memeorandum: Arizona civil-rights leader weighs Senate run (Dan Nowicki/Arizona Republic)

4:05 PM ET, November 21, 2011

Top Items:

When Did Liberals Become So Unreasonable? — If every Democratic president disappoints, maybe there's something wrong with our expectations. Tough love from a fellow traveler. — “The disappointment and disillusionment with President Clinton are widespread.” —Bob Herbert, New York Times, 1993

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Booman Tribune, Democracy in America, TalkLeft, The Mahablog, The Daily Dish, The Huffington Post, Ben Smith's Blog and News Desk

Wall Street Journal:

The Hillary Moment — President Obama can't win by running a constructive campaign, and he won't be able to govern if he does win a second term. — When Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson accepted the reality that they could not effectively govern the nation if they sought re-election to the White House …

Andrew Malcolm / Investor's Business Daily:

The ‘Dump Obama’ movement has begun; Guess who'd replace him? — Faced with peanut-sized Jimmy Carter poll numbers, disturbing big-donor reluctance, unacceptable unemployment and depressing economic forecasts, President Obama heads back on the road tomorrow to do what he always does when in trouble:

Discussion: Ballot Box, Indecision Forever, The New Republic, Daily Kos, Swampland and Wake up America

Michael Catalini / NationalJournal.com:
Democratic Pollsters: Obama Should Abandon Run for Second Term

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and The Gateway Pundit

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Romney, Gingrich Now Top Choices for GOP Nomination — Gingrich's support on the rise this month — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans are most likely to name Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as their first choice for their party's 2012 presidential nomination, with Herman Cain close behind.

Discussion: CNN, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice, LifeNews.com, Daily Kos, No More Mister Nice Blog, Los Angeles Times, The Political Carnival, Hot Air, GOP 12, Washington Wire and americanthinker.com

First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Worst. Congress. Ever?

Discussion: Washington Wire, USA Today, Washington Post, NO QUARTER and UrbanGrounds

Brent Budowsky / Pundits Blog:
Ron Paul is surging, an Iowa and New Hampshire front-runner and powerful third-party possibility

Discussion: CNN

Susan Page / USA Today:
Rising from the pack, Gingrich invites scrutiny

Discussion: Firedoglake, Ben Smith's Blog, Daily Kos, Harry's Place and msnbc.com

David Frum / New York Magazine:

When Did the GOP Lose Touch With Reality? — Some of my Republican friends ask if I've gone crazy. I say: Look in the mirror. — It's a very strange experience to have your friends think you've gone crazy. Some will tell you so. Others will indulgently humor you. Still others will avoid you.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, ProfessorBainbridge.com, The Other McCain, Outside the Beltway, iOwnTheWorld.com, Business Insider and Booman Tribune

Doug Stanglin / USA Today:

Poll: ‘Occupy’ movement fails to capture Americans' interest — A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows that the “Occupy” movement has failed to capture the attention of a majority of Americans, indicating either ambivalence toward it or lack of interest. — The poll finds that 56% of Americans surveyed …

Discussion: Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, PolitickerNY, Weasel Zippers and The Politico

Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:

Artist Behind Iconic ‘HOPE’ Poster Makes New One For Occupy Wall Street — If there is one iconic poster of the 2008 presidential campaign, it is artist Shepard Fairey's HOPE graphic: — Now, in order to honor the 99 Percenters protesting everywhere, Fairey has released a new version of the HOPE poster …

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Towleroad News #gay and The Sideshow

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Occupy our consciences — Everyone on the left side …

Discussion: Campaign 2012, New York Times, National Review and TomDispatch, more at Mediagazer »

Erik Wasson / The Hill:

Boehner blames Obama for failure of supercommittee to reach a deal — House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is blaming President Obama for the failure of the congressional supercommittee to reach a deal for cutting the federal deficit. — The Speaker's office sent out a memo Monday morning …

Discussion: USA Today, Wonkette and Prairie Weather

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:
Lawmakers make last-ditch effort to reach supercommittee deal

Discussion: The Politico

Tim Mak / The Politico:

Left blogs cheer supercommittee's collapse — Judging by the reaction from the blogosphere, the deficit supercommittee's failure is a victory for the left. — Liberal bloggers are praising the widely expected collapse in bipartisan talks and the apparent failure of supercommittee to come …

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Wake up America, The Impolitic and Crooks and Liars

First Read / msnbc.com:
Gingrich: Super committee failure ‘good for America’

Discussion: The Hill, Swampland and The Caucus

Chris Moody / Yahoo! News:

Herman Cain and the Holy Land Experience — ORLANDO, Fla. — By the time Herman Cain took the stage, Jesus had already been crucified, resurrected and returned to Earth to collect the faithful once that day. — Cain made a campaign stop Friday at The Holy Land Experience …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, Death and Taxes, Balloon Juice, The Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, Gawker, Angry Black Lady Chronicles and Slate

