memeorandum: The Civil War Isn't Tragic Cont. (Ta-Nehisi Coates/The Atlantic Online)

12:40 AM ET, August 17, 2011

Top Items:

Rick Perry And Texas Job Numbers — Full disclosure: I don't like Rick Perry for our next president. I have my reasons that aren't worth going into here. However, when I was watching the GOP debate and pro-Perry people started bringing up Rick Perry's job numbers as a cudgel against other candidates …

Discussion: Questions and Observations, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Pajamas Media, Chicago Boyz, Grim's Hall, Wizbang, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Campaign 2012, The Daily Dish and Wake up America

Dave Levinthal / The Politico:

Stephen Colbert loses treasurer to Rick Perry — No joke: Presidential candidate Rick Perry and comedian Stephen Colbert, who last week barraged Iowa voters with advertisements urging voters to support “Rick Parry,” shared the same political committee treasurer - until they didn't.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Mediaite, Gawker and The Raw Story

Brent Budowsky / Pundits Blog:

Rick Perry will self-destruct within 30 days — Rick Perry talks treason about the Federal Reserve Board. Treason is a capital offense. Is Perry suggesting the death penalty for Federal Reserve Board members? — Rick Perry says Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke will have a tough time if he goes to Texas.

Discussion: CNN, The Note, Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune, The POH Diaries, Political Punch and ThinkProgress

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Wire:

Perry Points to ‘Idiotic’ U.S. Rule That Doesn't Exist — For a small-government conservative on the presidential campaign stump like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a new federal regulation forcing farmers to get commercial drivers licenses would make a perfect example of Barack Obama's Washington run amok.

Discussion: SFGate, TPMDC and Mother Jones

NationalJournal.com:

White House Warns Perry Should Watch What He Says — White House press secretary Jay Carney chastised Texas Gov. Rick Perry for suggesting on the campaign trail that some economic policy decisions the Federal Reserve is considering border on “treasonous.” — Speaking at a campaign stop …

New York Times:

Obama Presses His Case in Crucial Iowa, but Perry Is Close on His Heels — PEOSTA, Iowa — President Obama pulled up to a bucolic community college here in his $1.1 million black armored bus on Tuesday and spent much of the day closeted in a conference with farmers and small-business owners …

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Hot Air

Peter Wehner / Commentary Magazine:
Re: Rick Perry's Serious Unforced Error

Discussion: New York Times, The Politico, Weekly Standard, Mediaite, TPMDC, dallasmorningviewsblog …, ThinkProgress, Red Racing Horses, The Caucus, AmSpecBlog, Outside the Beltway and New York Magazine

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Karl Rove Piles On Rick Perry: Bernanke Line ‘Not A Presidential Statement’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Campaign 2012, DownWithTyranny!, AMERICAblog News and Washington Monthly

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Rick Perry, the ‘no apologies’ candidate

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and Reuters

The Atlantic Online: Fighting Perception of Weakness, Obama Puts Onus on Lawmakers

Political Punch:
White House on Gov. Perry's Bernanke Comments: ‘Threatening the Fed Chairman is Probably Not a Good Idea’

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, TPMDC and The Note

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Rick Perry Thinks ‘Printing More Money’ Is ‘Almost Treason’ Because It Would Help The Economy And Thus Obama

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Booman Tribune, Firedoglake, Talking Points Memo and The Note

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Rick Perry campaign not disavowing implied threat to Bernanke

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Rick Perry suggests predator drones for border patrol

Discussion: The New Republic, Top of the Ticket, The Jawa Report and nation.foxnews.com

Neil Irwin / Washington Post:
Analysis: Perry's criticism of money-printing may portend more political pressure for Fed

Discussion: msnbc.com, TheGazette, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress and Balloon Juice

Democracy in America:
Interrogating the “Texas Miracle”

Discussion: The Huffington Post, theGrio, TheMoneyIllusion and Erica Grieder

Rasmussen Reports:

GOP Primary: Perry 29%, Romney 18%, Bachmann 13% — Texas Governor Rick Perry, the new face in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, has jumped to a double-digit lead over Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann with the other announced candidates trailing even further behind.

Discussion: Power Line, Campaign 2012, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, TPMDC, Red Dog Report, Hot Air, Washington Wire, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, GOP 12, National Review, Red Racing Horses, HotAirPundit and Don Surber

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Obama, GOP candidates all unpopular — Ohio's a pretty good microcosm for an unhappy nation right now. — Barack Obama's approval rating in the state right now is 44%, with 52% of voters disapproving of him. His numbers with independents are horrid at 34/59.

