memeorandum: Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signs death penalty repeal (Jennifer Epstein/The Politico)

4:05 PM ET, March 9, 2011

Top Items:

Mark Memmott / NPR:

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns — This follows yesterday's news that then-NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller (no relation) was videotapped slamming conservatives and questioning whether NPR needs federal funding during a lunch with men posing as members of a Muslim organization …

Caroline May / The Daily Caller:

ADL calls for an apology from NPR executive — Joining the ranks of those disappointed with what they saw of two National Public Radio (NPR) executives caught in an undercover sting disparaging aspects of American culture, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Tuesday called on Ron Schiller …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, JSOnline, The Reaction, Donklephant, Power Line and NewsBusters.org, more at Mediagazer »

Jack Shafer / Slate:

In Defense of Ron Schiller … Like This Story — Follow Slate's Press Box … - Peter King Thinks U.S. Muslims Are Hiding Radical Activity. Where's His Proof? - If Only America Could Be More Like Mauritius, the Greatest Country on Earth- Shafer: The Day Rupert Murdoch Met the Devil- NPR's CEO Stepped Down.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, NewsReal Blog, The Other McCain, PostPartisan, Big Journalism, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Wire and Divided We Stand

Mark Memmott / NPR Topics:

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns After Board Decides She Should Go — NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller has resigned after NPR's board of directors decided that she could no longer effectively lead the organization. — This follows yesterday's news that then-NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, USA Today, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Big Journalism, AOL News, Mediaite, Right Wing News and Power Line, more at Mediagazer »

Media Decoder:
Vivian Schiller, NPR Chief Executive, Resigns

Discussion: USA Today, AOL News and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Jeff Dunetz / YID With LID:
Audio Interview with NPR's Media Reporter David Folkenflik -Vivian Schiller Didn't Quit She Was Fired

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, NPR Topics, Pajamas Media and National Review

The Politico:
NPR CEO resigns, money war rages

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The New Republic and Colorlines, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Bernstein / Washington Post:

David Broder dies; Pulitzer-winning Washington Post political columnist — David S. Broder, 81, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post and one of the most respected writers on national politics for four decades, died Wednesday at Capital Hospice in Arlington of complications from diabetes.

David Brody / The Brody File:

Newt Gingrich Tells Brody File He “felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness” — Newt Gingrich, who is expected to run for President tells The Brody File that he “felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness” over his past marital infidelity and now that he's at the grandfather stage he is …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Taegan Goddard's …, The Atlantic Online, New York Magazine, Sadly, No!, Wonkette, AmSpecBlog, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Oliver Willis, NPR Topics, Washington Post and Jay Bookman

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Gingrich planning May presidential announcement — Washington (CNN) - In a conference call Wednesday with former staffers and supporters former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said “we are leaning toward a yes” on a presidential run, CNN has learned. — Leaning heavily.

Discussion: GOP 12, AmSpecBlog and Shakesville

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Gingrich: Past Adultery ‘Partially Driven By How Passionately I Felt About This Country’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: Breitbart.tv and Indecision Forever

Doug Mataconis / Outside the Beltway: Newt Gingrich: I Cheated On My Wives Because I Love America Too Much

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly: GINGRICH'S PATRIOTISM LED HIM TO CHEAT ON HIS WIVES. …

David Frum / FrumForum: Newt's Family Values Problem

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Just No Hope — I was on Hardball today discussing …

Discussion: Salon

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich: ‘I was doing things that were wrong’

Discussion: Political Insider, The Note and FrumForum

Scott Shane / New York Times:

For Lawmaker Examining Terror, a Pro-I.R.A. Past — WASHINGTON — For Representative Peter T. King, as he seizes the national spotlight this week with a hearing on the radicalization of American Muslims, it is the most awkward of résumé entries.

Laura Murphy / The Politico:
Will King become the next McCarthy?

Discussion: The Note, The Caucus, Right Wing News, Indecision Forever and JustOneMinute

Mike Carter / Seattle Times:

Arrest in attempted MLK Day bombing in Spokane — The FBI has made an arrest in connection with the attempted bombing along the route of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in downtown Spokane. — An FBI source in Washington, D.C., said one man was arrested Wednesday northeast of Spokane.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, KCPQ, TPMMuckraker, Philly.com and FrumForum

Bloomberg:

Government Shutdown Opposed by Americans in Poll Faulting Republican Cuts — Americans are sending a message to congressional Republicans: Don't shut down the federal government or slash spending on popular programs. — Almost 8 in 10 people say Republicans and Democrats should reach …

Discussion: Gallup, Resurgent Republic, Ezra Klein, The Moderate Voice, UrbanGrounds, ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, FrumForum, Washington Monthly, Capital Gains and Games blogs, ECHIDNE of the snakes, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and The Politico

