memeorandum: One-day rehiring nets former Chicago labor leader a $158,000 city pension (Jason Grotto/Chicago Tribune)

6:50 AM ET, September 23, 2011

Top Items:

Rick Santorum Owes Gay Soldier an Apology — For Immediate Release — Joint Statement of Christopher R. Barron, Chairman of the Board and Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director — (Washington, D.C.) - “Tonight, Rick Santorum disrespected our brave men and women in uniform, and he owes Stephen Hill …

Discussion: Raw Replay, ThinkProgress, Crooks and Liars, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Joe. My. God.

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Republican Debate Crowd Boos Steven Hill, Gay Soldier Serving In Iraq — At Thursday night's Fox News/Google Republican Presidential Debate, the crowd was once again the star of an ugly moment. Moderator Megyn Kelly introduced a question via Youtube from Stephen Hill, a soldier who's currently serving in Iraq.

Evan McMorris-Santoro / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPM2012 — Audience Members At Fox News Debate Boo Gay Soldier (VIDEO) — ORLANDO, FL — Members of the crowd gathered for the Fox News/YouTube debate booed a video of a gay soldier in Iraq who asked if the nine presidential candidates on stage would work to “circumvent” the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org, Business Insider, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Harry's Place

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:

Gay soldier booed at GOP debate, candidates stay mum — Some members of the GOP debate audience booed a gay soldier who asked via video whether the Republican candidates would reinstitute the recently repealed “don't ask, don't tell” policy of banning openly gay soldiers.

Discussion: The Politico

Michelle Malkin:

Video: Perry's cringe-worthiest debate moment — This is a gimme. Seriously. — I mentioned Rick Perry's DREAM Act debate blunder in my round-up post. — It gets second place. — The cringe-worthiest moment, by a hair, was when Perry botched what should have been his most potent attack on Mitt Romney's chronic flip-flopping.

Discussion: American Spectator, Weekly Standard, AmSpecBlog, Conservatives4Palin and Riehl World View

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

N.H. poll shocker: Perry falls, Romney surges as does Jon Huntsman — Well, here are a couple of — no, make that several — new wrinkles in the Republican presidential contest in New Hampshire: — With the next televised debate tonight in Florida on Fox News, a new poll of likely …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Campaign 2012, Hit & Run and Outside the Beltway

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The Agony of the GOP Establishment

Discussion: Washington Post, Rick Perry 2012 Campaign …, Guardian and No More Mister Nice Blog

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

Rush Limbaugh On Gary Johnson Joke: 'Guess I've Become Show Prep For The GOP Debates' … NEW YORK — Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson brought down the house at Thursday night's Fox News/ Google debate when he joked about how his “next-door neighbor's two dogs have created more shovel-ready jobs than this current administration.”

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Rick Perry 2012 Campaign …

Rush Limbaugh:

“Mr. Boehner, Tear Down This Bridge” — RUSH: Meanwhile, Obama is just looking small and tiny as he can. Now going to another bridge, a bridge that is not in peril, a bridge that is not threatened, he's going to a bridge that he believes needs repair, he's hoping to embarrass Boehner and McConnell …

Discussion: BizzyBlog and The Daily Caller

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Oops, Obama touts his jobs plan today at an Ohio bridge that won't qualify

Discussion: Cincinnati.com, USA Today, Investor's Business Daily, Outside the Beltway, Sense of Events and Fox News

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

GOP Ups Ante Big Time In Government Shutdown Fight — We should know tonight whether Congress is in genuinely the throes of another government shutdown fight, or whether Democrats and Republicans will figure out a way to avoid their impulses. — Instead of cutting a deal with Democrats …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Firedoglake and Daily Kos

Russell Berman / The Hill:
House approves stopgap funding, Reid says Senate will block

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Boehner chastises conservatives: You voted to spend more money

Discussion: TPMDC, The Politico, Daily Kos and Guardian

Josiah Ryan / The Hill:
Reid: Senate unlikely to vote Thursday on spending measure

Discussion: CNN

Juana Summers / The Politico:

Tweeters pan Republican debaters, debate technology — With Fox News partnering with Google for Thursday night's debate, the emphasis was on interactivity that seemed custom-made to appeal to Twitter users. According to Google, more than 18,000 questions were submitted to the Fox News YouTube channel to be considered for the debate.

