memeorandum: Limbaugh sees heat over comments turn down to a simmer (Paul Farhi/Washington Post)

9:00 PM ET, March 29, 2012

Top Items:

Tracy Martin recounts police version of son Trayvon's death — A police detective told the father of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin that his son initiated two confrontations with the neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot him. — Tracy Martin, describing the police version of events …

Discussion: msnbc.com, MiamiHerald.com, Los Angeles Times, Examiner, Christian Science Monitor, Daily Kos, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, The Huffington Post, The Reaction, Stinque and American Power

Adrian Chen / Gawker:

White Supremacist Hacks Trayvon Martin's Email Account, Leaks Messages Online — The racist smear campaign against Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teen shot to death last month in Florida, has reached a new level of ghoulishness. A white supremacist hacker says he's broken into Martin's email …

Discussion: Angry Black Lady Chronicles, The Daily Caller, Riptide 2.0, Little Green Footballs and Colorlines

David Remnick / News Desk:

Bruce and Trayvon: American Skin — Last night, I bolted work to catch the first show of two by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band in Philadelphia. I first saw Springsteen when he was the opening act for Chicago, in 1973 (which means I saw him even before Jon Landau branded him, indelibly, as “rock and roll's future").

Discussion: ABCNEWS, ThinkProgress, Examiner, MiamiHerald.com and Feministe

Extra:

‘Extra’ Exclusive: Oprah Winfrey Sounds-Off on Trayvon Martin Tragedy — “Extra's” AJ Calloway sat down exclusively with Oprah Winfrey in St. Louis, where she spoke for the first time about the tragic death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. She also talked about cancelling Rosie O'Donnell's show …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Weasel Zippers, EURweb, Gothamist and Feministing

Valerie Boey / Orlando and Central Florida News …:

EXCLUSIVE: Robert Zimmerman interview — LAKE MARY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - For the first time since that fateful night on February 26, the father of a neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed an unarmed teenager sat down for a television interview. — Robert Zimmerman …

Dan Riehl / BREITBART.COM:
BLAME PALIN? ‘KILL ZIMMERMAN’ TWITTER ACCOUNT LAUNCHED

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, The Jawa Report, Little Green Footballs, The Atlantic Online, The Mahablog, americanthinker.com and ThinkProgress

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

How did legal observers and Obamacare backers get it so wrong? — I didn't mention this yesterday, but in his interview with me about the limiting principle, former Reagan Solicitor General Charles Fried was scaldingly critical of the willingness of the conservative bloc of Supreme Court justices …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, ThinkProgress, RedState, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, US Politics and Talking Points Memo

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Overconfidence: the fatal flaw — Overconfidence — Greg Sargent has a good piece up about the political myopia of the Democrats toward the possibility that the Supreme Court conservatives would be hostile to Obamacare. … I've already said what I think of this: after Bush vs Gore …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:

Tony Scalia's Retirement Has Started Early — Here's the deal. I think Justice Antonin Scalia isn't even really trying any more. It's been clear for some time now that he's short-timing his job on the Supreme Court. The job bores him. All these inferior intellects coming before him.

Discussion: Balkinization, Althouse, New York Magazine and Lawyers, Guns & Money

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Judicial activists in the Supreme Court

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
A Moment of Silence for Obamacare

Discussion: Health Care at the High Court, Above the Law, Politico, The New Republic, Courthouse News Service, The BLT, The Huffington Post and Taylor Marsh

Democracy in America:

Just a flesh wound — NEWT GINGRICH does not eat sandwiches; he fundamentally transforms them, radically changing them from solid foodstuff to masticated bolus to energy. Last summer, Mr Gingrich fundamentally transformed the nature of modern political campaigning. How did he do that?

Discussion: Washington Monthly, American Prospect, Washington Post and A plain blog about politics

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Gingrich says no deal after a secret talk with Romney

Discussion: Reuters, jewishjournal.com, CNN, Indecision Forever, Politico, Newsy, The Caucus, Examiner, ABCNEWS, The PJ Tatler, The Hill, americanthinker.com, ThinkProgress and Cagle Post

ABCNEWS:
Mitt Romney Confirms Secret Meeting With Newt Gingrich Last Week

Discussion: Campaign 2012 and Hot Air

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Report: Gingrich and Romney held secret meeting

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Wonkette, Shakesville and The Hill

Matt K. Lewis / The Daily Caller:
Mitt Romney can thank President Obama's “flexibility” for Marco Rubio's endorsement.