Discussion: Firedoglake and GOP 12

Rich Lowry / National Review:
Let the Perry Hatred Begin

Discussion: Hot Air, Daily Kos, Sister Toldjah, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Politico

Adam C. Smith / The Politico:
Perry diving into Florida

Discussion: CNN

Sean Trende / Real Clear Politics:
Romney vs. Perry: How the Numbers (and the Calendar) Stack Up

Discussion: Grim's Hall, Race 4 2012 and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Max Pizarro / Politicker NJ: Sources: NJ GOP establishment worried about general election if Perry beats Romney

Larry O'Connor / Breitbart.tv:

NBC News Caught Red Handed ‘Selectively Editing’ & ‘ Doctoring’ Video to Smear Gov Perry as Racist — Ed Schultz used a deceptive edit to misinform his audience about the content of Gov. Rick Perry's speech in Iowa yesterday. Schultz claimed that Gov. Perry was calling President Obama a …

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, NewsBusters.org blogs, Weasel Zippers, Patterico's Pontifications, The Sundries Shack, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Campaign 2012, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller, theblogprof and RedState

Larry O'Connor / Breitbart.tv:

NBC News' Ed Schultz Admits Selective Edit Deception; Not False Racism Charge — On tonight's “The Ed Show” on MSNBC, Ed Schultz admitted he was in error in deceptively editing a clip of Gov. Rick Perry, removing the meaning and context of the governor's statement. The deception was first revealed here at breitbart.tv.

Discussion: RedState, NewsBusters.org blogs and HotAirPundit

Liz Goodwin / Yahoo! News:

Silicon Valley billionaire funding creation of artificial libertarian islands — Pay Pal founder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel has given $1.25 million to an initiative to create floating libertarian countries in international waters, according to a profile of the billionaire in Details magazine.

Discussion: Gawker, Dean's World, Wonkette, Donklephant, The Reaction, LewRockwell.com Blog, Roger Ailes, Althouse and Balloon Juice

Details:
THE BILLIONAIRE KING OF TECHTOPIA

Discussion: Hot Air and The Raw Story

David Jackson / USA Today:

Obama clashes with Tea Party member — President Obama came face-to-face with the Tea Party last night in Iowa, clashing with members during and after a town hall last night. — Ryan Rhodes, a group leader in the Hawkeye State, stood up and shouted a question during a town hall asking …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Yahoo! News, nation.foxnews.com, Gretawire, Wonkette, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Jawa Report, The Iowa Republican, The Daily Dish, Don Surber, The Lonely Conservative and NewsBusters.org blogs

Abe Sauer / The Awl:
What I Learned in Two Years at the Tea Party

Discussion: Wonkette

Chris Good / The Atlantic Online:
Video of the Day: Obama Confronted by Tea Partiers in Iowa

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Mediaite

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

Ryan for President? — Paul Ryan is in the final stages of deciding on a presidential run. — Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan is strongly considering a run for president. Ryan, who has been quietly meeting with political strategists to discuss a bid over the past three months …

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Herman Cain: Impeaching Obama would be ‘a great thing’ — Asked on a conference call with bloggers this evening why Republicans can't just impeach Barack Obama, Herman Cain answers that it's mostly a matter of legislative politics, POLITICO's Elizabeth Titus reports:

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Outside the Beltway and HotAirPundit

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:

The Civil War Isn't Tragic Cont. — Anyone who's going to deal in Civil War studies really needs to take a moment to grapple with James McPherson's This Mighty Scourge. I doubt that this was McPherson's intent, but the first essay in the book is really what set me on the path of questioning the …

Discussion: Crooked Timber

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Sentiment moving against Walker recall — Public sentiment in Wisconsin is moving against a recall of Scott Walker. Walker though remains very unpopular and if Russ Feingold chose to run against him in a recall election he would find himself in deep trouble.

Discussion: Via Meadia, TPMDC, Campaign 2012, The Raw Story, Hot Air, Firedoglake, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos and Taegan Goddard's …

CNN:

TRENDING: All shook up: Bachmann flubs Elvis birthday — (CNN)-Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann stepped all over Elvis Presley's blue suede shoes while stumping Tuesday, when she mistakenly wished “The King” a “Happy Birthday.” — August 16 actually marks the 34th anniversary of Presley's death.

Discussion: Mediaite, TPMDC, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Pirate's Cove and Campaign 2012

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Video: Michele Bachmann gives Elvis birthday wishes on the anniversary of his death

Discussion: The Daily What, Salon and Gawker

Aaron Carroll / The Incidental Economist:

Malpractice Reform in Texas: a Review — This is mostly from an old post (at my old blog), but with the entry of Gov. Perry into the race, it seems like time to wheel it out. — Over a year ago, a reader emailed me the following: … On Sunday, Gov. Perry said: … Where to start?

Discussion: Mother Jones and ThinkProgress

Sarah Kliff / Washington Post:
Why Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured people in the U.S.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Marginal Revolution

New York Times:

Top Tabloid Editors Endorsed Hacking, Letter Says — LONDON — A high-profile parliamentary panel investigating phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's now defunct News of the World tabloid released new allegations Tuesday suggesting that, despite assertions to the contrary by the newspaper's owners and editors …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Shakesville and Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »