memeorandum: Nonreligious Knowledge (Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life)

11:30 PM ET, September 28, 2010

Top Items:

Jann S. Wenner / Rolling Stone:

Obama in Command: The Rolling Stone Interview — In an Oval Office interview, the president discusses the Tea Party, the war, the economy and what's at stake this November — The following is an article from the October 15, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone. — We arrived at the southwest gate …

The FOX Nation:
President of the United States Loves Gangsta Rap

Discussion: alicublog, Althouse, Swampland, Gawker, The New Republic and Marbury

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
A PASSIONATE PLEA.... President Obama sat down with Rolling …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Mediaite, Political Punch, Wonk Room, Frank Chow: Asian, Wonkette, New York Magazine, TalkLeft and The Daily Caller

Matt Taibbi / Rolling Stone: Tea & Crackers — How corporate interests and Republican …

Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Obama: Fox News is ‘destructive’ to America

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Doug Ross, Nice Deb, PostPartisan, Weasel Zippers, Washington Monthly, The Politico, Pajamas Media, Politics Daily and GayPatriot

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:

Basic Religion Test Stumps Many Americans — Americans are by all measures a deeply religious people, but they are also deeply ignorant about religion. — Researchers from the independent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life phoned more than 3,400 Americans and asked them 32 questions about the Bible …

Discussion: Grim's Hall, The Huffington Post, Tablet Magazine, Online NewsHour, CNN, Verum Serum, Gawker and Pharyngula

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life:

Nonreligious Knowledge — For comparison purposes, the survey also included nine questions about knowledge of topics other than religion. These consisted of two questions about politics (the name of the vice president of the United States and which political party currently holds a majority …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, The Political Carnival and msnbc.com

Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:
Nonbelievers, Privilege, and Religious Knowledge.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life:
U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey

Discussion: Democracy in America, Eunomia, features.pewforum.org, Rough Sketch, Runnin' Scared, The Volokh Conspiracy, Religion Dispatches, CNN, The League of Ordinary …, Telegraph, Matthew Yglesias, EconLog, Weasel Zippers, Shakesville, Advocate, USA Today, Politics Daily and Pam's House Blend

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Another Christine O'Donnell embellishment: She misleadingly claims she studied at Oxford — In another move that will raise further questions about Christine O'Donnell's embellishment of her education record, she claims she studied at the University of Oxford — but a look at her actual record shows …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Rough Sketch, TPMDC, Politics Daily, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite, Guardian, Think Progress, Outside the Beltway, Lez Get Real, Washington Monthly, Wonkette, The Atlantic Online, Mock, Paper, Scissors, Daily Kos, New York Magazine and msnbc.com

Manu Raju / The Politico:

DeMint vows roadblock — South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint warned Monday evening that he would block all legislation that has not been cleared by his office in the final days of the pre-election session. — Bret Bernhardt, DeMint's chief of staff, said in an e-mail to GOP aides that his boss …

Discussion: Ezra Klein, The Reality-Based Community, Economist's View, Opinion L.A., CNN, Open Congress, Oliver Willis, Free exchange, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Weigel

Ian M. / Think Progress:

DeMint To Trigger The Senate's Doomsday Device — Two weeks ago, the Progress Report warned of a nightmare scenario where a single senator decides to object to virtually every measure being considered by the Senate, a maneuver could effectively bring the entire body to a screeching halt.

Discussion: Center for American Progress, Matthew Yglesias, Weasel Zippers, Wonkette and Blue Gal

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Jim DeMint Plans To Grind Senate To A Halt

Discussion: The New Republic, ACS Blog and The Political Carnival

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Democrats to stuff 20 bills into post-election lame-duck session

Discussion: Firedoglake, AMERICAblog Gay, The Hill, Doug Ross, The Sundries Shack, Right Wing News, Wake up America, The Politico and AMERICAblog News

Political Correction RSS:

Anti-Government Crusader Sharron Angle Receives Government Health Care — 6 hours and 13 minutes ago — Matt Finkelstein — Sharron Angle (R-NV) is running for the U.S. Senate with a far-right agenda that can be adequately summed up as “drown the government in the bathtub.”

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Think Progress and The Political Carnival

Robert Weisman / Boston Globe:
Harvard Pilgrim cancels Medicare Advantage plan

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Weekly Standard, The Incidental Economist, The Apothecary, AmSpecBlog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Some Good News from California, Assuming Arnold Goes Along

Discussion: Mercury News, Wall Street Journal, Wonk Room and Ezra Klein

Peggy O'Hare / Houston Chronicle:

Parents: Bullying drove Cy-Fair 8th-grader to suicide — They claim school district took no action — Asher Brown's worn-out tennis shoes still sit in the living room of his Cypress-area home while his student progress report — filled with straight A's — rests on the coffee table.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Lez Get Real, Pam's House Blend, Joe. My. God. and Advocate

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Rep. Alan Grayson's ‘Taliban’ ad backfires — Rep. Alan Grayson's attempt to equate his Republican challenger with the Taliban is having a big impact — just not the one Grayson may have hoped. — In an ad, Grayson's campaign calls Republican Daniel Webster a “religious fanatic” …

Discussion: Religion Dispatches and iOwnTheWorld.com

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Disavowal Movement Resurgent — So, I'm hearing on the internets that liberals had better disavow Grayson's Taliban ad or risk being seen as hypocrites when we complain about the other side doing it. All I can say is, “Oh dear, not that.” (And I have never been much for the bi-annual “disavowal ritual” in general.

