memeorandum: Obama, Libya, and Me — One of the reasons to vote for someone … (Kevin Drum/Mother Jones)

2:00 AM ET, April 2, 2011

Top Items:

Afghans Avenge Florida Koran Burning, Killing 12 — MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan — Stirred up by three angry mullahs who urged them to avenge the burning of a Koran at a Florida church, thousands of protesters on Friday overran the compound of the United Nations in this northern Afghan city …

Una Moore / UN Dispatch:

This Attack is Different — Mark asked me to respond to today's attack on UN staff in Mazar-i-Sharif. This post is my initial reaction. — Kabul, Afghanistan - Foreigners have been killed in Afghanistan before, and today's attack was not the first fatal attack on UN staff.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Top of the Ticket, Outside the Beltway, Little Green Footballs, The Gateway Pundit, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Hullabaloo and FrumForum

New York Times:

Pastor Who Burned Koran Demands Retribution — GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Before a Koran was burned at his modest church here on March 20, the pastor Terry Jones held a self-styled mock trial of the holy book, in which he presided as the judge from the pulpit. The prosecutor was a Christian who had converted from Islam.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Maggie's Notebook

Guardian:
Is the Florida pastor who burnt the Qur'an morally responsible for the deaths of UN staff in protests in Afghanistan?

Discussion: Pajamas Media and Jihad Watch

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Afghan mob kills at least 12 UN workers in protest over Terry Jones's Koran-burning

Discussion: Verum Serum, Pajamas Media and Asianews.it

Fox News:
At Least 12 Killed During Koran-Burning Protest at UN Office in Afghanistan

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Liberty Pundits Blog

CNN:
U.N. staff killed in Afghanistan

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Texas Freedom Network and HotAirPundit

Tom A. Peter / Christian Science Monitor:
UN staff killed by Afghan mob enraged over Florida Quran burning

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Truthdig

John Nolte / Big Government:

Devastating New Ad Might Be Game Changer in Wisconsin's Crucial April 5th Election — As is the case with any important election, events are happening fast as we approach the final weekend prior to the crucial Tuesday April 5 vote that will ultimately decide the future of Wisconsin for a generation to come.

Discussion: The Nation, Nice Deb, The Underground Conservative, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air, We Party Patriots and JSOnline

David Weigel / Weigel:

Wisconsin Unions Attack Prosser for Calling a Judge a “Total Bitch” — This is one of the closing arguments against David Prosser in Wisconsin, from the Greater Wisconsin Committee. — The backstory: … So the video in the ad of Prosser looking like Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon is not from the incident.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Althouse, Ben Smith's Blog and JSOnline

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Dem Party of Wisconsin: Expect at Least Six Recall Elections

Discussion: Daily Kos and La Crosse Tribune

Robert Costa / National Review:

Paul Rankles Reid on Libya — Washington — Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), a Tea Party favorite, has boxed Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) into a corner. After a quiet day of quorum calls and speeches, Reid abruptly adjourned the upper chamber Thursday and postponed votes until Monday.

Discussion: Hot Air, Another Black Conservative, Cubachi, Patterico's Pontifications, Liberty Pundits Blog, Pajamas Media, Wizbang and AmSpecBlog

Jake Sherman / The Politico:
Republicans: No deal on budget cuts

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Kos and The Hill

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Reid jabs Tea Party: ‘There were tens of them’ at DC rally

Discussion: Washington Post, The Politico, Weasel Zippers and The Hill

Wes Barrett / Fox News:

Bachmann Tops Romney in First Quarter Fundraising — Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., raised a combined total of $2.2 million in the first quarter of 2011, outgaining presumed presidential contender Mitt Romney who raised $1.9 million over the same period. — Bachmann's political action committee …

Discussion: Washington Post, Cubachi, Hot Air, Liberty Pundits Blog, FrumForum, Weigel, Swampland, TPMDC, Indecision Forever, GOP 12 and Joe. My. God.

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Bachmann's $ haul tops Romney's

Discussion: CNN and AmSpecBlog

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:
Michele Bachmann collects $2 million in first fundraising quarter

Discussion: American Power and Taylor Marsh

John / Power Line:

Are We Doomed? — I grew up in a farm state, South Dakota, and still recall a joke that was then popular. It grew out of the fact that the number of farmers in the U.S. was constantly declining, while at the same time the Department of Agriculture was steadily growing.

