memeorandum: Bad Jew! — Union protestors, including waiver award winners … (Ben Howe/RedState)

1:15 AM ET, February 24, 2011

Top Items:

Video: CWA union thug strikes young female FreedomWorks activist; Updated — This is Tabitha Hale, a young conservative activist/original Tea Party organizer/blogger who works for Washington, D.C.-based FreedomWorks. I know her from her great grass-roots work with Smart Girl Politics when the Tea Party movement was just emerging.

Ben Howe / RedState:

Bad Jew! — Union protestors, including waiver award winners Communication Workers of America (CWA), arrived outside of the FreedomWorks headquarters today apparently to hit female activists and police the Jews. — Meanwhile, in Denver, the same level headed Unions were scolding …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Breitbart.tv, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and Pajamas Media

Kyle Cheney / Boston Herald:

Capuano ‘bloody’ comment becomes flashpoint in union flap — U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano expressed regret Wednesday for his choice of words at a Tuesday rally to support Wisconsin workers, after national and local Republicans pounced on him for “over-the-top and inflammatory rhetoric.”

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

Guy Benson / Townhall.com:

New Tone: Democratic Congressman Urges Union Protesters to “Get Bloody” With Tea Partiers — I guess HHS has doled out another civility waiver, this time to Rep. Mike Capuano (D-MA): … I know it's a cliche, but it's too applicable not to reiterate: If, say, Sarah Palin had said anything remotely …

Discussion: New Hampshire Journal, NewsReal Blog, Hot Air, theblogprof, RedState and The Daily Caller

Peter Ingemi / Examiner:
Anger and loathing in Boston

Discussion: The Other McCain and Da Techguy's Blog

ThePundit / Red White Blue News:
Leave me alone! Black Tea Partier harassed by SEIU activists at Denver Tea Party! More video to come

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, UNCOVERAGE.net, Mediaite, The Jawa Report, Associated Press and Moonbattery

The United States Department of Justice:

Statement of the Attorney General on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act — WASHINGTON - The Attorney General made the following statement today about the Department's course of action in two lawsuits, Pedersen v. OPM and Windsor v. United States, challenging Section 3 of the Defense …

Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:

The Executive Power Grab in the Decision Not to Defend DOMA — I can understand the intense political pressure on the Obama Administration not to defend DOMA. Presumably Obama and pretty much every significant lawyer in the Obama Administration opposes DOMA, whether or not they can take that position on the record.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and PointOfLaw Forum

The United States Department of Justice:
Letter from the Attorney General to Congress on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Volokh Conspiracy, New York Times, National Review, Hot Air, The Foundry, JONATHAN TURLEY, The Daily Dish, Runnin' Scared, Box Turtle Bulletin and Balkinization

Marc Ambinder / NationalJournal.com:
Obama Won't Go to Court Over Defense of Marriage Act

Discussion: The Sundries Shack, National Review, Hot Air, Box Turtle Bulletin, Salon, The Daily Beast, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, Emptywheel, theblogprof and JOSHUAPUNDIT

New York Times:
In Turnabout, U.S. Says Marriage Act Blocks Gay Rights

Discussion: Poliglot, Outside the Beltway, Runnin' Scared, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Above the Law and White House Dossier

Ezra Klein:

What a prank call proves about Wisconsin — Gonzo journalist Ian Murphy noticed one of Wisconsin's Senate Democrats complaining that Gov. Scott Walker was impossible to reach on the phone. So Murphy came up with a prank call: He posed as right-wing financier David Koch and called Walker's receptionist.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Political Carnival, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, The Daily Dish, Firedoglake and Yglesias

John / Power Line:

The Left's War on the Kochs — The most extraordinary story in the news these days is the all-out assault that the Left is mounting against Charles and David Koch and their company, Koch Enterprises. A day doesn't go buy—hardly an hour goes by—without some new attack being launched against these two lonely libertarians.

Discussion: Nice Deb and Weekly Standard

The Huffington Post:
Top Six Revelations in the Call Between Fake David Koch and Governor Scott Walker

Discussion: campaignmoney.org, msnbc.com, JSOnline, The Blaze and Verum Serum

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Governor Walker's office confirms prank Koch call

Discussion: Mother Jones, The Caucus, Mediaite, Daily Kos, The Democratic Daily, Salon, Althouse, Hullabaloo, National Review, Obsidian Wings and Donklephant

ABCNEWS:
Wis. Gov. Duped by Impostor Reporter

Discussion: The Hill, Hit & Run, The Politico, ThinkProgress, No More Mister Nice Blog, American Power and Prairie Weather

Murphy / The Beast:
Koch Whore — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker answers his master's call

David Weigel / Slate:
Did Scott Walker Reveal His Crisis-Ending Ruse to a Prank Caller?

