memeorandum: Obama calls Sandra Fluke, student dissed by Rush Limbaugh (Mj Lee/Politico)

3:55 PM ET, March 2, 2012

Top Items:

Rush Limbaugh Advertiser Sleep Train Pulls Commercials In Wake Of Sandra Fluke ‘Slut’ Firestorm … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Rush Limbaugh, Rush Limbaugh Sandra Fluke, Rush Limbaugh Sandra Fluke Slut, Rush Limbaugh Sleep Train, Sleep Train, Sleep Train Rush Limbaugh, Slidepollajax, Media News

Discussion: Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Business Insider, his vorpal sword, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival, BuzzFeed and Gothamist

Michelle Malkin:

Sandra Fluke is not a “slut.” She's a femme-agogue tool; DCCC, Emily's list fund-raise off of Rush — The Soros monkeys and assorted progressive agitators are using conservative radio giant Rush Limbaugh to raise money again. — This just came in my in-box:

Discussion: The Right Scoop, Hot Air, The Other McCain, TheCollegeConservative, ThinkProgress, No More Mister Nice Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Mj Lee / Politico:

Obama calls Sandra Fluke, student dissed by Rush Limbaugh — President Barack Obama on Friday phoned the Georgetown University law student who was called a “slut” by Rush Limbaugh to find out if she's OK. — “He encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns …

Discussion: Indecision Forever, gulawweekly.org and Law Blog

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

John Boehner: Rush Limbaugh ‘slut’ remark ‘inappropriate’ — Speaker John Boehner on Friday denounced radio host Rush Limbaugh's “slut” remarks aimed at Georgetown University student Sandra Fluke, but the Ohio Republican also jabbed at Democrats who have been fundraising off the fracas.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, The Daily Dish, Hot Air, Don Surber and ECHIDNE of the snakes

Michael O'Brien / msnbc.com:

President Obama calls Georgetown student Fluke — The Georgetown University law student reacts to Rush Limbaugh's comments and reveals that President Barack Obama called her offering encouragement, support and thanking her for speaking out for women's rights. — By Michael O'Brien, msnbc.com

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Weasel Zippers, The Political Carnival and Jammie Wearing Fools

Rush Limbaugh:

Left Freaks Out Over My Fluke Remarks — RUSH: Oh, yeah, I'm gonna deal with this. I'm gonna deal with it. I think this is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. The left has been thrown into an outright conniption fit! This is “phony soldiers” times ten. Oh, ten times worse than phony soldiers.

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, msnbc.com, Los Angeles Times, L.A. NOW, NewsBusters.org blogs, Jay Bookman, Washington Monthly, The Right Scoop, Politico and Gawker

Tim Mak / Politico:

Carly Fiorina: Limbaugh ‘insulting’ — Carly Fiorina, National Republican Senatorial Committee Vice-Chairman, on Friday condemned Rush Limbaugh for calling college student Sandra Fluke a “slut.” — “That language is insulting, in my opinion. It's incendiary and most of all, it's a distraction.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post and ThinkProgress

Just a Grunt / Jammie Wearing Fools:

Sandra Fluke's Appearance Is No Fluke — For me the interesting part of the story is the ever-evolving “coed”. I put that in quotes because in the beginning she was described as a Georgetown law student. It was then revealed that prior to attending Georgetown she was an active women's right advocate.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

The Huffington Post:

Sandra Fluke Receives Call From Obama After Rush Limbaugh ‘Slut’ Comments … REACT: — FOLLOW: — President Obama on Friday placed a call to Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University law school student at the heart of the debate over the contraception law, thanking her for speaking out on the issue.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Craig Crawford's Trail Mix, Shakesville, Media Matters for America and ABCNEWS

Matt Negrin / ABCNEWS:
Culture War Update: Obama Joins the Fray Sparked by Rush Limbaugh

Discussion: Truthdig, Indecision Forever, The Volokh Conspiracy and The Democratic Daily

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Pelosi rips Limbaugh over ‘slut’ comment, calls on House GOP to repudiate it

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, ThinkProgress, msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's …, Business Insider, The Maddow Blog and Daily Kos

John Boehner / CNN:
TRENDING: First on CNN: Boehner hits Limbaugh's comments as ‘inappropriate’

Discussion: Daily Kos

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Limbaugh Continues Hateful Assault On Sandra Fluke, Says She Needs To Have Less Sex

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, msnbc.com, The New Republic, Guardian and The Maddow Blog

Faiz Shakir / ThinkProgress:
Second Advertiser Pulls Out From Limbaugh

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Maggie Fazeli Fard / Washington Post:
Sandra Fluke, Georgetown student called a ‘slut’ by Rush Limbaugh, speaks out

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, The PJ Tatler, Runnin' Scared, Politicker, NewsBusters.org blogs and protein wisdom

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
Does Carly Fiorina Just Not Get It?

