memeorandum: Chambliss fires staffer over posting of anti-gay slur (Michael O'Brien/The Hill)

9:00 AM ET, October 1, 2010

Top Items:

Seema Mehta / PolitiCal:

Whitman's husband says ‘it is possible’ handwriting on letter is his [Updated] — Dr. Griff Harsh, Meg Whitman's husband, just released a statement saying that it may be his handwriting on a 2003 letter that raised the possibility that their housekeeper was undocumented.

Discussion: TMZ.com, Hot Air, CBS News, Michelle Malkin, Left Coast Rebel and Daily Kos

TMZ.com:

Gloria Allred: Meg Whitman Is a Liar — Gloria Allred just went after Meg Whitman with a vengeance ... waiving a letter from the Social Security Administration sent to Meg back in 2003, putting Meg and her husband on notice there was a problem with their housekeeper's Social Security number — a sign she was here illegally.

Discussion: PolitiCal, American Power, The Political Carnival, Raw Story, RedState, Hot Air, Pajamas Media and The Daily Caller

Illegal Immigration:

ALIPAC Calls for Arrest of Candidate Meg Whitman & Nicky Diaz! — Contact: Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) — In response to the explosive revelations that California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman employed illegal alien Nicky Diaz for nine years, ALIPAC is asking Immigration …

Discussion: The Washington Independent, TPMMuckraker, Hit & Run, Opinion L.A. and Joe. My. God.

Carla Marinucci / San Francisco Chronicle:
Document shows Meg Whitman lying, attorney says

Discussion: The Huffington Post and New York Magazine

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:
Gloria Allred Says Letter Is Proof Meg Whitman Knew Housekeeper Was Illegal

Discussion: The Politico, Betsy's Page, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, PolitiCal, Crooks and Liars, Politics Daily, Ben Smith's Blog and CNN

Seema Mehta / PolitiCal:
Whitman says she would take polygraph test to prove she didn't …

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, Colorlines and Los Angeles Times

The Politico:

White House scorecard: MSNBC up, bloggers down — At one point not that long ago, Greenwald's critiques were taken as constructive criticism, in much the same way Maddow's are. Marc Ambinder wrote in The Atlantic in May 2009 that “whereas the White House does not give a scintilla of attention …

Discussion: Speakeasy and The Huffington Post

The Caucus:

Emanuel's Departure Set; Rouse to Replace Him — Updated President Obama will give his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, a send-off Friday as Mr. Emanuel officially announces his departure from the West Wing to run for mayor of Chicago, officials familiar with the decision said.

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:
Pete Rouse, who will replace Emanuel as chief of staff, is known as ‘fixer’

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Swampland, The Page and The Politico

Byron York / Beltway Confidential:
Obama: 'I'd appreciate a little break'

Discussion: Betsy's Page and Weasel Zippers

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Pelosi: Democrats will hit campaign trail with a ‘spirit of optimism’

Discussion: The Politico and Weasel Zippers

Joe / Joe. My. God.:

Sen. Saxby Chambliss Just Called Me To Offer His “Sincerest Apologies” — I just got off the phone with Sen. Saxby Chambliss, who said he was calling to personally apologize for the “All faggots must die” comment left here on JMG last Tuesday. I'll paraphrase what Chambliss said to me …

Discussion: Gawker, TPMMuckraker, The Daily Dish, Lez Get Real, Mediaite, Advocate, Towleroad News #gay and Truth Wins Out

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Chambliss fires staffer over posting of anti-gay slur — Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) fired a staffer for having posted a threatening slur against gays on a blog. — Chambliss said that, following an investigation by the Senate Sergeant at Arms, he'd decided to fire the staffer …

Discussion: The Politico, CNN and Politics Daily

Laura Berman / Detroit News:

Assistant AG suspended over gay-bashing blog — Attorney General Mike Cox changed his stance Thursday, suspending Andrew Shirvell after the assistant attorney general attracted national attention for a controversial blog that ridicules and denounces a University of Michigan student leader …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Lez Get Real, Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay, Pam's House Blend, CNN and Joe. My. God.

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Closing the book on Christine O'Donnell Oxford flap — By now you may have heard that the claim that Christine O'Donnell studied at Oxford has now turned up on a second O'Donnell online resume, this one from ZoomInfo. — I've got some more information on what happened from ZoomInfo …

Discussion: ZoomInfo.com, The Huffington Post, Washington Wire, TPMDC, Salon, AMERICAblog News, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, New York Magazine and Little Green Footballs

Christina Bellantoni / TPMDC:
Claremont Institute Tells TPM O'Donnell's 2002 Resume Listed Oxford University

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Patterico's Pontifications, Talking Points Memo, gary scott, The Huffington Post and Weigel

Vox Popoli:

Gay rights killed Clementi — The body count of the gay rights movement grows by one. … It was obvious from the start that the orientationally-challenged activists would attempt to blame Clementi's death on his roommate. But the surreptitious filming of sexual activity …

