memeorandum: Handel and Deal Lead Georgia Governor Primary (Shaila Dewan/New York Times)

9:05 AM ET, July 21, 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: Mediaite, Bloomberg, TPMMuckraker, The Rachel Maddow Show, Hot Air, Mother Jones, Another Black Conservative, First Draft, TPMCafe, Left Coast Rebel, Talking Points Memo, DaTechguy's Blog, Politics Daily, HotAirPundit, Balloon Juice and Wonkette

Washington Post:

Firing of USDA official highlights larger political problems involving race — A fuzzy video of an Agriculture Department official opened a new front Tuesday in the ongoing war between the left and right over which side is at fault for stoking persistent forces of racism in politics.

Discussion: Federal Eye, The BRAD BLOG, The Debate Link and Los Angeles Times

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: The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Online, The Corner on National …, The Washington Note, Firedoglake, The Daily Caller, Media Matters for America, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Little Green Footballs, The Reid Report, Shakesville, Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, First Draft, The Daily Dish and Salon, more at Mediagazer »

Andy Barr / The Politico:

NAACP: Breitbart ‘snookered’ us — NAACP President Ben Jealous on Tuesday said the organization had been “snookered” into condemning former Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod. — Sherrod was fired Monday after a video — posted on one of Andrew Breitbart's conservative sites …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Power Line, Big Government, iOwnTheWorld.com and TPMMuckraker

Matt McLaughlin / Media Matters for America:

Full video vindicates Sherrod, destroys Breitbart's accusations of racism — The NAACP has posted the video of Shirley Sherrod's March 27 speech, and it definitively proves false Andrew Breitbart's claim that the edited video he posted at his BigGovernment.com website is “evidence of racism.”

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Jesus' General, Philly.com, The Huffington Post and Hullabaloo

CNN:

Ag chief: Former USDA worker's case to be reviewed — (CNN) — A black former Agriculture Department official who resigned under pressure after a video clip surfaced of her discussing a white farmer said Wednesday the agency's decision to review her case is “bittersweet,” …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Riehl World View and newsfeed.time.com

Ben Smith / The Politico:

So much for that ‘conversation’ on race — The election of Barack Obama, America's first black president, was supposed to be a sign of our national maturity, a chance to transform the charged, stilted “national conversation” about race into a smarter and more authentic dialogue …

Discussion: The Plum Line

The Politico: USDA will reconsider firing

Frances Martel / Mediaite:
CNN's Campbell Brown To NAACP VP: ‘You Allowed Yourselves To Be Snookered’

Discussion: Big Government, Jay Bookman and Pat Dollard

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Official: No White House pressure on Sherrod

Discussion: Think Progress, CNN, FiveThirtyEight, The Daily Hurricane, Crooks and Liars, TPMMuckraker, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Dish, The Plum Line, PostPartisan, Hit & Run, Salon, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, The Rachel Maddow Show, Gateway Pundit, Big Government and Mediaite

Sister Toldjah:
More to Sherrod/NAACP story than we know? …

Discussion: IMAO, Riehl World View, The Anchoress and Mediaite

Sarah Wheaton / New York Times:
N.A.A.C.P. Backtracks on Official Accused of Bias

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Hillbilly Report and CNN

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Farmer's wife says fired USDA official helped save their land

CNN:
NAACP says it was misled over video

Jon Miller / San Francisco Chronicle:
Andrew Breitbart defamed Shirley Sherrod; Brietbart could be in trouble

Discussion: Firedoglake, Mediaite, The Atlantic Online, The Reid Report, Think Progress and Media Matters for America

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Happy Hour Roundup: NAACP “snookered” by Breitbart

Discussion: Unfogged, TPMMuckraker, Media Matters for America, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Washington Monthly

Digby / Hullabaloo:
The White House's Weak Back Hand

Discussion: The Daily Caller, TPMMuckraker, MyDD, Mother Jones, The Rachel Maddow Show, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Fact-esque, Federal Eye, The Plum Line, TalkLeft and The Agonist

Tom Blumer / Washington Examiner:
Shirley Sherrod's Disappearing Act: Not So Fast

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Wizbang, The Daily Caller, DaTechguy's Blog, American Power, BizzyBlog, Big Government, Tammy Bruce, THEROOT.COM, Erick's blog, Left Coast Rebel, Hullabaloo, Weasel Zippers, Moonbattery, Don Surber and Patterico's Pontifications

