memeorandum: Cuba May Be the Most Feminist Country in Latin America (Luisita Lopez Torregrosa/IHT Rendezvous)

12:15 AM ET, May 2, 2012

Top Items:

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

EXCLUSIVE: Richard Grenell hounded from Romney campaign by anti-gay conservatives — Richard Grenell, the openly gay spokesman recently hired to sharpen the foreign policy message of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, has resigned in the wake of a full-court press by anti-gay conservatives.

BuzzFeed:

In Romney's Gay Rights Mess, Silence Wasn't An Option — The candidate stayed mum while his gay aide was being blasted by the right. Now gay rights groups blame Romney, whose aides say it was never about sexuality. — (AP / Henny Ray Abrams) — With the departure of his openly gay …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Kyle Mantyla / rightwingwatch.org:

Fischer: Grenell Resignation a ‘Huge Win’ for the Religious Right — It was just last week that Bryan Fischer was declaring that if Mitt Romney wants to win in November, he'd “better start listening to me.” And the first thing that Romney needed to do was fire Richard Grenell …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mediaite, Good As You, ThinkProgress and Towleroad News #gay

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:

Richard Grenell, Mitt Romney spokesman, resigns — Richard Grenell is resigning from Mitt Romney's presidential campaign less than two weeks after being hired. — The foreign policy spokesman came under fire for some crude (and since deleted) tweets about women.

Discussion: MLive.com

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Romney's Openly-Gay Spokesperson Resigns After Facing Pressure From Anti-Gay Right Wing

Discussion: The Impolitic and Mediaite

Arlette Saenz / ABCNEWS:
Richard Grenell, Openly Gay Romney Spokesman, Resigns From Post

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Washington Post and The Huffington Post

BuzzFeed:

How The White House Smothered The News Of Obama's Trip To Afghanistan — How the White House played whack-a-mole, and why I deleted my tweet. Drudge wouldn't budge. — Shortly before 9:19 a.m. this morning the Afghanistan-based 24-hour broadcast news station TOLONews tweeted that President Barack Obama had landed in Afghanistan.

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Post, “The Lid”, CNN, Hit & Run, New York Post, Mediaite, msnbc.com, The Other McCain, Campaign 2012, New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice and The PJ Tatler, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Landler / New York Times:

Obama Signs Pact in Kabul, Turning Page in Afghan War — KABUL, Afghanistan — President Obama, speaking to an American television audience on Tuesday night from an American air base here, declared that he had traveled here to herald a new era in the relationship between the United States and Afghanistan …

Discussion: WPLG-TV, New York Magazine, Politico, CNN, ThinkProgress, The Caucus, Gothamist, Washington Monthly, Truthdig and The Mahablog

Jim Inhofe / CNN:

Inhofe fires off on Obama over trip — (CNN) - Longtime Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma criticized President Barack Obama over the president's surprise trip to Afghanistan Tuesday, describing the visit as “campaign related” and an “attempt to shore up his national security credentials.”

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Weasel Zippers, p m carpenter's commentary and Campaign 2012

The White House:
Excerpts of the President's Address to the Nation from Afghanistan

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh and Truthdig

ABCNEWS:
Obama Greets Troops in Afghanistan on Bin Laden Anniversary

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

CNN:
Excerpts of president's Afghanistan speech released

Discussion: ABCNEWS and The Stranger …

BuzzFeed: Obama Looks To End Of Afghanistan War

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Romney heckled at event with Giuliani — Mitt Romney was heckled Tuesday at a New York City event marking the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death. — Romney was campaigning with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at an event at the firehouse where the city of New York set …

Discussion: New York Magazine and Gothamist

BuzzFeed:
Will The Navy SEALs Swift Boat Obama?

Daily Mail:
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Discussion: Conservatives4Palin, NO QUARTER, Wizbang, The Jawa Report, UrbanGrounds, Michelle Malkin, nation.foxnews.com, Campaign 2012, Outside the Beltway and Politico

Jose A. Rodriguez Jr / Washington Post:
The path to bin Laden's death didn't start with Obama

Discussion: The Enterprise Blog, RedState, Wake up America, 2012 Decoded, Power Line, Washington Free Beacon, Atlas Shrugs, Associated Press, Conservatives4Palin, Corrente, Mother Jones, Discourse.net, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo and Hot Air

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Morning Plum: The attacks begin

Discussion: The Huffington Post, New York Times, ABCNEWS, Daily Kos and American Prospect

Jim Treacher / The Daily Caller:

Happy May Day! CNN reports: … Cyco, Skabby, Tony... No word yet on Grumpy, Sleepy, Sneezy, or Dopey. — Congratulations on another stunning public-relations victory, Occupy. — What's that? “These guys don't have anything to do with Occupy!” Hey, don't tell me, tell them.

