memeorandum: Forget Bailouts and Stimulus. Let's Think Small. (Jim Manzi/The New Republic)

5:00 PM ET, August 22, 2011

Top Items:

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Obama in Close Race Against Romney, Perry, Bachmann, Paul — Romney has slight edge over Obama, Bachmann slightly lags — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama is closely matched against each of four possible Republican opponents when registered voters are asked whom they would support …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Washington Wire, Washington Monthly, GOP 12, The Politico, Pajamas Media, The Daily Caller, Hit & Run, TPMDC, nation.foxnews.com, The Washington Independent, Newsalert, Politics, Taegan Goddard's …, Hotline On Call, National Review, The Lonely Conservative and JammieWearingFool

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

Paul Ryan Not Running for President — Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan has decided for a final time that he will not run for president in 2012, THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned. Ryan, who began seriously considering a bid in late May after Indiana governor Mitch Daniels took himself out of the race …

Discussion: TPMDC, Campaign 2012, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Daily Kos and The Daily Caller

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

There's Room for More G.O.P. Candidates — Rather than douse speculation about which additional Republicans might enter the presidential sweepstakes, Rick Perry's announcement that he would seek the White House seemed only to stoke the fire. At least five prominent Republicans — Sarah Palin …

Discussion: Politics and A plain blog about politics

The Note:

Rep. Paul Ryan Says He is NOT Running for President — ABC's Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) reports: — After much speculation and some pressure from fellow Republicans, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin and the House Budget Committee Chairman, says he is NOT running for President.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress and GOP 12

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Gallup: Obama trails Romney, ties Perry — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) would beat President Obama among registered voters, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) would tie the president if the election were held today, according to a new Gallup Poll. — Obama leads both Reps. Ron Paul …

Discussion: Don Surber, Weasel Zippers and National Review

Rasmussen Reports:
Obama 50%, Palin 33%

Discussion: GOP 12, Hot Air, Big Government and Conservatives4Palin

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Huntsman criticizes rivals in prime time interview

Discussion: Piers Morgan and Politics

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
GOP challenge on Libya: Cheer or not to cheer?

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Wire, msnbc.com, Washington Monthly, The Caucus, FP Passport, Politics, Minnesota Independent, The Daily Caller, Associated Press and Balloon Juice

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

The ‘thank America last’ crowd — Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) issued a joint statement last night on the developments in Libya. It's worth taking a look at the lede. … Remember hearing about the “blame America first” crowd? Well, say hello to the “thank America last” crowd.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, New Atlanticist, ThinkProgress, Democracy in America, Outside the Beltway, ProPublica, Wonkette, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Daily Dish, Mock, Paper, Scissors, iOwnTheWorld.com and Daily Kos, more at Mediagazer »

Juan / Informed Comment:

Top Ten Myths about the Libya War — The Libyan Revolution has largely succeeded, and this is a moment of celebration, not only for Libyans but for a youth generation in the Arab world that has pursued a political opening across the region. The secret of the uprising's final days of success lay …

Discussion: Guardian, Daniel W. Drezner, FP Passport, New Atlanticist, Firedoglake, Daily Kos and The Mahablog

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

Obama hails Gadhafi's end after enduring lawmakers' criticism — The fall of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi after a NATO bombing campaign and a six-month civil war would represent a significant foreign policy victory for President Obama. — Despite opposition and heavy criticism …

Discussion: CNN, The Politico and JammieWearingFool

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Faiz Shakir / ThinkProgress:
PHOTOS: Libyans Applaud President Obama And International Allies With Large Thank You Sign

Discussion: Associated Press, Booman Tribune and Babylon & Beyond

Steve Clemons / The Atlantic Online:
Libya: Huge Win for Libyans, A Win for Obama, Challenges Next

Discussion: Guardian, Foreign Policy, Washington Post, Jeff Weintraub, The Moderate Voice, iOwnTheWorld.com and New York Times

Stanley Kurtz / National Review:
Assessing Libya — A full assessment of our war in Libya …

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Heritage Foundation, alicublog, The Daily Dish and Fox News

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Just One Week Into His Campaign, Rick Perry Disavows His Nine-Month-Old Book — Last November, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) published Fed Up, a 240-page ode to tentherism, which argues that everything from child labor laws to the Clean Air Act to Medicare violates the Constitution.

Discussion: Firedoglake, No More Mister Nice Blog, Swampland, TPMDC, Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival, The Washington Independent and Shakesville

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Perry: Nevermind — Rick Perry wrote in his book, “Fed Up,” that Social Security is unconstitutional. He hadn't really retreated from it as of last week, when he confirmed to me that he'd consider replacing it with a set of state pensions. — But his communications director seems to be in full retreat, in a comment to Neil King:

Discussion: Washington Post, Politics, Little Green Footballs, Outside the Beltway, Man Are We Screwed, Liberal Values, GOP 12 and The Daily Dish

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Trial lawyers prep for war on Perry — America's trial lawyers are getting ready to make the case against one of their biggest targets in years: Texas Gov. Rick Perry. — Among litigators, there is no presidential candidate who inspires the same level of hatred - and fear - as Perry …

Discussion: Law Blog, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, GOP 12 and New York Magazine

Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Messing With Texas — Gov. Rick Perry of Texas hasn't lost an election in 10 tries.