Political Punch:
Former Agriculture Department Official Denies Racism, Is Backed …

Discussion: CBS News, The Daily Caller, Townhall.com, George's Bottom Line and Mediaite

Jonathan Strong / The Daily Caller:

If you were in the presence of a man having a heart attack, how would you respond? As he clutched his chest in desperation and pain, would you call 911? Would you try to save him from dying? Of course you would. — But if that man was Rush Limbaugh, and you were Sarah Spitz …

Discussion: Hit & Run, BizzyBlog, Gateway Pundit, Pajamas Media, Verum Serum, The Other McCain, JammieWearingFool and National Review

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: Hot Air, L.A. NOW, Beltway Confidential, Blue Crab Boulevard, LewRockwell.com Blog, Instapundit and New York Times

Shaila Dewan / New York Times:

Handel and Deal Lead Georgia Governor Primary — ATLANTA — Karen Handel, a former secretary of state who was endorsed by Sarah Palin, came in first in Georgia's Republican gubernatorial primary Tuesday evening and will face Nathan Deal, a former Congressman, in an Aug. 10 runoff.

Discussion: CNN, Ballot Box, The Politico, New York Magazine and The Page

Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:

Ben Stein: The Unemployed Are People With 'Unpleasant Personalities...Who Do Not Know How To Do A Day's Work' — Today, the Senate extended unemployment benefits for millions of jobless Americans. Despite the terrible shape of the economy, conservatives resisted extending unemployment insurance …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Truth on the Market and WIVB-TV

Quinnipiac University:

Obama Approval Drops To Lowest Point Ever, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Independent Voters Turn On President Since Honeymoon — A year after President Barack Obama's political honeymoon ended, his job approval rating has dropped to a negative 44 - 48 percent, his worst net score ever …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and JammieWearingFool

Jonathan Strong / The Daily Caller:

Liberal journalists suggest government shut down Fox News — When the writer Victor Davis Hanson wrote an article about immigration for National Review, for example, blogger Ed Kilgore didn't even bother to grapple with Hanson's arguments. Instead Kilgore dismissed Hanson's piece out of hand as …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Politics Daily and The Volokh Conspiracy

Michael J. Boskin / Wall Street Journal:

Obama's Economic Fish Stories — On unemployment, the president claims that the stimulus bill was several times more potent than his chief economic adviser estimates. Such statements hurt his credibility. — A president's most valuable asset—with voters, Congress, allies and enemies—is credibility.

Discussion: Commentary and Betsy's Page

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 …

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

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

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2010: Ohio Senate — Ohio Senate: Portman (R) 45%, Fisher (D) 39% — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Ohio finds Republican candidate Rob Portman with 45% of the vote while Democrat Lee Fisher earns 39% support this month.

Discussion: Comments from Left Field, Scared Monkeys and HotAirPundit

Guardian:

Arab guilty of rape after sex with Jew — A man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after telling a woman that he was also Jewish — A Palestinian man has been convicted of rape after having consensual sex with a woman who had believed him to be a fellow Jew.

Discussion: DaTechguy's Blog, Harry's Place and Overlawyered

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:

RNC fails to report $7 million in debt to FEC — Party treasurer faults Steele — ASSOCIATED PRESSRepublican Party chairman Michael Steele, center, talks with Republican state leaders and volunteers during a visit to the Colorado GOP headquarters in the Greenwood Village south of Denver on Thursday, July 8, 2010.

Discussion: Hotline On Call, Weasel Zippers and Taegan Goddard's …

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 Suburban Guerrilla

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Overcome by Heat and Inertia — This city just endured its hottest June since records began in 1872, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. So did Miami. Atlanta suffered its second-hottest June, and Dallas had its third hottest.

Timothy B Lee / Bottom-up:

How to Talk Liberaltarian — Nick Schulz weighs in on the liberaltarianism debate: … This seems completely wrong to me. Conservatives care about “protecting individual liberty” for some people, but the conservative movement includes many people who are indifferent, if not hostile …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Aaron Blake / The Fix:

W.Va's Capito will not seek Senate seat, sources say — Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) has decided she will not run to replace Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.), three sources familiar with her plans said Tuesday night. — Capito was the favorite on the GOP side, and state legislators gained …

Discussion: The Politico, The Washington Independent and The Eye