according to close observers …

Discussion: Hot Air, New York Times, Washington Post, The Hill, Weasel Zippers, PostPartisan, The Nation, Washington Monthly, Power Line, The BLT, Wonkette and Outside the Beltway

Jeff Sessions / USA Today:

Opposing view on the Supreme Court: A big-government vision — After carefully reviewing Elena Kagan's record and testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I must oppose her nomination. — OUR VIEW: Kagan deserves bipartisan backing, but won't get it

Discussion: National Review, The Washington Independent, msnbc.com, The Hill, Minnesota Independent, Hotline On Call, Balkinization, Gateway Pundit, The Hill and Don Surber

Frank J. Gaffney Jr / Washington Times:
GAFFNEY: Kagan's Shariah problem

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Think Progress and Wonk Room

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / The Caucus:
Judiciary Committee Approves Kagan to Supreme Court

Discussion: msnbc.com, Wall Street Journal, The Politico, Fausta's Blog, RealClearPolitics Video Log and Prairie Weather

Christopher Palmeri / Bloomberg:

California Official's $800,000 Salary in City of 38,000 Triggers Protests — Hundreds of residents of one of the poorest municipalities in Los Angeles County shouted in protest last night as tensions rose over a report that the city's manager earns an annual salary of almost $800,000.

Discussion: L.A. NOW, Beltway Confidential, LewRockwell.com Blog, Say Anything and Instapundit

David Streitfeld / New York Times:
A City Outsources Everything. Sky Doesn't Fall.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Mish's Global Economic …

The Politico:

GOP leery of Tea Party Caucus — With the official formation of a congressional Tea Party Caucus, Rep. Michele Bachmann has thrust an existential question before House Republican leaders: Are you in or are you out? — Indiana's Mike Pence, chairman of the Republican Conference, was adamant.

Discussion: CNN, The Corner on National …, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, PostPartisan, George's Bottom Line, Rumproast, The Plum Line, The New Republic, Hot Air, Derek Wallbank, Daily Kos, The Caucus, The Hill, TPMDC, Washington Monthly, Swampland and Guardian

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
GOP campaign chief joins Tea Party caucus

Discussion: CNN and TPMDC

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Bachmann wants bipartisan membership for Tea Party Caucus

Discussion: Salon

Jake Sherman / The Politico:
Cantor won't join House Tea Party Caucus

Discussion: Hot Air

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

The Scariest Unemployment Graph I've Seen Yet — The median duration of unemployment is higher today than any time in the last 50 years. That's an understatement. It is more than twice as high today than any time in the last 50 years. — OK, you're saying, but what does this mean?

Discussion: Grasping Reality … and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Breaking Impasse, Senate Extends Jobless Benefits — WASHINGTON — The Senate broke a stalemate on Tuesday over extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have been out of work for six months or more, voting to override Republican objections that the bill's costs would add to the federal deficit.

Discussion: The Confluence and Truthdig

Ezra Klein:
Unemployment benefits to pass, but all alone

Discussion: The Washington Independent, The Rachel Maddow Show, Shakesville and Free exchange

Newsdesk / Blagojevich on Trial:

Sources: Rod doesn't plan to testify — Attorneys for Rod Blagojevich told the judge in his corruption trial this afternoon that the former governor will not testify in his own defense, sources said. — But after conferring with lawyers in a private sidebar, U.S. District Judge James Zagel told …

Discussion: Chicago Sun Times, TalkLeft, Taegan Goddard's …, Ballot Box and The Blago Blog

Natasha Korecki / Chicago Sun Times:
Sources: Rod Blagojevich unlikely to testify

Discussion: The Blago Blog

Dan Mangan / New York Post:

Chilling toll of Times Sq. ‘bomb’ — Thankfully, it didn't go off as planned. — A secret FBI test of a correctly made version of the Times Square bomb revealed that it “would have killed thousands of people” if it had been made to explode as terrorists had intended, law-enforcement sources told The Post yesterday.

Discussion: Gothamist, Weasel Zippers and New York Magazine

Fox News:
Times Square Bomb Could Have ‘Killed Thousands,’ FBI Test Shows

Discussion: Weekly Standard

CNN:

New Angle ad says society ‘fearful’ — Nevada Senate candidate Sharron Angle is out with a new ad Tuesday. — (CNN) - A new ad by Sharron Angle highlights the nation's massive deficit and states that “government is the problem.” — The television commercial, the second by Angle since …

Discussion: The Politico and The Swamp

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Reid holds slight lead

Discussion: The Reid Report, Mother Jones, Ballot Box and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

The News Star:

(2 of 2) — Traylor is also currently involved in a romantic relationship with Denise Lively, the estranged wife of his stepson, Ryan Ellington, the son of Noble Ellington. — Lively and Ryan Ellington remain legally married, but both he and Traylor said the Lively-Traylor relationship began …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, Salon, TPMDC and Talking Points Memo