memeorandum: The dangers of accidental candor (Steve Benen/Washington Monthly)

2:35 PM ET, October 19, 2011

Top Items:

Why Perry went there — The Texas governor went into Tuesday night's debate looking for a reaction — and he got one.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, National Review, Hot Air, The New Republic, Booman Tribune, Hit & Run, Riehl World View, Michelle Malkin and Pat Dollard

Washington Post:

Washington Post-Pew Research Center Poll — This poll was conducted for The Washington Post and the Pew Research Center by telephone October 13 to 16, 2011, among a random national sample of 1,007 adults, including users of both conventional and cellular phones.

Discussion: GOP 12, Indecision Forever, Wonkette, Taegan Goddard's …, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, Althouse and The Political Carnival

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

The dangers of accidental candor — After five debates in six weeks, these get-togethers for the Republican presidential candidates were quickly becoming sleep-inducing. Last night in Las Vegas, though, was at least lively — with time running out, someone lit a fire under the candidates' feet.

Discussion: 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, FrumForum, Talking Points Memo, The Reality-Based Community, Daily Kos and Balloon Juice

John Feehery / Pundits Blog:

Bickering — Newt Gingrich had the line of the night toward the end of the debate when he complained that the moderator encouraged a level of bickering that could only make it harder for the GOP to get the White House. — I don't think Anderson Cooper was really trying to sink the Republican nominee for president in this debate.

Discussion: The Politico and CNN

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:

The Republican Bickersons — That was fun tonight. Attack, defend, attack and attack some more. Texas Gov. Rick Perry had some problems in tonight's Republican presidential debate, as he's had before — do we really want to “defund the United Nations”? — but he was a real presence this time …

Discussion: p m carpenter's commentary, National Review and Northern Reflections

The Politico:

Rick Perry vs. Mitt Romney: Now it's personal — LAS VEGAS - After months of diversions — sideshow candidates, Hamlet acts and straw polls — Tuesday night's sizzling Republican presidential showdown boiled the nomination fight down to its essentials: a deeply personal …

Discussion: CNN, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, GOP 12, National Review, The Other McCain and Pajamas Media

New York Times:

Republican Presidential Candidates Debate in Las Vegas — LAS VEGAS — Mitt Romney came under withering attack from his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination at a debate here Tuesday night, with Gov. Rick Perry leading an intense and sometimes personal barrage …

Jonathan Bernstein / Washington Post:

Romney still the best at this, Perry not as bad, and the loser? Anderson Cooper — Well, it was the feistiest debate — Rick Perry even stayed awake for the whole thing, which was a nice change — and we had the welcome (at least for entertainment purposes) return of the Crazy GOP Audience thing …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, A plain blog about politics, Political Mojo and Daily Kos

Washington Post:
Rick Perry better known, more disliked by GOP conservatives

Discussion: Daily Kos, GOP 12 and The Politico

CNN:
Five things we learned from Tuesday's GOP debate

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Washington Wire

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
NBC Poll: Cain leads in S.C.; tight Fla. race with Romney

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, American Spectator, CNN, Hotline On Call, The Other McCain, The Politico and Reuters

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

Reid says government jobs must take priority over private-sector jobs — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday said Congress needs to worry about government jobs more than private-sector jobs, and that this is why Senate Democrats are pushing a bill aimed at shoring up teachers and first responders.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, RedState, Michelle Malkin, Maggie's Farm, The Strata-Sphere, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, National Review, USA Today and Washington Wire

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP senators angry about Reid claim they're rooting for failure

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Weasel Zippers

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Obama pledges to keep fighting for jobs bill, veterans

Discussion: The Politico

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:
Reid seeking vote on Commerce nominee

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

Adrianne Jeffries / The New York Observer:

Real World: Occupy Wall Street? MTV Issues Casting Call for Protesters — Is Occupy Wall Street ready to start being real? Bunim/Murray Productions, the agency casting for MTV's Real World 27, appears to think the show Real World needs some real world drama: an ad appeared …

Discussion: Guardian, The Impolitic, Business Insider, New York Magazine, City Room, Shakesville, Vox Tablet, Deadline.com, Gothamist, Althouse, Runnin' Scared and The Informer

Sean Captaintoday / Fast Company:
The Demographics Of Occupy Wall Street

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, New York Times and Guardian

Dylan Stableford / Yahoo! News:
Naomi Wolf arrested while defending Occupy Wall Street protesters

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog and JammieWearingFool

Fars News Agency:
Occupy Wall Street Protesters Condemn Zionists for Economic Crisis in US

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
GOP rips Dems for anti-Semitism in Occupy Wall Street protests

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Bloomberg:

U.S. Capital Now Richer Than Silicon Valley — Federal employees whose compensation averages more than $126,000 and the nation's greatest concentration of lawyers helped Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metropolitan area, government data show.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Mediaite, Campaign 2012, Gawker, msnbc.com and Pajamas Media

Mj Lee / The Politico:
Census: D.C. is country's wealthiest area

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Marginal Revolution

ABCNEWS:

Animals Loose in Ohio: Town Under Lockdown — An Ohio town is under lockdown as dozens of wild animals including bears, wolves and tigers have escaped from a private preserve are and are on the loose after the owner of the preserve has been found dead. — Terry Thompson of Zanesville …

Discussion: Pat Dollard, New York Magazine and CBS Cleveland

Moni Basu / CNN:
Deputies forced to shoot escaped exotic animals in Ohio

Discussion: Hot Air, Gothamist and Gawker

Dennis Cauchon / USA Today:

Student loan debt hits record levels — Students and workers seeking retraining are borrowing extraordinary amounts of money through federal loan programs, potentially putting a huge burden on the backs of young people looking for jobs and trying to start careers.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Politico, Washington Post, Moneyland, Need to Know | PBS, Gawker, Outside the Beltway, LewRockwell.com Blog and Shakesville

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

GOP Rep. Asked Paper To Keep Town Hall Secret, Selected Residents Who Were Invited — Freshman Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA) told a town hall gathering Monday that “the whole purpose” of the meeting “is to hear from you.” But apparently Herrera Beutler isn't interested in hearing from everyone.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Lee Hughes / Columbian:
Politician didn't want event touted

Discussion: The Politico

Phil Izzo / Real Time Economics:

What Percent Are You? — To get the full experience of this page, please upgrade your Flash Plugin — The Occupy Wall Street movement seeks to speak for the bottom 99% of the population by income, which includes pretty much everyone who makes less than $500,000 a year.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Atlantic Online, Metropolis, Mogulite, Weasel Zippers and Gawker

Jim Forsyth / WOAI-TV:

Terror Link Downplayed in Courthouse Break-In — Five men in their twenties, described as French-Moroccan Muslims, are being questioned by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and by officials of the Department of Homeland Security after they were arrested inside the 120 year old Bexar County Courthouse …

Discussion: CBS News, Pajamas Media, Jihad Watch and BLACKFIVE

Jenna Hiller / KSAT-TV:
Bexar County Courthouse Break-In May Have Been Prank

Discussion: MySanAntonio.com, KENS, Hot Air, Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs

Rebecca Rosenberg / New York Post:

Protest mob is enjoying rich diet — They may sleep in the park, but they eat like kings. — Hundreds of grimy protesters laying siege to Wall Street and stuffed into the now-smelly Zuccotti Park dine each night on gourmet meals prepared by a former hotel chef using only the finest organic ingredients.

Discussion: MyFox Boston, New York Magazine, Pajamas Media and JammieWearingFool

Sam Youngman / Ballot Box:

President Obama's strategy on jobs is working — even if Americans aren't — It's certainly not pretty, but darn if it doesn't appear to be working. — President Obama's newfound message discipline on jobs and his two-pronged attack on the GOP are providing the beleaguered president …

Discussion: Don Surber

Jared Bernstein / On the Economy:

9-9-9 in One (Really Long) Graph — In my previous post decrying the extreme redistribution of the tax burden from the wealthy to everyone else, I had to use two graphs to tell the story. I couldn't fit the increase in tax liabilities for the bottom 80% on the same graph that includes …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online and Washington Post

ABCNEWS:

Transcript: ABC News' Jake Tapper's Exclusive Interview With President Obama — President Obama sits down with ABC News' senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper for an exclusive interview in Jamestown, N.C. (Courtesy the White House) — The following is a transcript …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Tim Mak / The Politico:

Report: Military ballot problems rise — An astonishing 120,000 active duty military personnel never received their requested absentee ballots in the 2010 election, a new report shows. — This oversight meant that 29 percent of active duty military voters didn't get their absentee ballot …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Jon Huntsman / Wall Street Journal:

‘Too Big to Fail’ Is Simply Too Big — There is no evidence huge banks add sufficient value to offset the systemic risk they pose. — Is Dodd-Frank an appropriate regulatory response to the 2007 financial crisis? Tragically, no. That legislation ignores the government's pervasive role …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Campaign 2012, The Enterprise Blog, Washington Post, National Review and The Volokh Conspiracy