memeorandum: The Great Whisperer — The late New York Times columnist Bill Safire … (Marc A. Thiessen/Washington Post)

2:50 AM ET, March 27, 2012

Top Items:

Police: Zimmerman says Trayvon decked him with one blow then began hammering his head — With a single punch, Trayvon Martin decked the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who eventually shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old, then Trayvon climbed on top of George Zimmerman and slammed his head …

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

What Everyone Needs To Know About The Smear Campaign Against Trayvon Martin (1995-2012) — Trayvon Martin, as he appeared on his actual Facebook page — Over the last 48 hours, there has been a sustained effort to smear Trayvon Martin, the 17-year old African-American who was shot dead by George Zimmerman a month ago.

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Post, Daily Mail, DISSENTING JUSTICE, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Stranger … and Roger Ailes

Frances Robles / MiamiHerald.com:

Multiple suspensions paint complicated portrait of Trayvon Martin — SANFORD — Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin was suspended from school in October in an incident in which he was found in possession of women's jewelry and a screwdriver that a schools security staffer described as a “burglary tool,” The Miami Herald has learned.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Little Green Footballs and National Review

Wbastone / The Smoking Gun:

An Unfortunate T-Shirt Hits Florida Streets In Wake Of Trayvon Martin Killing — Expanding the definition of “cracker,” a t-shirt featuring the photo of the man who shot Trayvon Martin is now available for purchase. — As seen at right (click to enlarge), the shirt has a picture of George Zimmerman and the words “Pussy Ass Cracker.”

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, Weasel Zippers, protein wisdom, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, ABCNEWS and American Power

Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:

Former NAACP leader accuses Sharpton and Jackson of ‘exploiting’ Trayvon Martin — Former NAACP leader C.L. Bryant is accusing Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton of “exploiting” the Trayvon Martin tragedy to “racially divide this country.” — “His family should be outraged at the fact …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Jawa Report and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »

Wbastone / The Smoking Gun:

Mother Seeks Trayvon Martin Trademarks — Records: Late teenager's kin filed pair of applications last week — The mother of Trayvon Martin has filed two applications to secure trademarks containing her late son's name, records show. — Sabrina Fulton is seeking marks for the phrases …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, msnbc.com, Mediaite, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The PJ Tatler and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Lizette Alvarez / New York Times:
Florida Teenager Had Been Suspended Over Marijuana

Discussion: TalkLeft, Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler and Mediaite

Ilya Somin / The Volokh Conspiracy:

Justices Skeptical of Claims that the Individual Mandate is a Tax — Today's Supreme Court oral argument transcript suggests that many of the justices, including at least three of the liberals, are skeptical of claims that the individual mandate is a tax. This is important not only for today's argument …

Discussion: tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, NationalJournal.com, Reuters, ABCNEWS, Guardian, Time, Patterico's Pontifications, New York Times and SCOTUSblog

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

Argument recap: Moving on to the mandate (FINAL UPDATE) — When Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., commented at the end of Monday's first day of hearings on the health care law, “We'll continue argument on this case tomorrow,” it seemed to have a secondary meaning even if he did not intend it.

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
Gohmert: Liberals should fear ‘redneck president’ if court upholds mandate

Discussion: The Raw Story

Politico:
First glimpses of Supreme Court's thinking on health law

Discussion: Associated Press, CNN, Scared Monkeys, ABCNEWS, The Hill, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and No More Mister Nice Blog

Philip Klein / Campaign 2012:
SCOTUS skeptical of idea that mandate is a tax

Discussion: American Spectator, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:

Most Oppose at Least Part of Overhaul, Poll Finds — Two-thirds of Americans want the Supreme Court to overturn some or all of the health care law, even though large majorities support a few of its major aspects, according to a poll by The New York Times and CBS News.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Josh Lederman / The Hill:
GOP contenders use hearing to blast president, each other

Discussion: CNN

David Brody / The Brody File:
Exclusive: Rick Santorum Doesn't Rule Out Possible VP Slot: 'I'll do whatever is necessary to help our country.'

Discussion: A plain blog about politics, CNN, Daily Kos, ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post, Politico, Wonkette, New York Magazine, National Review and The Stranger …

Catalina Camia / USA Today:
Santorum defends cursing at New York reporter

Discussion: Campaign 2012, New York Times, Political Insider, Politico and The Stranger …, more at Mediagazer »

Lucy Madison / CBS News:
Poll: Support for war in Afghanistan hits all-time low

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air and Politico

Stephanie Mencimer / Mother Jones:

Catholic Bishops Lose a Big Battle Over Contraception — For the past several months, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has been waging war on the Obama administration over reproductive health care, declaring it no less than a battle over religious freedom.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Mahablog and Booman Tribune

Daniel W. Drezner:

The dirty little secret about second-term presidents — ABC News reports on a “hot mic” moment between President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev: … Now, compared to past “hot mic” moments, this certainly seems less, well, profane. Nevertheless, it has gotten …

Discussion: Hot Air, Eunomia, The Maddow Blog, ABCNEWS, The Heritage Foundation, The Enterprise Blog, The PJ Tatler and Swampland

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
President Obama Asks Medvedev for ‘Space’ on Missile Defense — ‘After My Election I Have More Flexibility’

