memeorandum: In Russia, an Election Victory for Putin, and Then a ‘Paid Flash Mob’ (Simon Shuster/Time)

12:30 PM ET, March 5, 2012

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I've spent the past 2 days trying to convince my 16 y/o she is not a “slut” **Updated x 3 — I can hardly type, can hardly put this into words! I have been writing and rewriting this because if I don't break down in tears, I get so angry that I can't think straight!

Discussion: Latest Open Salon Blog, Balloon Juice, Riehl World View, Questions and Observations, pandagon.net, Booman Tribune, Pirate's Cove, The Last Tradition, Addicting Info, Hullabaloo and The Reality-Based Community

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Limbaugh Advertisers Flee Show Amid Storm — Emboldened by Rush Limbaugh's public apology over the weekend to a law school student whom he had called a “slut” and a “prostitute,” critics of the radio talk show host are intensifying their online campaign against his advertisers.

Discussion: Washington Post, Indecision Forever, Media Decoder, The Impolitic, Michelle Malkin, The Maddow Blog, Althouse, Runnin' Scared, Poynter and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Charles Johnson / Little Green Footballs:

Pamela Geller Spews Hatred at Sandra Fluke: ‘Banging It Five Times a Day’ — Rush Limbaugh may have “apologized” (disclaimer: not a real apology) for his caveman comments about Sandra Fluke, but the right wing blogosphere continues to spew torrents of venom at her.

Discussion: The Mahablog, The Huffington Post, Towleroad News #gay, Balloon Juice and The Raw Story

Jennifer H. Cunningham / NY Daily News:

Cardinal tweaks Limbaugh, urges fight against birth control policy to stay civil — Dolan to Catholics: Be firm but not ‘pugnacious’ — Timothy Cardinal Dolan leads morning mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral on — Timothy Cardinal Dolan chided Rush Limbaugh on Sunday …

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress and Joe. My. God.

Tommy / The Right Sphere:

Is This Why Carbonite Dumped Rush But Not Ed Schultz? — A lot of folks have been asking why Carbonite would choose to pull its ads from Rush Limbaugh's show for referring to activist Sandra Fluke as a “slut” but they still advertise on Ed Schultz's show after he referred to Laura Ingraham the same way.

Discussion: Datechguy's Blog and The PJ Tatler

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Welcome to total political war

Discussion: protein wisdom and Cold Fury

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs:
Slutgate: Contact Carbonite — Drop Ed Schultz UPDATE: 7 Companies to Boycott

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, American Spectator, Washington Post, thump whip, Wall Street Journal, The Other McCain, Riehl World View, Betsy's Page, The Jane Dough, The Lonely Conservative, iOwnTheWorld.com and Doug Ross

Will Dunham / Reuters:
Ron Paul unimpressed with Limbaugh apology

Discussion: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Balloon Juice and NewsBusters.org

Tim Mak / Politico:
Timothy Dolan to Rush Limbaugh: ‘Do it civilly’

Discussion: CNN

Tali Arbel / Associated Press:
A 7th advertiser pulls out of Limbaugh's show

Discussion: Daily Kos, Villainous Company, The Week, The Other McCain, Sky Dancing, The Mahablog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and ABCNEWS

Andrew Breitbart / BREITBART.COM:

THE VETTING, PART I: BARACK'S LOVE SONG TO ALINSKY — Prior to his passing, Andrew Breitbart said that the mission of the Breitbart empire was to exemplify the free and fearless press that our Constitution protects—but which, increasingly, the mainstream media denies us. — “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”

Charles Johnson / Little Green Footballs:

Everything Is Different Now - the Breitbartocalypse Is Upon Us — Before his death, Andrew Breitbart had been promising a true BOMBSHELL revelation about Barack Obama, a STUNNER that would finally put an end to Obama's reign of terror. Some whispered darkly that this may have been the reason …

Discussion: Pat Dollard

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

State-by-State Analysis: Romney Could Win Majority of Super Tuesday Delegates — Although the Super Tuesday states are a mix of favorable and unfavorable terrain for Mitt Romney, his situation has improved enough that he could be on track to win an outright majority of the delegates on the night.

