memeorandum: Pelosi 2008: Bush to Blame for High Gas Prices; Pelosi 2012: Wall Street to Blame for High Gas Prices (Jammie Wearing Fools)

10:00 PM ET, February 24, 2012

Top Items:

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:

Romney speech falls flat in Detroit — Mitt Romney spoke to several empty seats Friday in Detroit, in a speech that offered Democrats more fodder for their attacks and failed to deliver the major economic address his campaign promised. — Television cameras showed rows of empty chairs …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Moderate Voice, Reuters, Wonkette, Politico, Guardian, TBogg, The Other McCain, No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Algemeiner.com and Hullabaloo

Carlos Osorio / ABCNEWS:

Mitt Romney's Ford Field Fumble? — ABC News' David Muir, Michael Falcone and Emily Friedman report: — DETROIT - Standing on the 30-yard line of Detroit's Ford Field, Mitt Romney delivered what was billed as a major economic speech before a crowd of about 1,200 supporters on Friday.

Discussion: Plutocrap

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Romney Boasts: He Has Not One, But Four, American Cars — He also thinks Michigan's trees are “just the right height.” — (Original Photo Source: Getty Images) — DETROIT, Michigan—Mitt Romney addressed the Detroit Economic Club today and proved once again why he's hard to relate to.

Discussion: Guardian, Gawker, The Daily Caller and National Review

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
Mitt Romney: Wife Ann drives ‘a couple of Cadillacs’

Discussion: Firedoglake, Wake up America and Daily Kos

Steven Rattner / New York Times:
Delusions About the Detroit Bailout

Discussion: The Caucus, msnbc.com, The Maddow Blog, Washington Monthly, The Hill, Angry Bear, ThinkProgress, Brad DeLong, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, A plain blog about politics, Gallup, Mediaite, CNN, Politico, The Atlantic Online, Jared Bernstein, ABCNEWS and Detroit Free Press

Sandhya Somashekhar / Washington Post:

Karen Santorum: husband's presidential run is 'God's will' — Rick Santorum's wife granted a rare interview Thursday, telling conservative talk show host Glenn Beck that she initially had been against her husband running for president but finally concluded it was “God's will.”

Discussion: Hot Air, The Raw Story, Shakesville and Althouse

Kenneth P. Vogel / Reuters:

Rick Santorum speaks at super PAC fundraiser — Rick Santorum on Thursday afternoon slipped away from the campaign trail to speak to a fundraiser for a supportive super PAC, despite denying previous reports that he planned to do so. — The fundraiser drew between 20 and 25 donors …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
‘Right Wing Lice’

Discussion: Hot Air, Mail Online, Mediaite, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and NewsBusters.org blogs, more at Mediagazer »

Tim Mak / Politico:
Arlen Specter: Rick Santorum ‘so far to the right’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, CNN, PhillyNow, PennLive.com and On Top Magazine Headlines

Amy Gardner / Washington Post:
Rick Santorum winning more support from Republican women

Discussion: Sky Dancing, Wake up America, Los Angeles Times, The Week, Taylor Marsh, Stop The ACLU, Politico, Indianapolis Star, Hot Air, The Page, Sabato's Crystal Ball and Politics

Kyle Leighton / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Why Mitt Romney Might Be Even Weaker Than You Think

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Obama Diary

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:
Santorum Swings Hard At Romney, Says His Team Is ‘All Democrats’

Discussion: Daily Kos

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Satan's Indoctrination Camps

Discussion: Mother Jones, Sky Dancing, A plain blog about politics, Love Joy Feminism and Wonkette

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
What happens if Mitt Romney wins Michigan?

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, detroitnews.com, News Desk, Online NewsHour, MLive.com, FiveThirtyEight, Shakesville, ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post and Las Vegas Sun Blogs

Jammie Wearing Fools:

Pelosi 2008: Bush to Blame for High Gas Prices; Pelosi 2012: Wall Street to Blame for High Gas Prices — Obviously the Democrats are worried their golden boy will be taking heat for skyrocketing gas prices so this week they've gone on the offensive. Their diversionary tactics …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, NewsBusters.org blogs, Ed Driscoll, Daily Pundit, The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit and Mother Jones

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

Out of Gas — The folly of blaming Obama for higher gas prices. — Consumers are paying ever-higher prices for gas — Magdalena Jankowska/iStockphoto — Several months' worth of strong labor market data have put a crimp in Republican plans to run against Barack Obama as the second coming of Herbert Hoover.

