memeorandum: George Clooney to visit the White House (Caitlin McDevitt/Politico)

3:50 PM ET, March 14, 2012

Top Items:

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs — TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity.

Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times:
A Public Exit From Goldman Sachs Hits at a Wounded Wall Street

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Huffington Post, Outside the Beltway, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, DealBook, Guardian, Ezra Klein, The Big Picture, Truthdig and The BLT

Neil Rafferty / The Daily Mash: Why I am leaving the Empire, by Darth Vader

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:

Santorum-Gingrich Ticket Floated By Gingrich Adviser … 2012 Election , Mitt Romney , Newt Gingrich 2012 , Rick Santorum , Elections 2012 , Newt Gingrich , Ron Paul , Video , Election 2012 Blog , Ron Paul 2012 , Mitt Romney 2012 , Rick Santorum 2012 , Santorum , Politics News

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Mother Jones, Indecision Forever, Business Insider, Power Line, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, GOP 12 and National Review

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Santorum Wins Alabama and Mississippi Primaries — BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Rick Santorum captured twin victories in the Alabama and Mississippi primaries on Tuesday, overcoming the financial advantages of Mitt Romney and the regional allegiances of Newt Gingrich to amplify his argument …

Erick Erickson / RedState:

Not Closing the Deal — “In five years of campaigning it is stunning to me that the Romney camp still has no clue how to play the expectations game.” — This morning you were going to read a post from me saying Mitt Romney was definitely now the nominee and it was time for Santorum and Gingrich to drop out.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and GOP 12

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Will Newt Gingrich drop out?

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Business Insider, Hot Air, The Maddow Blog, The American Conservative and GOP 12

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama up in NC, primary hinges on Newt

Discussion: Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway and Guardian

Mj Lee / Politico:
Mitt's team: Count the delegates

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress, Associated Press and The Hill

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Mitt Romney Said He Was Going to Win Alabama

Discussion: Slate, The War Room …, The Maddow Blog, BuzzFeed, Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos

msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: The race goes on

Discussion: Politico, Wake up America, 2012 Decoded, The Daily Dish, Christian Science Monitor and The Moderate Voice

Frances Martel / Mediaite:

Jon Stewart Tells Fox News To ‘Shut The F*ck Up’ About Bill Maher's Offensive Rants — Jon Stewart began his show continuing the news narrative before it was rudely interrupted by another election night: “radio shock-blob Rush Limbaugh” saying something offensive on his radio show.

Discussion: Gothamist, The Gateway Pundit and The Raw Story

Keach Hagey / Politico:

David Axelrod bails on Bill Maher — David Axelrod will not be appearing as a guest on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” despite reports last week that he was scheduled to do the show in the next few weeks. — “He's not scheduled to go on at this time,” said Ben LaBolt, the press secretary for President Obama's reelection campaign.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Scared Monkeys, JustOneMinute, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Hotline On Call, The PJ Tatler, Washington Post, Jammie Wearing Fools, Taylor Marsh, 2012 Decoded, Washington Free Beacon and Shot in the Dark

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
Axelrod Cancels on Bill Maher - For Now

Discussion: TalkLeft and Althouse

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Bloomberg:

Republicans Losing on Birth Control as 77% in Poll Spurn Debate — Americans overwhelmingly regard the debate over President Barack Obama's policy on employer-provided contraceptive coverage as a matter of women's health, not religious freedom, rejecting Republicans' rationale for opposing the rule.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Little Green Footballs, Reuters, Politico, Ballot Box, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Caitlin McDevitt / Politico:

George Clooney to visit the White House — Actor George Clooney, who was on the Hill today, will be at the White House tomorrow. — Before Clooney's congressional testimony about violence in Sudan and South Sudan on Wednesday, Sen. John Kerry mentioned the actor's plan to meet with the president.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, The Caucus, Guardian and ABCNEWS

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
President Obama Gives UK Prime Minister Cameron a Custom-Made 100% Made in America Grill

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The 1600 Report, Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Obama gives Cameron a Braten 1000 Series grill to celebrate visit