Discussion: Hit & Run, americanthinker.com, PJ Media, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Philly.com

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Split decision for Super Tuesday — The news is good for Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich and bad for Rick Santorum in PPP's final polls of the three biggest Super Tuesday states. — In Ohio Romney leads with 37% to 36% for Santorum, 15% for Gingrich, and 11% for Ron Paul.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Politico, Balloon Juice, Guardian, Daily Kos, CNN, Marist Poll and msnbc.com

Quinnipiac University:

Romney Has Momentum In Ohio GOP Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; But Presidential Primary Too Close To Call — The Ohio Republican presidential primary remains too close to call, but former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has the momentum, and 34 percent of likely Republican primary voters …

Discussion: GOP 12, Washington Post, Metro, The Caucus, New York Post, weaskamerica.com, American Research Group, NY Daily News, Tucson Citizen, The Week, Hot Air and Business Insider

Mj Lee / Politico:
Newt Gingrich blasts ‘rich enough’ Mitt Romney on gas

Discussion: Daily Kos

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:
Romney, The Inevitable? (The Note)

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Reuters and USA Today

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box:
Polls show Romney gaining nationally, pulling ahead in Ohio

Discussion: Shakesville and Rasmussen Reports

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:

NBC/WSJ poll: Primary season takes ‘corrosive’ toll on GOP and its candidates — As another round of voting takes place this week in the Republican presidential race - with 11 states holding Super Tuesday contests - a new national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll shows that the combative …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress, The Maddow Blog, Zandar Versus The Stupid, No More Mister Nice Blog, American Power, National Confidential and Taegan Goddard's …

Neil King Jr / Wall Street Journal:

Romney Advances as Obama Gains — Mitt Romney has regained the lead in the Republican presidential contest thanks to new support from conservatives, while evidence emerges that the bitter nomination fight has damaged the GOP candidates' standing among the wider public, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.

Discussion: American Prospect, CNN, Hot Air and Daily Kos

msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Damaged goods?

Discussion: New York Times, Daniel W. Drezner, Macon Telegraph and The Political Carnival

John Bresnahan / Politico:

White House to Congress Dems: Expect no money — President Barack Obama has a bleak message for House and Senate Democrats this year when it comes to campaign cash: You're on your own. — Democratic congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi …

Discussion: Don Surber, Weasel Zippers, americanthinker.com, Hotline On Call, Taegan Goddard's … and Right Wing News

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

States of Depression — The economic news is looking better lately. But after previous false starts — remember “green shoots”? — it would be foolish to assume that all is well. And in any case, it's still a very slow economic recovery by historical standards.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, American Prospect, Suburban Guerrilla, Business Insider, Daily Kos, US Politics, Paul Krugman and Economist's View

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:

Observers Detail Flaws in Russian Election — MOSCOW — European election observers issued a harsh critique of the Russian presidential election on Monday, saying that Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin's victory was preordained and unfair, because of overwhelming bias in the television media …

Discussion: The New Republic, Guardian and Prairie Weather

Simon Shuster / Time: In Russia, an Election Victory for Putin, and Then a ‘Paid Flash Mob’

Larry Solov / BREITBART.COM:

THE ‘BIG’ CHANGE — Dear Readers: — Today, as Andrew dreamed and planned, we launch what he called “Breitbart 2.0.” — Many of you wondered what he was working on so hard during the last year of his life. Here it is. — This was Andrew's design. And it is Big, like everything else about him.

Discussion: L.A. NOW, Pat Dollard, Babalú Blog, Ed Driscoll and The Daily Caller

Elizabeth Harrington / CNSNews:

Wasserman Schultz: 'It's Time Romney And The Rest of The Republican Party End The War on Women They Started' — (CNSNews.com) - Warning that his “anti-women” stance would cost him votes in his campaign for the White House, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said Friday presidential …

Discussion: protein wisdom and Weasel Zippers

Niniek Karmini / Associated Press:

AP Exclusive: Obama's transgender ex-nanny outcast — JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Once, long ago, Evie looked after “Barry” Obama, the kid who would grow up to become the world's most powerful man. Now, his transgender former nanny has given up her tight, flowery dresses, her brocade vest and her bras …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Raw Story