Discussion: tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, Washington Monthly, The Week, Institute for Energy Research, Firedoglake, USA Today, ThinkProgress, White House.gov Blog, The Democratic Daily, The Maddow Blog, The White House, Washington Post and Center for American Progress

Investor's Business Daily:
5 Biggest Whoppers In Obama's Energy Speech

Discussion: Viking Pundit, Hot Air, Wizbang, Wake up America, The Lonely Conservative, The Heritage Foundation, The Gateway Pundit, JunkScience.com, Betsy's Page, Patterico's Pontifications, Doug Ross, Power Line and New York Times

Joe Klein / Swampland:

Did Jeb Bush Actually Say That? — We may be reaching critical mass in the belief that this pathetic field of Republican candidates has jumped the shark...even many Republicans have come to that conclusion. Politico today cites several sources that Jeb Bush said this during a post-speech question …

Tim Mak / Politico:
Reports: Jeb Bush says 2012ers are 'appealing to people's fears'

Discussion: Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, CBS Dallas, ABCNEWS, UPI, The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers, Guardian, Newsy, Crooks and Liars, Fox News, LewRockwell.com Blog and Booman Tribune

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:

The Sharia Court of Pennsylvania — the Transcript — I have made a transcript of the Pennsylvania case in which state judge Mark Martin, a Muslim convert and U.S. Army reservist who served in Iraq, relied on a sharia law defense (as well as some evidentiary contortions) …

Discussion: Hot Air, Power Line, Patterico's Pontifications and PoliPundit.com

Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
The Sharia Court of Pennsylvania

Discussion: Verum Serum, Sister Toldjah, The American Conservative, The PJ Tatler, The Volokh Conspiracy, Cold Fury, Weasel Zippers, Pirate's Cove, The Jawa Report, Jihad Watch and Opposing Views

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs:
American Muslim Judge Who Imposed Sharia in Pennsylvania Court Threatens to Jail Infidel Victim …

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy and Jihad Watch

Byron Tau / Politico:

Gregoire: Obama the ‘inspiration’ on gay marriage — Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) defended President Obama's record on gay rights, saying that the president was the “inspiration” for her state's recent same-sex marriage legalization bill. — “I think we probably have succeeded as much as we have because of his leadership.

Discussion: CNN, Weasel Zippers and ThinkProgress

Ian Duncan / Los Angeles Times:
Maryland Republican: Meeting gay couples left me ‘changed person’

Discussion: Firedoglake, Prop 8 Trial Tracker and Towleroad News #gay

Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:
Maryland Senate passes same-sex marriage bill

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, Mercury News, Crooks and Liars, The BLT, The Impolitic, CNN, Mother Jones, The Page, US Politics and The Reaction

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Romney's Stadium Speech Today Dwarfed By Obama Stadium Speech In 2008 — At this very moment, Mitt Romney is holding an event at Ford Stadium which has failed to attract enough people to come even close to filling it up (in fact, you could fit Romney's 1,200 person crowd in the 65,000-seat stadium 54 times over).

Discussion: Guardian, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, The Impolitic, Doug Ross and The Atlantic Online

Emily Goodin / The Hill:

Palin said her divorce was ‘when,’ not ‘if’ — Sarah Palin, in 2007, indicated she was contemplating a divorce. — In a Sept. 26, 2007, email obtained by The Associated Press, Palin wrote to an aide and her husband, Todd Palin: “So speaking of. .. If we, er, when we get a divorce …

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Associated Press:
Emails show Palin wanted to leave Alaska governor's job months before she resigned

Discussion: Politico, msnbc.com, Mediaite, Wonkette and The Jane Dough

John Celock / The Huffington Post:

David Albo, Virginia Lawmaker, Says Wife Wouldn't Have Sex Because Of Transvaginal Ultrasound Bill — Virginia's controversial transvaginal ultrasound bill hit one Republican lawmaker close to home. In the bedroom, to be precise. He said a fellow lawmaker's television discussion of the bill cost him sex with his wife.

Discussion: Firedoglake and Wonkette

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Democratic governors discuss bypassing Congress with Obama — President Obama met with a group of Democratic governors on Friday and discussed plans to work around Congress toward policy goals. — Gov. Jack Markell, the Democratic governor of Delaware and the vice chairman …

Discussion: Politico, Weasel Zippers and The Lonely Conservative

Sarah Kliff / Washington Post:

Per person cost of federal high-risk medical plan doubles — Medical costs for enrollees in the health-care law's high-risk insurance pools are expected to more than double initial predictions, the Obama administration said Thursday in a report on the new program.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Hit & Run, NetRight Daily and White House.gov Blog

Steven Lendman / Energy Bulletin:

Greece: The Epicenter of Global Pillage — Predatory bankers make serial killers look good by comparison. Their business model creates crises to facilitate grand theft, financial terrorism, and debt entrapment. — They steal all material wealth and then some.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Elizabeth Warren / The Boston Globe:

Denying women coverage under any guise is a big step backward — MAYBE YOU saw the pictures. Five middle-age men seated at a congressional hearing table to discuss freedom of religion and contraception. And not a single woman was on the panel. Unbelievable.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, JustOneMinute, Daily Kos and Politico

Amanda Peterson Beadle / ThinkProgress:

Buchanan To Republicans: You're Overeaching On Birth Control — Women's health care has dominated political discussions as GOP-controlled state legislatures consider legislation to extremely curtail women's access to abortions and right-wing leaders claim the Obama administration is infringing …

Discussion: Wonkette