memeorandum: Solyndra e-mails: Dept. of Energy was poised to approve $469 million for firm (Carol D. Leonnig/Washington Post)

7:35 PM ET, October 5, 2011

Top Items:

Russ Feingold endorses Occupy Wall Street: “This will make the Tea Party look like ... a tea party.” — “I'm really encouraged by what I'm seeing. People around the country are finally organizing to stand up to the huge influence of corporations on government and our lives.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, ThinkProgress, Rasmussen Reports, DownWithTyranny!, Minnesota Independent, The Raw Story and teamster.org

Chuck Sudo / Chicagoist:

Board of Trade has a message for Occupy Chicago — Someone at the Board of Trade is getting cheeky with the Occupy Chicago protests. This photo was taken by someone at the protests. It shows offices at the Board of Trade Building eight stories up with “We Are The 1%” taped to the windows.

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, Mediaite, Wonkette, Angry Black Lady Chronicles and Shakesville

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

The four habits of highly successful social movements — (On Monday, I asked Rich Yeselson for his thoughts on Occupy Wall Street. Yeselson, a research coordinator at Change to Win, is a skilled organizer and a thoughtful historian of social movements in America and Europe.

Discussion: I cite, AlterNet, Hullabaloo, Newshoggers.com and The New Republic

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Dems rally behind ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protest movement — Democrats are rallying behind the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, with several lawmakers endorsing the protests in New York City that have begun to spread to other cities. — Several liberal House lawmakers endorsed the protests Wednesday …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, CNN, Slate, Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos, Maggie's Farm, The Daily Caller and The Huffington Post

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Herman Cain On Occupy Wall Street: 'If You Don't Have A Job And You're Not Rich, Blame Yourself!' — Asked about the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that posted today, GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain said he suspected that they were “orchestrated” to help President Obama.

Discussion: Washington Wire, MoJo Articles, The New Republic, Opinion L.A., Political Mojo, The Huffington Post, Guardian, Washington Monthly, Towleroad News #gay, New York Magazine, nation.foxnews.com, rt.com, The Caucus, The Raw Story, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Wonkette

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:

Chicago Traders Respond To Protesters With Signs Reading ‘We Are The 1%’ — The Occupy Wall Street movement spread to Chicago this week, where protesters have gathered outside the Chicago Board of Trade, the world's oldest options and futures trading center.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Gregory J. Krieg / ABCNEWS:
Labor Unions Join Wall Street “Occupiers” for Mass Rally

Discussion: Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, National Review, nation.foxnews.com, The Daily Caller, The Lonely Conservative, American Power and Hot Air

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:
Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke On Occupy Wall Street: 'I Can't Blame Them'

Discussion: New York Magazine

Kevin Gosztola / Firedoglake:
Live Blog for #OccupyWallStreet: Day 19 — The Big March, Late Afternoon/Evening Edition

Discussion: Occupy Wall Street Library, Guardian and Teamster Nation

Justin Sink / Ballot Box:
Cain to protesters: 'If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself'

Discussion: The Politico, Weasel Zippers and The Hill

The Politico:
Has Obama found his inner populist?

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Rational Irrationality and Outside the Beltway

Sarah B. Boxer / NationalJournal.com:
Romney: Wall Street Protests ‘Class Warfare’

Discussion: Guardian, Runnin' Scared, TalkLeft, Minnesota Independent and The Raw Story

CNN:
Unions, Democrats seek momentum from ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement

Discussion: The Hill and Pajamas Media

Z. Byron Wolf / ABCNEWS:

Sarah Palin Will Not Run for President — ABC News' Polson Kanneth reports: — Sarah Palin will not run for president. She made the announcement in a letter to supporters Wednesday night. — Read Palin's letter here:

Sarah Palin / marklevinshow.com:

BREAKING NEWS: SARAH PALIN'S 2012 ANNOUNCEMENT — Sarah Palin will NOT be running for the 2012 Presidency — Listen to Mark Levin speak exclusively with Sarah Palin on her decision: — Features Player — The former Alaska Governor and VP candidate sent the following letter to her supporters on Wednesday:

Discussion: Washington Wire, Don Surber, msnbc.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Campaign 2012, The Lonely Conservative, Sister Toldjah and Wizbang

Claire Suddath / Time:

Q&A with Palin Advisor-Turned-Novelist Nicolle Wallace — Nicolle Wallace knows her politics. She served as White House communications chief under George W. Bush and also worked as a senior advisor on the McCain-Palin 2008 campaign. Her second novel, It's Classified …

Discussion: Campaign 2012, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, The Crawdad Hole, GOP 12, National Review, Weasel Zippers, The Other McCain and Gawker

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:

Palin Says She's Not Running — UPDATE, 6:35 p.m.: Sarah Palin is not running for president. — Ms. Palin, the former governor of Alaska, ended her inscrutable cat-and-mouse game with the political establishment on Wednesday afternoon by saying that she would not join the field …

Christian Heinze / Ballot Box:
Why Palin could run as an independent

Discussion: CNN, The Politico, Hot Air, The Daily Dish, Liberal Values, msnbc.com, Riehl World View and New York Times

The Hill:

Dem unity, minus Obama — After months of squabbling, Democrats on Capitol Hill have united in recent weeks. And in an unusual twist, they have done it in spite of President Obama. — House Democrats, who have helped the GOP pass controversial bills this year, drew the line on a stopgap spending bill last month.

Discussion: CNN

Erica Werner / Associated Press:
Senate Democrats rewrite Obama's jobs bill

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Heritage Foundation, Open Congress, The Reaction and National Review

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org blogs:
Howard Dean: Tea Party ‘Not Playing With Full Deck’

Discussion: Hot Air and Mediaite

Frazier Moore / The Huffington Post:

Roger Ailes: I Hired Sarah Palin Because She Was ‘Hot And Got Ratings’ … Fox News , Sarah Palin , Roger Ailes , Cable News , Fox News 15th Anniversary , Fox News Anniversary , Roger Ailes Sarah Palin , Roger Ailes Wolf Blitzer , Media News — NEW YORK — As the most powerful man in the universe …

Discussion: National Review, Gawker, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Business Insider and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Mj Lee / The Politico:

West to Jackson: ‘Take two!’ — Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) has just one piece of advice for Samuel L. Jackson - focus on your film career and stop talking about politics. — “I think Samuel Jackson needs to pay more attention to the upcoming release of the movie ‘Avengers’ next summer and not …

Discussion: American Spectator, News Hounds, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Sister Toldjah, NewsBusters.org blogs and Pajamas Media

Mark Hemingway / Weekly Standard:

Is CBS News Silencing Fast and Furious Reporter? — Yesterday, CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson told radio show host Laura Ingraham that the White House yelled and swore at her over her reporting on the Fast and Furious gunrunning scandal tied to the deaths of two U.S. law enforcement agents.

Discussion: Power Line, Michelle Malkin, The Politico, The Project …, NewsBusters.org blogs, Moonbattery, americanthinker.com, Questions and Observations and The Sundries Shack

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Michelle Obama jokes daughters fight over Secret Service — By: CNN White House Producer Alexander Mooney — (CNN) - Turns out the Secret Service doesn't just protect the Obamas, they also are the root of a bit of tension between the younger members of the first family.

Discussion: The Politico

Kirk Johnson / New York Times:

Farmers Strain to Hire American Workers in Place of Migrant Labor — OLATHE, Colo. — How can there be a labor shortage when nearly one out of every 11 people in the nation are unemployed? — That's the question John Harold asked himself last winter when he was trying to figure out how much help …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Hit & Run

Brian Powell / Political Correction RSS:

Rep. Steve King Daydreams About The Good Ol' Days When Only Property Owners Voted — In a Judiciary Committee hearing on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) used his allotted time to daydream out loud about an era of American history when only male property owners were allowed to vote.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos and John Boehner

Mikerobinsonpc / RedState:

Washington Post Staff Writer Who Wrote Rick Perry Attack Piece Has Criminal Past — On October 1, 2011, the Washington Post's Stephanie McCrummen authored a story for publication in the Post concerning Texas Governor Perry's lease of a hunting spot with an offensive name.

Discussion: New York Magazine and FishbowlDC

Pete Kennedy / Food Freedom:

Wisconsin Judge Rules No Right to Own a Cow or Drink Its Milk — WI Judge to Zinniker, FTCLDF: No “Fundamental Right to Own a Cow, or Consume Its Milk... Am I Making Myself Clear?” — ~ David Gumpert — FTCLDF — In a decision denying basic property rights and even exceeding …

Discussion: Rod Dreher, Marginal Revolution and Ricochet Conversation Feed

City Room:

Deer Are Found on Brooklyn Shore in Disturbing Circumstances — White-tailed deer, tree-browsing icons of the suburban wildlife scene, have been making inroads in New York City. Their numbers on Staten Island have grown to the point where many residents consider them a nuisance.

Discussion: Gothamist

Dave Wedge / Boston Herald:

Warren shines in debate debut — Elizabeth Warren officially kicked off her much-anticipated foray into the political arena by whacking U.S. Sen. Scott Brown on the economy and trumpeting her record of going “toe-to-toe” with financial behemoths, as she did battle with five Democrats in this first 2012 Senate debate.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Reuters:

Hungry Muppet to appear on “Sesame Street” — (Reuters) - A new poverty-stricken Muppet will highlight the issue of hunger struggles on an episode of “Sesame Street”, the show said in a statement on Tuesday. — Pink-faced Muppet Lily, whose family deals with food insecurity, will join Big Bird …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Wonkette, FP Passport and US Politics

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Man in the Mirror — The unlikely femme fatale from Jersey sashayed into a Trenton news conference and broke a lot of hearts. (Not Snooki's or Barry's, of course.) — Watching Chris Christie hold forth for an hour, it's hard to know whether you want to hug him or slap him.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Prairie Weather and neo-neocon

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:

Solyndra e-mails: Dept. of Energy was poised to approve $469 million for firm — The Obama administration's Department of Energy was poised last summer to give Solyndra a second major taxpayer loan of $469 million, even as the company's financial situation was growing more dire.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Big Government, Power Line, The Gateway Pundit and Ricochet Conversation Feed

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

Opposition to Obama grows — strongly — Four in 10 Americans “strongly” disapprove of how President Obama is handling job as president in the new Washington Post-ABC News poll, the highest that number has risen during his time in office and a sign of the hardening opposition to him as he seeks a second term.