Discussion: The Hill, ThinkProgress, Swampland and WCVB-TV

Alex Alvarez / Mediaite:
Georgetown Student Sandra Fluke Responds To Being Called ‘Slut,’ ‘Prostitute’ By Limbaugh

Discussion: msnbc.com, Villainous Company, American Prospect, The Reaction, Mercury Rising, The Moderate Voice, The Spectacle Blog and The Gateway Pundit

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

Obama to Iran and Israel: 'As President of the United States, I Don't Bluff' — Dismissing a strategy of “containment” as unworkable, the president tells me it's “unacceptable” for the Islamic Republic of Iran to have a nuclear weapon. — At the White House on Monday …

Thomas Schaller / Salon:

Same sex, opposite impact — Marriage equality always seemed a losing issue for the left. That's all changed. Just ask Ken Mehlman — Rep. Anne Kaiser, D-Montgomery, an openly gay member of the Maryland General Assembly, holds Natalie Vincent, 10 months, the daughter of a member …

Discussion: Washington Post, Poliglot, Steve Rothaus' Gay …, News Desk, Towleroad News #gay, ThinkProgress, Taegan Goddard's …, Swampland and Joe. My. God.

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Chris Christie: Marriage Equality Is Not About ‘Gay Rights’

Discussion: Baltimore Sun, The Daily Dish, Sky Dancing and New Jersey Online

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:
Ken Mehlman's Regrets

Discussion: The Maddow Blog

Quinnipiac University:

Ohio GOP Race Going Down To The Wire, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Santorum At 35% To Romney's 31% — The Republican presidential face-off in Ohio is too close to call as former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has 35 percent of likely Republican primary voters to former Massachusetts …

ABCNEWS:

EXCLUSIVE: In '02 Romney Touted D.C. Connections, Federal Funds — In a long-forgotten tape from the 2002 Massachusetts governor's race obtained by ABC News, Mitt Romney is seen touting his Washington connections and his ability to get millions of taxpayer dollars from the federal government.

Discussion: CNN, Crooks and Liars, msnbc.com, The Raw Story, Public Policy Polling, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, GOP 12, National Review and US Politics

Bob Dole / CNN:
Santorum lumps McCain, Dole, H.W. Bush into losing clan of GOP moderates

Discussion: Politico, Washington Monthly, The Hill, Hot Air and Washington Post

Tim Mak / Politico:

George Will: Take Congress, not White House — Columnist George Will says the 2012 presidential race looks like it might be a lost cause for Republicans and believes that the primary goal of conservatives should be to retain control of the House and win the Senate so Congress …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Salon, The Right Scoop, The PJ Tatler, Business Insider, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Four Fiscal Phonies — Mitt Romney is very concerned about budget deficits. Or at least that's what he says; he likes to warn that President Obama's deficits are leading us toward a “Greece-style collapse.” — So why is Mr. Romney offering a budget proposal that would lead to much larger debt …

Discussion: Prairie Weather, The Mahablog, LewRockwell.com Blog, Daily Kos and Economix

James Pethokoukis / The Enterprise Blog:
Why Obama might raise taxes on the middle class if he's reelected

Discussion: protein wisdom and Hot Air

Noam Scheiber / The Daily Beast:
In Second Term, What Will Obama Do About Bush Tax Cuts?

Discussion: Economist's View and The Baseline Scenario

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Jon Huntsman Dropped From RNC Event For “Third Party” Call — Will this teach him a lesson? Or push him toward a third-party bid? — Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman departs the stage after announcing the suspension of his 2012 presidential bid in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, January 16, 2012.

Discussion: GOP 12 and Business Insider

Matt Labash / Weekly Standard:

Breitbart's Last Laugh — I woke up this morning to about ten emails from journalist friends asking if our mutual friend, Andrew Breitbart, was really dead. “Really” was the operative word. Some meant it in the traditional sense: Is it possible for the human inferno that Breitbart resembled …

Discussion: Red Mass Group, FishbowlDC, Washington Examiner, Reason, americanthinker.com, Tim Blair, Power Line and The Daily Caller

Mark Stiemann / The Behavioral Economy:

Gallup's Unadjusted Unemployment Data Suggest Increase in BLS Adjusted Figure — Gallup finds U.S. unemployment, as measured without seasonal adjustment, to be 9.1% in February, based on almost 30,000 interviews with a random sample of Americans. When Gallup applies the .5-percentage-point …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, americanthinker.com, Washington Free Beacon and Campaign 2012

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

John Kerry Doesn't Think He's Anything Like Mitt Romney — Rejects the premise that he and another wealthy politician from Massachusetts might have had similar difficulties in their presidential bids. — (Getty Images / Win McNamee) — Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts rejected …

Discussion: GOP 12 and Wonkette

Russell Berman / Ballot Box:

Top Dem on House Approps committee announces retirement — Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, will retire at the end of 2012, he announced Friday. — Dicks, who was in line to chair the powerful appropriations panel if Democrats won control of the House …

Discussion: Politico, CNN and The PJ Tatler