memeorandum: Obama Calls on Syria's Assad to Step Down, Freezes Assets (Kirit Radia/ABCNEWS)

1:10 PM ET, August 18, 2011

Top Items:

A.Killough / CNN:

TRENDING: Perry heckled as campaign shifts into new phase — Portsmouth, New Hampshire (CNN) - Rick Perry was greeted by protesters Thursday morning as he met with voters at a Seacoast cafe, a clear sign that the 2012 campaign for the presidency has entered a new phase.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, New York Magazine and The Daily Dish

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Perry faces some jeers, pointed questions in NH appearance — Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) faced some jeers and tough questions during a meet-and-greet on Thursday in New Hampshire. — During another day of stumping in the first-in-the-nation primary state, Perry was met by supporters, but also faced jeers from some in the crowd.

Wall Street Journal:

Perry's Public Service — Behold, a hard-money Texas politician. — All the world's right-thinkers are denouncing Rick Perry for suggesting this week that Texans would get “pretty ugly” with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke if he guns the money supply any more between now and the 2012 election.

Discussion: GOP 12, Betsy's Page, Rhymes With Right, The Daily Dish and New York Post

Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:

Rick Perry calls global warming an unproven, costly theory — The Texas governor says scientists have ‘manipulated data’ to win research dollars. — Reporting from Bedford, N.H.— Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday reaffirmed his view that global warming is an unproven scientific theory …

Discussion: New York Times, NewsBusters.org blogs and No More Mister Nice Blog

John M. Broder / New York Times:

Bashing E.P.A. Is New Theme in G.O.P. Race — WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is emerging as a favorite target of the Republican presidential candidates, who portray it as the very symbol of a heavy-handed regulatory agenda imposed by the Obama administration that they say is strangling the economy.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Caucus, NewsBusters.org blogs, msnbc.com, Washington Post, Des Moines Register, Austin American-Statesman, Politics and Daily Kos

The Note:
Rick Perry Encounters Protesters In New Hampshire, Gets Grilled On Social Security

Discussion: ThinkProgress

New York Post:
Talking Texan — Texas Gov. Rick Perry had some choice words …

Discussion: Boston Herald, Hot Air and Yahoo! Finance

Lisa Lerer / Bloomberg:
Subdued Perry Courts Support in New Hampshire After Barb Aimed at Bernanke

Discussion: Boston Globe, GOP 12, msnbc.com and Washington Post

Louise Story / New York Times:

U.S. Inquiry Is Said to Focus on S.&P. Ratings — The Justice Department is investigating whether the nation's largest credit ratings agency, Standard & Poor's, improperly rated dozens of mortgage securities in the years leading up to the financial crisis, according to two people interviewed …

Justin Elliott / Salon:

“Have you ever had sex with Rick Perry?” — An Austin Ron Paul supporter has taken out a full-page ad in the local alt weekly newspaper seeking any “stripper ... escort ... or ‘young hottie’” who has slept with Rick Perry, part of his single-minded jihad against the presidential candidate.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Wonkette, Mediaite, Taegan Goddard's … and Althouse

Kirit Radia / ABCNEWS:

Obama Calls on Syria's Assad to Step Down, Freezes Assets — President Obama today called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, as his crackdown on the country's anti-government uprising continues to escalate. — “The future of Syria must be determined by its people …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Taylor Marsh

Mary Lu Carnevale / Washington Wire:
Obama's Statement on Syria

Discussion: New York Times and Campaign 2012

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Obama calls for Assad to resign, freezes Syrian assets

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner, New York Times, NO QUARTER and Outside the Beltway

CNNMoney.com:

Bachmann: I'll bring back $2 gas — NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — President Michele Bachmann has a promise: $2 gas. — “Under President Bachmann you will see gasoline come down below $2 a gallon again,” Bachmann told a crowd Tuesday in South Carolina. “That will happen.”