Discussion: The Caucus, News Desk, Mail Online, Eunomia, Washington Wire, Guardian and GOP 12

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Paul Ryan: 'We don't think the generals are giving us their true advice' on budget — House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) expressed skepticism Thursday that U.S. military leaders were being honest in their budget requests to Congress. — “We don't think the generals …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mother Jones and CNN

David Rogers / Politico:
Paul Ryan budget passes on partisan vote

Discussion: The Hill and Indecision Forever

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
House approves Ryan budget plan to cut spending, taxes

Discussion: Firedoglake and Slate

Logan Smith / Palmetto Public Record:

Haley indictment imminent? Stay tuned... Two well-placed legal experts have independently told Palmetto Public Record they expect the U.S. Department of Justice to issue an indictment against South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on charges of tax fraud as early as this week.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Sister Toldjah, The Daily Caller, Taegan Goddard's … and Business Insider

Alan I. Abramowitz / Sabato's Crystal Ball:

The Early Outlook for the 2012 Congressional Elections: A Forecasting Perspective — In today's Crystal Ball, Alan Abramowitz — whose election models are among the best in the business — provides an early look at what they tell us about the race for the House and the Senate.

Discussion: RedState and Ezra Klein

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Pelosi: Pray for transportation bill

Discussion: Politico

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House approves 90-day highway bill, dares Senate to reject it

Discussion: Reuters, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, CNN and Booman Tribune

New York Times:

Apple Supplier in China Pledges Big Labor Changes — Foxconn, which manufactures more than 40 percent of the world's electronics for such companies as Apple, Dell, Amazon and others, has pledged to sharply curtail the number of working hours within its Chinese factories and significantly increase wages …

Discussion: The Stranger …

Aeisenberg / Fair Labor Association:
Fair Labor Association Secures Commitment to Limit Workers' Hours, Protect Pay at Apple's Largest Supplier

Discussion: Mashable!, New York Magazine and TechCrunch

Apickering / Fair Labor Association:
Foxconn Investigation Report

Discussion: BBC, Mashable!, GigaOM and Mike Daisey

Brian Brown / NOM Blog:

“Gay Marriage has Backfired...”, NOM Marriage News — “Gay marriage has backfired on the Democratic Party.” — With those words one of my personal heroes, New York State Sen Rev. Rubén Díaz (a Democrat from the Bronx) opened his press release titled, “What you should know.”

Discussion: Holy Bullies … and Good As You

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Limbaugh sees heat over comments turn down to a simmer — View Photo Gallery — Rush Limbaugh is no stranger to controversial statements: A month after conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh called Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a “slut,” the heat on him is fading.

Discussion: Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Examiner, Deadline.com, Hot Air, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Rush Limbaugh, Don Surber, Mediaite, Hotline On Call, Associated Press and HotAirPundit, more at Mediagazer »

Steven Hayward / Power Line:
The Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Month for the Left

Discussion: Instapundit and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Paul Thompson / Telegraph:

Parents of murdered British students criticise Barack Obama — The parents of two British students murdered in Florida have criticised President Barack Obama for his lack of compassion over their son's deaths. — Shawn Tyson — His failure to respond to three letters sent to the White House …

Discussion: Power Line, Don Surber, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and The Hinterland Gazette

Health Care at the High Court:

GOP Ad Uses Doctored SCOTUS Audio — The GOP ad released online earlier this week makes it appear Solicitor General Donald Verrilli gave a worse presentation than he did, a Bloomberg News analysis of the ad and the court's official audio recording shows. The full story follows:

Discussion: SCOTUSblog and Daily Kos

New York Post:

A supreme shock for ‘La-La’ libs — The panicked reception in the mainstream media of the three-day Supreme Court health-care marathon is a delightful reminder of the nearly impenetrable parochialism of American liberals. — They're so convinced of their own correctness …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Patterico's Pontifications, Betsy's Page, Viking Pundit and Opinionator

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Political Memo: Whatever the Ruling in Health Case, Bipartisan Fallout

Discussion: Washington Post, Wake up America, Hotline On Call, Prairie Weather, The Moderate Voice, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Caucus

Mark Perry / Foreign Policy:

Israel's Secret Staging Ground — U.S. officials believe that the Israelis have gained access to airbases in Azerbaijan. Does this bring them one step closer to a war with Iran? — In 2009, the deputy chief of mission of the U.S. embassy in Baku, Donald Lu, sent a cable …

Discussion: National Review, Israel Matzav, Outside the Beltway, World Now, Guardian and Mother Jones

George H.W. Bush / CNN:

Time to fold 'em, Bush 41 says to Romney's rivals — Houston (CNN) - Spouting some home-grown Texas wisdom, President George H. W. Bush urged his party to coalesce behind GOP candidate Mitt Romney with a formal endorsement Thursday. — “'It's time when to hold 'em and time when to fold 'em …

Discussion: Politico

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:

Obama budget defeated 414-0 — President Obama's budget was defeated 414-0 in the House late Wednesday, in a vote Republicans arranged to try to embarrass him and shelve his plan for the rest of the year. — The vote came as the House worked its way through its own fiscal year 2013 budget proposal …