memeorandum: Rebuffing Obama's gimmicky ‘Buffett Rule’ (Dana Milbank/Washington Post)

1:45 PM ET, April 12, 2012

Top Items:

Ann Romney Fights Back: Debuts on Twitter to Counter DNC Advisor's Insult — PROVIDENCE, R.I. - 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 …

Hilary Rosen / The Huffington Post:

Ann Romney and Working Moms — My Twitter feed was on fire after an appearance last night on CNN's AC360, where I said that I thought it was wrong for Mitt Romney to be using his wife as his guide to women's economic struggles when she “had never worked a day in her life.”

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Little Green Footballs, BuzzFeed, Politico, CNN, ABCNEWS, FishbowlDC, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Times, Naked Politics, Bloomberg, TBogg, Jammie Wearing Fools and Instapundit

Ann Romney / CNN:

Democrat's comment about Ann Romney creates firestorm on Twitter — (CNN) - Democratic Strategist Hilary Rosen generated instant bipartisan criticism Wednesday night for her statement that Ann Romney has “actually never worked a day in her life.” — The reaction on Twitter from high level politicos …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS, BuzzFeed, Taylor Marsh, Towleroad News #gay, americanthinker.com, Ballot Box, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Yahoo! News

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

Attacking Ann Romney — yeah, that's the ticket! — Overnight President Obama's faux “war on women” attack on Mitt Romney blew up in his face. It is fitting that a gimmick should boomerang this quickly and this severely, maybe giving Romney the first big break of the race.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Taylor Marsh, 2012 Decoded, Campaign 2012 and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Fox News:

Ann Romney defends husband on women, says Democratic attack ‘bothers’ her — Feb. 28, 2012: Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, arrives with his wife Ann at his election watch party after winning the Michigan primary in Novi, Michigan.AP

Discussion: The Caucus, The Gateway Pundit, GILL REPORT, Media Decoder, Daily Kos and Associated Press

Mollie Reilly / The Huffington Post:

Hilary Rosen, Democratic Strategist, Criticizes Ann Romney For Having ‘Never Worked A Day In Her Life’ … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Elections 2012, Mitt Romney, Elections 2012, Video, Women's Empowerment, Ann Romney, Hilary Rosen, Politics News, Hilary Rosen Ann Romney, Lily Ledbetter Act …

Discussion: CNN, BuzzFeed, The Moderate Voice and Mediaite

Jim Geraghty / National Review:

Hilary Rosen, Frequent White House Visitor — A Democrat consultant with ties to the Obama administration sneering that Ann Romney “never worked a day in her life” is an opportunity for the Romney campaign, but a small problem in the big picture. In the big picture, women who are unable …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Wake up America, NewsBusters.org and The Daily Caller

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Democrats declare war on women? Update: Frequent White House visitor? — By the time Allahpundit included this clip in his QOTD post, DNC adviser and Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen's attack on Ann Romney had already raised eyebrows. By the time the clocks clicked past midnight …

Discussion: protein wisdom, ThinkProgress, Campaign 2012, Wall Street Journal, Motherlode and GILL REPORT

Seema Mehta / Los Angeles Times:
GOP donor wonders if Obama's ‘teleprompters are bullet-proof’

Discussion: The Raw Story, ABCNEWS, Shakesville and ThinkProgress

Brett LoGiurato / Business Insider:
Ann Romney Just BLASTED Democrats And Hilary Rosen On Fox

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Gateway Pundit and The Lonely Conservative

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Dem operative criticizes Ann Romney, ignites storm (Updated)

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and Macsmind

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
Gov. Sununu: Obama still not ready to be president

Discussion: CNN

James Crugnale / Mediaite: Hilary Rosen Defends Her Ann Romney Comment: ‘I Love Stay At Home Moms’ And ‘This Is Not About Ann Romney’

Danny Yadron / Washington Wire:
Ann Romney, Democratic Operative in Twitter War

Discussion: Indecision Forever

Washington Examiner:
After insult Romney hits back with lightning speed

Discussion: Campaign 2012, GILL REPORT, Mitt Romney Central, American Spectator and New York Magazine

Haley Barbour / CNN:
Barbour won't formally endorse Romney, but offers advice

Discussion: GOP 12

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama campaign needles Romney over anniversary of Massachusetts health law

Discussion: Politico and Guardian

Trayvon Martin:

George Zimmerman in court today; Trayvon Martin's mother says encounter ‘an accident’ — Now in custody, George Zimmerman is scheduled for a bond hearing at 1:30 p.m. — JACKSONVILLE — Saying she believed the encounter that led to the shooting death of her 17-year-old son was “an accident …

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Semi-Props To Ms. Alvarez of the NY Times; Mockery For Their Editors — Yesterday Lizette Alvarez triggered a bit of a reader revolt in the comments to her website story which included a brief summary of the Trayvon Martin shooting, and I joined in from this post.