Sara Ganim / PennLive.com:

Alleged Jerry Sandusky victim leaves school because of bullying, counselor says — Victim One, the first known alleged victim of abuse by former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, had to leave his school in the middle of his senior year because of bullying, his counselor said Sunday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway and Jammie Wearing Fools

Mackenzie Weinger / The Politico:
Louis Freeh to lead Penn State probe

Discussion: Associated Press, USA Today and TalkLeft

Washington Examiner:

Newt Gingrich was a lobbyist, plain and simple — Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) arrives for a meeting in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill March 31, 2011 in Washington, DC. Gingrich met with about 20 freshman Republican members of Congress and discussed ways …

Discussion: The Politico, ThinkProgress, National Review, Mediaite, The PJ Tatler, Outside the Beltway, The Spectacle Blog, ABCNEWS, Campaign 2012, Betsy's Page and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

New York Times:

Deficit Deal Fell Apart After Seeming Agreement — WASHINGTON — The one sliver of real hope came a week ago, in the darkened Capitol on the Sunday night after Veterans Day. — Called away from dinner tables, the Jets-Patriots game on television and, in one case, a soccer team party …

Discussion: Reuters, The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, The Politico, Iowa Caucuses, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, The Hill, The Maddow Blog, Prairie Weather, USA Today, The Caucus, Bankrupting America and Brilliant at Breakfast

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Romney Admits He Destroyed Government Records To Keep Them From Political Opponents — Last week, a Boston Globe investigation uncovered that former Gov. Mitt Romney's administration destroyed emails, purchased hard drives, and otherwise obliterated all digital records of his time as governor of Massachusetts.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, On Liberty, The Raw Story, WBUR and ABCNEWS

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org blogs:

Mika Brzezinski's Anti-Newt Rant Drives Her To Emotional Brink — Shades of “Special Comment”! In a rant worthy of Keith Olbermann at the height of his Miss Precious Perfect histrionics, Mika Brezinski began today's Morning Joe by tearing into Newt Gingrich for his recent suggestion …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Big Journalism, The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Boring Cruel Romantics — There's a word I keep hearing lately: “technocrat.” Sometimes it's used as a term of scorn — the creators of the euro, we're told, were technocrats who failed to take human and cultural factors into account. Sometimes it's a term of praise …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Felix Salmon, Hullabaloo, Prairie Weather and AMERICAN FUTURE

Frank Rich / New York Magazine:

What Killed JFK — The hate that ended his presidency is eerily familiar. — Thanksgiving week is a milestone for Barack Obama, but not one that many are likely to commemorate. The president who seemed poised to inherit John F. Kennedy's mantle—in the eyes of Kennedy's last surviving child …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs

Judd Gregg / The Hill:

Where in the world is Obama? — The president was in Hawaii while the supercommittee hit stall speed. What is new about this? Very little. — Throughout his term, President Obama has avoided leading on the issue of fiscal responsibility. He walked away from his own commission …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Washington Monthly, Betsy's Page, americanthinker.com, ABCNEWS, New York Times and The Lonely Conservative

CBS News:

America's new poor — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO … In Forsyth County's rolling subdivisions near Atlanta, Easy Street seems to run forever. What recession? The average household here earns $88,000 - the highest in Georgia, 13th highest in America. — But for more families here, prosperity is a pretense.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and The Impolitic

Pamela Geller / American Thinker:

Happy Halal Thanksgiving — Did you know that the turkey you're going to enjoy on Thanksgiving Day this Thursday is probably halal? If it's a Butterball turkey, then it certainly is — whether you like it or not. — In my book Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Atlas Shrugs, Gawker, TBogg, WorldNetDaily and Sadly, No!

ABCNEWS:

Mitt Romney To Launch Television Ad In New Hampshire, His First Of Campaign — ABC News' Michael Falcone, Emily Friedman and Amy Walter report: — Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is going on the air with a television ad in New Hampshire on Tuesday that will take direct aim at President Obama …

Discussion: GOP 12 and USA Today

Nick Summers / The Daily Beast:

Bloomberg's Plan for World Domination — With an army of reporters and wonky information services, the media company is expanding from Wall Street to Washington, Where it hopes to control—even more. — Bloomberg was everywhere, like Bloomberg likes to be.

Discussion: PolitickerNY, Taegan Goddard's …, Poynter and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

J. Andrew Curliss / Raleigh News & Observer:

Pullen Baptist takes a stand for gay marriage — The full congregation of Raleigh's Pullen Memorial Baptist Church voted Sunday to prohibit the church pastor from legally marrying anyone until she can legally marry same-sex couples under North Carolina law.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Wonkbook: The supercommittee's real failure isn't on the deficit — Barring some truly unexpected developments, the supercommittee has failed. Peter Suderman tweeted it right: “Super Committee is apparently one of those newfangled indie comic books where the heroes think they have powers but don't.”