memeorandum: Gates rebukes European allies in farewell speech (Greg Jaffe/Washington Post)

2:55 AM ET, June 11, 2011

Top Items:

Jana Winter / Fox News:

Exclusive: Weiner's Messages to Teenage Girl in Delaware Draw Police Attention — DEVELOPING: NEW CASTLE, Del. — Police on Friday afternoon came to the home of a 17-year-old high school junior to ask her about direct online communications she has had with Rep. Anthony Weiner.

The Politico:

Anthony Weiner admits contact with girl, 17 — New potential Twitter-related troubles arose for Rep. Anthony Weiner on Friday, after Delaware police reportedly spoke with a 17-year-old high school girl about “direct online communications” she's had with the disgraced congressman.

Discussion: The Note, The Gateway Pundit, Little Green Footballs and Room Eight

Jennifer Preston / New York Times:

Weiner Confirms He Sent Private Messages to Girl, 17 — Representative Anthony D. Weiner said on Friday that he exchanged at least five private messages on Twitter this spring with a 17-year-old Delaware girl who became an admirer of his after hearing him speak during a high school trip to Washington.

Discussion: Breitbart.tv, Ben Smith's Blog, Pajamas Media, Patterico's Pontifications and The Other McCain

I.M Fletcher / New Zealand Conservative:

Sarah Palin is “Evil”? [Update] — [Update] The last sentence seems to have been removed from below the image now. Thanks to whoever listened to my complaint. — That's right; according to whoever writes the copy over at Yahoo! New Zealand, Sarah Palin is “evil”.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Pajamas Media and Top of the Ticket

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:

Alaska Releases Palin E-Mails — Boxes filled with more than 24,000 printed pages of e-mails Sarah Palin sent as governor have been piled onto dollies and teams of reporters have just begun wheeling them away from an Alaska state building for a Twitter-fueled race to determine whether they contain anything interesting.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Guardian, Weigel, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Salon, Runnin' Scared, Weasel Zippers and The Moderate Voice, more at Mediagazer »

John / Power Line:

Another Embarrassment for the Legacy Media — We wrote last night about the frenzy surrounding the State of Alaska's release of emails from Sarah Palin's tenure as governor. Both the New York Times and the Washington Post turned the release into a major media event, enlisting their readers …

Discussion: Fox Nation and Minneapolis Star Tribune

Open Channel / msnbc.com:

Here's your live blog for the Palin email release. New emails are online now. — Thousands of pages of email from Sarah Palin's time as Alaska Governor have been digitized and made public online. Both journalists and the general public pore through her personal correspondence with top aides …

Discussion: Guardian, Gawker, Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers, more at Mediagazer »

ProPublica:
A Reader's Guide to the (Still Coming) Sarah Palin Emails

Discussion: Mother Jones, Hot Air, News Desk, Guardian, Boing Boing, msnbc.com, Washington Post, ABA Journal Daily News, Little Green Footballs, Gawker and Lynn Sweet

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Top 10 Things Texas Gov. Rick Perry Doesn't Want You To Know About Him — With widespread discontent on the right over their current presidential field, all eyes are trained on a likely new entrant: Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R). — Perry, who has been elected governor three times and served …

Discussion: The Reaction and The Political Carnival

Chris Stirewalt / Fox News:
Perry Very Likely to Run

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Firedoglake, Pajamas Media, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Fox Nation

National Enquirer:

EXCLUSIVE: JOHN EDWARDS NAILED BY DEAD WIFE's VIDEO TESTIMONY! — IN a devastating act of ultimate revenge, a dying Elizabeth Edwards recorded a bombshell secret videotape for prosecutors - nailing her cheating husband John as he will stand trial on charges that could land him behind bars for 30 years.

Discussion: Gawker, Althouse, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice and Scared Monkeys

Political Punch:

Senior Gingrich Campaign Staffers Demanded Gingrich End Films and Books: 'We Didn't Sign Up to Be Hucksters' — ABC News' Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) reports: — ABC News has learned that one of the major issues between former Speaker Newt Gingrich and his (now former) …

Discussion: Weigel, Salon and TPMDC

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
The fall of the house of Newt

Discussion: The Note, TPMDC, The Daily Caller, The New Republic and Ben Smith's Blog

Mark Landler / The Caucus:

Qaddafi Writes to Congress — Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi has written to members of Congress thanking them for criticizing President Obama last week over his involvement in the NATO-led military campaign in Libya. — “I want to express my sincere gratitude for your thoughtful discussion of the issues …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Hot Air and Mediaite

Bob Cusack / The Hill:
Libya's Gadhafi writes Congress for cease-fire

Discussion: Washington Post and FrumForum

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

McKinsey refuses White House request for info on study faulting Affordable Care Act — The other day, the consulting company McKinsey released a startling study claiming that 30 percent of employers are planning to stop giving health insurance to their workers as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

Discussion: TPMDC, The Incidental Economist, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos and Paul Krugman

Tony Mauro / The BLT:

Just In: Katyal Resigning from SG's Office at End of Supreme Court Term — The BLT has learned that Principal Deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal today submitted his resignation, effective at the end of the current Supreme Court term — which will likely be at the end of this month.

