memeorandum: Obama: Buffett rule could be ‘Reagan rule’ (Jennifer Epstein/Politico)

3:55 PM ET, April 11, 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.

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

EXPERTS: Hannity Could Be Required To Testify About His Conversation With George Zimmerman — According to several experts in Florida law, Sean Hannity could be compelled to testify about his conversations with George Zimmerman. Tamara Lave, a professor of criminal law at the Universtiy …

msnbc.com:
NBC: George Zimmerman to be charged in Trayvon Martin case

Discussion: NewsHounds blog and Feministing

Elizabeth Harrington / CNSNews:
Eric Holder Praises Left-Wing Activist Al Sharpton, Says Facts, Law Will Guide Trayvon Martin Investigation

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, American Spectator, Colorlines, Law Blog and The BLT

John Schwartz / New York Times:
In Martin Case, Tough Choice Looms for Prosecutor

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, msnbc.com, ThinkProgress, PoliPundit.com, Colorlines, Guardian and Gawker

Media Matters / Media Matters for America:
George Zimmerman's Legal Team Cites Zimmerman's Phone Call To Sean Hannity As They Withdraw From The Case

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake and Taylor Marsh

Politifact.com Truth-O-Meter rulings from National:

Mitt Romney: “Women account for 92.3 percent of the jobs lost under Obama.” — Romney campaign says women were hit hard by job losses under Obama — Mitt Romney's campaign wants you to know that the same president who argues for contraceptive coverage and suggests that a Congress …

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Romney Telegraphing Loss — As noted this morning, Wednesday April 11th is day one of the general election. But there are things I'm seeing that tell me that Mitt Romney is kicking off the campaign in a telling defensive posture. What I mean is that on various fronts, Romney is kicking off within Obama's campaign narrative.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

CNN:

TRENDING: Obama campaign: Romney's greatest hits — (CNN) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign marked the conclusion of the Republican primary - and the beginning of the general election campaign - with a nearly two-minute Web video splicing together clips of Mitt Romney's most conservative statements from the trail.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Politico, Towleroad News #gay, The New Republic and NetRight Daily

BuzzFeed:

Romney Starts Looking For A Veep — Gillespie will lead the hunt, a source says. Nobody wants another Palin. — Source: cache.daylife.com — WILMINGTON, Del. — The Republican primary campaign effectively ended yesterday, and Mitt Romney's aides and supporters have already begun turning …

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Hot Air

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

Rick Santorum / CNN:
Romney on Dems' ‘war on women’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico, Washington Wire, ABCNEWS, The Raw Story, Hot Air, Shakesville, Daily Kos, Cognitive Dissidence, Pirate's Cove and Washington Post

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Report: Gingrich's $500 check for Utah primary filing fee bounces

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Alexander Burns / Politico:
National Organization for Marriage to back Romney

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, NOM Blog, Taylor Marsh, Advocate, Washington Monthly, Good As You and Towleroad News #gay

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:
The Co-Founder Of NotMittRomney.Com's Reaction To Mitt Sewing Up The Nomination

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Mitt Romney, a ‘private man in a public world,’ is silent on tales of altruism

Discussion: The New Republic, Democracy in America, Instapundit, NO QUARTER, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Conservatives4Palin

Jonathan Mattise / Palm Beach Post:

Allen West hears cheers, jeers at town-hall meetings in Palm City, Jensen Beach — U.S. Rep. Allen West told about 90 largely supportive Palm City voters Tuesday that locally prioritized federal projects — such as the St. Lucie Inlet dredging — aren't going to matter if Washington officials don't address a mounting deficit.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Riptide 2.0, The Daily Caller, Washington Monthly, Suburban Guerrilla, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Indecision Forever, The New Civil Rights Movement, New York Magazine, The Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay and INSTAPUTZ

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:

Allen West: I've ‘Heard’ 80 House Democrats Are Communist Party Members … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Allen West, Allen West Barack Obama, Allen West Communist Party, Allen West Democrats Commies, Politics News — WASHINGTON — As many as 80 House Democrats are communists, according to Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.).