Discussion: New York Times, ACS Blog and Above the Law

Orlando Sentinel:
Trayvon's mom says ‘shooting was accident,’ Zimmerman to face judge

Discussion: Trayvon Martin, Poynter, Mediaite, News Desk, NPR and Hit & Run

Dylan Stableford / Reuters:
Mike Tyson on George Zimmerman: 'It's a disgrace he hasn't been shot yet'

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

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.

Erin Carlson / Hollywood Reporter:

Roger Ailes Slams Gawker as Fox News Mole Reveals Himself, is Fired (Video) — UPDATED: The network found and suspended the rogue employee who had filed anonymous posts at Gawker that ripped the organization, while FNC chief Roger Ailes discredits the site in a conversation with THR.

Discussion: Mediaite, Gawker, New York Magazine, Gothamist, The PJ Tatler, Wonkette, Jammie Wearing Fools and Wake up America, more at Mediagazer »

Scott Conroy / Real Clear Politics:

Gingrich Unloads on FOX News in Private Meeting — DOVER, Del. — During a meeting with 18 Delaware Tea Party leaders here on Wednesday, Newt Gingrich lambasted FOX News Channel, accusing the cable network of having been in the tank for Mitt Romney from the beginning of the Republican presidential fight.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, ThinkProgress, The Hill, Hot Air, Mediaite, Shakesville, GOP 12, The Raw Story, TVNewser and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

First Read / msnbc.com:
Gingrich says he wouldn't serve in Romney cabinet

Discussion: GOP 12, ThinkProgress and The Political Carnival

Tom Scocca / Slate:

Death to Word — It's time to give up on Microsoft's word processor. — Nearly two decades and several text-handling paradigms ago, I was an editorial assistant at a weekly newspaper, where a few freelancers still submitted their work on typewritten pages. Stories would come in over the fax machine.

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Rebuffing Obama's gimmicky ‘Buffett Rule’ — President Obama admits it: His proposed “Buffett Rule” tax on millionaires is a gimmick. — “There are others who are saying: 'Well, this is just a gimmick. Just taxing millionaires and billionaires, just imposing the Buffett Rule …

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, The Heritage Foundation, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Betsy's Page, NewsBusters.org, National Review, Ezra Klein, The Maddow Blog, Business Insider and The Daily Dish

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:

Conservative Journalism Keeps Getting Better — A couple of months ago, Washington Free Beacon (and yes, that's “beacon,” not “bacon") launched with some reasonably experienced conservative journalists and a mandate to hold their political opponents accountable with rock-solid journalism.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, Washington Free Beacon, Wonkette and Mock, Paper, Scissors

Darius Dixon / Politico:

Michael Bloomberg on Florida: ‘License to murder’ — The so-called Stand Your Ground self-defense laws in Florida and some other states amount to “a license to murder” and an excuse for “vigilante justice,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg charged Wednesday.

Discussion: Shakesville, americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers and Business Insider

John Schwartz / New York Times:
Zimmerman Faces Second-Degree Murder Charge in Florida

Discussion: CNN, JustOneMinute, Hit & Run, Law Blog and newsfeed.time.com

Maggie Habermanand Emily Schultheis / Politico:

Donors split with Mitt Romney on gay marriage — Mitt Romney's opposition to gay marriage, which helped endear him to conservative activists during the dog days of the presidential primary, puts him at odds with three of his most prominent donors, all of whom helped fund a successful effort …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and Gay Politics

Dominic Holden / The Stranger …:

Father Ryan Refuses Anti-Gay Petitions, Calling Them “Hurtful and Seriously Divisive” — In an email to his flock, St. James Cathedral reverend Michael Ryan has announced that he won't circulate petitions inside his parish for the campaign to repeal the state's same-sex marriage law. Here's his full email:

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Good As You and Truth Wins Out