Discussion: aca litigation blog

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

The Price of Taxophobia: Inefficient Taxes — Ever since Ronald Reagan's election in 1980, American politics has been dominated by the presence of a large and powerful ideological movement that's primarily dedicated to the cause of tax cuts. One result, as shown by my econ team colleagues' suite …

Center for American Progress:
Ten Charts that Prove the United States Is a Low-Tax Country

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Mother Jones

Paul Krugman:

Joe Lieberman's Plan to Make Health Care Worse and More Expensive — So Joe Lieberman is proposing that we raise the Medicare eligibility age. That's a truly cruel idea; as it happens, I know several people who are hanging on, postponing needed medical care, hoping that they can make it to 65 before something terrible happens.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Incidental Economist, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones and Washington Monthly

Todd Gregory / Media Matters for America:

Another Episode Of Stossel , Another Ridiculous Stunt — Thursday night on Fox Business, John Stossel used about seven minutes of his show to host a “debate” between former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson and an actor who impersonates President Obama. — This follows up a similar “debate” …

Discussion: Salon

Tom Fitton / Big Government:

Racial Quota Scandal at Obama Justice Department — Judicial Watch uncovered hundreds of documents from the City of Dayton, Ohio, showing that Department of Justice (DOJ) officials pressured the Dayton Police and Fire Departments to lower testing standards because not enough African-American candidates passed the written exam.

Discussion: Pajamas Media

CNN:

Weiner pens apology to neighbors — (CNN)-See full contents of the note after the jump. — To our neighbors: — Please forgive the inconvenience of all the press outside. — I am sorry for all I have done that has now impacted you. — Hopefully it will soon pass. —Anthony

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and PolitickerNY

Yahoo! News Canada:

China ratings house says US defaulting: report — A Chinese ratings house has accused the United States of defaulting on its massive debt, state media said Friday, a day after Beijing urged Washington to put its fiscal house in order. — “In our opinion, the United States has already been defaulting …

Discussion: Don Surber and Pajamas Media

The Huffington Post:

Tracy Morgan's Homophobic Remarks In Anti-Gay Stand Up Set UPDATE: Morgan Apologizes … Tracey Morgan , Tracy Morgan , Tracy Morgan Homophobic , Tracy Morgan Homophobic Standup Set , Tracy Morgan Kill His Son If He Were Gay , Tracy Morgan Stand Up Comedy , Tracy Morgan Anti-Gay …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Queerty, Shakesville, Towleroad News #gay, Gay Blog, Chortle News RSS, PopEater, Mediaite, Runnin' Scared, The Political Carnival, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gothamist and Pam's House Blend

Geoffrey Dickens / NewsBusters.org blogs:

Matthews: Weiner in Trouble Because His Behavior Offends ‘Culturally Backward’ Christian Conservatives — On Thursday's Hardball, Chris Matthews determined that Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner could be in danger of being forced out of Congress by Blue Dog Dems who face uphill battles …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and Breitbart.tv

John Stossel / FoxBusiness.com:

The Money Hole (TUNE IN THIS SUNDAY @8PM and 11PM on the FOX NEWS CHANNEL) — Fox News gave me an hour for another special. — I titled it after this cute Onion clip: “Should The Government Stop Dumping Money Into A Giant Hole?” — We will soon spend ourselves into oblivion. But finally... movement!

Discussion: Hit & Run and National Review

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's War On Craft Beer — Tucked into Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's (R) much-discussed budget was a little-noticed provision to overhaul the state's regulation of the beer industry. In a state long associated with beer, the provision will make it much more difficult …

Discussion: Raw Replay, The Volokh Conspiracy and Booman Tribune

newsroom.lds.org:

Immigration: Church Issues New Statement — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today issued the following official statement on immigration: — Around the world, debate on the immigration question has become intense. That is especially so in the United States.

Discussion: 24Ahead and Ben Smith's Blog

Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:

Gates rebukes European allies in farewell speech — BERLIN — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates rebuked some of America's staunchest allies Friday, saying the United States has a “dwindling appetite” to serve as the heavyweight partner in the military order that has underpinned the U.S. relationship …

Discussion: americanthinker.com and Eunomia

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:

EXCLUSIVE: Obama extends protections to gay couples under Medicaid — Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (Blade file photo by Michael Key) — The Obama administration is set on Friday to issue policy guidance to states expanding their ability to offer same-sex couples …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos and Feministing

Cathy Lynn Grossman / USA Today:

'I'm a Marxist,' Dalai Lama tells Chinese students — Usually what we hear from the Dalai Lama is an insistant yet soothing voice for compassion and peace. — So Tsering Namgyal, a journalist based in Minneapolis, was jolted by the Dalai Lama's talk to 150 Chinese students this month at the University of Minnesota.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, The Lonely Conservative and FrumForum