memeorandum @ 4:35 PM ET, February 17, 2012

4:35 PM ET, February 17, 2012

Top Items:

Foster Friess / Campfire Blog:

For those who misunderstood my joke today, here's my quest for forgiveness... Last week my joke at the Conservative Political Action Conference generated laughter and media attention. Today on Andrea Mitchell's show, my aspirin joke bombed as many didn't recognize it as a joke but thought …

Discussion: The Hill, The Hill, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Blog for Choice, Wake up America, Associated Press, Shakesville, msnbc.com, RedState, HyperVocal, Caffeinated Thoughts, Business Insider, National Review, GOP 12, TheBlaze.com, The Huffington Post and ThinkProgress

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Foster Friess Doubles Down — So on his “Campfire Blog,” which is apparently how he communicates with the world when he's not on our television screens, Santorum Super-PAC heavy and all-purpose spokesman Foster Friess apologized to the poor dumb humorless people who didn't get his “joke” …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Mediaite, Blog for Choice and Balloon Juice

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

GOP candidate says she wants to kick Santorum ‘in the jimmy’ — Republican congressional hopeful Martha McSally, who is running for the House seat recently vacated by Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), said Rick Santorum's remarks about women in combat made her want to “kick him in the jimmy.”

Discussion: Politico and The Raw Story

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Santorum dodges Friess ‘bad joke’

Discussion: Politics, News Desk, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Campaign 2012, National Review and The New Republic

Robert Costa / National Review:
Santorum: Friess Controversy ‘Crap,’ Focuses on Issues

Discussion: Wonkette and Swampland

Lucy Madison / CBS News:
Foster Friess: In my day, women “used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives”

Discussion: Mediaite, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Mike Levine / Fox News:

Exclusive: Feds arrest man allegedly heading to U.S. Capitol for suicide mission after sting investigation — Authorities have arrested a man allegedly on his way to the U.S. Capitol for what he thought would be a suicide attack on one of the nation's most symbolic landmarks, Fox News has learned exclusively.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times, Atlas Shrugs, Gawker, RedState, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, The Jawa Report, NO QUARTER, The PJ Tatler and Associated Press

Washington Post:

Federal agents arrest man who allegedly planned suicide bombing on U.S. Capitol — The FBI and the U.S. Capitol Police arrested a man Friday after a lengthy investigation into an alleged plot to carry out a suicide attack on the Capitol. — In a cryptic news release …

Discussion: Algemeiner.com, The Heritage Foundation, Arlington, Va. and emptywheel

Mj Lee / Politico: Reports: Man planned Capitol attack

ABCNEWS:

Top GOP Senator Says ‘If Romney Loses Michigan, We Need a New Candidate’ — A prominent Republican senator just told me that if Romney can't win in Michigan, the Republican Party needs to go back to the drawing board and convince somebody new to get into the race.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, GOP 12, The Maddow Blog and Outside the Beltway

Tim Mak / Politico:

Maine GOP: Results went to spam — Maine Republican Party chairman Charlie Webster has admitted that the state party made numerous clerical errors in counting the state's caucus results — even omitting some votes because emails reporting tallies “went to spam” in an email account.

Discussion: Portland Press-Herald, MaineGOP.com, CNN, Daily Kos, Frontloading HQ, Slate, Bangor Daily News and Swampland

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:
Romney's Victory in the Maine Caucuses Is at Risk

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Daily Kos, Washington Wire and Politico

John Avlon / The Daily Beast:
The GOP's Chaotic Primary Calendar Makes Early Nomination Clinch Tough

Discussion: A plain blog about politics

Richard A. Oppel Jr / New York Times:
Mitt Romney and Ron Paul Friendly Amid the Rivalry

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Althouse, Thoughts and Rantings, ABCNEWS, Shakesville, Campaign 2012, TheBlaze.com, The Caucus, Associated Press and CNN

Laura Strickler / CBS News:

Gingrich to get another $10 million from casino backer - sources — Sheldon Adelson, left, and Newt Gingrich, right — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's faltering campaign is about to get another shot in the arm, CBS News has learned. — Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson plans …

Discussion: Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog and Political Insider

Newt Gingrich / CNN:
Republican donor expected to shell out $10 million to Gingrich super PAC

Discussion: GOP 12, Washington Post, Daily Kos, ABCNEWS, Business Insider, Taegan Goddard's …, Wonkette, The PJ Tatler and Ballot Box

ABCNEWS:

