memeorandum: Sarah Palin PAC pays for space in Tampa (Kenneth P. Vogel/Politico)

1:40 AM ET, April 12, 2012

Top Items:

George Zimmerman to be charged in Trayvon Martin shooting, official says — Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey plans to announce as early as Wednesday afternoon that she is charging neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, according to a law enforcement official close to the investigation.

Faiz Shakir / ThinkProgress:

Zimmerman Attorney Defends ‘Troubled’ Client: ‘It Must Be Frightening Not To Be Able To Go Into A 7/11’ — On the rainy night he was gunned down by George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin was walking back to his father's house from a nearby 7/11 with a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Associated Press:

Second-degree murder charge in Trayvon Martin case … JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman is being charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose death ignited nationwide protests.

Discussion: Associated Press, ABCNEWS and Conservative Hideout 2.0

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

George Zimmerman To Be Charged With Second Degree Murder, Is Now In Custody — The AP reports that Trayvon Martin's shooter George Zimmerman is currently in police custody and will be charged with murder in the second degree, a more serious crime than the manslaughter charge many analysts speculated Zimmerman might face.

Discussion: Business Insider, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, Guardian, Mediaite and Shakesville

Lizette Alvarez / New York Times:
Zimmerman to Be Charged in Trayvon Martin Shooting

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, ACS Blog and Hit & Run

CBS Miami:
Zimmerman Charged With 2nd Degree Murder

Discussion: Firedoglake, Business Insider, CNN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The POH Diaries, PJ Media, CNSNews, The PJ Tatler and Conservatives4Palin

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
EXPERTS: Hannity Could Be Required To Testify About His Conversation With George Zimmerman

Discussion: Media Matters for America and New York Times

CBS News:
Zimmerman to be charged in Trayvon Martin case

Discussion: Capital New York, Addicting Info, TalkLeft and Washington Post

Joe Muto / Gawker:

Hi Roger. It's Me, Joe: The Fox Mole — Hi. My name is Joe Muto. I was the Fox Mole. — Two hours ago I was called into a meeting with Dianne Brandi, the Fox News Executive Vice President of Legal and Business Affairs and suspended indefinitely... with pay, oddly enough. — They nailed me.

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Magazine, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller, TVNewser, Boing Boing, NewsHounds blog, americanthinker.com, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog! and The Maddow Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Jon Bershad / Mediaite:

Fox News Spokesperson Tells Mediaite: We Found The Mole (UPDATE) — So, when we asked readers how long it would take for Fox News to find the mole that Gawker had in their midst, did anyone put money down on “24 hours”? If so, it would appear that you just won the jackpot.

Discussion: Wonkette, Gawker, The PJ Tatler, TBogg, Jammie Wearing Fools, The Daily Caller, The Raw Story, Business Insider, New York Magazine, Wake up America, TVNewser, Politico and Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

BuzzFeed:
Announcing Our Newest Hire: A Current C-SPAN Employee

Discussion: Mediaite and Gawker

Steven Nelson / The Daily Caller:

‘Stupid reporter’ took ‘Communist’ allegation out of context, says Allen West's campaign — During a Tuesday town hall meeting with constituents, Florida Republican Rep. Allen West said that 80 or so Democratic congressmen are “members of the Communist Party.”

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Hill, Business Insider, Politico and Mediaite

Darius Dixon / Politico:

Communist Party slams Allen West — A top official of the Communist Party USA on Wednesday ripped Rep. Allen West's “sad ploy” for claiming that as many as 80 Democratic members of the House are communists. — “I just think it's an absurd way to cast a shadow over his colleagues.

