memeorandum: Sperm donor ‘left me for babies’ (David Fisher/New Zealand Herald)

9:05 PM ET, May 5, 2012

Top Items:

George Talbot / Breaking News from the Press-Register:

Alabama politician Bill Johnson ‘obsessed’ with donating sperm — Bill Johnson, a former Alabama gubernatorial candidate, has left his wife and family in Prattville to be with babies he secretly conceived as a sperm donor in New Zealand. — Johnson's wife, Kathy Hale Johnson …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, The Political Carnival and Politico

David Fisher / New Zealand Herald:

Sperm donor ‘left me for babies’ — The heartbroken wife of a politician who secretly acted as a sperm donor behind her back says he has left her to be with babies conceived with other women. — Speaking from her home in the United States, Kathy Johnson says her husband Bill has returned …

Discussion: The Raw Story

Jamie Klatell / The Hill:

The gloves come off as Obama launches reelection campaign — COLUMBUS, Ohio - The gloves are off. — Opening what is likely to be a bitter and grueling election, President Obama held his first official campaign rally here in the Buckeye State, cranking up his populist pitch while slamming …

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com, The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, Hollywood Reporter, The Other McCain and Fire Andrea Mitchell!

New York Times:

Obama Formally Kicks Off Campaign With Rallies in Ohio and Virginia — COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Obama sought to rekindle the passion of his 2008 victory with a pair of huge rallies on Saturday that signaled a new, politically aggressive phase in the debate over the country's direction …

Discussion: New York Times, Gothamist and The Caucus

Glenn Thrush / Politico:
Obama kickoff: Hope, change and Mitt

Discussion: Hot Air, New York Magazine and The Gateway Pundit

CNN:
Obama outlines case for re-election at first official campaign rally

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Guardian and Weasel Zippers

BuzzFeed:

New Libertarian Nominee Gary Johnson Slams Republicans For Gay Staffer Flap — Johnson, who just landed the official Libertarian Party nomination, indicts Republicans for the treatment of a gay Romney staffer. “It speaks volumes to the intolerance that continues to be present in the Republican Party.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Associated Press and Politico

Mike Riggs / Hit & Run:

Judge Jim Gray Is the 2012 Libertarian Party Vice Presidential Nominee — Former two-term New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson will be the Libertarian Party's 2012 presidential nominee, and former judge James “Jim” Gray will be his running mate. — Gray beat out Lee Wrights and one other candidate for the vice presidential nomination.

Discussion: The Raw Story and Outside the Beltway

Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:

Jobs Few, Grads Flock to Unpaid Internships — Confronting the worst job market in decades, many college graduates who expected to land paid jobs are turning to unpaid internships to try to get a foot in an employer's door. — While unpaid postcollege internships have long existed in the film …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Associated Press:

APNewsBreak: Former President Clinton opposes NC amendment that would ban gay marriage — RALEIGH, N.C. — Former President Bill Clinton has recorded an audio advertisement opposing North Carolina's proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Advocate

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
North Carolina's Ban on Gay Marriage Appears Likely to Pass

Discussion: American Power, Towleroad News #gay, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Human Rights Campaign

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Bill Maher Tears Into Romney For Giving Money To Mormon Church Instead Of Directly To Charity — On last week's edition of Real Time, Bill Maher argued during the panel discussion that Mitt Romney should be giving money to an actual charity rather than just the standard tithe to the Mormon church.

Discussion: The Raw Story and The Other McCain

Reuters:

Connecticut Passes a Marijuana Bill — HARTFORD (Reuters) — The Connecticut Senate passed a bill on Saturday legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, with tight restrictions intended to avoid the problems that have plagued some of the other states where it is now legal.

Discussion: Gawker, Runnin' Scared, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Magazine and Gothamist

Erik Eckholm / New York Times:

Family Battle Offers Look Inside Lavish TV Ministry — NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — For 39 years, the Trinity Broadcasting Network has urged viewers to give generously and reap the Lord's bounty in return. — The prosperity gospel preached by Paul and Janice Crouch, who built a single station …

Discussion: Mediaite

Paul Krugman:

Economic Tribalism — Hmm. This seems to be meta Saturday, with reactions to how people think - or, all too often, don't think — about economics taking center stage. — Justin Fox has an interesting post documenting something I more or less knew, but am glad to see confirmed …

Discussion: The Mahablog and Dave Winer's …

Brad Plumer / Ezra Klein:

The incredible shrinking labor force — If the same percentage of adults were in the workforce today as when Barack Obama took office, the unemployment rate would be 11.1 percent. If the percentage was where it was when George W. Bush took office, the unemployment rate would be 13.1 percent.

Discussion: Brad DeLong, Daily Kos, Althouse and Washington Post