memeorandum: O'Donnell cancels “Face the Nation” appearance (Ben Smith/Ben Smith's Blog)

6:05 PM ET, September 18, 2010

Top Items:

Christine O'Donnell In Oct. 1999: ‘I Dabbled Into Witchcraft’ — Before she stole the hearts of tea party activists, Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell was best known for her regular and bizarre punditry on 22 different episodes of Politically Incorrect.

Discussion: Power Line, TPMDC, Climate Progress, Mediaite, JustOneMinute, The Other McCain, Liberal Values, Left Coast Rebel, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly, Politerati, Althouse, The Moderate Voice, Newshoggers.com, Da Techguy's Blog, Politics Daily, Talking Points Memo and Pajamas Media

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

O'Donnell cancels “Face the Nation” appearance — Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell has backed out of an appearance tomorrow on CBS's “Face the Nation” with no explanation to the network. — “They just emailed us and said she needed to cancel,” said Mary Hager, “Face the Nation's,” senior producer.

Discussion: Mediaite, TVNewser, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars and Outside the Beltway

Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:

Following Revelation Of ‘Witchcraft’ Comment, O'Donnell Cancels Sunday Show Appearances — As ThinkProgress reported, last night on his HBO show, Bill Maher aired a clip from an Oct. 29, 1999 show of Politically Incorrect, in which Republican senate candidate Christine O'Donnell revealed that she “dabbled into witchcraft.”

Discussion: Joe. My. God.

Matt DeLong / Washington Post:

Christine O'Donnell in 1999: ‘I dabbled into witchcraft’ — The story of Christine O'Donnell's past got a little stranger Friday. Bill Maher — on whose former show, “Politically Incorrect,” O'Donnell appeared repeatedly in the late 1990s — showed a previously unaired clip from Oct. 29 …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, CNN, Ruby Slippers, protein wisdom, The Page, TPMDC and Polifrog Blog

Nafeesa Syeed / Associated Press:

Senate hopeful O'Donnell cancels national TV spots — WASHINGTON - Tea party favorite Christine O'Donnell, whose Republican primary upset in Delaware's Senate race shocked the GOP, canceled appearances Sunday on two national news shows. — O'Donnell had been set to appear on “Face the Nation” on CBS and “Fox News Sunday.”

Discussion: Ballot Box, Washington Monthly, The Hill and TPMDC

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:
O'Donnell Said She Practiced Witchcraft

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Kasie Hunt / The Politico:

Newt Gingrich: Force Kathleen Sebelius out — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Saturday said Republicans should try to oust Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius because she was acting “in the spirit of the Soviet tyranny” and represents “left-wing thought police.”

CNN:

Pence wins Values Voter straw poll — Indiana Rep. Mike Pence is the winner of a presidential straw poll among socially conservative voters Saturday. — (CNN) - With 24 percent of the vote, Indiana Rep. Mike Pence was the winner Saturday of the fifth annual Values Voter straw poll …

Discussion: The Politico and Taegan Goddard's …

Roxana Tiron / Ballot Box: Gingrich to activists: ‘Establishment is in such a state of shock’

CNN:
Gingrich blasts Democratic establishment at annual summit

Discussion: Politics Daily and Ballot Box

Matt Lewis / Politics Daily:

RedState's Erick Erickson Promises Retribution on Lobbyists Who Back Lisa Murkowski … More than 200 conservative bloggers who convened in Austin, Texas for the second annual ‘Red State Gathering’ on Saturday came close to eavesdropping on a conference with lobbyists that was supposed to be held by Senator Lisa Merkowski (R-AK).

Discussion: TRAIL BLAZERS and Liberty Pundits Blog

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
What ‘Republican establishment’ is the Tea Party rattling?

Discussion: The Mahablog, Mediaite, Daily Kos, PostPartisan and USA Today

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Americans Renew Call for Third Party

Discussion: The Hill, Taegan Goddard's …, The Moderate Voice and Politics Daily

Anchorage Daily News:
Murkowski says 'Let's Make History'

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Scared Monkeys, Outside the Beltway, Donklephant, Swing State Project, Conservatives4Palin.com, Political Byline, Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air and Da Techguy's Blog

Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:
Lisa Murkowski hits up lobbyists

Discussion: Hot Air, Pajamas Media, Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain and Conservatives4Palin.com

Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
‘The gloves are off’: Murkowski pursues write-in bid against Tea Party favorite

Discussion: Liberty Pundits Blog, Weasel Zippers, The Page, National Review, Wonkette, Prairie Weather and CNN

Michael O'Hare / The Reality-Based Community:

The whining of the rich — Through Glenn Reynolds, whither I wandered because of Mark's post about something else entirely, I came upon this truly amazing pasticcio of mendacity, ignorance, and small-minded cupidity. It's worth a close look because the author is a law professor …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Pundits Blog:

Blogger face-off: The biggest liabilities for both parties headed toward midterms — The Hill invites two established bloggers from either side of the political spectrum to sound off on a designated topic in original commentary each Saturday. This week, bloggers were asked what the greatest liability …

Discussion: Riehl World View

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org:

Bill Maher: Obama Would Be A Better President ‘If He Was Fully Black’ — Bill Maher on Friday said Barack Obama's problem is “he's only half black.” He'd be a better president “if he was fully black.” — In the season premiere of HBO's “Real Time,” while chatting with former Clinton …

Discussion: Political Byline and Gateway Pundit

Jennifer Rubin / Weekly Standard:

Truth, Justice, or the Obama Way — The Justice Department is forced to investigate itself. — It is about to get harder for both the Obama administration and the mainstream media to downplay the New Black Panther party scandal. — The mainstream media did their best to ignore …

Discussion: National Review

Washington Post:

Was politics behind the government's decision to preserve the UAW's pensions? — IT IS ONE of the enduring puzzles surrounding the bailout of General Motors: Why did retired salaried personnel of a former GM division, Delphi, receive a fraction of their promised pension benefits …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Grasping Reality …

Adrian Chen / Gawker:

Steve Jobs In Email Pissing Match with College Journalism Student — Steve Jobs is known for replying to random emails sent to his personal Apple email address. Well, a college journalism student from Long Island emailed him about a problem she had with Apple's PR department. Jobs' response?

Discussion: New York Magazine, Hit & Run and TechCrunch, more at Mediagazer »

Matt Volz / Associated Press:

Montana GOP policy: Make homosexuality illegal — HELENA, Mont. — At a time when gays have been gaining victories across the country, the Republican Party in Montana still wants to make homosexuality illegal. — The party adopted an official platform in June that keeps a long-held position …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Joe. My. God.

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Obama Mocks Public Option Supporters — [Ed. note: Jane will be appearing on MSNBC with Cenk Uygur (sitting in for Dylan Ratigan) at approximately 4:30pm EDT.] — Obama took the opportunity to mock supporters of the public option last night at a DNC event in Greenwich, Connecticut: