memeorandum: The Quixotic Task of Debunking David Barton - By PAUL HARVEY (Paul Harvey/Religion Dispatches)

11:05 PM ET, June 4, 2012

Top Items:

Who Survives? — Our final poll in the Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election comes after an impressive debate performance by Democrat Tom Barrett — who may have saved his best for last. The highlight for many viewers was when Barrett took beleaguered Republican Gov. Scott Walker …

Discussion: Public Policy Polling, Addicting Info, Hot Air, National Review, ThinkProgress, Washington Free Beacon, Weekly Standard and The Daily Beast

Walter Russell Mead / Via Meadia:

Intrade Has Walker's Chances over 90%; NY Times in Panic Mode — Even The New York Times has thrown in the towel on the Wisconsin recall. — With an Intrade poll citing Walker's chances of winning the Wisconsin recall at more than 93%, The New York Times is entering into full-blown panic mode …

Discussion: The New Republic, The Caucus, NewsBusters.org and The Daily Dish

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Gov. Walker knocks Obama for shying away from Wisconsin recall — GOP Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Monday that President Barack Obama's decision to shy away from campaigning on behalf of Democratic challenger Tom Barrett before Tuesday's election shows “there is a real concern” …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, Pirate's Cove and Guardian

Josh Eidelson / Salon:

Wisconsin's resentment factor — Anger toward labor will be a big factor in Tuesday's recall. But unions haven't grown too big; they're too small — MADISON — If Scott Walker survives tomorrow's election, there will be plenty of reasons. Many people will point to his huge cash advantage, for good reason.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Scott Bauer / Associated Press:
What to know about the Wisconsin recall vote

Discussion: The Huffington Post and blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Will Oremus / Slate:
What the Wisconsin Recall Tells Us About November: Nothing

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, The New Republic, The Daily Beast and CNN

Emily Goodin / Ballot Box:
OVERNIGHT CAMPAIGN: Proxy battles and recall matches

Discussion: CNN, Guardian and The Hill

BuzzFeed:

Bill Clinton: Romney Presidency Would Be Calamitous For The World — Last week he complimented Romney, today he doesn't pull any punches. — (AP / Ronald Zak) — Former President Bill Clinton warned of global danger in the event Mitt Romney wins in the fall — a shift in tone …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Bill Clinton / CNN:
Clinton and Obama hit up the Big Apple

Discussion: Politico and Weekly Standard

Ezra Klein:

The Keynesian case for Romney — Even if you disagree with every one of Mitt Romney's policies, there's a chance he's still the best candidate to lift the economy in 2013. — That's not because he has business experience. For all his bluster about the lessons taught by the private sector …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider, Hot Air and Conservatives4Palin

William Bergstrom / Politico:

Andrew Cuomo proposes lower pot possession charge — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday proposed reducing the penalty for public possession of small amounts of marijuana, a move aimed at dramatically slashing the number of arrests resulting from the stop-and-frisk actions by the police department …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Associated Press

Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:
Cuomo Seeks Cut in Frisk Arrests

Discussion: Cato @ Liberty, The Stranger …, Gothamist, theGrio, Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway, New York Magazine, Business Insider, The Reaction, The Raw Story, Brennan Center for Justice, Guardian, Boing Boing and Joe. My. God.

Thomas Kaplan / New York Times:
Bloomberg Backs Plan to Limit Arrests for Marijuana

Discussion: City Room, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, nyc.gov, Gothamist and Washington Free Beacon

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Partisan Polarization Surges in Bush, Obama Years — Trends in American Values: 1987-2012 — OVERVIEW — As Americans head to the polls this November, their values and basic beliefs are more polarized along partisan lines than at any point in the past 25 years.

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, 2012 Decoded, Politico and The Moderate Voice

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Have We Reached an Economic Tipping Point for the President? - Today's Q's for O's WH - 6/4/2012 — TAPPER: Who specifically is “rooting for failure”? — CARNEY: I think that when you have a situation where action is not being taken on Capitol Hill where it is obvious …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Callum Borchers / Boston Globe:

President Obama and Mitt Romney campaigns battle over Mass. job growth numbers — video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player — The Obama and Romney campaigns sparred Sunday over what is the most repeated statistic of the political moment: Massachusetts ranked 47th …

Discussion: CNN, Los Angeles Times, msnbc.com, theGrio and The Raw Story

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:
5 Facts About The Massachusetts Economy Under Mitt Romney

Discussion: 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, Rumproast and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Romney-backed solar firm flops, Dems pounce

Discussion: Liberal Values, Hit & Run, RedState, Daily Kos and CNN

Billy House / NationalJournal.com:

Erupting Urinal Soaks House Press Gallery — A big splash occurred on Monday morning at the House Press Gallery in the U.S. Capitol. — No, this wasn't one of those unexpected guest appearances for celebrities to talk to reporters about some favorite cause. — This splash came from an exploding urinal.

Discussion: Wonkette, Indecision Forever and New York Magazine

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

North Carolina GOP Platform Says Government Should Be Able To Discriminate Against Gays — Emboldened by a recently enacted constitutional amendment prohibiting civil unions and same-sex marriage, North Carolina's Republican party adopted a platform yesterday that condones discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation.”

