memeorandum: Medics attacked by Palestinians near Jerusalem (Akiva Novick/Ynetnews)

12:15 AM ET, May 19, 2012

Top Items:

Alex Pareene / Salon:

The National Review's fake plagiarism scoop — Updated: After falsely accusing Elizabeth Warren of plagiarism, the conservative magazine apologizes — The National Review says Elizabeth Warren is guilty of the gravest crime a writer can commit: Plagiarism.

Discussion: Politicker

Katrina Trinko / National Review:

CORRECTION — UPDATE: I took down my earlier post on Elizabeth Warren plagiarizing from the book Getting On the Money Track. On Amazon.com, the Warren book All Your Worth is listed as having been published January 9, 2006. As it turns out, that is the paperback publication date; the hardback book was published in March 2005.

Discussion: Hot Air and Media Decoder

Nick R. Martin / tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPMMuckraker — Arizona Goes Birther: Secretary Of State Says It's ‘Possible’ Obama Won't Be On Ballot — The man in charge of running Arizona's elections has gone to the birthers. Secretary of State Ken Bennett now says he's not convinced Barack Obama was really born in the United States …

Discussion: his vorpal sword, Hit & Run, The Maddow Blog, Mediaite, Washington Post, American Prospect, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reaction, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos, Indecision Forever, Business Insider, Wonkette, New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice and Balloon Juice

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
‘Birther’ controversy: Arizona election official says it's ‘possible’ Obama might not make ballot

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Valley Fever, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Balloon Juice

Mike Broomhead / www.kfyi.com:
Obama's Name On Ballot In Arizona In Jeopardy?

Discussion: White House Dossier

Meenal Vamburkar / Mediaite:
AZ Sect. Of State Threatens To Remove Obama From Ballot Without Birth Certificate Verification From Hawaii

Discussion: Valley Fever and Wake up America

Tom Benning / Trail Blazers Blog:

George W. Bush to return to White House this month to be honored by President Obama with official portrait — Bush spokesman Freddy Ford said, “The Bushes are looking forward to being back in Washington and seeing some of their friends. They appreciate the Obamas' hospitality in hosting the portrait hanging.”

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Hill

Matt Negrin / ABCNEWS:

Bush and Romney Talk After Elevator Endorsement — George W. Bush and Mitt Romney have connected. — Romney called Bush after the former president offered his fleeting support for the Republican candidate in an elevator this week, a person on Romney's campaign tells ABC News.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Hill, Lippmann's Ghost, Daily Kos, CNN and GOP 12

CNN: Romney to address Latino business summit

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

How White Will the Electorate Be? — Probably not quite this white. — Last month, Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz noticed something unusual. Most of the polling about the presidential race found President Obama leading Mitt Romney, by mid-to-high single digits.

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Prairie Weather

Michael Patrick Leahy / BREITBART.COM:

DID ELIZABETH WARREN PLAGIARIZE HER ‘POW WOW CHOW’ RECIPES? — The credibility of Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren took another hit today as Boston radio talk show host Howie Carr released evidence that appears to confirm Ms. Warren may have plagiarized at least three …

Discussion: Campaign 2012, BuzzFeed, Weasel Zippers, RedState, Ed Driscoll, Pundit & Pundette, The PJ Tatler and Hot Air

TMZ.com:

Will Smith ATTACKS Affectionate Reporter — ATTACKS Kissy Reporter — Will Smith just slapped a Ukrainian reporter across the face at the Moscow premiere of “Men in Black 3” — and it was all caught on tape. — The Ukrainian reporter tries to kiss Will on the lips on the red carpet …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay, Mediaite and msnbc.com

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Behind the Scenes at MSNBC — We wrote here about MSNBC's disgraceful attacks on Charles and David Koch and Koch Industries in connection with the Trayvon Martin shooting. Guest host Karen Finney said: … A few days later, Van Jones, a guest on MSNBC, said:

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Yahoo! News:

Advice to would-be Romney running mates: Run for the hills — Nothing is easier to mock in politics right now than the apparent reluctance of leading Republicans to sign on as Mitt Romney's second banana. A few weeks ago, Jon Stewart summarized the way that Rob Portman was plugging …

John Mercure / Local:

Mayor Barrett was meeting with union organizers when he missed police memorial — MILWAUKEE - It turns out, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was in Oshkosh talking with union organizers when he missed an event in Milwaukee honoring law enforcement in southeast Wisconsin, including Milwaukee Police officers.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, RedState and Washington Free Beacon

Wall Street Journal:

Facebook Falls Back to IPO Price — Underwriters Stepped In to Support Social Network's Shares at Offering Price — Facebook Inc.'s public debut had plenty of buzz but not much pop. The shares opened 11% higher, but struggled to stay above their $38 offering price and ended the day up just 23 cents.