Mike DeWine Switches Endorsement From Mitt Romney To Rick Santorum — ABC News' Michael Falcone and Shushannah Walshe report: — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has had a change of heart. — The prominent Buckeye State Republican threw his support behind presidential candidate Rick Santorum …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog and Outside the Beltway

Associated Press:
Ohio AG Mike DeWine switches backing from Romney to Santorum before GOP presidential primary

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Plain Dealer and HotAirPundit

Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Romney: Rombo ad is “most negative ad I've seen”

Discussion: National Review

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Jeremy Lin Problem — Jeremy Lin is anomalous in all sorts of ways. He's a Harvard grad in the N.B.A., an Asian-American man in professional sports. But we shouldn't neglect the biggest anomaly. He's a religious person in professional sports. — We've become accustomed …

Discussion: Feministing, The Atlantic Online, Weasel Zippers, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Maddow Blog and Gothamist

J.D. Kleinke / Wall Street Journal:

The Myth of Runaway Health Spending — The growth rate of national health expenditures has been declining for a decade, driven by better medical care and consumer choice. — New data show that health spending over the past several years has been normalizing toward the rate of general inflation …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Jeffrey Sachs / The Huffington Post:
Entitlements Hysteria — Wall Street Journal , Federal Budget …

Discussion: Economist's View

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / Wall Street Journal:

A Syllabus for the ‘Occupy’ Movement — Conservatives are wrong to deride college courses on the anti-Wall Street protests. Here's a lesson plan and possible reading list. — Schools from New York's Columbia to Chicago's Roosevelt University are offering courses on the “Occupy” movement.

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Belmont Club, Hit & Run and Ed Driscoll

Patrick J. Buchanan / The American Conservative:

Blacklisted, But Not Beaten — My days as a political analyst at MSNBC have come to an end. — After 10 enjoyable years, I am departing, after an incessant clamor from the left that to permit me continued access to the microphones of MSNBC would be an outrage against decency, and dangerous.

John Aravosis / Gay Politics:

Dick Cheney is lobbying for gay marriage in Maryland? — Buried in Annie Linskey's Baltimore Sun story today about GOP Maryland Delegate Wade Kach coming out in support of marriage equality is this little tidbit: … Dick Cheney is personally lobbying on behalf of gay marriage? Really?

Discussion: Box Turtle Bulletin, ThinkProgress and Baltimore Sun

Annie Linskey / Baltimore Sun:
Maryland lawmakers under national pressure on marriage bill

Discussion: HorsesAss.Org, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, Gay Politics and Box Turtle Bulletin

New York Post:

Al Sharpton's SUV impounded at La Guardia Airport — Can I get a witness? — The Rev. Al Sharpton tried to move heaven and earth yesterday to keep his SUV from being towed at La Guardia Airport — but no amount of preaching could stop Port Authority cops from impounding the vehicle.

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, Washington Free Beacon and Gothamist

Wall Street Journal:

Google's iPhone Tracking — Web Giant, Others Bypassed Apple Browser Settings for Guarding Privacy — Google Inc. and other advertising companies have been bypassing the privacy settings of millions of people using Apple Inc.'s Web browser on their iPhones and computers …

Discussion: Politico, The Heritage Foundation, CNET, Washington Post, VentureBeat, Mashable!, Big Journalism, The Daily Caller and Slashdot, more at Techmeme »

John Bresnahan / Politico:

Ethics panel members recused in Maxine Waters case — Six members of the House Ethics Committee - including all five Republicans on the secretive panel - have recused themselves from the long-running case involving Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), an unprecedented move that raises …

Discussion: The Raw Story

Economist:

Over-regulated America — The home of laissez-faire is being suffocated by excessive and badly written regulation — AMERICANS love to laugh at ridiculous regulations. A Florida law requires vending-machine labels to urge the public to file a report if the label is not there.

Discussion: FreeEnterprise.com, The Atlantic Online, Politico, americanthinker.com and The Heritage Foundation

The Gallup Organization / Gallup:

U.S. Unemployment Increases in Mid-February — Underemployment also up, to 19.0% — PRINCETON, NJ — The U.S. unemployment rate, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, is 9.0% in mid-February, up from 8.6% for January. The mid-month reading normally reflects …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway and The Lonely Conservative

Roy Wenzl / Wichita Eagle:

Charles Koch, employees reveal e-mailed threats from past year — Charles Koch, his brother and employees have in recent months been getting death threats, hundreds of obscenity-laced hate messages, and harassment from some far left-wing groups, Koch said on Thursday.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and ThinkProgress