Discussion: Politico

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:

House Republican Leaders Plan To Renege On Debt Ceiling Deal — Last week, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) signaled during an interview with Fox Business that he was open to reneging on the budget deal the GOP crafted with Democrats last year during the debacle over raising the nation's debt ceiling.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

David Lawder / Reuters:
House Republican leaders set to break US budget deal

Discussion: A plain blog about politics

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:

Panetta Visits Afghanistan in Aftermath of Massacre — CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta landed here Wednesday morning on an unannounced and tense trip, the first by a senior member of the Obama administration since an American soldier reportedly killed 16 Afghan civilians, mostly children and women.

Discussion: Associated Press, Politico, msnbc.com, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, The Page and LewRockwell.com Blog

Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrives in Afghanistan; pledges no change in strategy

Discussion: msnbc.com, Guardian and Mondoweiss

Muhammad Lila / ABCNEWS: Security Scare During Defense Secretary's Afghan Visit

Thania A. Betancourt / ASU News:

Senate judiciary committee endorses controversial contraceptive bill — The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-2 Monday to endorse a controversial bill that would allow Arizona employers the right to deny health insurance coverage for contraceptives based on religious objections.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Addicting Info, Feministing, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider and Firedoglake

Erin Gloria Ryan / Jezebel:
Law Will Allow Employers to Fire Women for Using Whore Pills [Pill Baby Pill]

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Crooks and Liars, The Mahablog and Balloon Juice

Neil Munro / The Daily Caller:

Times nixes anti-Islam ad, runs anti-Catholic ad — Executives at The New York Times have rejected a full-page anti-Islam advertisement that mimicked a controversial anti-Catholic advertisement they published on March 9. — According to a Mar. 13 letter sent by the Times to the ad's sponsor …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Atlas Shrugs and The Catholic League

Joshua Rhett Miller / Fox News:

American flag with President Obama's image sparks outrage at Florida Democrats — Lake County Democratic Party officials removed the flag on Tuesday following complaints by local veterans in Florida. — An American flag with President Obama's image in place of the stars flew …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and Weasel Zippers

Tim Mak / Politico:

‘Game Change’ authors: Hillary Clinton in '16 — “Game Change” co-authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann both predicted Wednesday that there was a high probability that Hillary Clinton would run for president in 2016. — “What are the odds this morning that Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016? …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Don't Tread on Us — Hillary Clinton has fought for women's rights around the world.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Wynton Hall / BREITBART.COM:

EXCLUSIVE: CHRIS ROCK ATTACKS CONSERVATIVE AUTHOR OVER TEA PARTY QUESTION — The New York Times bestselling author of the explosive new book, Hollywood Hypocrites: The Devastating Truth About Obama's Biggest Backers, Jason Mattera, had his crew's camera snatched and hurled by comedian Chris Rock …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and Michelle Malkin

nbcconnecticut.com:

Woman Raped at Occupy New Haven: Cops — Police charged England Gamble, 53, of New Haven, with sexual assault. — A member of the Occupy New Haven movement was raped in a tent at the Occupy camp late on Monday night or early Tuesday morning, police said.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and TBogg

Robert Reich:

The Difference Between Private and Public Morality — Republicans have morality upside down. Santorum, Gingrich, and even Romney are barnstorming across the land condemning gay marriage, abortion, out-of-wedlock births, access to contraception, and the wall separating church and state.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Economist's View

Washington Examiner:

Thursday is ‘Poolmageddon’ for trial lawyers — President Obama's Department of Justice — led by Attorney General Eric Holder — has found a new way to make the Americans with Disabilities Act pay off for Democratic trial lawyer campaign donors. — Since the ADA first became law in 1990 …

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Camp Of The Saints, Hot Air, Campaign 2012 and PointOfLaw Forum

Montgomery Advertiser:

Roy Moore: ‘The people have spoken’ — Roy Moore said about 2 a.m. Wednesday that even though he had not been declared the winner of the Republican primary for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court that he expected to win without a runoff. — “Statistically, there is just no way we're …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Associated Press and The Daily Caller