Discussion: Texas on the Potomac, NationalJournal.com, WILLisms.com, Paul Krugman, Daily Kos, Connecting.the.Dots, The Agonist and Sadly, No!

Gretchen Morgenson / New York Times:

Attorney General of N.Y. Is Said to Face Pressure on Bank Foreclosure Deal — Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, has come under increasing pressure from the Obama administration to drop his opposition to a wide-ranging state settlement with banks over dubious foreclosure practices …

Mercury News:

Opinion: Subsidizing Netflix — One of the success stories of the Internet era has been Netflix, the company that provides movies and TV shows to home viewers. In its earlier years, Netflix was a snail-mail-only service. You ordered a movie. It showed up in your mailbox.

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:
Is The Free Market ‘Subsidizing’ Netflix?

Discussion: TalkLeft

Michael Barbaro / New York Times:

In the Race to Succeed Weiner, a Surprising Anger at Obama — Of all the places to hear fulminations against President Obama, one of the least expected is the corner of 71st Avenue and Queens Boulevard, in the heart of a Congressional district that propelled Democrats like Geraldine A. Ferraro …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, New York Post, Hotline On Call, Hot Air, Prairie Weather, Indecision Forever, JammieWearingFool, PolitickerNY, Moe Lane, White House Dossier, The Lonely Conservative and National Review

Harvey Golub / Wall Street Journal:

My Response To Buffett And Obama — Before you ask for more tax money from me, raise the $2.2 trillion you already collect each year more fairly and spend it more wisely. — Over the years, I have paid a significant portion of my income to the various federal, state and local jurisdictions …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Heritage Foundation, Wonkette, PERRspectives, The New Republic, Politics, NewsBusters.org blogs, Wake up America, UrbanGrounds and The Lonely Conservative

Brooks Boliek / The Politico:

FCC finally kills off fairness doctrine — The FCC gave the coup de grace to the fairness doctrine Monday as the commission axed more than 80 media industry rules. — Earlier this summer FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski agreed to erase the post WWII-era rule, but the action Monday puts …

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Pajamas Media

Jeffrey Toobin / New Yorker:

PARTNERS … - POLITICS - PROFILES - THE TALK OF THE TOWN - COMMENT - THIS WEEK'S ISSUE - THE FINANCIAL PAGE - NEWS DESK - THE POLITICAL SCENE

Discussion: Man Are We Screwed, SCOTUSblog, Prairie Weather, The Huffington Post and The Atlantic Online

Laura Italiano / New York Post:

DA filing to reveal new ‘bombshells’ about DSK accuser's credibility — She lied about sex. She lied about money. She even lied about lying. — That's the conclusion of Manhattan prosecutors, who promise they'll drop “bombshells” in detailing new credibility issues for the hotel maid …

Discussion: New York Times, Guardian, TalkLeft, The Politico and The Awl

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The Libya War argument — In April, 2003, American troops entered Baghdad and Saddam Hussein was forced to flee; six months later, the dictator was captured ("caught like a rat in a hole," giddy American media outlets celebrated) and eventually hanged. Each of those incidents caused massive numbers …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Democracy in America, Campaign 2012, The Other McCain, Taylor Marsh and ThinkProgress

Meagan Fitzpatrick / CBC News:

Jack Layton dead of cancer at 61 — Beginning of Story Content — NDP Leader Jack Layton, who led Canada's Official Opposition, has died at his Toronto home at age 61 after a battle with cancer. — Layton died peacefully early Monday, surrounded by family and loved ones …

Discussion: AmSpecBlog and TPMDC

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

The Cult Of The Presidency In Action — Gene Healy has written about what he calls “The Cult of the Presidency,” and I've written about his concept as well. It is a pervasive mentality that views the president as a kind of national father, responsible for everything that goes well or ill …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Washington Monthly, Washington Post, New York Times, Lawyers, Guns & Money and A plain blog about politics

WorldNetDaily:

Strange political bedfellows — Have you ever noticed how some of the most disparate extremists on the political spectrum actually end up serving each other's interests - at least in the short term? — Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Equality Matters and Right Wing Watch

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:

Freeman to POTUS: ‘Get pissed off’ — When President Obama jumped on the back nine of the celebrity-clogged Vineyard Golf Club course on Sunday, he ran into none other than Morgan Freeman, Oscar winner and Obama backer. — Freeman, it turns out, was as free with advice for Obama …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

BBC:

Libya conflict: Fighting rages near Gaddafi compound — Resident Omar describes rebels celebrating and waving opposition flags on Green Square — Heavy fighting is taking place in Tripoli around the compound of embattled Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi after rebels seized control of much of the city on Sunday.

Michael S. Malone / Ricochet Conversation Feed:

Mr. President, Don't Get Well Soon — [Ed.'s Note: The former editor of Forbes ASAP and the author of 15 books, including The Big Score and The Virtual Corporation, Mike Malone is now holed up at an undisclosed location in Oregon, where he's supposed to be completing his next book.

Discussion: Sense of Events