memeorandum: If there is one lesson to be learned from the controversy … (Aaron David Miller/Washington Post)

5:20 PM ET, August 18, 2010

Top Items:

Mosque supporters beg George W. Bush to come to Obama's rescue — There's a new argument emerging among supporters of the Ground Zero mosque. Distressed by President Obama's waffling on the issue, they're calling on former President George W. Bush to announce his support for the project …

Discussion: Power Line, live.washingtonpost.com, TPMDC, Big Journalism, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, Michelle Malkin, The Daily Caller, protein wisdom, Hot Air, IMAO, iOwnTheWorld.com, Tim Blair, Sister Toldjah, Gateway Pundit, NewsBusters.org and This ain't Hell …

Kerry Picket / Washington Times:

AUDIO - Rep. Pelosi calls for investigation of WTC mosque opposition — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, called for an investigation of those who are protesting the building of the Ground Zero Mosque on Tuesday. She told San Francisco's KCBS radio:

The Politico:

Pelosi wants ‘transparency’ on mosque — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday morning called for “transparency” in the funding behind a planned Islamic community center and mosque being built blocks from ground zero. But she also said there should be similar openness about the money behind …

Discussion: Hot Air, Politics Daily, YID With LID, Commentary, The Hill, Liberal Values, Alarming News, Little Green Footballs, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Sundries Shack, Ben Smith's Blog, Big Peace, TPMDC and Confederate Yankee

NBC New York:

Mosque Developer Rejects Meeting With Paterson — The developers of an Islamic cultural center that would include a mosque near Ground Zero have rejected Gov. David Paterson's offer to help them find a different site. — Paterson said today the group is apparently committed to building in the proposed site.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Gateway Pundit, TPMDC, Little Green Footballs, Weasel Zippers, Moonbattery, Sweetness & Light, The Mahablog and Nice Deb

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Pelosi clarifies call for look at funding of anti-mosque critics — Nancy Pelosi kicked off a bit of controversy on the right this morning when the news broke that she had told a local San Francisco radio station that she agreed with those calling for a look at how the groups opposing the “Ground Zero mosque” are being funded.

Discussion: San Francisco Chronicle, National Review, Hot Air, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Washington Post, Mediaite, Gothamist and HotAirPundit

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Our Mosque Madness — Maybe, for Barack Obama, it depends on what the meaning of the word “is” is. — When the president skittered back from his grandiose declaration at an iftar celebration at the White House Friday that Muslims enjoy freedom of religion in America and have the right …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Commentary, Bare Naked Islam's Weblog, Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Prairie Weather, The Daily Caller, DailyHowler.com, The Huffington Post, Roger Ailes and Wake up America

Noemie Emery / Washington Examiner:

Let's just appreciate the great Obama presidency — Just how badly does President Obama want the Democrats to lose the 2010 midterm elections? Just how much did first lady Michelle Obama relish her Spanish vacation? — Just how thrilled and grateful were the Gulf State residents to discover …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Peter Beinart / The Daily Beast:
Grow a Pair, Democrats

Discussion: Red Dog Report, National Review and Commentary

Michelle Malkin:
Pelosi and the Treasure Island land grab

Discussion: Commentary, Power Line, Associated Press and Hyscience

Kathleen Parker / Washington Post:
The Ground Zero mosque must be built

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Open Left, The Spot, The Marion County Line, The Huffington Post and Riehl World View

WorldNetDaily:

WND dumps Ann Coulter from Miami due to Homoconflict — Farah cites her speech to ‘gay’ event as reason — WASHINGTON - Conservative superstar Ann Coulter today was dropped as a keynote speaker for WND's “Taking America Back National Conference” next month because of her plan to address an event titled …

Discussion: Think Progress, Weigel, The Daily Caller, AmSpecBlog, Raw Story, Mediaite, Right Wing Nut House, TBogg, Little Green Footballs, Outside the Beltway, YID With LID, Shakesville, GayPatriot, Ben Smith's Blog and Advocate

Fox News:

Decision Not to Rebuild Church Destroyed on 9/11 Surprises Greek Orthodox Leaders — (Herman Krieger/Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America) — Greek Orthodox leaders trying to rebuild the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks expressed shock this week after learning …

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Jawa Report, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Powers That Be, Gateway Pundit, Cold Fury, Nice Deb and The Right Scoop

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

The cash question: Murdoch, Fox and the GOP — Rupert Murdoch, who has never been shy about making his political views known, has voted with his sizable checkbook. — Murdoch's News Corp. has made a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association, triggering swift criticism …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Politics Daily and Donklephant

New York Times:
News Corp. Gives Republicans $1 Million

Discussion: CNN, Media Decoder, THEROOT.COM, The Caucus, Mediaite, The Politico, Truthdig and Washington Monthly, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:
News Corp. Gives $1 Million to GOP

Discussion: The Hill

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Obama: Social Security ‘is not in crisis’ — President Obama said Social Security is not in crisis and only modest changes are needed to keep it solvent. — The president acknowledged at a small town hall gathering in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday that the pension fund “has to be tweaked …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Jared A. Favole / Wall Street Journal:
Obama, in Ohio, Seeks to Reassure Voters

Discussion: National Review and Truthdig

Mike Allen / The Politico:
Plouffe: Obama's reelection will follow a different ‘playbook’ …

Discussion: Mediaite and TPMDC

Corinna Jessen / Spiegel Online:

