memeorandum: Michelle Obama to Ann Romney: have fun campaigning (Deborah Charles/Reuters)

9:35 PM ET, June 12, 2012

Top Items:

Brett LoGiurato / Business Insider:

Obama Is Losing A Stunning Amount Of African-American Support In North Carolina — WATCH: What Obama's Embarrassing Primaries — In Kentucky And Arkansas Last Month Mean — President Barack Obama is rapidly losing support among African-American voters in North Carolina …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Sister Toldjah, Instapundit, Ballot Box, Race 4 2012 and National Review

Caitlin McDevitt / Politico:

Spike Lee: Obama win not a sure thing — Spike Lee is predicting a tough road to reelection for President Obama. — “This thing is not a lock,” the filmmaker told GQ in a recent interview. “It is not a lock that President Obama is getting a second term and people have to really rekindle the enthusiasm that we had the first time.”

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Romney holds small lead in NC — PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds Mitt Romney leading Barack Obama 48-46. It's a small lead but still significant in that it's the first time we've found Romney ahead in our monthly polling of the state since October.

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports, Ballot Box, Politico, Hot Air, americanthinker.com, Firedoglake, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Business Insider, Pat Dollard and Guardian

Washington Examiner:

Now union members are deserting Obama — Tattered union label. Gallup finds that President Obama has some work to do with union members. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) — Two new and disturbing polls just out suggest that the road to reelection is getting tougher for President Obama.

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports and Gallup

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Obama's Jewish Support Drops 22 Points in New York — President Obama's support among Jewish voters in the state of New York has dropped 22 percentage points in only a month, according to the results of a just released poll. — The poll, conducted by Siena College, finds that currently President Obama …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Neil King Jr / Washington Wire:
Black Support for Obama Ebbs In North Carolina

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Mark Anthony Green / GQ:
Nobody's Martyr: A GQ&A with Spike Lee

Discussion: Mediaite and Pat Dollard

Jeff Weiner / Orlando Sentinel:

George Zimmerman's wife arrested, charged with perjury — At her husband's bond hearing, Shellie Zimmerman was asked repeatedly about money. Among the questions: How much did the couple collect in donations through the PayPal account George Zimmerman set up on his website?

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Mahablog, Sky Dancing, Black Youth Project, New York Magazine, Gawker, First Draft, Outside the Beltway and Colorlines

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

BREAKING: George Zimmerman's wife arrested on perjury charge — Shellie Zimmerman is accused of lying under oath at her husband's bail hearing. Mug shot: — You can read the full statement of probable cause HERE. ABC News is reporting that bond has been set at $1,000.

Casey Glynn / CBS News:
Shellie Zimmerman, wife of George Zimmerman, arrested for perjury

Discussion: Riptide 2.0, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, JOSHUAPUNDIT and Riehl World View

msnbc.com:
Shellie Zimmerman, wife of Trayvon Martin killer, arrested on perjury charge

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and JustOneMinute

Jeff Weiner / Orlando Sentinel:
Zimmerman ‘does not properly respect the law,’ judge says in order revoking bond

Discussion: Daily Kos

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Democrat to offer bill repealing ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws

Discussion: Pat Dollard

Democracy Corps:

Shifting the Economic Narrative — What is clear from this fresh look at public consciousness on the economy is how difficult this period has been for both non-college-educated and college-educated voters - and how vulnerable the prevailing narratives articulated by national Democratic leaders are.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Examiner, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Wire, Hullabaloo, The Daily Beast, Hot Air, ABCNEWS, Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, The Democratic Daily and Connecting.the.Dots

BuzzFeed:

Clintonites Hit The Panic Button For Obama — Carville, Greenberg, Penn, and Schoen all say the re-elect is off course. The Obamans have always loved criticism from Clintonworld. — (Getty Images / MANDEL NGAN) — Former aides to President Bill Clinton are calling for a dramatic shift …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice and Ed Driscoll

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:

Did He Get the Memo? Obama Sticks to Script on Stump — (Image credit: Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo) — BALTIMORE - As some high-profile Democrats question the focus of his pitch for a second term, President Obama today stuck closely to his well-worn script, telling a group of 500 donors …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Weasel Zippers

Alexander Burns / Politico:
Dems call for fresh message, warn of ‘impossible headwind’

Discussion: Mediaite

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Dems block McCain resolution on special counsel for leaks — Senate Democrats blocked a resolution introduced by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) calling for Attorney General Eric Holder to introduce an outside special counsel to investigate a number of recent military and intelligence leaks.

