memeorandum: Remarks by the President on the Middle East and North Africa State Department, Washington, DC (The White House)

7:05 AM ET, May 20, 2011

Top Items:

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Obama ‘disrespected’ Israel, threw it ‘under the bus,’ says Romney — President Obama “disrespected” Israel and threw it “under the bus” in a wide-ranging speech on the Middle East on Thursday, GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney charged. — Romney strongly criticized Obama, who …

The White House:

Remarks by the President on the Middle East and North Africa State Department, Washington, DC — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much. Thank you. Please, have a seat. Thank you very much. I want to begin by thanking Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Political Punch, AlterNet, AmSpecBlog, Balloon Juice, NO QUARTER, The Gateway Pundit, The Huffington Post, The Daily Dish, Daily Kos, PoliPundit.com, Israel Matzav and Daniel Pipes

New York Times:

Obama Sees '67 Borders as Starting Point for Peace Deal — WASHINGTON — Seeking to harness the seismic political change still unfolding in the Arab world, President Obama on Thursday publicly called for the borders prevailing before the 1967 Israeli-Arab war to be the starting point for talks …

John / Power Line:

Barack Obama, Neocon? — President Obama delivered a speech on the Middle East at the State Department today. If one takes it seriously, it signified—with one key exception—Obama's transformation into a virtual clone of his predecessor. President Bush's democracy agenda …

Facebook:

PMO Announcement following President Obama's speech — Israel appreciates President Obama's commitment to peace. Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians, the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Weasel Zippers, YID With LID, Wizbang, Freedom's Lighthouse and Atlas Shrugs

The Atlantic Online:

Nothing New in the Idea That '67 Borders Should Guide Peace Talks (UPDATED) — I'm amazed at the amount of insta-commentary out there suggesting that the President has proposed something radical and new by declaring that Israel's 1967 borders should define — with land-swaps — the borders of a Palestinian state.

Discussion: New York Times, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Booman Tribune, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Eunomia, Outside the Beltway, Associated Press, The Daily Dish, Fox News and Little Green Footballs

BBC:

Obama insists 1967 ‘basis’ for Israel-Palestinian peace — Barack Obama: “Let's get started on a conversation about territory and about security” — US President Barack Obama has insisted that the “1967 border” must be the “basis for negotiations” to set up a future Palestinian state.

Discussion: TPMDC

Ethan Bronner / New York Times:
Netanyahu Responds Icily to Obama Remarks

Discussion: The Lede, Yglesias and The Daily Dish

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
Obama alters U.S. policy, tells Israel to start with '67 borders

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Taylor Marsh, ThinkProgress, The Daily Beast, The Foundry, FrumForum, Hot Air, Firedoglake, The Politico and Moe Lane

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Pawlenty: Obama's Israel proposal a ‘disaster waiting to happen’

Discussion: RADAMISTO, Ben Smith's Blog and The Hill

Simon Wiesenthal Center:
SWC: Israel Should Reject a Return to 1967 ‘Auschwitz’ Borders

Discussion: The Hill

Walter Russell Mead / Via Meadia:
Obama Embraces His Inner Bush

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Neptunus Lex, TigerHawk, The Daily Dish, CFR.org and The Atlantic Online

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Obama's Cairo II speech: Cheering democratization ... in general; Update: No, Obama didn't …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Associated Press, The Daily Dish, Pirate's Cove, Questions and Observations, Mediaite, The Other McCain and Jihad Watch

David Weigel / Weigel:

Willie Nelson Retracts Gary Johnson Endorsement — Having written quite a few items about Gary Johnson's presidential bid, it saddens me that this is easily the most coverage I've ever seen of it. The co-founder of Nelson's Teapot Party explains: … Kucinich might be screwed out of his seat …

Discussion: Mediaite

The Atlantic Online:
Willie Nelson Endorses Gary Johnson for President

Discussion: Salon

Steve / Teapot Party Blog:
Willie Nelson Changes His Tune

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Left Coast Rebel, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, TPMDC, Ben Smith's Blog, Hotline On Call and Hit & Run

Ryan J. Reilly / TPMDC:

Cornyn: Democrats To Blame For Republican Filibuster Of Goodwin Liu — Republicans just filibustered President Barack Obama's judicial nominee Goodwin Liu, and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) says Democrats should take the blame. — “I argued that everyone should get an up-or-down vote but we lost that battle …

Discussion: ACS Blog, The Reality-Based Community and Democratic Strategist

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
G.O.P. Blocks Judicial Nominee in a Sign of Battles to Come