Discussion: Religion Dispatches and The Plum Line

John / Power Line:

Is Barack Obama My Keeper? — Some commentators are criticizing President Obama's response to a supporter at a campaign event who asked him why he is a Christian: … I have no interest in questioning Obama's religious faith, which I believe to be sincere.

Allan Hall / Telegraph:

First World War officially ends — The First World War will officially end on Sunday, 92 years after the guns fell silent, when Germany pays off the last chunk of reparations imposed on it by the Allies. — The final payment of £59.5 million, writes off the crippling debt …

Discussion: newsfeed.time.com, Outside the Beltway, Cato @ Liberty and Wonkette

Quinnipiac University:

Angry Voters Push McMahon Closer In Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Connecticut Poll Finds; But Most Voters Say Her Ads Are Annoying — Propelled by Connecticut likely voters who say they are “angry” with government, former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate …

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Dear White House: Here's how to handle the left's “whining” — I had planned to avoid the whole battle over Joe Biden's demand that the Democratic base “stop whining,” because it's impossible to wade into this topic without getting caught up in a food fight over whether Obama and Dems …

Discussion: Eschaton, The Democratic Daily, CBS News, Salon, Ezra Klein, Emptywheel, msnbc.com, Pam's House Blend, The Agonist and Shakesville

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Pelosi: ‘I fully expect to be speaker of the House five weeks from now’ — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she still expects to have her job in five weeks after voters head to the polls. — Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House, whose job as speaker makes her third in line to the presidency …

Discussion: The Politico, Media Decoder, Hot Air, CNN, Weasel Zippers, JustOneMinute and The Atlantic Online

Sky News:

Multi-Attack Terror Plot On European Cities — Alex Watts, Sky News Online — Intelligence agencies have intercepted a terror plot to launch Mumbai-style attacks on Britain and other European countries, according to Sky News sources. — Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall …

Discussion: Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The American Pundit, New York Times and Wall Street Journal

Wall Street Journal:

Tea-Party Movement Gathers Strength — The tea party has emerged as a potent force in American politics and a center of gravity within the Republican Party, with a large majority of Republicans showing an affinity for the movement that has repeatedly bucked the GOP leadership this year …

Discussion: Another Black Conservative, Hot Air and CNN

Annie Lowrey / The Washington Independent:

The Real Impact of Food Stamp Cuts — Congress is poised to cut food stamps, taking away an extended benefit created by the 2009 stimulus before its original expiry date and setting up an unprecedented “cliff” in food stamps, now known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

John Whitesides / Reuters:

Poll gives former Bush official big lead in Ohio — (Reuters) - Republican Rob Portman, a senior official under former President George W. Bush, has opened a commanding 13-point lead over his Democratic rival in a Senate race in Ohio, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday said.

Discussion: CBS News, Daily Kos, Swing State Project and iOwnTheWorld.com

Thomas Beaumont / Des Moines Register:

Iowa Poll: Likely voters give Obama poor marks — President Barack Obama is scheduled to return today to Iowa, where a new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll shows a solid majority of likely voters disapprove of his performance. — The first-term Democrat will not be campaigning …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, CNN, The Fix, The Page and Beltway Confidential

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

Pity the Northeast Corridor — If the Boston-to-Washington megalopolis were its own country it would have over five times the population of Sweden and a population density higher than any European country. In other words, nobody woud say it was an area unsuited to intercity passenger rail.

Discussion: NBC Washington and Economix

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

Bloomberg to address House GOP — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is scheduled to address House Republicans on Thursday, according to an invitation obtained by The Hill. — The mayor, a Republican-turned-Independent who is considered a presidential contender, will speak …

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and Beltway Confidential

Stephanie Vallejo / Boston Globe:

Dukakis shared his strategy for midterm elections at the White House — WASHINGTON — Former Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis, the failed 1988 presidential nominee, recently visited the White House and delivered his strategy for the midterm elections: pound key precincts across …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Taegan Goddard's … and The American Pundit

Josh Barro / RealClearMarkets:

What Cutting the Federal Budget Entails — The Center for American Progress released a report earlier this month on ways to shrink the federal budget deficit with spending cuts. A Thousand Cuts, by Michael Linden and Michael Ettinger, lays out specific program cuts of $255 billion per year by 2015 …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, National Review, Hit & Run and Wonk Room

Ezra Klein:

CBO: Extending the Bush tax cuts will hurt the economy, reduce incomes — CBO Director Doug Elmendorf testified before the Senate Budget Committee today and dropped something of a bombshell. Extending the Bush tax cuts, he said, will “probably reduce income relative to what would otherwise occur in 2020.”

Discussion: Director's Blog, National Review, TPMDC, The Washington Independent, Washington Monthly and New York Magazine

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Takes Cases on Corporate Rights — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court added 14 cases to its docket on Tuesday, including three concerning the rights of corporations in unusual settings. — In two of the cases, the justices will consider how the state secrets privilege …

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, The BLT, The Atlantic Online, ACS Blog and Gawker

Brad / Think Progress:

TenMillionVoters.Com: Newt Launches Tea Party Campaign To Stop ‘Radical, Secular Socialist Machine’ — With the incendiary claim that the Obama presidency is the greatest threat the American people have ever faced, Newt Gingrich has launched a massively funded effort to mobilize ten million conservative voters this November.

Discussion: Lez Get Real