Discussion: Associated Press, WTMJ, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, CNN, Big Journalism, Daily Kos, AmSpecBlog, Balloon Juice, The Hill and Hullabaloo

Mary Beth Schneider / Indianapolis Star:

Indiana Senate leader says right-to-work bill is dead — Daniels clarifies statements on pending legislation — Gov. Mitch Daniels this morning toughened his words about House Democrats who have fled the state is protest of Republican legislative proposals.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, National Review, theblogprof, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, USA Today, Washington Monthly, Ben Smith's Blog and Swampland

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Indiana kills ‘right-to-work’ bill

Discussion: National Review, The American Independent and Politics

Lesley Stedman Weidenbener / Courier-Journal:
Indiana Senate won't resurrect right-to-work bill

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, GOP 12, The Political Carnival and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

ABCNEWS:

Obama Condemns Violence in Libya But Doesn't Mention Moammar Gadhafi — Violence in Libya Escalates as Nations Move to Evacuate Their Citizens — President Obama said the bloodshed in Libya was “outrageous and unacceptable,” but he declined to directly censure Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Politico, msnbc.com and New York Magazine

The Note:
President Obama Condemns “Suffering and Bloodshed” in Libya …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Hot Air

Sam Youngman / The Hill: Obama breaks silence on Libya, condemns ‘outrageous’ violence

Adam Weinstein / Mother Jones:

Indiana Official: “Use Live Ammunition” Against Wisconsin Protesters — A conservative deputy AG let his emotions get out of hand. It wasn't the first time. — Post Comment — On Saturday night, when Mother Jones staffers tweeted a report that riot police might soon sweep demonstrators …

Discussion: IN.gov, Jay Bookman, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, The Raw Story, Wonkette, Crooks and Liars, Mother Jones, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Weigel, TPMDC and Salon

WLFI-TV:
Deputy AG loses job after tweet drama

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Agonist

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Santorum's anti-liberal Crusade — Rick Santorum launched into a scathing attack on the left, charging during an appearance in South Carolina that the history of the Crusades has been corrupted by “the American left who hates Christendom.” — “The idea that the Crusades and the fight …

Discussion: Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Weasel Zippers and Booman Tribune

Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:

Fox Reverses Results Of Gallup Poll To Claim Americans Oppose Union Collective Bargaining Rights — Yesterday, USA Today and Gallup released a new poll that found that a whopping 61 percent of Americans oppose efforts like those of Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) to strip public sector unions of collective bargaining rights.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Balloon Juice and AFL-CIO NOW BLOG

Sam Stein / Reuters:
Gov. Walker Informed That Bill Targeting Unions May Cost State $46 Million In Federal Funds

Discussion: Reuters, The Huffington Post, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, PolitiFact, Washington Post, The Political Carnival, The Plum Line, NationalJournal.com, Wonk Room, Firedoglake, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway and JSOnline

Marin Cogan / The Politico:

Town hall ‘rage’ over spending — ORLANDO, Fla.—The two town halls couldn't have been any more different — one a blue-jeans-and-ball-cap affair, rowdy and filled-to-capacity near an impoverished urban strip — the other a smaller confab of polo-shirt-and-Bermuda-shorts clad seniors in a sleek conference room outside Orlando.

Rashid Ameer / The Express Tribune:

Honour crime: Woman killed for refusing to divorce husband — A 21-year-old girl was murdered in Khanewal on Monday allegedly by her brother because she had refused to give in to her family's demand to divorce her husband. — Ismat Parveen, a resident of Kot Muhammad Hussain …

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Huckabee, Palin, Romney Tie for Lead in GOP '12 Preferences — Huckabee's support up six points since September — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have no clear favorite for the party's 2012 presidential nominee at this point, with Mike Huckabee (18%) …

Discussion: Politics Daily, CNN, The Note, Mediaite, GOP 12 and The Hill

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Mike Huckabee Expresses Deep Doubts About Afghan End Game, Karzai's Corruption

Discussion: The Washington Note and GOP 12

The Note:

Goldman Sachs: House Spending Cuts Will Hurt Economic Growth — ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: — A confidential new report prepared by Goldman Sachs for its clients says spending cuts passed by the House of Representatives last week would be a drag on the economy, cutting economic growth by about two percent of GDP.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Political Carnival and New York Magazine

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:

Video: The Daily Show Tortures a Camel in Madison — Madison, Wisc. — No joke: The Daily Show brought a camel to the protests in Madison the other day, presumably to help make fun of the Cairo/Madison comparisons. As this video shows, the gag didn't turn out so well:

Discussion: JSOnline, Breitbart.tv and iOwnTheWorld.com

Terry Jeffrey / Townhall.com:

Do Wisconsin's Public Schools Deserve to Survive? — With the entire nation watching, Wisconsinites are now debating whether the state's public school teachers ought to be required to pay 5.8 percent of their wages to support their own retirement plans and 12.6 percent of their own health-insurance premiums …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Balloon Juice and Little Green Footballs

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog Gay:

After focusing on abortion, rather than jobs, Boehner criticizes Obama for focusing on marriage, rather than jobs — Call for hands. Everyone in elected office who passed legislation creating 1m to 3.5m jobs over the past two years raise your hands? Come on, don't be shy, Mr. Boehner.

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, The Plum Line, Daily Kos and The Political Carnival