Discussion: The Raw Story

Joel B. Pollak / BREITBART.COM:

EXCLUSIVE - THE VETTING - SENATOR BARACK OBAMA ATTENDED BILL AYERS BARBECUE, JULY 4, 2005 — As a presidential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama disavowed any connection with former domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, the Weather Underground radical who was one of Obama's early backers and his colleague …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Nice Deb, Little Green Footballs, The Lonely Conservative and iOwnTheWorld.com

New York Post:

Timothy Cardinal Dolan blasts NYT over report he authorized payments to pedophile priests — Timothy Cardinal Dolan yesterday blasted a report that he authorized payments to pedophile priests — and said no such payments are being made to New York clerics. — Dolan, while serving …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Gateway Pundit, Balloon Juice, The Daily Dish and Joe. My. God.

Jim Geraghty / National Review:

Messina: We're Doing Great! Oh, and We May Lose Wisconsin. — The Obama campaign releases a video with campaign manager Jim Messina, discussing the state of the race. — “We're actually ahead of where we were at this point last time around. Remember summer of 2008?

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Power Line, Hot Air and Mediaite

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

This Republican Economy — What should be done about the economy? Republicans claim to have the answer: slash spending and cut taxes. What they hope voters won't notice is that that's precisely the policy we've been following the past couple of years. Never mind the Democrat in the White House …

Discussion: Democracy in America, Mother Jones, The Enterprise Blog, Rational Irrationality, Weasel Zippers, The New Republic, Firedoglake, Washington Free Beacon, The Maddow Blog, The Mahablog, National Review, Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Daily Kos, Paul Krugman and Eclectablog

Associated Press:

Obama a socialist? Many scoff, but claim persists — NEW YORK (AP) — When President Barack Obama's re-election campaign unveiled its new slogan, some conservative critics were quick to pounce. — “Forward,” they asserted, is a word long associated with Europe's radical left.

BuzzFeed:

Meet The Romney Birthers — “I find it unacceptable that we cannot find a qualified American.” Chester Arthur's legitimacy also in question. — A popular meme among Romney birthers, who believe the Republican's Mexican roots make him ineligible for the presidency.

Discussion: rense.com and US Politics

The Boston Globe:

Senator Brown sought to loosen bank rules — OK'd overhaul, then called for leeway, e-mails show — Senator Scott Brown has trumpeted his role in casting the deciding vote in favor of the 2010 Wall Street overhaul, but records show that after he voted for the law, he worked to shield banks …

Discussion: Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Swampland, Daily Kos and Weekly Standard

Susanne Craig / DealBook:

Goldman Sachs Cuts a Little Deeper — It isn't getting better out there. — Wall Street, which has been paring its ranks over the last year as it struggles with lackluster markets and new regulations, is cutting deeper as it heads into what is expected to be a rough summer.

Discussion: Felix Salmon

ABCNEWS:

RNC Web Video Lampoons Obama's Anna Wintour Fundraising Effort — The Republican National Committee released a new web video Monday lampooning the Obama campaign's latest fundraising effort, a web ad with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour that came out Friday, the same day as the dismal jobs report.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, Power Line, Mediaite and Political Economy

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

Sarah Palin to rally conservative online army — The conservative blogosphere has yet to move past the death of patron saint Andrew Breitbart, but it will get a major jolt this month from an equally provocative hero: Sarah Palin. — The former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Conservatives4Palin

Stephen C. Webster / The Raw Story:

Louisiana GOP spirals into chaos as Ron Paul delegates injured, arrested — Several supporters of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) sustained injuries while being arrested during the Louisiana Republican Party's state convention over the weekend, in a conflict that engulfed the meeting …

Discussion: Ron Paul 2012 Presidential …, Hit & Run, Wonkette, Political Vel Craft, LewRockwell.com Blog and KTBS.com

Free exchange:

A big hairball of risk — PERHAPS the most disconcerting aspect of the world's current flight to safety is the lack of a single overriding threat to justify it. China is slowing, but hardly in recession. Europe is in crisis—but when has it not been in the last three years?

Discussion: Felix Salmon

Washington Free Beacon:

Axelrod: Rubio as VP would ‘insult’ Hispanics — Senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod said Sunday that handing the vice presidential nomination to Cuban-American Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) would be an “insult to Hispanics.” The Washington Times reports: … Hispanics broke for Obama 67 to 31 percent in 2008.

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Times, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler and The Lonely Conservative

Rodney Ho / Radio & TV Talk:

Neal Boortz announces retirement after more than four decades in radio, replaced by Herman Cain — After more than four decades on the airwaves in Atlanta, Neal Boortz this morning announced that he is ending his syndicated talk show on January 21, 2013, replaced by former presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly and Outside the Beltway

Daily Mail:

Fugitive ‘cannibal’ porn star arrested in Berlin after escaping police raid on his Paris hotel room — The international manhunt for gay porn star killer Luka Rocco Magnotta has ended with his arrest in the German capital Berlin. — Magnotta, 29, was seized in an Internet cafe …

Discussion: The Daily Caller