Discussion: CNN and The Page

Meredith Shiner / The Politico:
Senate GOP filibusters Goodwin Liu

Discussion: The BLT, Wall Street Journal, Balkinization, Weasel Zippers, The Hill, iOwnTheWorld.com, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Doug Ross

Sen. Mitch McConnell / Judicial:
Why the Senate should reject Goodwin Liu

Discussion: Balkinization, The Note and Moe Lane

The Atlantic Online:

Gingrich: I Wasn't Talking About Ryan's Plan on ‘Meet the Press’ — Newt Gingrich said today that he wasn't referring to Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wisc.) Medicare plan when he uttered the words “right-wing social engineering” last Sunday — a comment that has earned the former House speaker …

Discussion: The Caucus, Swampland, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, Associated Press, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, RADAMISTO, Weasel Zippers and Left Coast Rebel

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
Gingrich Tells Limbaugh That His Phrase ‘Right-Wing Social Engineering’ Was Not A Reference To Ryan Plan

Discussion: TPMDC, Firedoglake, USA Today and Daily Kos

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Nancy Pelosi: 'We have a plan. It's called Medicare.'

Discussion: National Review, The Confluence, Speaker, Hot Air, Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality …, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo and Eschaton

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Gingrich: ‘And By The Way, It Was Not A Reference To Paul Ryan’ (AUDIO)

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Washington Monthly and The Daily Caller

People.com:

Sarah Palin's Son Track Gets Married! — Duane and Elizabeth Hanson, Britta Hanson, Track Palin, Sarah and Todd Palin — The Palin family is growing! — Sarah Palin's eldest son, Track, 22, recently married his high school sweetheart, Britta Hanson, 21, in a small ceremony in Hatcher Pass, Alaska.

Discussion: The Note, Conservatives4Palin, The Blaze and Gawker

Michael A. Memoli / Los Angeles Times:
Sarah Palin: Newt Gingrich fell into ‘lamestream media’ trap

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Opinion L.A. and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Juliet Macur / New York Times:

Armstrong Accused of Drug Use by Ex-Teammate — The cyclist Tyler Hamilton, one of Lance Armstrong's former teammates on the United States Postal Service team, said he saw Armstrong inject himself with the banned performance-enhancing drug EPO “many, many times” to win the Tour de France …

Discussion: TalkLeft and New York Magazine

CBS News:

Ex-Teammate: I saw Lance Armstrong use EPO — Tyler Hamilton tells Scott Pelley that Armstrong used banned drug in 1999, the first year he won the “Tour de France” — BY: — Have Your Say - Tweet It Retweet It - More — A former teammate of perhaps the world's greatest cyclist …

Discussion: The Lede

Kasie Hunt / The Politico:

Huntsman thronged in N.H. debut — HANOVER, N.H. — Jon Huntsman's first stop on the New Hampshire campaign trail Thursday was billed as a cozy meet-and-greet at a small-town restaurant. — It ended up as a big media circus. — TV cameras and dozens of writers and photographers …

Discussion: CNN and The Note

Jane Perlez / New York Times:

China Gives Pakistan 50 Fighter Jets — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — China has agreed to immediately provide 50 JF-17 fighter jets to Pakistan, a major outcome of a visit by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to Beijing this week, Pakistani officials said Thursday.

Discussion: Gawker, FrumForum, New York Magazine, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and USA Today

Wall Street Journal:

No Pink Slip for Ronald McDonald — McDonald's Corp. is standing by its clown. — The 48-year-old, red-haired mascot has come under fire from health-care professionals and consumer groups who, in recent days, have asked the fast-food chain to retire Ronald McDonald.

Discussion: Jezebel and HotAirPundit

Laura Myers / Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Judge overturns Miller decision on open special election … CARSON CITY — A District Court judge on Thursday overruled a decision by Secretary of State Ross Miller to allow any qualified candidate to run in a Sept. 13 special election to fill a U.S. House vacancy in Nevada.

Discussion: Ballot Box and Hotline On Call

Ynetnews:

Palestinian Facebook group urges rushing of Israel's borders — New pro-Palestinian group on social media site urges Arabs to march on Israel's borders following coming Friday's prayers — Pro-Palestinian activists have formed a new Facebook group calling for mass marches on Israel's borders this coming Friday.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, NewsReal Blog, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and Israel Matzav

Wall Street Journal:

Stephen Colbert's Free Speech Problem — The comedian runs up against campaign-finance law in an attempt to lampoon the Supreme Court. — Comedy Central funnyman Stephen Colbert, like most of his friends and allies on the left, thinks that last year's Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. FEC is, literally, ridiculous.