memeorandum: Charles Colson dies at 80; Watergate felon and prison reformer (Timothy M. Phelps/Los Angeles Times)

8:45 AM ET, April 22, 2012

Top Items:

Chuck Colson dies at 80: Watergate scandal figure became an evangelist — View Photo Gallery — Charles W. Colson, political operative and prison ministry founder, dies at 80: The Republican political operative who boasted he would “walk over my own grandmother” to ensure the reelection …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, msnbc.com, Bangor Daily News, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Joe. My. God.

Timothy M. Phelps / Los Angeles Times:

Charles Colson dies at 80; Watergate felon and prison reformer — Charles ‘Chuck’ Colson went to prison after serving as Richard Nixon's ‘hatchet man’ in the Watergate era. Behind bars, the born-again Christian founded the world's largest prison ministry. — White House aide Charles Colson in seen in this June 1973 file photo.

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Tim Weiner / New York Times:

Charles W. Colson, Watergate Felon Who Became Evangelical Leader, Dies at 80 — Charles W. Colson, who served as a political saboteur for President Richard M. Nixon, masterminded some of the dirty tricks that led to the president's downfall, then emerged from prison to become an important evangelical leader …

Discussion: Prison Fellowship and National Review

David Barstow / New York Times:

At Wal-Mart in Mexico, a Bribe Inquiry Silenced — Confronted with evidence of widespread corruption in Mexico, top Wal-Mart executives focused more on damage control than on rooting out wrongdoing, an examination by The New York Times found. — In Mexico, Wal-Mart advertises its stores on green signs …

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, Towleroad News #gay, Taylor Marsh, naked capitalism, New York Magazine, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, ProfessorBainbridge.com and Felix Salmon

Lauren Slater / New York Times:

How Psychedelic Drugs Can Help Patients Face Death — Pam Sakuda was 55 when she found out she was dying. Shortly after having a tumor removed from her colon, she heard the doctor's dreaded words: Stage 4; metastatic. Sakuda was given 6 to 14 months to live.

Karl / Hot Air:

PolitiFact goes to the dogs — PolitiFact, supposedly devoted to helping you find the truth in politics, addressed the story about Barack Obama eating a dog, quoting from his book, Dreams from My Father: … Although the heart of PolitiFact is the Truth-O-Meter, which they use …

Discussion: The Impolitic and NewsBusters.org

Louis Jacobson / PolitiFact:
In context: Obama's comments on eating dog in Indonesia

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Chicago News and Weather:

Suspect: I Beat Up White Man Because I Am Mad About Trayvon Martin Case — Maywood, Ill. - Alton L. Hayes III, a west suburban man charged with a hate crime, told police he was so upset about the Trayvon Martin case in Florida that he beat up a white man early Tuesday.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Left Coast Rebel, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit and HotAirPundit

Mark Strassmann / CBS News:
George Zimmerman's release could be imminent

Discussion: The Radio Equalizer, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit and Conservatives4Palin

James Hohmann / Politico:

GOP elite holds off the tea partiers — SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Republican Party establishment has withstood the tea-party revolution. — The tricorne-hat wearing, Gadsden-flag waving insurgents were nowhere near the Republican National Committee's annual meeting of state chairman …

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

Orrin Hatch pushed into primary in Utah Senate race — Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch will face off against conservative former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist in a June primary after the six-term incumbent failed to win 60 percent of the vote at the state Republican convention on Saturday.

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, Associated Press, Michelle Malkin and The Gateway Pundit

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Hatch falls just short at Utah GOP convention, will face primary

Discussion: Politico

Matt Canham / Salt Lake Tribune:
Hatch will go to first primary in decades, faces Liljenquist

Discussion: Roll Call, Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Mike McIntire / New York Times:

ALEC, a Tax-Exempt Group, Mixes Legislators and Lobbyists — Desperate for new revenue, Ohio lawmakers introduced legislation last year that would make it easier to recover money from businesses that defraud the state. — It was quickly flagged at the Washington headquarters …

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Prairie Weather and CommonBlog

Telegraph:

Archbishop of York victim of ‘naked racism’, claims ally — The early favourite to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury is the victim of “naked racism” by critics who are trying to besmirch his name, one of his closest supporters has claimed. — Dr Sentamu has spoken in the past …

Discussion: msnbc.com and Guardian

Rick Pearson / Chicago Tribune:

Wisconsin Gov. Walker says he'll prevail in recall — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Friday he believes he won't be recalled from office in June, and that result will send a message to all politicians that “you can make the tough choices and there will be voters helping you along the way.”

Discussion: Politico and Althouse

Lee Stranahan / BREITBART.COM:

VAST LEFT WING CONSPIRACY: DOJ REFERS REPORTER TO MEDIA MATTERS, SOURCE CLAIMS — Katie Dixon, a ‘confidential assistant’ in the Office of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice, reportedly sent an email to Washington Free Beacon writer C.J. Ciaramella saying that she had been directed …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, RedState, American Power and Washington Free Beacon