memeorandum: Rev. Peter J. Gomes dies at 68 (Harvard University Gazette)

10:35 PM ET, March 1, 2011

Top Items:

Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:

Huckabee: Obama Grew Up “In Kenya” — During a radio appearance yesterday, Mike Huckabee repeatedly falsely claimed that President Obama grew up in Kenya. After questioning Obama's purported secrecy about the birth certificate, radio host Steve Malzberg asked Huckabee if “we deserve to know more about this man.”

Discussion: The Note, Crooks and Liars, The Hill, The Reaction, Taylor Marsh, A plain blog about politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, CNN and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

David Weigel / Weigel:

Mike Huckabee is Not a Birther — Let's call this off right now. I don't hear birtherism anywhere in Mike Huckabee's interview with Steve Malzberg. … Occam's razor: Huckabee is just ill-informed. — 1) Barack Obama spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, with his Indonesian stepfather Lolo Soetoro.

Discussion: Roger Ailes and The Politico

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Huckabee didn't mean it — Mike Huckabee, who has never indulged paranoia about Obama's birth — and who has generally chided vitriolic attacks on the president and First Lady — pretty clearly misspoke in a radio interview today, prompting a boomlet of outrage. — Says his spokesman Hogan Gidley to POLITICO:

Discussion: Mediaite, Mother Jones and Media Matters for America

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:

Huckabee Questions Obama Birth Certificate — Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2012, said on Monday that he would “love to know more” about where President Obama was born and claimed — falsely — that Mr. Obama was raised in Kenya.

Discussion: Mediaite, FOK News Channel, Salon, Mother Jones, Politics Daily, Swampland and George's Bottom Line

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Huckagaffe — He's now withdrawn the statement that Obama grew up in Kenya and says he meant Indonesia. Here's the original quote: … Well, how do you get a view of the Mau Mau revolution in Indonesia? So I don't buy the mis-spoke explanation. And Obama did not “grow up with” a Kenyan father and grandfather.

Discussion: AMERICAblog News

Emi Kolawole / Washington Post:
Huckabee claims inaccurately that Obama was raised in Kenya

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Political Carnival and Swampland

Andy Barr / The Politico:
He's no birther, but Huck claims Obama raised in Kenya

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Hot Air

ThinkProgress:

Religious Coalition Tells The GOP That 'The Budget Shouldn't Be Balanced On the Backs Of The Poor' — In an address at the National Association of Religious Broadcasters Sunday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) made a moral case for the deep cuts passed by House Republicans, saying, “[i] …

Discussion: Cubachi, CNN and USA Today

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

House Advances Budget and Cuts $4 Billion — WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday approved a two-week budget measure that cuts $4 billion in federal spending. Senate Democrats said they would quickly pass the bill and send it to President Obama, averting any immediate threat of a government shutdown …

Discussion: Gawker and Booman Tribune

Vicki Needham / The Hill:
In boost for GOP plan, Fed chief says cuts won't derail recovery

Discussion: Econbrowser, Ezra Klein, Mother Jones, Wonk Room, The Plum Line, 2chambers, msnbc.com, FrumForum and National Review

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Eric Holder: Black Panther case focus demeans ‘my people’ — Attorney General Eric Holder finally got fed up Tuesday with claims that the Justice Department went easy in a voting rights case against members of the New Black Panther Party because they are African American.

Discussion: Maggie's Notebook, Weasel Zippers, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, theblogprof, The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit, The Political Carnival, Public Secrets, Sister Toldjah and Pajamas Media

Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:

Ohio Lawmakers Battle Over Union Bargaining Rights — COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican state senators unveiled a new version of a bill governing public employee unions on Tuesday, saying it would preserve their right to collective bargaining, but Democratic lawmakers said the revisions failed …

Discussion: The TrogloPundit, The Political Carnival and Truthdig

Wall Street Journal:
A Union Education — What Wisconsin reveals about public workers and political power.

