memeorandum: Stars and Sewers — Rarely have we seen such epic clashes between … (Maureen Dowd/New York Times)

4:20 PM ET, February 20, 2011

Top Items:

BBC:

Libya unrest: Scores killed in Benghazi ‘massacre’ — Details have emerged of huge casualty figures in the Libyan city of Benghazi, where troops have launched a brutal crackdown on protesters. — More than 200 people are known to have died, doctors say, with 900 injured.

Discussion: The Reaction, Guardian, The Jawa Report, Outside the Beltway, Libya February 17th and Truthdig

Nick Meo / Telegraph:

Libya protests: 140 ‘massacred’ as Gaddafi sends in snipers to crush dissent — Women and children leapt from bridges to their deaths as they tried to escape a ruthless crackdown by Libyan forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. — Snipers shot protesters, artillery and helicopter gunships …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, JOSHUAPUNDIT and Little Green Footballs

New York Times:

Protesters Die as Crackdown in Libya Intensifies — CAIRO — Libyan security forces again fired on a funeral procession through the city of Benghazi on Sunday, as residents buried dozens of dead from a crackdown the day before and as a five-day-old uprising against the dictatorship …

Discussion: Guardian, Sky Dancing, CNN, EA WorldView and Don Surber

James Randerson / Guardian:
More than 200 feared dead in Libya

Discussion: Associated Press and Truthdig

Aljazeera:
Libya unrest death toll ‘tops 200’

Discussion: Chicago Boyz and DownWithTyranny!, more at Techmeme »

The Independent:
Gaddafi: What now for Libya's dictator, and where does Britain stand?

Discussion: Reuters, Firedoglake, Libya February 17th and BBC

Anthony Shadid / New York Times:
Cycle of Suppression Rises in Libya and Elsewhere

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, New York Magazine and CNN

Fox News:

12K State Workers Could Be Fired Without Budget Deal, Wisconsin Governor Warns — Saturday: Protesters gather down State Street in Madison, Wis., after a rally outside the Wisconsin State Capitol. A few dozen police officers stood between supporters of GOP Gov. Scott Walker on the muddy east lawn …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Pundit Press and JammieWearingFool

Pejman Yousefzadeh / A Chequer-Board of Nights …:

Everyone Should Have Seen This Coming — Consider the following from this profile of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (all emphasis mine): … As the excerpt, and the highlighted material makes clear, Walker has been an open book as a politician. He has never tried to disguise his stance …

Discussion: POWIP, Crooks and Liars, The TrogloPundit, Prairie Weather, The Other McCain, GayPatriot, Sky Dancing and Runnin' Scared

Robert Costa / National Review:

Walker: ‘We are willing to take this as long as it takes’ — Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin told Fox News Sunday this morning that he will consider “every option” as he attempts to bring Democratic state senators back to the capitol to vote on his budget plan. “We are willing to take this as long as it takes,” he said.

Discussion: Power Line

Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
DNC chairman: Wisconsin governor waging war on public workers

Discussion: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, American Power, Weasel Zippers and Confederate Yankee

Wall Street Journal:
Protests Fail to Sway Wisconsin Governor

Discussion: Truthdig and New York Times

Angella Johnson / Daily Mail:

I was a mob sex attack victim in Tahrir Square... just like Lara Logan — I was especially horrified to read of CBS journalist Lara Logan's sex ordeal as she reported on Egyptians celebrating the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak - because I too was a victim.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Stars and Sewers — Rarely have we seen such epic clashes between the forces of light and darkness. — We watch in awe as revolutions somersault through the Middle East. We see instantaneous digital communication as a weapon against oppression and, in the hands of tyrants who tap into its power, as a weapon for oppression.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Prairie Weather

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

Lugar opposes House budget bill — A senior Senate Republican on Sunday rejected the spending bill approved by House Republicans on Saturday. — Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said the size of the $61 billion in cuts proposed by the House is “reasonable,” but he wouldn't support the bill as it stands.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Ryan: Any short-term funding bill will have to include spending cuts

Discussion: The Politico

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Schumer: GOP puts Congress on course for inevitable shutdown

Discussion: CNN

E.S. Browning / Wall Street Journal:

Retiring Boomers Find 401(k) Plans Fall Short — The 401(k) generation is beginning to retire, and it isn't a pretty sight. — The retirement savings plans that many baby boomers thought would see them through old age are falling short in many cases. — The median household headed …

Discussion: FrumForum and Vox Popoli

Myglesias / Yglesias:

Labor Unions and Me — Ezra Klein's weekend question: “Almost forgot! Have you or anyone close to you belonged to a union? How did that change your impressions of organized labor in general?” — I'm generally speaking an out-of-touch pointy headed elite, but as it happens throughout my life my father has been a union member.

Discussion: L'Hôte

Founding Blogger / Founding Bloggers:

BREAKING: Andrew Breitbart Contracts “Walker Pneumonia” In Madison, Wisconsin! — While on the streets of Madison, Wisconsin, Andrew Breitbart contracted a horrible case of Walker Pneumonia! He was diagnosed by a street “doctor” who was apparently handing out fraudulent Dr.'s excuses to union protesters.

Irish_Grinder / New York Post:

Topics — Salsumba: so who from Columbia was going to walk into Bagdada and “just arrest” Sadaam? Maybe you? You sir/ma'am are an illiformed nitwit. — SSGT Maschek< you are outstanding! These Columbia BD's are so smart they are stupid.......

Discussion: Common Sense Political Thought, JammieWearingFool, Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs, Moe Lane, American Power and Instapundit

Denise Dick / Vindicator:

Facebook remark wasn't racist, Hagan says — A Broadview Heights woman is accusing state Rep. Robert F. Hagan of using a term that some believe has a racist connotation on a social networking site. — Hagan, D-60th, of Youngstown, used the term “buckwheat” in a Facebook posting Saturday.

Discussion: Moe Lane

Jen DiMascio / The Politico:

Rumsfeld blasts Obama's world image — Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld disputes the notion that President Barack Obama has made America more popular around the globe than it was under his former boss, President George W. Bush. — Asked on CNN's “State of the Union” …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

At the Wisconsin protest, doctors offer to write excuse notes for teachers who called in sick. — Details and video here. — I saw these people myself today. At first I thought it was some sort of comic street theater, but it was, apparently, real doctors, defending what they were doing.