memeorandum: Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigns as head of IMF (Howard Schneider/Washington Post)

9:20 AM ET, May 19, 2011

Top Items:

Gerry Mullany / New York Times:

Dominique Strauss-Kahn Resigns From I.M.F. — Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned Wednesday as head of the International Monetary Fund after explosive allegations that he had sexually attacked a cleaning lady in a midtown Manhattan hotel room. — “It is with infinite sadness that I feel compelled today …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, Bloomberg, New Atlanticist, Scared Monkeys, TalkLeft, The Reaction and NBC New York

New York Times:

A Favorite Emerges for Helm of I.M.F. — PARIS — The French finance minister, Christine Lagarde, was on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos this January when her usual smile turned into a frown. Next to her, Robert E. Diamond Jr., chief executive of Barclays and one of the most powerful bankers …

Discussion: Time, New York Magazine, The Page and FrumForum

Howard Schneider / Washington Post:
Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigns as head of IMF

Discussion: New York Times, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »

Bruce Crumley / Time:
Smoke and Fire: Why France Was Silent About Strauss-Kahn's Womanizing

Discussion: Sky Dancing, ABCNEWS, American Spectator, The Huffington Post, Instapundit and Top World Stories

Fay Schlesinger / Daily Mail:
The floodgates open: Strauss-Kahn's tangled love life and the women who claim he abused them

Discussion: FrumForum

New York Post:
IMF accuser in apt. for HIV vics

Discussion: Carol's Closet, Fox Nation, The Camp Of The Saints, Scared Monkeys, Feministing, Healthwatch, Vox Popoli, The Gateway Pundit and New York Times

iowahawk:
“Justice”? I Spit on Your “Justice” — [ed note: Found!

Discussion: POWIP, American Times, Alas, a Blog, FrumForum and The Daily Beast

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

NBC's David Gregory Defends Medicare Question As Newt Gingrich Spokesman Blasts Media ‘Minions’ … NEW YORK — When Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) sits down on “Meet the Press” this Sunday, he can expect to be asked about former House Speaker Newt Gingrich comparing his Medicare voucher plan to “right-wing social engineering.”

Ross Douthat:
The Lessons of Gingrich v. Ryan

Discussion: Associated Press, National Review, The Huffington Post, Commentary Magazine, Eunomia and Mediaite

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Gingrich spokesman: The Beltway “literati” …

Discussion: Vox Popoli, Ben Smith's Blog, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Beast, Daily Pundit, The Blaze, Hit & Run, Confederate Yankee and Outside the Beltway

Benjy Sarlin / TPMDC:
Newt Spokesman Pens Epic Poem In Tribute To Gingrich's Heroic Crusade Against The Media

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Jesus' General, Oliver Willis, Lean Left, Hullabaloo, Crooked Timber and Ben Smith's Blog

Jake Sherman / The Politico:
Cantor tells Gingrich he's out of line

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, Weasel Zippers, The Hill and FrumForum

Jason Burke / Guardian:

Osama bin Laden praises Arab spring in posthumously released tape — Bin Laden praises protest movements across Middle East and predicts revolutions will spread — A tape recorded by Osama bin Laden before his death in a US special forces raid earlier this month has been released posthumously onto Islamist militant websites.

Discussion: Wonkette, Politics Plus, New York Magazine and AMERICAblog News

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
President will call for a new chapter of support for Arab Spring

Discussion: The Politico

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
Bibi and Barack — Reading the headlines from the Middle East …

Discussion: Israel Matzav and Elder of Ziyon

The Politico:
Hamas poisons peace process

Discussion: Washington Post and Israel Matzav

Agence France Presse:

Peter Fonda calls Obama ‘traitor’ at Cannes — CANNES, France — Peter Fonda launched a four-letter attack on US President Barack Obama at the Cannes film festival on Wednesday, calling him a traitor over the handling of the aftermath of the Gulf oil spill.

