memeorandum: What Was Michelle Obama Thinking? (Megan McArdle/The Atlantic Online)

7:25 PM ET, August 8, 2010

Top Items:

Ted Olson To Chris Wallace On Marriage Equality: 'Would You Like Fox's Right To Free Press Put Up To A Vote?' — This morning, Ted Olson — the conservative lawyer who represented President Bush in Bush v. Gore — appeared on Fox News Sunday to discuss his recent victory in overturning Proposition 8 …

Discussion: CBS News, MyDD, The Confluence, Towleroad News #gay and Truth Wins Out

David / Crooks and Liars:

Ted Olson: Same-sex marriage is a conservative value — The attorney at the center of successfully arguing that California's Proposition 8 is unconstitutional calls Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling an example of “judicial responsibility.” — Ted Olson told Fox News' Chris Wallace Sunday that it's not …

Discussion: The BRAD BLOG, Lez Get Real and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

David S Morgan / CBS News:

Same-Sex Marriage Decision: “Far From Over” — Conservative: “Activist” Judge Ruled Against Human History; Boies Says Fear and Prejudice Were Put on Trial, and Lost — (CBS) Even before this week's ruling in the case involving Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage in California, appeals of the judge's decision were expected.

Discussion: AMERICAblog Gay

New York Post:

Half-baked mosque — Not so fast. — The developers of the controversial mosque proposed near Ground Zero own only half the site where they want to construct the $100 million building, The Post has learned. — One of the two buildings on Park Place is owned by Con Edison …

Discussion: American Power, Weasel Zippers, Capital Tonight, Atlas Shrugs, JammieWearingFool and Forbes

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:
Battles Around Nation Over Proposed Mosques

Discussion: Think Progress, Big Journalism, The Mahablog, Little Green Footballs, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, Washington Monthly, European Tribune and The Reaction

Neda Bolourchi / Washington Post:
A Muslim victim of 9/11: ‘Build your mosque somewhere else’

Discussion: Sultan Knish, pandagon.net, Pajamas Media, Political Byline, The Talking Dog, Sister Toldjah, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Riehl World View, The Mahablog, Jihad Watch, Guardian and Weasel Zippers

Frank Rich / New York Times:

How to Lose an Election Without Really Trying — COULD George W. Bush be a kind of Gipper-in-reverse and win yet one more for the Democrats? Clearly this White House sees him as the gift that will keep on giving. The 2010 campaign against the Bush administration is in full cry, with President Obama leading the charge.

Discussion: BuzzFlash.org, DownWithTyranny!, Don Surber, No More Mister Nice Blog, Commentary, Prairie Weather and Daily Kos

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / Washington Examiner:

Further thoughts on the higher education bubble — Back at the beginning of the summer, I had a column in this space in which I predicted that higher education is in a bubble, one soon to burst with considerable consequences for students, faculty, employers, and society at large.

Discussion: Don Surber

Bloomberg:

U.S. Economy Improving, More Stimulus Isn't the Answer, Rubin, O'Neill Say — The U.S. economy will improve slowly and another round of fiscal stimulus probably wouldn't be effective, former Treasury secretaries Paul O'Neill and Robert Rubin said. — Rubin, who served under Democratic …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Paul Krugman, Clusterstock and Eschaton

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:

What Was Michelle Obama Thinking? — I don't think there's anything wrong with Michelle Obama vacationing in Spain; they have the money, so why not? But I agree with Doug Mataconis that, while there's nothing actually wrong with it, it's really quite unbelievably politically stupid.

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Whiskey Fire

Shane D'Aprile / The Hill:

Obama tests basketball skills against LeBron James, Magic Johnson — President Obama hosted more than a dozen current and former basketball pros for an afternoon game at Fort McNair Sunday. — The group included LeBron James, Grant Hill, Dwyane Wade, Magic Johnson and Bill Russell.

Discussion: CNN and The Swamp

Shane D'Aprile / The Hill:

McCain on Colorado Senate race: The Buck stops here — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) headlined two campaign rallies for Colorado Senate candidate Jane Norton (R) Sunday. — Norton is locked in a close and nasty primary battle with Prosecutor Ken Buck (R). The state's primary is Tuesday.

Discussion: The Page

Sherry Jacobson / Dallas Morning News:

Across Texas, 60,000 babies of noncitizens get U.S. birthright — sjacobson@dallasnews.com — As Republican members of Congress press for changes to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, preventing automatic citizenship for babies born to illegal immigrants, opponents insist the debate is not really about babies.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Don Surber, Fox News and Weasel Zippers

Gretchen Morgenson / New York Times:

Housing Policy's Third Rail — WHILE Congress toiled on the financial overhaul last spring, precious little was said about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance companies that collapsed spectacularly two years ago. — Indeed, these wards of the state got just two mentions …

Discussion: Beltway Confidential