Discussion: Babalú Blog and The Gateway Pundit

Jason Ryan / ABCNEWS:
Anarchists Wanted to Attack NATO, Republican Convention: Feds

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh and HotAirPundit

Dan Riehl / BREITBART.COM:
OCCUPY LEADERS APPARENTLY INVOLVED IN BRIDGE BOMB PLOT, SUSPECTS NAMED

Discussion: CBS News, The Jawa Report, Fox News, Hot Air, Belmont Club, American Glob, The Other McCain, The Gateway Pundit, Conservatives4Palin and Babalú Blog

Mike Waterhouse / WEWS-TV:
FBI arrests five people who allegedly tried to blow up Brecksville bridge, discussed other targets

Discussion: The Smoking Gun, Media Trackers Ohio, Plain Dealer, Crooks and Liars, Taylor Marsh, Weasel Zippers, The Jawa Report, OccupyWallSt News and Fire Andrea Mitchell!

David Ariosto / CNN:
5 arrested in alleged plot to blow up Cleveland-area bridge

Discussion: This Just In, Weasel Zippers, Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway and CANNONFIRE

Michelle Washington / HamptonRoads.com:

A beating at Church and Brambleton — The Virginian-Pilot — Wave after wave of young men surged forward to take turns punching and kicking their victim. — The victim's friend, a young woman, tried to pull him back into his car. Attackers came after her, pulling her hair …

Hillary Chabot / Boston Herald:

Elizabeth Warren's embattled campaign: Cherokee tie found 5 generations ago — Cherokee tie found 5 generations ago — Desperately scrambling to validate Democrat Elizabeth Warren's Native American heritage amid questions about whether she used her minority status to further her career …

Discussion: New York Times, Althouse, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Volokh Conspiracy, Hot Air, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Conservatives4Palin, CBS News, Instapundit, Moe Lane and The Other McCain

Noah Bierman / Boston Globe:
Genealogist says Warren may be able to claim Cherokee heritage; Brown and Warren campaigns continue to trade barbs

Discussion: ABCNEWS, JustOneMinute, New York Times, The Volokh Conspiracy and New York Post

Ilya Somin / The Volokh Conspiracy:

Victims of Communism Day — Today is May Day. Since 2007, I have been commemorating this day here at the Volokh Conspiracy as Victims of Communism Day. Various other websites and blogs have promoted the same concept. In time, we hope to make this a worldwide commemoration similar to Holocaust Memorial Day.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, iOwnTheWorld.com, Haemet, The Lonely Conservative and Moe Lane

Adam Davidson / New York Times:

The Purpose of Spectacular Wealth, According to a Spectacularly Wealthy Guy — Ever since the financial crisis started, we've heard plenty from the 1 percent. We've heard them giving defensive testimony in Congressional hearings or issuing anodyne statements flanked by lawyers and image consultants.

Discussion: Wonkette, ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo and Politico

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Obama leads in Virginia — Barack Obama continues to look like the favorite to win Virginia this fall. He has a 51-43 lead over Mitt Romney in the state. We have consistently found Obama leading in Virginia by margins similar to his 6 point victory there in 2008- he led Romney by 6 in December …

Discussion: Firedoglake, American Prospect, Hot Air and Ballot Box

Katy Hall / The Huffington Post:

Breeze Beretta Johnston: Levi Johnston & Sunny Oglesby Announce Baby Name … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Levi Johnston, Video, Breeze Baretta Johnston, Breeze Beretta Johnston, Levi Johnston Daughter, Photo Galleries, Sunny Oglesby, Sunny Oglesby Baby, Politics News

Discussion: International Business Times, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Daily Caller

Rachel Rose Hartman / ABCNEWS:

Chris Christie: Wisconsin is the center of the political universe — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday reminded Wisconsin voters that the impact of the recall decision before them holds major national implications. — “For the next five weeks, Wisconsin is going to be the center …

Discussion: CNN, The Reaction and Yahoo! News

National Review:
Chris Christie's Islam Problem

Discussion: ThinkProgress, iOwnTheWorld.com and Mediaite

San Francisco Chronicle:

Trashed Mission District businesses want answers — (05-01) 16:39 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Business owners in San Francisco's Mission District, cleaning up after a night in which protesters damaged more than 30 stores and restaurants and vandalized cars, questioned Tuesday why activists had singled …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Raw Story, The Agonist, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Questions and Observations and The PJ Tatler

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Republican Judge Jerry Smith Blocks Pro-Planned Parenthood Order Just Hours After It Was Issued — Last month, Republican Fifth Circuit Judge Jerry Smith pitched a tantrum in open court, demanding that the Department of Justice respond to some imprecise political rhetoric by President Obama in an attempt to embarrass the president.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Texas Politics, The Raw Story, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Suburban Guerrilla