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, Weasel Zippers and Pajamas Media

Jonathan Capehart / Washington Post:

Cornel West on Obama is no better than a birther — Anyone who knows me, and knows me well, knows that I have little patience for the “Blacker than thou” crowd. These are the self-appointed guardians of what it means to be black — a decidedly limited and ignorant perspective …

Discussion: Sky Dancing, The only adult in the room, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, NewsReal Blog, Adam Serwer, AlterNet and odd time signatures

Krissah Thompson / Washington Post:
Cornel West's criticism of Obama sparks debate among African Americans

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Suburban Guerrilla, msnbc.com, The Nation and The Reaction

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

How Not to Write Satire — An Esquire writer lobs an egg at the birthers, but the yolk's on him. — “In a stunning development one day after the release of Where's the Birth Certificate? The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President, by Dr. Jerome Corsi …

Discussion: WorldNetDaily

Mark Warren / Esquire:
BREAKING: Jerome Corsi's Birther Book Pulled from Shelves!

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Media Matters for America, National Review, Wonkette, Liberal Values, The Daily Caller, Runnin' Scared, Outside the Beltway, Salon, American Power, Towleroad News #gay, Gawker, Vox Popoli, Pajamas Media and Moe Lane

Political Punch:
Obama Campaign Hawks Birth Certificate T-Shirt, Campaign Claims Its A “Mobile Version” …

Discussion: GayPatriot, Hot Air, Nice Deb, Weasel Zippers, The Blaze, Truthdig and Pajamas Media

Catherine Rampell / New York Times:

Many With New College Degree Find the Job Market Humbling — The individual stories are familiar. The chemistry major tending bar. The classics major answering phones. The Italian studies major sweeping aisles at Wal-Mart. — Now evidence is emerging that the damage wrought …

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Mother Jones

Liz Goodwin / Yahoo! News:

Loud cell-phone talker removed from quiet car by police — A woman who was escorted off an Amtrak train by police this weekend after she allegedly refused to stop talking loudly on her cell-phone has the Internet cheering her fate. — Civilians and quiet-car champions are supporting …

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, KOMO News, AMERICAblog News, Five Feet of Fury, Gawker, iOwnTheWorld.com and The Gateway Pundit

Daily Mail:

You idiot! Shamed politician John Edwards rages at mistress Rielle Hunter for not destroying sex tape — Furious John Edwards has allegedly vented his anger at mistress Rielle Hunter over the steamy sex video they made during his White House run. — In an amazing outburst …

Discussion: AMERICAN DIGEST and Don Surber

The White House:

President Obama Nominates Justice Morgan Christen for the United States Court of Appeals — WASHINGTON- Today, President Obama nominated Justice Morgan Christen for the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. — “I am proud to nominate this outstanding candidate to serve …

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, The Politico and Verum Serum

Joshua Rhett Miller / Fox News:

CDC Warns Public to Prepare for ‘Zombie Apocalypse’ — Are you prepared for the impending zombie invasion? — That's the question posed by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention in a Monday blog posting gruesomely titled, “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse.”

Discussion: Firedoglake, msnbc.com, The Blaze, Mediaite, Liberal Values, The TrogloPundit, Gizmodo and Gawker

Debbie Siegelbaum / The Hill:

Don't repeat Osama raid, says Feinstein — Pakistan should be left to deal with the new leader of al Qaeda if intelligence shows he is there, the chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said Wednesday. — Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the U.S. should not repeat …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and FrumForum

John T. Bennett / The Hill:

Gates: ‘No evidence’ Pakistani leaders knew bin Laden was there — U.S. officials have “no evidence” that current Pakistani leaders knew Osama bin Laden had been holed up near their capital city for half a decade, but they suspect someone — perhaps a retired official — did know about the al Qaeda leader's whereabouts.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Jason Mattera / Human Events:

Socialist Senator Sanders Hawks His Book Like an Evil Capitalist — Vermont's Sen. Bernie Sanders is a different kind of socialist: the kind who will partake in the capitalist venture of freely exchanging money for products... at least when it comes to selling his own book.

Discussion: Freedom's Lighthouse

Associated Press:

Dick Cheney's memoir will have ‘very strong views,’ daughter Liz says — NEW YORK — Dick Cheney has finished his memoir, according to his daughter, and the book is scheduled to come out on Aug. 30. — Liz Cheney said that the former vice president's manuscript was turned in at the beginning of the month.

Discussion: Wizbang