Discussion: American Prospect, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Maddow Blog, The Moderate Voice, Booman Tribune and Daily Kos

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Allen West: Half the Democrats in Congress are Communists

Discussion: The POH Diaries, Weasel Zippers and Joe. My. God.

Darius Dixon / Politico:
Allen West: 80 communists in the House

Discussion: Roll Call, The Loyal Opposition, Campaign 2012 and Outside the Beltway

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: Politico, Gawker, The Daily Caller, BuzzFeed, TBogg, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway, TVNewser, Wake up America, NewsHounds blog, Indecision Forever and The PJ Tatler, more at Mediagazer »

Gabriel Arana / American Prospect:

My So-Called Ex-Gay Life — Early in my freshman year of high school, I came home to find my mom sitting on her bed, crying. She had snooped through my e-mail and discovered a message in which I confessed to having a crush on a male classmate. — “Are you gay?” she asked. I blurted out that I was.

Discussion: Warren Throckmorton, ThinkProgress, Truth Wins Out, Gay Politics, Towleroad News #gay, PinkNews.co.uk and Good As You

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

National Review Fires Another Racist Writer — National Review Writer Robert Weissberg Speaks At White Nationalist Conference — Following the uproar over John Derbyshire's racist rant that led to his firing last week, National Review ended its relationship with another racist writer today.

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com

Rich Lowry / National Review:
Regarding Robert Weissberg

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire, The New Republic, Media Matters for America, Politico, Wonkette, Mediaite and The Spectacle Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Poll: More Americans expect Supreme Court's health-care decision to be political — More Americans think Supreme Court justices will be acting mainly on their partisan political views than on a neutral reading of the law when they decide the constitutionality of President Obama's health-care law …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, TalkLeft, NewsBusters.org, ThinkProgress, Taegan Goddard's …, Los Angeles Times, Campaign 2012 and New York Magazine

Ann Althouse / Althouse:
WaPo skews presentation of a poll on the Obamacare case to bolster the argument that the Court should defer to Congress.

Discussion: Wake up America, Weekly Standard and Washington Post

Raleigh News & Observer:

Amendment goes too far — We are native Southerners and we oppose legalizing same-sex marriage. — One of us (David), reared in Mississippi, has for more than two decades directed a think tank, the Institute for American Values, that aims to strengthen marriage and reduce divorce and unwed childbearing.

Discussion: Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay, Good As You, Advocate and Joe. My. God.

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama at a high in North Carolina

Discussion: Ballot Box

Cindy Adams / New York Post:

Too much ‘Boss’ for NJ gov — Bruce Springsteen's marathon, highenergy gig at MSG had a celebrity crowd rocking — except for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was caught dozing by fans. — Christie — an ardent Boss buff who's said to have caught fellow New Jersey heavy-hitter Springsteen's show …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Hotline On Call and The Daily Caller

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
Chris Christie more popular than ever

Discussion: National Review

Quinnipiac University:
New Jersey Voters Back NYPD In Garden State 3-1, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Dems' Property …

Discussion: Washington Post, americanthinker.com, Hot Air, Politico and CNN

Bob Van Voris / Bloomberg:

U.S. Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple, Hachette — The U.S. sued Apple Inc. (AAPL), Hachette SA, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster in New York district court, claiming the publishers colluded to fix eBook prices. — CBS Corp. (CBS)'s Simon & Schuster …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Media Decoder, Swampland, Wired, The BLT, TechCrunch, Law Librarian Blog, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, FT Alphaville and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Priebus: 'I'm going to double down' on ‘war on caterpillars’ remarks — RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said Wednesday that he would “double down” on his remarks equating Democrats' suggestion the GOP is waging a “war on women” to a fictional “war on caterpillars.” — “I'm not going to walk back, I'm going to double down on it.

Discussion: Politico and Ballot Box