Discussion: Truth Wins Out, Sadly, No!, The Daily Caller, Good As You and alicublog

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Obama 52%, Clinton 37% for 2012 Democratic Nomination — Clinton's support highest among conservative, less well-educated Democrats — PRINCETON, NJ — If Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were to challenge President Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2012 …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Scared Monkeys, Liberal Values, Hot Air, Salon, Outside the Beltway, CNN, AmSpecBlog, Althouse, Weigel, New York Magazine, Half Sigma, National Review and Politics Daily

Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:

Senate votes to turn down volume on TV commercials — WASHINGTON - Legislation to turn down the volume on those loud TV commercials that send couch potatoes diving for their remote controls looks like it'll soon become law. — The Senate unanimously passed a bill late Wednesday …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, iOwnTheWorld.com, Beltway Confidential and Truthdig

The Huffington Post:

Linda McMahon: ‘We Ought To Review’ The Minimum Wage — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Linda McMahon, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Connecticut, suggested Thursday that the U.S. ought to take a second look at the federal minimum wage. — “The minimum wage now in our country …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Oliver Willis, Jezebel, The Day newspaper and The Moderate Voice

Quinnipiac University:

Despite Annoying Ads, Scott Leads In Florida Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Approval 16 Points In The Hole — Republican Rick Scott holds a 49 - 43 percent lead over State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the Democrat, in the race to become Florida's next governor …

Discussion: Hotline On Call and Post on Politics

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

Report gives stimulus package high marks — The massive economic stimulus package President Obama pushed through Congress last year is coming in on time and under budget - and with strikingly few claims of fraud or abuse - according to a White House report to be released Friday.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and The Page

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

A GOP unknown is in striking range of Barney Frank — Sean Bielat, the Republican candidate for Congress in Massachusetts' 4th District, has had just one conversation with his Democratic opponent, Rep. Barney Frank. — It was in August, at a parade in New Bedford.

Discussion: sisu and Washington Times

Silla Brush / The Hill:

Budget battle looms for Wall St. law — Lawmakers decided against boosting short-terms funds for financial agencies this week, a move that may foreshadow a lengthy partisan battle over financing the Wall Street overhaul law. — Congress approved an emergency spending bill on Wednesday …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

TARP Bailout to Cost Less Than Once Anticipated — WASHINGTON — Even as voters rage and candidates put up ads against government bailouts, the reviled mother of them all — the $700 billion lifeline to banks, insurance and auto companies — will expire after Sunday at a fraction of that cost …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Associated Press

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

“You Elected Me To Do What Was Right” — Obama's speech to Gen44 tonight knocked my socks off. It's streaming on CSPAN here. If you've forgotten why many of you worked your ass off for this guy, and felt hope for the first time in many years, watch it. He deserves criticism when necessary …

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Comments from Left Field

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Why is Obama sending troops to Afghanistan? — From the beginning, the call to arms was highly uncertain. On Dec. 1, 2009, commander in chief Barack Obama orders 30,000 more Americans into battle in Afghanistan. But in the very next sentence, he announces that an American withdrawal will begin after 18 months.

Discussion: Commentary and Betsy's Page

Ben Smith / The Politico:

News Corp. gave $1 million to pro-GOP group — News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, contributed $1 million this summer to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the business lobby that has been running an aggressive campaign in support of the Republican effort to retake Congress, a source close to the company told POLITICO.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Caucus and Prairie Weather

Chicago Breaking News:

UIC faculty may jump into Ayers fray — University of Illinois at Chicago faculty leaders are weighing whether to ask the board of trustees to reconsider its controversial decision to deny emeritus status to retired professor William Ayers. — It's the latest twist in a showdown 40 years …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Gateway Pundit and Chicago Daily Observer

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:

Craig Newmark: NPR Will Be the Dominant News Force By 2020 — NPR will be one of the dominant forces in media in ten years because their membership-based funding model is finely tuned to the habits of millennial news consumers. That's the prophecy of Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist and a new media philosopher.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Romenesko

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

The Uncanny Accuracy of Polling Averages*, Part 2: What the Numbers Say — This is the second article in a three-part series in which I'm addressing a question from a reader whom I'm calling Skeptical Sam. — Sam wondered why our election forecasts seem so confident.

Robert Shrum / The Week Magazine:

Democrats will hold the House and Senate — For Democrats, it's Rove time: rally the base and save Congress — Maybe I'm wrong. — In fact, maybe I'm really, really wrong, which is the reaction I hear when I dare even to broach this notion to commentators and political strategists in both parties.

Discussion: Daily Kos, HillBuzz and JammieWearingFool

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Austerity Caucus — If I had as much money as Meg Whitman, I'd probably have a more exuberant house. Hers is perfectly nice. But at a time when other Silicon Valley moguls were installing underground squash courts, arcade-size game rooms and other gewgaws, she stuck with a New England-style colonial.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Huffington Post and driftglass