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Eunomia, BBC, Russia & India Report, Michael Turner, The Hill, The Heritage Foundation, The Enterprise Blog, The PJ Tatler, National Review, BuzzFeed, Outside the Beltway, Washington Free Beacon, CNN, The New Republic, Sense of Events, Conservatives4Palin, Sister Toldjah, americanthinker.com, Questions and Observations, Don Surber, The Hill, Belmont Club, Politico, Hot Air, Wake up America, Clayton Cramer's Blog, Truthdig, The Agonist, AMERICAN DIGEST, Swampland, Washington Post, Michelle Malkin, Campaign 2012, The Spectacle Blog, Atlas Shrugs, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Gateway Pundit, Israpundit, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Pirate's Cove, THE WESTERN EXPERIENCE, Pundit & Pundette, Guardian, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Israel Matzav, Taylor Marsh, Power Line, Taegan Goddard's …, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Shakesville, White House Dossier and Betsy's Page, more at Mediagazer »

J. David Goodman / The Lede:
Microphone Picks Up Obama's Private Exchange With Medvedev

Discussion: The Caucus, ThinkProgress, Reuters, CBS News and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Dodai Stewart / Jezebel:

Racist Hunger Games Fans Are Very Disappointed [Hunger Games] — The good news? The Hunger Games made $155 million at the box office its opening weekend, making it the third-best debut in North American box office history. The bad news, however, reflects a level of idiocy that we weren't really expecting.

Discussion: Julian Sanchez, Colorlines, ThinkProgress, BuzzFeed, The Stranger … and msnbc.com

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Newt Gingrich loses his print reporters — Newt Gingrich has lost his last embedded print reporters, reporters on the trail confirm. — The last two print reporters covering Gingrich full-time on the trail — from POLITICO and the Atlanta Journal Constitution — pulled out on Friday.

Discussion: Washington Post, Wonkette, Washington Monthly, Truthdig and Rumproast

CNN:

Strauss-Kahn charged in alleged prostitution ring — (CNN) — Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was charged in France on Monday with “aggravated pimping” for his alleged participation in a prostitution ring, prosecutors said. — He is not allowed to have contact …

Discussion: Gawker, Jezebel, Gothamist, Wonkette and New York Magazine

Pascal Rossignol / Reuters:
France's Strauss-Kahn under investigation in pimping case

Discussion: Agence France Presse, Associated Press and TalkLeft

Charles Thompson / PennLive.com:

Pennsylvania representative asks if female co-sponsors of state ultrasound bill are ‘men with breasts’ — Pennsylvania State Rep. Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, picked up the political hand grenade that is the state's ultrasound bill today when she wondered aloud at a Capitol rally …

Discussion: LifeNews.com, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Weasel Zippers, Pundit & Pundette and Campaign 2012

Sarah Huisenga / NationalJournal.com:

Gingrich Begins Charging $50 for Photos at Events — Candidate previously posed for free with people attending his appearances. — HOCKESSIN, Del. - In a sign that his campaign is in need of fresh funds, Newt Gingrich on Monday began charging $50 to have a photograph taken with him following …

Discussion: Politico

BuzzFeed:

In Secret Documents, Anti-Gay Marriage Group Looked To Divide Gays, Blacks — Blunt language and broad plans from the National Organization for Marriage. A goal: “Fanning the hostility.” Another project: “Sideswiping Obama.” — The leading opponents of same-sex marriage planned …

Discussion: US Politics

Jeff Sneider / Variety:

Jane Fonda to play Nancy Reagan in ‘Butler’ — Actress will portray former First Lady in Lee Daniels pic — In the midst of recruiting an all-star ensemble for his long-gestating passion project “The Butler,” director Lee Daniels has tapped Jane Fonda to play Nancy Reagan.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and Jammie Wearing Fools

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Models Based on ‘Fundamentals’ Have Failed at Predicting Presidential Elections — The 1988 presidential election was a victory for political science. Michael Dukakis had led George Bush in the polls for much of the spring and summer. But Mr. Bush had some fundamental advantages …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, American Prospect and The Monkey Cage

Mike Penney / WWDR?:

It's Not Just a “War on Women.” It's Worse. — I bumped into a friend I'll call Kim four or five days ago on my way to the chairlift for some afternoon skiing. She was on her snowboard and riding single for a few hours before her evening shift at a local restaurant.

Discussion: Liberty Street and Crooks and Liars

Alex Pareene / Salon:

The silly 2016 speculation game — It may be impossible to make any serious predictions about a far-off race, but that has never stopped a pundit — Being that it's still March 2012 and we have no way of knowing who will actually be president by the end of January 2013 (besides “not Ron Paul …

Discussion: Capital New York and Washington Monthly

Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:

The Great Whisperer — The late New York Times columnist Bill Safire was known for channeling the “Great Mentioner,” the unseen oracle who launched political careers into the stratosphere simply by mentioning a person's name. Today, a more malevolent oracle is at work in Washington …

Discussion: Eunomia, Guardian, 24Ahead, Hot Air, Booman Tribune, New York Magazine and Tampa Bay Times

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Mitt: I Won't Detail Plans, Because Then I'd Lose — You'll have to wait until I'm elected. — Mitt Romney has embraced a budget plan that would entail cutting federal programs other than defense and Social Security by more than half. It does raise the question of how he plans to carry out such a sweeping goal.

Discussion: The News Burner, PERRspectives, The Stranger … and Daily Kos

Ben Geman / The Hill:

Senate opens fight on oil tax breaks — The Senate voted 92-4 Monday to begin an election-year floor debate over Democratic legislation to repeal oil industry tax breaks, a plan that's unlikely to ultimately pass but provides a platform for partisan warfare over gasoline prices.

Discussion: Booman Tribune