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Schumer Calls GOP Bluff On Spending And Deficits — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the Republican Party's bluff on the need for deficit reduction Wednesday, outlining a fiscal framework that involves broader cuts and revenue raisers than the GOP has proposed — and warning …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Palin would base campaign in Scottsdale — The prospect of Sarah Palin running for president is, increasingly, dismissed by a political class that sees her facing weak poll numbers — especially in key early states — and doing nothing to correct them or to buil the infrastructure for a run.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, No More Mister Nice Blog, GOP 12, Public Policy Polling and National Review

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama's Weekly Job Approval Retreats to 46% — Lowest weekly average since mid-December — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama averaged 46% job approval the week of Feb. 28-March 6, his lowest weekly average since mid-December. Obama's weekly approval rating had steadily improved …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Fix

Steve Holland / Reuters:
Americans see U.S. on wrong track: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Discussion: The Politico, Weasel Zippers, JammieWearingFool, Pajamas Media and Taegan Goddard's …

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Oh, no! Obama job approval starts down again: Gallup

Discussion: Gallup and Hot Air

James C. McKinley Jr / New York Times:

Vicious Assault Shakes Texas Town — CLEVELAND, Tex. — The police investigation began shortly after Thanksgiving, when an elementary school student alerted a teacher to a lurid cellphone video that included one of her classmates. — The video led the police to an abandoned trailer …

Discussion: DISSENTING JUSTICE, Hair Balls, Feministing, AOL News and Shakesville

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:

White House moving to repair troubled relationship with Cabinet — News this week of the first departure of a Cabinet secretary from the Obama administration comes amid a wide-ranging effort under the new chief of staff, William M. Daley, to repair badly frayed relations between the White House and the Cabinet.

Discussion: Big Government, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Fox Nation, The Raw Story, RedState, Weasel Zippers, Prairie Weather, FrumForum, Lynn Sweet and The Page

Matt Robinson / Reuters:

Targeted civilian killings spiral in Afghan war: U.N. — KABUL (Reuters) - Targeted killings of civilians in Afghanistan doubled last year, the United Nations said on Wednesday, as an expanding insurgency strikes at Western efforts to build up the Afghan government and security forces.

Discussion: New York Times

Josh Boak / Washington Post:
In Afghanistan, U.S. ‘civilian surge’ falls short in building local government

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Clout St:

Quinn signs death penalty ban, commutes 15 death row sentences to life — SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn today signed into law a historic ban on the death penalty in Illinois and commuted the sentences of 15 death row inmates to life without parole. — The governor said he followed his conscience.

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, The Raw Story, AOL News and FrumForum

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signs death penalty repeal

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Tyler Durden / zero hedge:

Exclusive: Bill Gross Dumps All Treasuries, Brings Total “Government Related” Holdings To Zero, Flees To Cash - No QE3? — Based on still to be publicly reported data by Pimco's flagship Total Return Fund, the world's largest bond fund, in the month of January, has taken its bond holdings to zero …

Discussion: Money & Company

John Cassidy / Rational Irrationality:

Battle of the Bike Lanes — At the risk of incurring the wrath of the bicycle lobby, a constituency that pursues its agenda with about as much modesty and humor as the Jacobins pursued theirs, and which has found its heroine in transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Felix Salmon, The Naparstek Post, Ezra Klein, Gothamist, New York Times, Eschaton, The Daily Dish, Guardian, Paul Krugman and City Room

Vicki Needham / The Hill:

Republicans introduce bill to give workers a choice on joining unions — Eight Republican Senators introduced a bill Tuesday giving workers a choice as to whether to join labor unions, which they argue will boost the nation's economy and provide an increase in wages.

Discussion: Hot Air and Pajamas Media

George F. Will / Washington Post:

On Libya, too many questions — In September 1941, Japan's leaders had a question for Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto: Could he cripple the U.S. fleet in Hawaii? Yes, he said. Then he had a question for the leaders: But then what? — Following an attack, he said, “I shall run wild considerably …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Nation and FrumForum

New York Review of Books:

Prison Rape and the Government — David Kaiser and Lovisa Stannow … by the United States Department of Justice — Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 23 (February 3, 2011), 56 pp., available at federalregister.gov/a/2011-1905 — Initial Regulatory Impact Analysis for Notice of Proposed Rulemaking …

Discussion: Hit & Run

Christian Heinze / Ballot Box:

Palin vs. Christie: GOP rock-star feud — Republican Party favorites Chris Christie and Sarah Palin are engaged in a feud of rock-star proportions. — The New Jersey governor and former Alaska governor are two of the best-known figures in the GOP, and both have been mentioned as possible 2012 presidential candidates.

Discussion: msnbc.com and FrumForum

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Private jets — My colleagues report: — Sen. Claire McCaskill has been aggressive in promoting oversight and transparency for congressional travel, introducing a reform bill that cracks down on overseas travel for lawmakers. — But when it comes to her own domestic flights …

Discussion: The Hill, The Gateway Pundit and National Review