memeorandum: Al-Qaida memo to Bin Laden warns of ‘cunning methods’ of US news networks (Chris McGreal/Guardian)

9:35 AM ET, May 4, 2012

Top Items:

NBC Wags Dog For Bill Clinton, Who Let Osama Escape — Media: NBC's presentation of “Rock Center with Brian Williams” last Wednesday night demonstrated that MSNBC's Chris Matthews isn't the only one who feels tingles up his leg when he talks with or about President Obama.

BuzzFeed:

Conservative Activist: More Navy SEALs to Attack Obama — Joel Arends, the man behind the ad hammering the White House for “taking so much credit” on Bin Laden, believes more Special Forces operators will come out against Obama. Arends objects to the term “swift boat.”

Discussion: Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Taylor Marsh and Hullabaloo

Chris McGreal / Guardian:

Al-Qaida memo to Bin Laden warns of ‘cunning methods’ of US news networks — Al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn a fan of 60 Minutes but said Fox News ‘lacks neutrality’ and CBS is ‘close to being unbiased’ — Osama bin Laden pondered the merits of US television news channels as he considered …

Discussion: Jihad Watch and Shot in the Dark

Michael Wines / New York Times:

China Says Dissident Can Apply to Leave for Study Abroad — BEIJING — China's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that the dissident Chen Guangcheng can apply to study outside China in the same manner as other Chinese citizens, signaling a possible breakthrough in a diplomatic crisis …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Magazine, FP Passport, LifeNews.com and Hot Air

Jamie Klatell / The Hill:
Chinese dissident Chen becomes political headache for Obama

Discussion: National Review

Joe Picard / The Hill:
Obama administration hits back on notion that it abandoned Chen in China

Discussion: Eschaton

Washington Examiner:

Klein: Obama is winning the general election — The general election unofficially began nearly a month ago, and so far President Obama is winning. — This has nothing to do with poll numbers. Sure, Obama enjoys a statistically insignificant 3.7 percent edge over presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Hot Air and The Jawa Report

Tim Mak / Politico:

Gingrich: Romney said untrue things — Newt Gingrich accused Mitt Romney on Thursday of saying “things that weren't true,"but fell short of reasserting his claim that Romney was a liar. — “I still believe that the Romney campaign said things that weren't true,” said Gingrich on CNN's “Situation Room.”

Discussion: CNN and Ballot Box

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Perry: ‘God help us’ if Romney loses

Discussion: CNN

Washington Post:

Post Poll: Obama leads Romney as campaigns converge on Virginia — President Obama leads former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in Virginia but commonwealth voters are evenly divided on the White House's major policies, a new Washington Post poll shows. — Obama is ahead of Romney …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Wire, Campaign 2012, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal, Booman Tribune, The Caucus, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Ballot Box, Politico, The Hill and Reuters

Politico:

The dangerous new Obama book — Months before Barack Obama knew Mitt Romney would be his political opponent in 2012, the president knew the identity of his foremost literary challenger: Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Maraniss, who had been reaching out to Obama's old friends, classmates and lovers for the past several years.

Discussion: CNN, Media Decoder, Bloomberg, Dispatch Politics, The Moderate Voice, National Review and Gallup

Dave Boyer / Washington Times:
RNC campaign parodies Obama '08 sticker

Discussion: CNN, nation.foxnews.com, Weasel Zippers and Associated Press

Kevin D. Williamson / National Review:

‘Julia’ — Alas, Team Obama has omitted a few milestones from the life of Julia: — 4 months: Julia's mother decides that giving birth will be hard on her figure. She kills Julia. Under Barack Obama, her right to do so is absolutely nonnegotiable. — 10 years: Trapped in a failing …

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, Power Line and The PJ Tatler

Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Who is this woman?

Discussion: Washington Post, TBogg and RedState

David Harsanyi / Human Events:
Who the hell is “Julia” and why am I paying for her whole life?

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
The cradle-to-grave, government-supported existence of “Julia”

Discussion: The Caucus, TheBlaze.com, Washington Free Beacon, Campaign 2012 and Sister Toldjah

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Romney Speaks Out On Grenell Resignation: We Don't Select People Based On ‘Their Sexual Preference’ — Mitt Romney spoke out about the resignation of ex-foreign policy adviser Richard Grenell during an appearance on Fox News this morning. In doing so, the former Massachusetts governor failed …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Hot Air, The Huffington Post and Balloon Juice

Algemeiner.com:

White House Cites Nazi Supporter In Jewish Heritage Month Proclamation (UPDATE) — American Jewish artist and Nazi supporter Gertrude Stein was cited yesterday in a White House proclamation in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month 2012 — The official release which praises Jewish contributions …

Discussion: JOSHUAPUNDIT, Weasel Zippers and The Jawa Report

BREITBART.COM:
OBAMA PRAISES NAZI SUPPORTER IN JEWISH HERITAGE MONTH PROCLAMATION

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Fire Andrea Mitchell!

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml:

People Not In Labor Force Soar By 522,000, Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest Since 1981 — it is just getting sad now. In April the number of people not in the labor force rose by a whopping 522,000 from 87,897,000 to — 88,419,000. This is the highest on record.

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Gateway Pundit and Via Meadia

Jonathan H. Adler / The Volokh Conspiracy:

Secondary Boycotts and the Breakdown of Civil Society — Activist groups of various political stripes are increasingly urging boycotts of companies not because of the companies' own behavior, but because of the behavior or speech of those the companies patronize or support.

Discussion: Lean Left and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Bradley A. Smith / Wall Street Journal:
Welcome to Boycott Nation

Discussion: PointOfLaw Forum

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Plutocracy, Paralysis, Perplexity — Before the Great Recession, I would sometimes give public lectures in which I would talk about rising inequality, making the point that the concentration of income at the top had reached levels not seen since 1929. Often, someone in the audience …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and LewRockwell.com Blog

Wall Street Journal:

Noonan: The Case for Dick Lugar — Washington needs seasoned statesmen, especially at a time of national crisis. — Let's wade into an argument, and on what may well be the losing side. — The most recent polls suggest Dick Lugar, the senior U.S. senator from Indiana, first elected in 1976 …

Discussion: PoliPundit.com

Andrew Stiles / Washington Free Beacon:

Smartest Guy in the Room — Failed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry's (D., Mass.) long history of ethically dubious investments could invite controversy as he takes on a new role as a “top surrogate” for President Obama's reelection campaign.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Another Misleading Edit Costs Another NBC News Employee Her Job — Lilia Luciano, a Miami-based NBC News correspondent, is no longer working for the network, TVNewser has learned. — Luciano last reported for NBC News March 31. Until that point, she had been reporting mainly on the Trayvon Martin story.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Scared Monkeys, Deadline.com, NewsBusters.org blogs, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

The question we should be asking Elizabeth Warren. — I said it buried in a long post yesterday, but I want to highlight this, because there are so many angles to this story, and I'm afraid this one is being overlooked: … Don't you support affirmative action in hiring (as well as in law school admissions)?

Discussion: JustOneMinute

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

A GOP ‘assault’ on women's health? — “In order to pay for it, [House Republicans] are going to make an assault on women's health, make another assault on women's health, continue our assault on women's health and pay for this with prevention initiatives that are in effect right …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos and Washington Free Beacon

NPR:

Do Liberals Live Under A ‘Tyranny Of Cliches’? … Conservative critic Jonah Goldberg says he's inspired to write when he gets annoyed. “Aggravation is a muse,” he says. And after speaking on a number of college campuses, he grew aggravated enough to write a book.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Los Angeles Times