memeorandum: Two Men Charged in Plot to Attack Seattle Military Processing Center (The United States Department of Justice)

6:35 PM ET, June 23, 2011

Top Items:

Senator Kyl Drops Out of the Debt Talks, Leaving Zero Republicans at the Table — ABC News' Sunlen Miller (@sunlenmiller) reports: — Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., will also drop out of the debt talks, a source within his office confirms today. The Arizona Republican's office will issue a formal statement shortly.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Dish, YID With LID, Political Punch and HotAirPundit

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Why Eric Cantor won't make the budget deal — (Brendan Hoffman - Getty Images) Eric Cantor is pulling out of the debt-ceiling talks. But he's not saying they should end. In fact, he's saying they've been very successful thus far. “We have a blueprint to move forward to trillions …

Discussion: TPMDC, The Atlantic Online, Sky Dancing, Balloon Juice, Washington Monthly, Weigel and Blue Virginia

Wall Street Journal:

Cantor Pulls Out of Biden-Led Budget Talks — WASHINGTON—House Majority Leader Eric Cantor Thursday said he was pulling out of the bipartisan budget talks headed by Vice President Joe Biden for now because the group has reached an impasse over taxes that only President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) could resolve.

Discussion: Washington Wire, TPMDC, Real Time Economics, Ricochet Conversation Feed, The Note, Hullabaloo, Weigel, RedState, Washington Monthly, Gawker, Felix Salmon, Hot Air, PERRspectives, The Raw Story, Wake up America, New York Magazine, National Review and Talking Points Memo

David Rogers / The Politico:

Deficit talks in danger as Eric Cantor bails — Republicans launched a concerted campaign Thursday to draw President Barack Obama more directly into deficit-reduction talks with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor saying that he will no longer participate in White House talks until the president …

Discussion: CNN, Don Surber, The Hill, Outside the Beltway and The Reid Report

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:
How To (Temporarily) Survive a Debtpocalypse

Discussion: The Caucus, National Review and Washington Monthly

BooMan / Booman Tribune:
Republicans Appear Incapable of Compromise

Discussion: The Hill and Ballot Box

Reuters:
Republicans walk out of budget talks over taxes

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Right Scoop

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Budget Talks Near Collapse as G.O.P. Leader Quits

Discussion: Washington Monthly

James Freeman / Wall Street Journal:

Is Rick Running? — A Republican campaign veteran tells us that Texas Governor Rick Perry has decided to run for President, though the official word from Team Perry is still a definite maybe. — A Republican campaign veteran tells us that Texas Governor Rick Perry has decided to run for President …

Discussion: The Note, Ballot Box, The Atlantic Online, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, USA Today, Taegan Goddard's …, The Daily Caller and The Page

Stephen Moore / Wall Street Journal:

Drafting Rubio — The Republican nomination for president is completely up for grabs, but there's a lot of agreement on who the vice presidential pick should be: freshman senator Marco Rubio. — The Republican nomination for president is completely up for grabs, but there's a lot of agreement …

Discussion: GOP 12, Balloon Juice, The Daily Pulp, Ben Smith's Blog, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and AmSpecBlog

TAPPED:
The Rules of the Game — The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza joins …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Reaction, News Desk and A plain blog about politics

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney leads the way in Florida

Discussion: GOP 12, Flap's Blog and Orlando Sentinel

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

White House threatens to veto Defense bill — The White House on Thursday threatened to veto the 2012 defense appropriations bill. — “The administration strongly opposes a number of provisions in this bill. If a bill is presented to the President that undermines his ability as commander …

Discussion: The Politico

Dan Berman / The Politico:
Enviros, celebs plan W.H. protest

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Pirate's Cove and NewsBusters.org blogs

Robin Bravender / The Politico:
Senate Democrats: Long live the ‘czars’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

EXCLUSIVE — Herman Cain: Jon Stewart Attacked Me 'Because I'm Black' — ThinkProgress filed this report from Iowa Falls, Iowa. — Earlier this month, ThinkProgress reported that GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain told an audience in Pella, Iowa that he would not sign a bill longer than three pages.

Discussion: Salon, Mediaite, The Washington Independent, Fox Nation, The Wire, Outside the Beltway, Wonkette and Gawker

Shelley Murphy / Boston Globe:

Whitey Bulger arrested — Boston gangster surrenders quietly in Calif. after 16 years on run — Fugitive South Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, wanted for 19 murders, was captured last night in Southern California, the result of a tip from FBI television spots that began airing this week.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily What, The New Republic, AmSpecBlog, The Democratic Daily, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, JammieWearingFool and The Impolitic

New York Times:
Whitey Bulger Is Arrested in California

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

Answering Andrew Sullivan on Allison Benedikt — Andrew weighs in on the Benedikt controversy with a thoughtful post, which you should read in full. He writes, at the end: … The outrage comes form the fact that many of us — I would dare say most American Jews — believe that you just don't get to walk away.

Discussion: Water Over Rocks, National Review, The Volokh Conspiracy and JTA

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Jews In America And Israel

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community, Mondoweiss, Water Over Rocks and The Atlantic Online

Adam Clark Estes / The Atlantic Wire:

Confirmed: Obama to Address Same-Sex Marriage Debate Tonight — White House Press Secretary Jay Carney expects President Obama to break his recent silence on same-sex marriage at an LGBT fundraiser tonight. But he doesn't anticipate any surprises, “I'm sure he will mention it,” said Carney to the White House press pool.