Tensions Rise in Greece as Austerity Measures Backfire — The austerity measures that were supposed to fix Greece's problems are dragging down the country's economy. Stores are closing, tax revenues are falling and unemployment has hit an unbelievable 70 percent in some places.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Obsidian Wings, The Impolitic, Clusterstock and Economist's View

Anahad O'Connor / Media Decoder:

Dr. Laura Schlessinger to End Radio Show — Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the conservative talk radio commentator under fire for repeatedly using a racial epithet, announced on Tuesday that she was ending her long-running radio show. — Dr. Schlessinger made the announcement on Tuesday night on …

Matt Gertz / Media Matters for America:
Dr. Laura announces she will end her radio show due to criticism of her N-word rant

Discussion: Hullabaloo, CNN, pandagon.net, Mediaite and Taylor Marsh

Larry O'Connor / Breitbart.tv:

Howard Dean: Move the Mosque — “This is not about the rights of Muslims to have a worship center...” — This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

Discussion: Freedom's Lighthouse

Larry O'Connor / Breitbart.tv:
Annoyed Obama Has ‘No Regrets’ Over Mosque Comments

Discussion: Gateway Pundit

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

Tea Party Choice Scrambles in Taking On Reid in Nevada — NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Sharron Angle leaned across a table in her campaign office here, defending her suddenly embattled campaign to defeat Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader, under the gaze of a half-dozen advisers …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Wonkette, Daniel W. Drezner, The Page, Ballot Box and Indecision Forever

New York Times:
Interview With Sharron Angle

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Spencer Ackerman / Danger Room:

Petraeus: Here's My Afghan Redeployment Strategy — KABUL, Afghanistan - General David Petraeus isn't planning to wake up one morning after July 2011 and order his troops out of Afghanistan's provinces all at once. Instead, his idea is to slowly and deliberately remove small units …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, Newshoggers.com, CNN, Matthew Yglesias and Chicago Boyz

Matt Bai / New York Times:

The Paradox of a Legislative President — Democrats in Washington are divided and somewhat puzzled over President Obama's fading popularity. They reject, of course, the Republican view that the president is basically a closet Socialist whose disdain for free enterprise has alienated voters.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Firedoglake and New York Times

Carla Hall / Los Angeles Times:

It's unanimous, president's visit leaves L.A. boiling — President Obama's Monday evening ride from the Beverly Hilton to Hancock Park caused havoc as roads across the city were closed. Tuesday, he wisely chose to helicopter back to the airport. — A Marine helicopter carrying White …

Discussion: Mediaite and JammieWearingFool

Financial Times:

US matches Indian call centre costs — By James Lamont in New Delhi and Joe Leahy in Mumbai — Call centre workers are becoming as cheap to hire in the US as they are in India, according to the head of the country's largest business process outsourcing company.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Washington Independent and naked capitalism

Sarah Palin / Facebook:

Proud to Support More Women Leaders on the 90th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage — Today marks the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment which granted American women the right to vote. Words cannot express the depth of gratitude we owe to those brave feminist foremothers …

Discussion: Ballot Box, Post on Politics and Gawker

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:

AP Poll: Obama at new low for handling economy — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama earned his lowest marks ever on his handling of the economy in a new Associated Press-GfK poll, which also found that an overwhelming majority of Americans now describe the nation's financial outlook as poor.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Sweetness & Light, Red Dog Report, Hot Air and JammieWearingFool

Scott McCabe / Washington Examiner:

Fire-breathing bartenders arrested, face 45 years — Two fire-breathing bartenders face up to 45 years in prison each for performing flaming bar tricks. — Jimmy's Old Town Tavern owner Jimmy Cirrito said his bartenders have been entertaining his customers — by juggling bottles of alcohol …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel and Hit & Run

Sean Trende / Real Clear Politics:

As Goes Washington, So Goes the Nation — In the years before reliable polling, political prognosticators relied on a simple maxim to forecast elections: As goes Maine, so goes the nation. The saying didn't arise because Maine was a swing state. Maine was in fact a solidly Republican state until …

Discussion: National Review, FiveThirtyEight, Swing State Project, Democratic Strategist and Weekly Standard

DealBook:

G.M. Files for an Initial Public Offering — At long last, General Motors filed on Wednesday to go public. — The long-awaited event marks the biggest step by the car maker to date in its effort to shed the government's controlling ownership stake and resume life as a public company.

Discussion: The Page and New York Magazine

Motoko Rich / New York Times:

Given Stimulus Funds to Rehire, Schools Wait and See — As schools handed out pink slips to teachers this spring, states made a beeline to Washington to plead for money for their ravaged education budgets. But now that the federal government has come through with $10 billion …

Discussion: The Foundry, Gawker, The Washington Independent, The Moderate Voice, Jackson Politics, The Confluence, Firedoglake, Sweetness & Light, The Greenroom, New York Magazine and The Awl

Quinnipiac University:

‘Insiders’ Back On Top In Florida Primaries, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Mccollum, Meek Lead, But Races Are Volatile — Two so-called “insiders” in Florida, Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum and Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, have come from behind to overtake so-called …

Discussion: sunshinestatenews.com, The Fix, Swing State Project, Ballot Box, The Eye, CNN, The Page, Post on Politics and The Buzz

David M. Primo / The Huffington Post:

“Clean Elections” Stifles Speech — The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering whether to hear Arizona Freedom Club PAC v. Bennett, a First Amendment challenge to Arizona's unconstitutional “Clean Elections” system of public funding for political campaigns.

Discussion: Election Law