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, ABCNEWS, Los Angeles Times, The POH Diaries and Outside the Beltway

Jonathan Mattise / Palm Beach Post:
Allen West hears cheers, jeers at town-hall meetings in Palm City, Jensen Beach

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Republican Rep. Allen West says many congressional Democrats are Communists

Discussion: The New Republic, The Reality-Based Community and The Lonely Conservative

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:
Allen West: I've ‘Heard’ 80 House Democrats Are Communist Party Members

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, CNN, CANNONFIRE, Addicting Info, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Raw Story, Hot Air, American Prospect, Daily Kos, The Maddow Blog, Crooks and Liars, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Moderate Voice and Booman Tribune

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Democrat Says Ann Romney “Has Never Worked A Day In Her Life” — Republican pounce on Hilary Rosen for questioning Ann Romney's qualifications to speak about women in the workforce. Mrs. Romney joins Twitter to reply that raising kids is a lot of work. — by

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Instapundit

ABCNEWS:

Ann Romney Fights Back: Debuts on Twitter to Counter DNC Advisor's Insult — Ann Romney's debut on Twitter couldn't have come at a more opportune time. Ann's first tweet came just moments after Democratic strategist and DNC adviser Hilary Rosen lobbed an insult at Ann Romney …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Campaign 2012

Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Mitt Romney can't leave women voters to his wife

Discussion: Shakesville, Globe and Mail and The Jane Dough

Andrew Stiles / Washington Free Beacon:

Hostile Workplace — Female employees in the Obama White House make considerably less than their male colleagues, records show. — According to the 2011 annual report on White House staff, female employees earned a median annual salary of $60,000, which was about 18 percent less than the median salary for male employees ($71,000).

Discussion: Hot Air, Fox News, Mediaite, TBogg, RedState, NO QUARTER, Gretawire, The Lonely Conservative and The Daily Caller

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
Mitt Romney's campaign stumbles in effort to court female voters

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Benjy Sarlin / Livewire:
Romney Spokeswoman: We Won't Get Rid Of Lilly Ledbetter Act

Discussion: 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, The Maddow Blog, Pundit & Pundette and The Raw Story

Texts from Hillary:

TTYL — It's been an overwhelming—and hilarious—week for us here at Texts from Hillary (TFH). What started as a joke at the bar between two friends turned into a national conversation about Secretary Clinton and went as far as talks about 2016. — After a week that included 32 posts …

Discussion: Mashable!, Mediaite, The Impolitic, Gawker, Poliglot and BuzzFeed

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
State of Cool — Hillary is not going to President Obama's …

Discussion: msnbc.com, Campaign 2012, Reuters, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:

Romney Campaign Demands Correction From PolitiFact On Women's Job Loss Claim … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Barack Obama , Mitt Romney, Elections 2012, Unemployment, Video, Job Rate, Politifact, War On Women, Politics News — WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney's top policy adviser sent a letter …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Weekly Standard, Campaign 2012 and The Raw Story

Politifact.com Truth-O-Meter rulings from National:
Mitt Romney: “Women account for 92.3 percent of the jobs lost under Obama.”

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Romney Telegraphing Loss

Discussion: The Other McCain and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

Sarah Palin PAC pays for space in Tampa — Sarah Palin's political action committee raised $388,000 in the first three months of the year, but it spent $418,000 and didn't give a dime to any candidates — which is the purported purpose of the PAC. — Instead, Sarah PAC spent $255,000 …

Discussion: Wonkette and The Impolitic

Katelyn Ferral / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Condoleezza Rice at Duke: 'I don't know when immigrants became the enemy' — DURHAM, N.C. — Turmoil in the Middle East underscores the importance of reform and has changed the way the United States thinks about backing authoritarian regimes, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday.

Discussion: The Hill and INSTAPUTZ

Rick Santorum / CNN:

Billionaire Santorum supporter ready to move on — (CNN) - The billionaire who was a major financial backer of a super PAC supporting Rick Santorum, said Wednesday he is “willing to help” the Republican party this fall, and that the GOP has to “move forward” from the bitter primary campaign.

Discussion: The Hill and Politico

Kyle Mantyla / rightwingwatch.org:
Fischer: Electing a ‘Spiritually-Compromised Candidate’ Like Romney Will Weaken America

Discussion: NOM Blog and Truth Wins Out

Dan Amira / New York Magazine:
Every Candidate Endorsed by God Has Now Lost to Mitt Romney

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and ThinkProgress

Atrios / Eschaton:

WANKER OF THE DECADE - Runner Up #4 — Mark Halperin. — I'm not even sure what Mark Halperin's job is anymore, aside from being a dick on Morning Joe, but once upon a time he oversaw production of The Note, ABC News's morning emailed news tip sheet, back before such things were commonplace.

Discussion: driftglass