Discussion: Gawker, Towleroad News #gay, Good As You, PolitickerNY and Capitol Confidential

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:
Carney: Obama to ‘mention’ N.Y. marriage bill, but won't endorse it

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

Erin Kelly / Arizona Republic:

Afghan drawdown risky, McCain says — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is taking “an unnecessary risk” by withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan at a faster rate than his military generals recommend, Sen. John McCain said Wednesday. — The president should leave the 33,000 troops …

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor and PolitickerNY

Wall Street Journal:
Unplugging the Afghan Surge

Discussion: American Power

New York Post:
So much for real victory - unless, that is, it's merely a political one

Discussion: National Review and msnbc.com

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

President Obama's Afghanistan speech confirms America's decline — The American Century just ended. This was the phrase coined by Henry Luce, which so aptly described America as the modern-day colossus, more powerful than any nation had ever been. Wednesday night, President Obama said that power had reached its limit.

Discussion: Jack & Jill Politics, The Moderate Voice and Mediaite

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
‘Mission accomplished,’ Obama style

Discussion: New York Times and Weekly Standard

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

Why Obama Is Likely to Lose in 2012 — Even a small drop in the share of black voters would wipe out his winning margin in North Carolina. — President Barack Obama is likely to be defeated in 2012. The reason is that he faces four serious threats. The economy is very weak and unlikely …

Discussion: The New Republic, americanthinker.com, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, GOP 12 and Wake up America

Sabato's Crystal Ball:

Democrats Blue as Senate Acquires a Reddish Tinge — Larry J. Sabato and Kyle Kondik, U.Va. Center for Politics — As we take a fresh look at next year's Senate races, one thing is clear: Barring an unexpected reelection landslide by President Obama, Republicans are at least slightly favored to take the Senate.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Huffington Post

The Note:

Mystery Candidate Leads to Walk Out at Ames Straw Poll Land Auction — ABC News' Russell Goldman (@GoldmanRussell) and Arlette Saenz (@ArletteSaenz) report: — A little bit of intrigue at the Ames straw poll land auction... Representatives of Republican candidates are meeting today in Ames …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and USA Today

Robert Kagan / Washington Post:

Military leaders know Obama's decision is a disaster — The press is reporting that the top military leaders have “endorsed” President Obama's Afghan troop withdrawal decision. With all due respect to the fine reporters, that is not the news. Under our Constitution …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Guardian, Pajamas Media, National Review and Swampland

Jack Shafer / Slate Magazine:

Who Is Jose Antonio Vargas? — A prominent journalist comes out as an illegal immigrant, raising additional questions about his real identity. — A prefatory note before I join the Jose Antonio Vargas commentary: I am an immigration dove, to pluck a pungent phrase from today's Twitter-stream.

Discussion: SFGate, Mother Jones, The New Republic and Democracy in America, more at Mediagazer »

The United States Department of Justice:

Two Men Charged in Plot to Attack Seattle Military Processing Center … SEATTLE - Two men were arrested late last night and are charged by criminal complaint with terrorism and firearms related charges. The complaint alleges that Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, aka Joseph Anthony Davis, 33 …

Discussion: Reuters and The Investigative Project …

James Bovard / Wall Street Journal:

The Food-Stamp Crime Wave — The number of food-stamp recipients has soared to 44 million from 26 million in 2007. Not surprisingly, fraud and abuse are rampant. — Millionaires are now legally entitled to collect food stamps as long as they have little or no monthly income.

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Moonbattery and Gawker

Robert Stacy McCain / AmSpecBlog:

Gingrich: ‘Strategic Blunder’ for Palin to Mock Obama as ‘Community Organizer’ — Republicans, including Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani, made a “strategic blunder” by making a joke of Barack Obama's work as a community organizer, Newt Gingrich says in a new book about the radical ACORN group.

Discussion: Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and The Other McCain

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Palin Sudan trip a no-go — (CNN) - Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin canceled a July trip to Sudan due to “scheduling problems,” a source with knowledge of the trip confirmed to CNN Thursday. — Palin was scheduled to travel to the southern part of the war-savaged country with Franklin Graham …

Discussion: The Politico, Little Green Footballs, The New Civil Rights Movement, Ballot Box and Jezebel

Heidi Przybyla / Bloomberg:

Ryan Medicare Plan Would Make Americans Worse by 57%-34%, Poll Shows — Representative Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman who has become a star in the Republican Party with his plan to overhaul Medicare, is emerging as a polarizing figure among Americans.

Discussion: Reuters, Hot Air, Comments from Left Field, Firedoglake, Washington Post and Healthwatch

Dan Berman / Reuters:

W.H. to release 30M barrels of oil — The Obama administration will release 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to offset oil supply disruptions in the Middle East, the Energy Department announced Thursday morning. — Other International Energy Agency countries …

Discussion: The Note, Hot Air, Datechguy's Blog, CNN, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and HotAirPundit

Michele Chabin / USA Today:

U.S. Jews not able to fly on Delta flights to Saudi Arabia — JERUSALEM — Jews and Israelis, or passengers carrying any non-Islamic article of faith, will not be able to fly Delta Air Lines flights from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia under Delta's new partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines.

Discussion: Runnin' Scared