Discussion: Pat Dollard

Stephen Moore / Wall Street Journal:
We've Become a Nation of Takers, Not Makers

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Sultan Knish, Top of the Ticket, Weasel Zippers, Don Surber, The Gateway Pundit, BackyardConservative and Betsy's Page

Jon Terbush / TPMDC:

Poll: Americans Wrongly Estimate $178 Billion In Fed. Budget Goes To Public Broadcasting — In a CNN poll of American adults released Friday, the median guess on what percentage of the federal budget goes to public broadcasting was 5%. With a $3.55 trillion budget last year …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos and Weigel

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
CNN Poll: Americans flunk budget IQ test

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Monthly and Outside the Beltway

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

King Barack I — Many of us supported this president because he promised to bring back the constitutional balance after the theories of Yoo, Delahunty, et al put the president on a par with emperors and kings in wartime. And yet in this Libya move, what difference is there between Bush and Obama?

Discussion: The Other McCain

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Obama, Libya, and Me — One of the reasons to vote for someone for president — perhaps the key reason, in fact — is good judgment. Hillary Clinton may have taken a lot of flack for her “3 am phone call” ad during the Democratic primaries in 2008, but she was basically right: ideologically …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, The Daily Dish, New Atlanticist and Hit & Run

Frances Martel / Mediaite:

You Saw This Coming: Fox News Announces ‘Mondays With Trump’ On Fox & Friends — Need to add some spice to your Monday morning? Fox & Friends has announced just the thing for the media nerd that simply can't get enough of the most attention-grabbing potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates yet …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, FrumForum, Outside the Beltway, PERRspectives, Gawker, Wonkette, Little Green Footballs, Ben Smith's Blog, News Hounds and The Brody File

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
Donald Trump gets regular Fox News spot

Discussion: Salon and Mediaite

News from the University of Wisconsin-Madison:

Chancellor's message on academic freedom and open records — Note: To view a letter from UW-Madison legal counsel regarding the records request for Professor Cronon's emails, click here. — Members of the campus community, — Two weeks ago UW-Madison received an open records request …

Discussion: TPMDC, JSOnline, Emptywheel and Shakesville

Hillary Chabot / Boston Herald:

Scott Brown blasts Dems' checkup — Senator, kin ‘disturbed’ by health records search — U.S. Sen. Scott Brown — an upstart Blue State Republican in the cross hairs of national Democrats — is lashing out at the party's opposition researchers, accusing them of prying …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, The Lonely Conservative and GayPatriot

Rasmussen Reports:

57% Okay With Government Shutdown If It Leads to Deeper Budget Cuts — A majority of voters are fine with a partial shutdown of the federal government if that's what it takes to get deeper cuts in federal government spending. — A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, Questions and Observations and Weasel Zippers

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Boehner: Government shutdown would cost more money than it would save

Discussion: The Politico, Outside the Beltway and Daily Kos

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Rep. Trent Franks Warns 'I Don't Know That The Country Can Survive' If President Obama Is Reelected — Tomorrow, Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) will hold a press conference to announce if he will run for Arizona's Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ). (Current rumors indicate Franks may pass on a bid.)

Discussion: Arizona Republic, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and DownWithTyranny!

CNN:

Barbour's wife ‘horrified’ at presidential prospects — (CNN)- The wife of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says she is “horrified” that her husband is seriously considering a bid for the presidency. — In an interview with CNN affiliate WLOX in Biloxi, Marsha Barbour admitted the …

Discussion: Washington Wire and HotAirPundit

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Intel analyst to CNN host: “You're just carrying water for Mr. Obama” — No, this isn't an April Fool's Day joke, although one could be forgiven for thinking that they've landed in Bizarro World in watching this interview of Michael Scheuer on CNN yesterday.

Discussion: The Last Tradition

New York Times:

Arianna Huffington's Next Move — You've called your father a newspaperman. What did he do? — I grew up with my father starting small newspapers in Greece. None of them survived. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that I've never had any desire to have Huff Post have a print component.