Discussion: Felix Salmon, msnbc.com, Rush Limbaugh, Dealbreaker and AllThingsD

Peter Hamby / CNN:

Obama's North Carolina math problem — Raleigh, North Carolina (CNN) — The state Democratic Party here is consumed with an ongoing sexual harassment scandal. The embattled governor is so unpopular she decided not to run for a second term. And supporters of same-sex marriage were dealt a crushing defeat at the ballot box last week.

Discussion: Washington Post, Campaign 2012, American Prospect, Hot Air, BuzzFeed, The PJ Tatler and GOP 12

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

AUDIO: Witness Says George Zimmerman Repeatedly Bullied Him At Work, Targeted Him With Racist Jokes — Among the evidence in the Trayvon Martin case released by the Florida state prosecutor yesterday was a 15-minute interview with a former work collegue of George Zimmerman.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Shakesville, Orlando Sentinel and USA Today

The Reliable Source / Washington Post:

Al Gore has a girlfriend: California donor and activist Elizabeth Keadle — Al Gore has been seriously dating Elizabeth Keadle, right, of California. (Joe Kohen/Getty; Jon Clark/Rancho Santa Fe Review) — It's never easy to re-enter the dating pool after years away …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Lippmann's Ghost, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, New York Magazine and The Daily Caller

The Gallup Organization / Gallup:

Stay-at-Home Moms Report More Depression, Sadness, Anger — But low-income stay-at-home moms struggle the most — WASHINGTON, D.C. — The degree of difficulty of being a stay-at-home parent is evident in a new Gallup analysis of more than 60,000 U.S. women interviewed in 2012.

Discussion: Hot Air, Economix and Reuters

Adam Serwer / Mother Jones:

House GOP Kills Proposal to Block Indefinite Detention of US Citizens — At least it's on the record: Most House Republicans support the indefinite detention without trial of American citizens. — During Thursday's floor debate over the latest national defense authorization act …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Firedoglake, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, Associated Press and emptywheel

Akiva Novick / Ynetnews:

Medics attacked by Palestinians near Jerusalem — Emergency crew responding on scene of accident find themselves the target of violent mob — An emergency medical crew narrowly escaped being lynched this week while responding on the scene of an injurious car accident near Jerusalem, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and iOwnTheWorld.com

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Age of Innocence — The people who pioneered democracy in Europe and the United States had a low but pretty accurate view of human nature. They knew that if we get the chance, most of us will try to get something for nothing. They knew that people generally prize short-term goodies over long-term prosperity.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Booman Tribune, the daily howler, No More Mister Nice Blog and Seeing the Forest

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Romney's Smart, Unsentimental Strategy — Presidential campaigns often delude themselves about what forces control the fate of the campaign. They believe that the charisma of the candidate, or the force of his ideas, or the tactical brilliance of his advisers hold the key to victory.

Discussion: Swampland and Washington Monthly

Washington Post:

Americans Elect and the death of the third party movement — It ended with a whimper, not a bang. — Late Thursday night, Americans Elect, a much-ballyhooed group dedicated to securing ballot access for a serious third-party presidential candidate in 2012, issued a statement acknowledging failure.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, msnbc.com, Salon, The Huffington Post, Online NewsHour, CNN, Outside the Beltway, americanselect.org and Gallup

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:

Sebelius stays away from contraception fight at Georgetown — Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius didn't mention the controversy over the administration's contraception mandate during a Friday commencement speech at Georgetown University.

Discussion: DCist, ThinkProgress and Washington Monthly

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:
Fury over birth-control mandate trails HHS Sec. Sebelius to Georgetown

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and ThinkProgress

The Office of Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer:

House Democrats Introduce Voter Empowerment Act — SHARE: EMAIL PRINT FACEBOOK TWITTER — Today, House Democrats introduced the Voter Empowerment Act, comprehensive voting rights legislation to modernize our voter registration system, ensure equal access to the ballot box …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Crooks and Liars and Colorlines

Jake Sherman / Politico:

John Boehner adds to pressure on Eric Holder — There's about to be a lot more pressure on Eric Holder from Capitol Hill about the Fast and Furious investigation. — Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Whip Kevin McCarthy joined with Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa …

Discussion: Hot Air and The Lonely Conservative

Carl Campanile / New York Post:

Sorry, Charlie — Bill Clinton is abandoning his old ally Charles Rangel, who is fighting for his political life as he seeks re-election to a 22nd term, The Post has learned. — Harlem Rep. Rangel won't be getting an endorsement from the former president, who will sit out the primary, a Clinton source said.

Discussion: Mediaite and Politicker

Kate Nocera / Politico:

GOP rookies buck Norquist — Grover's grip may be loosening. — A small but increasingly vocal group of freshman Republicans are publicly rejecting the idea they are beholden to Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform pledge for their entire congressional careers.

Discussion: Power Line