memeorandum: Lockerbie bomber dies in Libya hospital (Dylan Stableford/Reuters)

6:50 AM ET, May 21, 2012

Top Items:

Campaign Spending Reports Released for April — Millions of dollars in outside money began pouring into Congressional contests around the country in April, while spending by presidential “super PACs” dropped off, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission on Sunday and other data.

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

‘Super PACs’ Changing How Political Operatives Operate — The intensifying flood of uncapped donations to outside political groups is transforming not just campaigns but the entire business of politics. — Once seasonal affairs, campaigns from the presidential race down to House contests …

Discussion: The Caucus and NewsBusters.org

Robin Bravender / Politico:

Obama super PAC slump continues — The pro-Barack Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action is still struggling to keep up with GOP super PACs preparing to unleash millions of dollars in independent advertisements. — Priorities USA Action raised $1.6 million in April, according to federal records released late Sunday.

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

RNC Chairman Says Republican Proposal For $10 Million Of Race-Baiting Anti-Obama Attack Ads Is Obama's Fault — In an interview on CNN's State of the Union with Candy Crowley this morning, host Crowley asked RNC Chairman Reince Priebus about a widely-denounced proposal for a pro-Mitt Romney outside group …

Discussion: Livewire, The Raw Story and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:

The long shadow of Barack Obama's identity crisis — The Washington Post has obsessed over an incident in which Mitt Romney allegedly cut the hair of a fellow high school student. The mainstream media paid plenty of attention to George W. Bush's “irresponsible youth,” and speculated about whether he had used cocaine.

Ann Althouse / Althouse:
“Mitt and Ann Romney's marriage is strong because they believe they will live together in an eternal afterlife...”

Discussion: Booman Tribune and The Gateway Pundit

Washington Examiner:
Rev. Wright urged to stay silent until after 2012

Discussion: The Spectacle Blog, Hot Air, Ed Driscoll, Power Line, Politico and CNN

Jodi Kantor / New York Times:
The Long Run: How the Mormon Church Shaped Mitt Romney

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice and Hullabaloo

Tracey Pollock / The UpTake:

Chicago Police Attack Press, Use Bikes As Weapons — Tracey Pollock, a credentialed photographer for The UpTake, is attacked by police in Chicago during an anti-NATO protest on Saturday. Before the attack, police were using their bicycles as weapons to force back the crowd which was staging a march without a permit.

Discussion: Suburban Guerrilla, The Agonist and The Raw Story

Kevin Gosztola / Firedoglake:
Occupy Journalists Stopped, Searched, Handcuffed & Interrogated at Gunpoint

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Raw Story, Philly.com, Suburban Guerrilla and The Agonist

Directorblue / Doug Ross:

Barack Obama's biographical brief edited repeatedly over 17 years, but Kenyan birthplace changed just weeks after his presidential run announced — The biography provided by Barack Obama to his literary agent specified his birthplace as “Kenya”. And, over the course of 17 years …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, The Other McCain, The PJ Tatler and americanthinker.com

Mike Nolan / Chicago Sun Times:

Suspects wielding hammers and batons attack diners at Tinley Park restaurant — Police investigate the scene at The Ashford House Restaurant, 7959 W. 159th Street, in Tinley Park, where a group of people entered and started assaulting patrons Saturday. Brett Roseman~Sun-Times Media

Discussion: The New York Observer, Instapundit, Conservative Hideout 2.0, The PJ Tatler, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Pundit, The Jawa Report and The Lonely Conservative

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

“Is GOP trying to sabotage economy to hurt Obama?” — That's the headline on yesterday's Associated Press story by Charles Babington. The headline appeared on the main Yahoo page, which is far more heavily trafficked than any newspaper, and was picked up, based on a Google News search, by several hundred newspapers.

Hal Weitzman / Financial Times:

Factories begin to shift back to US — Two-thirds of big US manufacturers have moved factories in the past two years, with the most popular destination being the US, according to a survey being released on Monday by Accenture, the consultants. — The report provides some of the first …

Discussion: CARPE DIEM

ABCNEWS:

Nancy Pelosi Defends Dems Rev. Wright Fundraising Appeal — House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi defended the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on “This Week” for sending a fundraising email that attempted to capitalize on the apparently dead advertising plan to link President Obama to Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Discussion: Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, Wake up America and The Gateway Pundit

ABCNEWS: John Boehner on GOP House: ‘Hard to Keep 218 Frogs in a Wheelbarrow’

Wall Street Journal:

Democrats' Wisconsin Worry — Some Fear Walker's Surviving Recall Would Boost GOP's Chances in November — With little more than two weeks until Wisconsin's gubernatorial recall election, some Democratic and union officials quietly are expressing fears that they have picked a fight …

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Dylan Stableford / Reuters:

Lockerbie bomber dies in Libya hospital — Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the former Libyan intelligence official who was sentenced to life in prison in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, has died, the Libyan government said on Sunday. He was 60. — The bombing of the Dec. 21 …

Discussion: US Politics, Guardian and ABCNEWS

Igor Bobic / Livewire:

Cory Booker ‘Very Uncomfortable’ With Attacks On Bain — Appearing on NBC's “Meet The Press” on Sunday, Newark, New Jersey Mayor and Obama surrogate Cory Booker said he was “uncomfortable” with the Obama campaign's attacks on Mitt Romney's record with Bain Capital.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, Hullabaloo, The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars, Politico, Balloon Juice, Lawyers, Guns & Money and GOP.com

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Axelrod: Romney Bain record, not Mormon faith, is ‘fair game’

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Salon, Reuters, Politico, CNN and Weasel Zippers

Brad Plumer / Ezra Klein:

The end of fish, in one chart — Want to see how severely we humans are scouring the oceans for fish? Check out this striking map from the World Wildlife Fund's 2012 “Living Planet Report.” The red areas are the most intensively fished (and, in many cases, overfished) parts of the ocean …