memeorandum: On Ryan Apologists — In my next life I want to be a conservative policy scammer. (Paul Krugman)

3:00 PM ET, April 7, 2012

Top Items:

Derb's Screed — Needless to say, no one at National Review shares Derb's appalling view of what parents supposedly should tell their kids about blacks in this instantly notorious piece here.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, Vox Popoli, The Other McCain, Leon_H_Wolf's blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Eschaton

Josh Barro / The Barrometer:

Why National Review Must Fire John Derbyshire — Last week, National Review Editor Rich Lowry wrote a column arguing that the Trayvon Martin case is a distraction, because the real problem facing black Americans is black on black crime. And on Monday, he complained that some people had called him a bigot for writing the column.

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, The Hunting of the Snark, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and The New Civil Rights Movement, more at Mediagazer »

David Weigel / Slate:

John Derbyshire's Advice for White People … - California Governor Frees Grandmother Wrongly Jailed in Shaken-Baby Death - Who Would Win a Fight Between Nurse Jackie and Carmela Soprano? Edie Falco's Pick. - Damsels in Distress: Whit Stillman. Greta Gerwig. College. What Could Go Wrong?

Discussion: Riehl World View

John Holbo / Crooked Timber:

Needless To Say? — I'm a bit puzzled by Rich Lowry's degree of confidence that no one at NR agrees with what the Derb wrote. After all, the Derb himself is at NR. He was posting there as of two days ago. Does this mean he's out at NR? Is Radio Derb going to cease broadcasting its message of freedom?

Discussion: Unqualified Offerings and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Alexander Nazaryan / NY Daily News:

How to succeed in racism without really trying: John Derbyshire tells his children to stay away from black people — Once in a while, I read something and think: Please, Lord, tell me that this is a joke. Please, please tell me that a human being did not actually think these things and, worse yet, think to write them down.

Discussion: The League of Ordinary …, The New York Observer, Gawker and Guardian

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:
National Review Writer Pens Racist Screed: ‘Avoid Concentrations Of Blacks,’ ‘Stay Out Of’ Their Neighborhoods

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Maddow Blog, The Other McCain, 24Ahead, The Mahablog and Mock, Paper, Scissors

Brian Stelter / Media Decoder:

NBC Fires Producer of Misleading Zimmerman Tape — NBC News has fired a producer who was involved in the production of a misleading segment about the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. — The person was fired on Thursday, according to two people with direct knowledge of the disciplinary action …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, BREITBART.COM, The Last Tradition, Scared Monkeys, The Strata-Sphere, The PJ Tatler, TalkLeft, The Other McCain, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org, HotAirPundit, Riptide 2.0, The Volokh Conspiracy, Macsmind, Deadline.com and Clayton Cramer's Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Uncorrected: Charles Blow Finally Returns To The Scene Of His Journalistic Crime — When last he wrote on the subject of Trayvon Martin Charles Blow focused, appropriately, on the grief of a family in shock. In so doing, however, he emphasized the implausibility of George Zimmerman's self-defense claim …

Discussion: Instapundit and Gallup

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
NBC Producer Out But Unnamed

Discussion: The Daily Caller, New York Times and The PJ Tatler

Paul Krugman:

On Ryan Apologists — In my next life I want to be a conservative policy scammer. Think of how much nicer it would be. Instead of constantly being accused of having evil motives, I'd be presumed to have noble intentions no matter how much the actual content of my policy proposals was at odds with such claims.

Discussion: Economist's View, Hullabaloo, The Baseline Scenario, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Maddow Blog and New York Times

Scott Johnson / Power Line:

A sorry spectacle — Jay Cost takes a look back at Obama's public performances this week, as I did in “Twice in a lifetime,” and explains exactly what is happening: … Cost absolutely nails the Obama scenario and what it portends for our future in this terrific column. — UPDATE: Robert Stacy McCain comments here.

Discussion: The Other McCain

Jay Cost / Weekly Standard:
Morning Jay: A Sorry Spectacle

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and Booman Tribune

Reuters:

Isn't it “marvelous?” Obama seeks to define Romney for voters — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When President Barack Obama criticized Mitt Romney by name this week for embracing a controversial Republican budget proposal, he worded his attack carefully and with bite.

Discussion: Power Line and USA Today

John Derbyshire / Taki's Magazine:

The Talk: Nonblack Version — There is much talk about “the talk.” — “Sean O'Reilly was 16 when his mother gave him the talk that most black parents give their teenage sons,” Denisa R. Superville of the Hackensack (NJ) Record tells us. Meanwhile, down in Atlanta: “Her sons were 12 and 8 …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Macsmind

John Hudson / The Atlantic Wire:

Arby's Is Messing with the Wrong Slice of America — On Wednesday, Arby's inflamed the conservative blogosphere with the announcement on Twitter that it will no longer advertise on Rush Limbaugh's show. Big mistake. The statement probably would've blown over, like all the rest of them …

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com