Discussion: USA Today, ThinkProgress, The Political Carnival, Wonkette, The Politico and Let Freedom Ring Blog

Jim Davenport / Illegal Immigration:
Michele Bachmann plays up immigration, hits Warren Buffett

Discussion: EconLog, Hit & Run and nhinsider.com

Jacob Weisberg / Vogue.com:

Jon Huntsman: The Outsider — Kate Moss: — Kiss Me, Kate — Photographed by Annie Leibovtiz — If you're looking for the most conservative region in America, upcountry South Carolina would be a strong contender. Greenville, the area's biggest city, is home base to Senator Jim DeMint …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Campaign 2012

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:

West: I'll lead you off ‘plantation’ — Rep. Allen West says he is a “modern-day Harriet Tubman” who wants to lead black voters away from the “plantation” of the Democratic Party. — There is a “21st century plantation” of African-American voters unwaveringly supporting Democrats …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Romanticpoet's Weblog, The Political Carnival and Breitbart.tv

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

New Low of 26% Approve of Obama on the Economy — Ratings on Afghanistan and foreign affairs have also declined — PRINCETON, NJ — A new low of 26% of Americans approve of President Barack Obama's handling of the economy, down 11 percentage points since Gallup last measured it in mid …

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
71% disapprove Obama on economy

Discussion: Gallup, Right Wing News and The Heritage Foundation

weaskamerica.com:

Top 10 Least Wanted — “Oh, there's nothing halfway about the Iowa way to treat you, — When we treat you which we may not do at all. — There's an Iowa kind of special chip-on-the-shoulder attitude. — We've never been without that we recall. -"Iowa Stubborn" from The Music Man

Discussion: GOP 12, Politics in Minnesota and The Political Carnival

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:

Coburn: Good thing I can't pack a gun — Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) ripped his colleagues during a tour of northeast Oklahoma, calling them “career elitists,” “cowards” and said, “It's just a good thing I can't pack a gun on the Senate floor.” — Coburn's gun-on-the- floor comment comes less …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill and ThinkProgress

New York Post:

Chris muscles Mike on 9/11 invite for pol — Hot-headed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie yesterday threw his weight around to get his way for the upcoming 10th-anniver- — sary 9/11 ceremony after blasting Mayor Bloomberg for excluding ex-Jersey Gov. Donald DiFrancesco from the solemn event.

Discussion: Gothamist, City Room, New York Magazine and GOP 12, more at Mediagazer »

A.Killough / CNN:

O'Donnell walks out of CNN interview — (CNN) - Christine O'Donnell, the former Delaware GOP Senate candidate, walked off the set of CNN's “Piers Morgan Tonight” Wednesday when asked about her views on sexual abstinence and gay marriage. — “I'm not talking about policies.

Discussion: USA Today and The Moderate Voice

New York Times:

Wrong Answers in Britain — Nothing can justify or excuse the terrifying wave of violent lawlessness that swept through London and other British cities earlier this month. Hardworking people in struggling neighborhoods were its principal victims. Public support for racial and ethnic coexistence …

Discussion: National Review, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Guardian and Telegraph

Carl / Israel Matzav:

Liveblog: Coordinated terror attacks near Egyptian border — This is a liveblog of the events currently going on near the Egyptian border in the area of Eilat. There are three events. — 1. ‘Palestinian’ terrorists shot at an Egged bus - number 392 - from Beer Sheva to Eilat.

Discussion: CNN, The Jawa Report, Hot Air and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Amelia Hill / Guardian:

Phone hacking: News of the World Hollywood reporter is arrested — James Desborough is arrested by London police investigating UK hacking allegations — James Desborough, an award-winning reporter at the former News of the World newspaper, has been arrested by officers investigating the phone-hacking scandal.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Deadline.com, New York Magazine, AMERICAblog News and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

Scott Johnson / Power Line:

Malcolm's moment — As I read Paul Rahe's recent Ricochet post “Rioting for fun and profit,” it occurred to me that events in England had made this Malcolm's moment — Malcolm as in Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm. Professor Malcolm is a historian and constitutional scholar specializing …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

Amy Teibel / Associated Press:

3 attacks target Israelis near Egypt, 6 dead — JERUSALEM (AP) — Assailants armed with heavy weapons, guns and explosives launched three attacks in quick succession in southern Israel near the border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding about a dozen more, officials said.

Discussion: The Politico, Online NewsHour and Weasel Zippers

Reginald Fields / Plain Dealer:

Gov. John Kasich asks union leaders to compromise on Senate Bill 5; union group says repeal it, then we'll talk — COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. John Kasich backtracked on Senate Bill 5 on Wednesday, asking union leaders to negotiate a compromise on the collective bargaining law he championed and end efforts to repeal it.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Reid Report and The Mahablog

Todd Gregory / Media Matters for America:

Rush Limbaugh's “Or-Bam-eo” Slur — Today on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh described a new Oreo that will have both chocolate and vanilla cream as a “biracial” cookie and said that “it isn't going to be long before it's going to be called the Or-Bam-eo or something like this.”

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Daily Kos, field negro and Gawker