Discussion: The Big Picture, protein wisdom and The Atlantic Online

Mary Wisniewski / Reuters:
Ohio union plan like Wisconsin draws protests

Discussion: AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, The Raw Story, Firedoglake and Pirate's Cove

JSOnline:

Budget cuts would touch most Wisconsinites — Sarah Thomas, a UW-Stevens Point student, keeps track on her arm the nights she's spent on the floor of the rotunda inside the Capitol. Fellow protester C.J. Terrell of Madison looks on. Media and staff are still being allowed in …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, First Draft and AOL News

Wall Street Journal:
Wisconsin Governor Seeks $4.2 Billion in Cuts

Discussion: USA Today, Firedoglake, Hot Air and National Review

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Wisconsin closely divided, but against Walker

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daily Kos, AOL News, The Plum Line, WisPolitics Budget Blog, The Political Carnival, National Review, American Power and Pajamas Media

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Assange Complains of Jewish Smear Campaign — LONDON — The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, suggested in comments published on Tuesday that British journalists, including the editor of The Guardian newspaper, were engaged in a Jewish-led conspiracy to smear his organization.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Jawa Report and Salon

Sunny Hundal / Liberal Conspiracy:

Assange goes off deep end - blaming Jews and Guardian in Private Eye — This is published in the latest edition of Private Eye (buy a copy!). — The article is titled, ‘A Curious Conversation With Mr Assange’ - and it is the phone version of a horrible car crash. (hat-tip @jamesrbuk)

Discussion: Salon, Runnin' Scared, The Raw Story, FP Passport and Moe Lane

The Politico:

Darrell Issa fires press secretary Kurt Bardella in New York Times e-mail flap — House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) fired Kurt Bardella, one of Capitol Hill's top press secretaries, after he provided e-mailed correspondence with other journalists to New York Times reporter Mark Leibovich.

Discussion: New York Times, Pundits Blog, USA Today, FishbowlDC, Weigel, The Note, The Other McCain, Washington Wire, New York Magazine, TPMMuckraker, News Desk, Gawker, FrumForum, Poynter and 2chambers, more at Mediagazer »

Jack Shafer / Slate:
John F. Harris, go soak your head.

Discussion: The Politico, The Caucus, Washington Post, USA Today, CNN and The Atlantic Online, more at Mediagazer »

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Gingrich will not announce exploratory committee Thursday — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will not announce the formation of an exploratory committee to run for president on Thursday, his spokesman said Tuesday. — After a day of speculation resulting in reports that Gingrich …

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Gingrich Jumps In: First 2012 GOP Candidate

Discussion: CNN, Right Turn, Mediaite, NationalJournal.com, Political Insider, National Review, Ballot Box, Wonkette, Hot Air, Politics Daily, Shakesville and FrumForum

Ezra Klein:

What the GAO thinks we can do without — The Government Accountability Office has released a more than 300-page report tallying up 34 areas in which the government has duplicative, fragmented or overlapping programs, and an additional 47 areas where better management or spending decisions …

Discussion: Mother Jones

U.S. Government Accountability Office:
Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue

Discussion: The Hill, Hit & Run, National Review, Associated Press, FT Alphaville, The Foundry, The Lonely Conservative and The Note

Damian Paletta / Wall Street Journal:
Billions in Bloat Uncovered in Beltway

Discussion: New York Times, Cubachi, Right Turn, Parker Spitzer, Hot Air, Liberty Pundits Blog, AmSpecBlog, Big Government, Federal Eye, Washington Wire and New York Magazine

Bob Woodward / Foreign Policy:

How Rumsfeld misleads and ducks responsibility in his new book — Few people know the ins and outs of the Bush Administration as well as the Washington Post's Bob Woodward, who is flat-out disgusted with the evasions and elisions in Donald Rumsfeld's new book. Here he explains why: — By Bob Woodward

Discussion: News Desk, The Politico, Liberal Values, Emptywheel, Philly.com, The Daily Dish, Ben Smith's Blog and Oliver Willis

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

Christie: I could win the W.H. — Gov. Chris Christie said he knows he could win the White House if he ran for president next year. — The New Jersey governor and GOP rock star made the comments in an interview with the National Review last week while he was in Washington D.C.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Rich Lowry / National Review:
‘I already know I could win’ — Dan already wrote a piece about it …

Discussion: Hot Air and Capitol Quickies

Maggie / NOM Blog:

Breaking News: Sarah Palin Denounces Obama's DOMA decision (to NOM) — In response to a question from me, Sarah Palin offered this exclusive response to President Obama's DOMA decision: … Please cite www.nationformarriage.org as the source for this statement from Sarah.

Discussion: CNN, GOP 12, Poliglot, The Atlantic Online and The Page

Stephen C. Webster / The Raw Story:

Fox News reporter appears to have lied about being ‘punched’ by protester — Fox News has been making a lot of hay about one of their reporters allegedly being “punched” by a protester in Madison, Wisconsin. — Turns out, that didn't happen. — Mike Tobin, reporting from amid …

Discussion: Salon, The Political Carnival and NewsBusters.org

Katherine Sellgren / BBC:

LSE investigates Gaddafi's son plagiarism claims — There were student demonstrations at the LSE last week over its links with Libya — The London School of Economics has confirmed it is investigating allegations that Colonel Gaddafi's son plagiarised his PhD thesis.

Discussion: Unqualified Offerings and Guardian

Brobinson / Fox Nation:

Exclusive: AWOL Democrats Experiencing ‘Dissension in the Ranks’ — Fox Nation has learned exclusively from a highly placed source within Wisconsin state politics that the fourteen AWOL Democrats are experiencing “dissension in the ranks.” State Sen. Julie Lassa (D) is pregnant and “extremely unhappy” about being on the run.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Maggie's Notebook, JSOnline, Whiskey Fire, Verum Serum and Moe Lane

WMUR:

Bill Would Make Some Airport Screening Sexual Assault — Those Convicted Would Be Tier III Sex Offenders — CONCORD, N.H. — A House committee is scheduled to hold a hearing Tuesday on a bill that would make it a sexual assault for an airport screener to touch or view a person's breast or genitals without probable cause.

Discussion: Don Surber, No More Mister Nice Blog, Right Wing News and LewRockwell.com Blog

Harvard University Gazette:

Rev. Peter J. Gomes dies at 68 — Harvard scholar regarded as one of America's leading preachers — File photo by Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer — The Rev. Peter Gomes, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church, passed away on Feb. 28.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Afterword, CNN and Balloon Juice

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org:

Reich To Rich: Redistribute Or Risk Angry Populace Turning On You! — Nice house there, rich guy. Wouldn't wanna see nuthin' happen to it . . . Robert Reich has actually argued that the rich should welcome redistributing more of their income to prevent an angry American populace from turning on them.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

Patrick Gavin / The Politico:

ANSWER THIS: ANDREW SULLIVAN — Andrew Sullivan has achieved the hat trick of Washington journalism: author, editor, blogger. And he's adding another item to his long and diverse résumé, announcing this week that he's leaving The Atlantic and taking his blog to the new Daily Beast/Newsweek venture in April.

John Cook / New York Observer:

Was a Vanity Fair Editor Secretly Working for the Church of Scientology? — Gawker.com, where the author is employed as a staff writer, declined to publish this story. — Did the Church of Scientology use a Vanity Fair contributing editor to infiltrate and gather intelligence on the cult's enemies in the media?

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Marc Caputo / Naked Politics:

Rick Scott sued by Senators Joyner, Altman in Florida Supreme Court — Two Florida senators just sued Gov. Rick Scott in the Florida Supreme Court to stop him from killing a Tampa-Orlando bullet train. — Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, and Republican Thad Altman of Melbourne said Scott …

Discussion: Daily Kos and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Christina Wilkie / The Hill:

Rep. Holt beats Watson the super-computer at ‘Jeopardy!’ — There are a lot of smart people on Capitol Hill. But none of them can claim quite the same brainy bragging rights as Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.). — On Monday, Holt beat IBM's super-computer, known as Watson, at a round of “Jeopardy! …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, JustOneMinute, CNN, Shakesville, neo-neocon and The Fix

Danny Miller / The Huffington Post:

Jane Russell, Right-Wing Republican and Good Ol' Gal (1921-2011) — The last time I saw the late Jane Russell in the flesh was five years ago. My wife Kendall and I took my daughter Leah to a screening of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at the American Cinematheque, which was followed by a Q&A with the former bombshell.

Discussion: The Other McCain and pandagon.net