memeorandum: Greek debt nightmare laid bare (Peter Spiegel/Agence France Presse)

2:15 PM ET, February 21, 2012

Top Items:

Sex, Lies and Rick Santorum — The politics of the double standard on social issues. — When Barack Obama was campaigning for president in 2008, he declared that marriage is between a man and a woman. For the most part, his position was treated as a nonissue. — Now Rick Santorum is campaigning for president.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Democracy in America, Weekly Standard, Foster Friess and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Santorum Expands Lead, but Romney Gets Electability Vote — Fifty-eight percent of Republicans say Romney has best chance to beat Obama — PRINCETON, NJ — Rick Santorum now holds a 10-percentage-point lead in Gallup's Daily tracking of national Republicans registered voters' preferences for the 2012 GOP nomination.

Discussion: Reuters, CNN, Boston Globe, Investor's Business Daily, The Other McCain, Hot Air, Arizona Republic, TIME Ideas, Ballot Box, Guardian, The Week, Lists, GOP 12 and Towleroad News #gay

Politico:

Mitt Romney's burn rate a boon for Barack Obama — Mitt Romney is burning through cash more than twice as fast as he's raising it, new reports filed Monday show — a clear sign that a protracted GOP primary fight could leave the front-runner limping into a general election fight with President Barack Obama.

Discussion: Firedoglake, CNN and Daily Kos

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Santorum leads in Washington — Wedged between the Michigan/Arizona primaries and Super Tuesday the Washington state GOP caucus hasn't received a lot of attention. At least for now it looks like it could give Rick Santorum some momentum headed into the critical March 6th contests.

Discussion: GOP 12 and Taegan Goddard's …

Mike Littwin / Denver Post:

Santorum's phony theology — I don't usually go first to Rick Santorum for enlightenment, but I think he may be onto something with this “phony theology” business. — It's not clear exactly what he meant when he said over the weekend that Barack Obama's policies were based on a “phony theology,” and not the Bible.

Discussion: The Agonist

Erica Werner / Associated Press:
Obama peddles modest American dream

Discussion: AMERICAN DIGEST, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Grim's Hall and The Lonely Conservative

Rich Lowry / National Review:
The Effrontery of Rick Santorum

Discussion: Washington Wire, TheBlaze.com and Pundit & Pundette

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:
Santorum's WWII Warning: Fear Obama?

Discussion: Ballot Box, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and Outside the Beltway

Steven Bertoni / Money Talks:

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson Says He Might Give $100M To Newt Gingrich Or Other Republican — Sheldon Adelson: The GOP's $25 billion man … Sheldon Adelson plays as stubbornly in politics as he does in business. So the criticisms that he's trying to personally buy the presidential election …

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Monthly, Swampland, Los Angeles Times, msnbc.com, Taylor Marsh, TheBlaze.com, Washington Post, Shakesville, DownWithTyranny!, Politico, Daily Pundit, Ballot Box and Political Insider

msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: The most important seven days of Romney's political life?

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Los Angeles Times, Newsy and ABCNEWS

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:
‘Super PAC’ Role Grows for Republican Campaigns

Discussion: Firedoglake, USA Today, Politico, ABCNEWS, Media Decoder, FiveThirtyEight, Bloomberg, CNNMoney.com, Washington Post, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and The Caucus

Peter H. Gleick / The Huffington Post:

The Origin of the Heartland Documents — Climate Change , Global Warming , Heartland Institute , Heartland Institute Leaked Documents , Green News — Since the release in mid-February of a series of documents related to the internal strategy of the Heartland Institute to cast doubt on climate science …

Andrew C. Revkin / Dot Earth:
Peter Gleick Admits to Deception in Obtaining Heartland Climate Files

Discussion: blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Don Surber, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller, Vox Popoli, Balloon Juice, JunkScience.com, Right Wing News, Watts Up With That?, The Huffington Post, Guardian, Tim Blair, Instapundit and TBogg

New York Times:
Activist Says He Lied to Obtain Climate Papers

Discussion: JunkScience.com

Felix Salmon:

The improbable Greece plan — Greece is now officially a ward of the international community. It has no real independence when it comes to fiscal policy any more, and if everything goes according to plan, it's not going to have any independence for many, many years to come.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Firedoglake, Reuters, Paul Krugman, Wall Street Journal, EU Referendum, Newshoggers.com, Associated Press, Jared Bernstein, americanthinker.com and National Review

Peter Spiegel / Agence France Presse:

Greek debt nightmare laid bare — A “strictly confidential” report on Greece's debt projections prepared for eurozone finance ministers reveals Athens' rescue programme is way off track and suggests the Greek government may need another bail-out once a second rescue - set to be agreed on Monday night - runs out.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Felix Salmon, National Review, Political Mojo, Via Meadia and Financial Times

James Crugnale / Mediaite:

Watch Franklin Graham Question President Obama's Faith, Explain Why Mormons Aren't Christian On Morning Joe — On Tuesday, Franklin Graham appeared on Morning Joe and made some statements that threw the show's panel — which included Alex Wagner, Willie Geist, and John Heilemann — into disarray.

Discussion: Religion Dispatches, Balloon Juice and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Santorum: “You're Not A Christian” — Defenders of Rick Santorum are very angry that anyone would suggest his “phony theology” comments about the president represented an attack on a fellow Christian's beliefs. Turns out he was a bit more direct about it in an appearance in 2008 …

Patrick J. Buchanan / The American Conservative:
Is Obama's America God's Country?

Discussion: Business Insider

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Affirmative Action Case — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a major case on affirmative action in higher education, adding another potential blockbuster to a docket already studded with them. — The court's decision in the new case holds …

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, Los Angeles Times and Feministing

Scott Jaschik / Inside Higher Ed:
Supreme Court takes up affirmative action case

Discussion: Washington Post and msnbc.com

JournalGazette.net:

You choose, we deliver … Indiana — Authorities are searching for an Indianapolis man who fled on foot, accused of shooting at a state trooper near a southern Indiana highway.Today 9:03 am — Rep. Bob Morris said he did some Web-based research and found allegations that the Girl Scouts …

Discussion: GetReligion, Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, BuzzFeed, We Party Patriots, Towleroad News #gay, The Raw Story, Balloon Juice and Booman Tribune

JournalGazette.net:
You choose, we deliver … The Scoop — “Adding the new building …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Associated Press, ThinkProgress and Little Green Footballs

Chris Geidner / Poliglot:

BREAKING: Proposition 8 Proponents to Seek Full Ninth Circuit Review — Charles Cooper, the lead attorney for the proponents of Proposition 8, tells Metro Weekly that the proponents of the California marriage amendment will be asking the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit …

Discussion: Law Blog, Towleroad News #gay, The Volokh Conspiracy and Joe. My. God.

Deb Riechmann / Associated Press:

Qurans Burned in Afghanistan Reportedly Contained Extremist Messages — Update: A military official says Muslim holy books that were burned in a pile of garbage at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan had been removed from a library at a nearby detention center because they contained extremist messages or inscriptions.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler

Washington Post:
Afghans protest burning of Korans at U.S. base

Discussion: ISAF Latest, New York Times and The Agonist

Jonathan Strong / Roll Call:

Associate Confronted Rep. Ron Paul About Flights — In March 2005, David James called Rep. Ron Paul's (R-Texas) Congressional office for some documentation. — James's nonprofit group, the Liberty Committee, had paid for one of Paul's flights, and James needed a receipt or boarding pass to document the expense.

Discussion: Hot Air, Examiner, Thoughts and Rantings, Online NewsHour, Weekly Standard, The Spectacle Blog and msnbc.com

WRTV-TV:

Lugar Defends Himself On Residency Question — Longtime Senator Says He Meets Requirements — INDIANAPOLIS — Sen. Richard Lugar defended himself during an appearance in Indianapolis on Monday that came days after opponents claimed that he isn't qualified to run for office because he doesn't live in the state.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller and USA Today

Capital Flows / Opinions That Matter:

The “Robo-Signing” Settlement: Seeds of Recovery, Or Chaos? — George Mason law professor Todd J. Zywicki fears that the “robo-signing” agreement will lead to further efforts to bleed the banks, all the while delaying the necessary clearing of the housing market.

Karl Smith / Modeled Behavior:

Beyond Industrialization — I predict this graph will make the rounds — I want to make the point that this consistent with my long thesis that we are returning to an environment where productivity gains do not accrue to unskilled labor because they are imbedded in the brains of the innovators.

Discussion: Marginal Revolution and EconLog