Discussion: YID With LID

David Shepardson / Detroit News:
McCotter drops out of race for GOP presidential nomination

Discussion: The Other McCain, Wonkette, National Review, Iowa Caucuses, Washington Post, The Iowa Republican, The Politico, Althouse, Hot Air and Wall Street Journal

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box: Johnson touts his penchant for vetoes in GOP debate

Detroit News:
McCotter drops out of race for GOP presidential nomination

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, The Washington Independent, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, GOP 12 and Ballot Box

Steve Jones / Telegraph:

CERN scientists ‘break the speed of light’ — Scientists said on Thursday they recorded particles travelling faster than light - a finding that could overturn one of Einstein's fundamental laws of the universe. — Antonio Ereditato, spokesman for the international group of researchers …

Discussion: Don Surber and Vox Popoli

Frank Jordans / Associated Press:
CERN claims faster-than-light particle measured

Discussion: Pajamas Media and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jim Forsyth / Reuters:

Fancy last supper requests off the menu on Texas death row — (Reuters) - The Texas prison system abolished on Thursday the time-honored tradition of offering an opulent last meal to condemned inmates before their executions, saying they will get standard prison fare instead.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice and Hullabaloo

Arlette Saenz / Politics:

HPV Vaccine Fact Check: Perry Misstated Relationship With Dying Woman — Although Rick Perry said at a debate on Thursday that he was “lobbied” by a 31-year-old woman suffering from cervical cancer to require young girls to receive the HPV vaccine, he did not meet the cancer patient until …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Washington Examiner, New York Times, Austin American-Statesman, Rick Perry 2012 Campaign …, Trail Blazers Blog, News Hounds and Washington Post

Hotline On Call:

Dem Poll: Obama Dragging Down His Own Party — One of the Democratic party's leading pollsters released a survey of 60 Republican-held battleground districts today painting an ominous picture for Congressional Democrats in 2012. The poll shows Democratic House candidates faring worse …

Discussion: RedState, Weasel Zippers, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air and The Politico

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Bill Clinton Weighs In On Troy Davis Execution … Bill Clinton , Capital Punishment , Death Penalty , Video , Clinton Global Initiative , Troy Davis Case , Bill Clinton Capital Punishment , Bill Clinton Death Penalty , Bill Clinton Troy Davis , Troy Davis , Troy Davis Execution , Troy Davis Execution Date , Politics News

Discussion: American Power, New York Times, The Politico, Mother Jones and The Other McCain

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
The Night They Killed Troy Davis

Discussion: The Daily Dish and Colorlines

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:

Bill Clinton: Netanyahu killed the peace process — Who's to blame for the continued failure of the Middle East peace process? Former President Bill Clinton said today that it is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — whose government moved the goalposts upon taking power …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Weasel Zippers and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Trang Do / WAFF-TV:

Derrick Mason executed at Holman Prison — Derrick Mason has been executed by lethal injection for the 1994 robbery and murder of a Huntsville convenience store clerk. The execution took place at Holman prison in Atmore, he was pronounced dead at 6:49 p.m Thursday.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Hinterland Gazette

Patti Domm / CNBC:

Market Insider — Global Meltdown: Investors Are Dumping Nearly Everything — With no solution in sight for Europe and new fears of a global recession, investors dumped stocks and commodities and ran to the safety of U.S. Treasurys. — Treasury yields , as a result …

Jon Swaine / Telegraph:

David Cameron: world on brink of new economic crisis — The world stands on the brink of a new economic crisis that would leave countries like Britain “staring down the barrel”, David Cameron has warned. — David Cameron said that Western politicians must show more ‘leadership’

Discussion: Hot Air and Pajamas Media

Jason Grotto / Chicago Tribune:

One-day rehiring nets former Chicago labor leader a $158,000 city pension — Most city workers spend decades in public service to build up modest pensions. But for former labor leader Dennis Gannon, the keys to securing a public pension were one day on the city payroll and some help from the Daley administration.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Sister Toldjah, Mish's Global Economic …, Right Wing News, americanthinker.com and iOwnTheWorld.com

Eli Clifton / ThinkProgress:

Clinton: ‘There Is Not A Single Solitary Example’ Of A Country That Has Succeeded With A Tea Party Philosophy — Credit: Cibele Vieira / Clinton Global Initiative — Former President Bill Clinton blasted the “non-fact-based political debate” surrounding the Republican primary race …

Walter Russell Mead / Via Meadia:

Panic? — That's what we've been seeing on world markets since Thursday trading began in Asia; this morning it hit the US with the kind of sickening thud we remember too well from 2008. Amid the general hurricane of bad economic news a few things stand out.

Discussion: Financial Times, New York Times, Pajamas Media and Hot Air

Larry Flynt / TMZ.com:

Gunning for Rick Perry — Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt is putting GOP Presidential candidate Rick Perry in his crosshairs ... he'll be offering up to $1 million for anyone who can prove Perry has had an illicit sexual liaison ... TMZ has learned. — The ad — which Flynt …

Discussion: Mediaite, Politics Blog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Business Insider and The Daily Caller

Shelby Hodge / CultureMap Houston:

Michelle Obama dazzles in New York, wearing diamond bangles by H-Town's Katie Decker — That was no ordinary bling on the wrist of First Lady Michelle Obama at the DNC fundraiser in New York Tuesday night. Those fancy diamond cuffs were the creation of 23-year-old Katie Decker …

Discussion: ECHIDNE of the snakes, Fausta's Blog, Weasel Zippers, Don Surber, Doug Ross and americanthinker.com