Discussion: CNN, CBS News and Michelle Malkin

Tim Makand Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Eric Holder warns of ‘constitutional crisis’

Discussion: CNSNews, CNN and Belmont Club

Fox News:
Senator calls for Holder's resignation amid challenges over leak probe, Fast and Furious

Discussion: Hot Air

Jordy Yager / The Hill:
Sen. Cornyn calls on Holder to resign

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller and “The Lid”

Joel Gehrke / Campaign 2012:

Obama: GOP stuck me with a steak dinner tab — President Obama subtly attacked Mitt Romney for being wealthy, suggesting that he hasn't “spent time in the real world” and so has not received the necessary preparation to occupy the White House. — “Those of us who have spent …

Discussion: Hot Air, GayPatriot, Weasel Zippers, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Conservatives4Palin and Pirate's Cove

Deborah Charles / Reuters:
Michelle Obama to Ann Romney: have fun campaigning

Discussion: New York Magazine and Washington Post

Politico:
Obama: Debt, deficits were ‘baked into the cake’

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

CBS Miami:

Doctors Release Pictures Of Causeway Cannibal Victim — MIAMI (CBSMiami) — Doctors have released photographs of Ronald Poppo, more than two weeks after the homeless man had much of his face chewed off during an attack by so-called Causeway Cannibal Rudy Eugene over the Memorial Day weekend.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Guardian, Riehl World View, The Raw Story and Gawker

Kyle Munzenrieder / Riptide 2.0:
New Photos of Ronald Poppo, Face-Eating Victim, Released Post-Surgery

Discussion: Runnin' Scared and Gawker

Tim Mak / Politico:

Jeb Bush comments have blogs in uproar — Conservatives in the blogosphere lashed out at Jeb Bush for saying that Ronald Reagan and his father, George H.W. Bush, would not have fit well in the modern Republican Party, ripping the former Florida governor as a “RINO” and dismissing his “steaming pile of nonsense.”

Discussion: CNN, NewsBusters.org blogs, Babalú Blog, The Moderate Voice, GOP 12, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Power Line, Riehl World View and pandagon.net

Michael Stafford / Cagle Post:
Why I Gave Up On Being a Republican

Discussion: The Daily Beast

Politico:

Obama: GOP campaign fits in a single tweet — OWINGS MILLS, Md. — President Obama accused the Republicans of running a campaign focused exclusively on blame. — “You can pretty much put their campaign on a tweet and have some characters to spare,” Obama said at a fundraiser outside of Baltimore.

Discussion: Hot Air, American Glob, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler and Indecision Forever

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Follower Problem — If you go to the Lincoln or Jefferson memorials in Washington, you are invited to look up in admiration. Lincoln and Jefferson are presented as the embodiments of just authority. They are strong and powerful but also humanized. Jefferson is a graceful aristocratic democrat.

Discussion: Esquire, National Review, The Mahablog, No More Mister Nice Blog, First Draft, The Daily Caller, Angry Bear, Philly.com, Balloon Juice and driftglass

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Times Have Changed, It's OK to Lie — Last month David Corn noted that Mitt Romney was claiming that “government” would control half the economy once Obamacare was up and running. He's still saying it, and today Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post gives it a score of four Pinocchios and says Romney should drop it.

Discussion: Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, The Reality-Based Community, The New Republic and The Impolitic

New York Post:

Anti-gay Muslim cries bias — The NYPD wouldn't hire him — because he is anti-gay, a Police Academy reject complains in a startling new discrimination lawsuit. — The would-be cop from Brooklyn — identified only as “Farhan Doe” — is a Muslim-American who believes homosexuality is a sin …

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement, Jihad Watch, Runnin' Scared, Back2Stonewall and New York Magazine

Bruce Bartlett / Economix:

The Fiscal Legacy of George W. Bush — Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul. He is the author of “The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform - Why We Need It and What It Will Take.”

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune, The New Editor, The Daily Dish, Mother Jones, Liberal Values and Daily Kos

Arlington, Va.:

Actor Kal Penn Meets With Young Obama Supporters in Arlington — Actor Kal Penn met with more than 100 young supporters of President Obama in Rosslyn and on Columbia Pike last night. — At Cafe Asia in Rosslyn, Penn spoke to a young professionals event about the importance of the upcoming presidential election.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and The Hill

Reuters:

Top conservative says read my lips: Don't sign ‘no new tax’ pledge — Spinners and Winners — As a conservative Republican, Lindsey Graham has never had a problem promising not to raise taxes. Like almost every other Republican member of Congress, during his last re-election campaign …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Daniel W. Drezner, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Daily Beast

Joe Scarborough / Politico:

Why I voted for Ron Paul — I operate on instinct. So I should not have been surprised by my own gut reaction to the absentee ballot that lay before me on the kitchen table. — I scanned the list for Republican primary candidates and let instinct take over. — Mitt Romney? Not on your life.

Discussion: Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:

First-Ever Trans Senate Witness: ‘To Be Unemployed Is Very Devastating, Demeaning, And Demoralizing’ — This morning, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee held a hearing on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would extend employment protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Discussion: TransGriot, Feministing, Washington Blade, GLAAD, Towleroad News #gay, The New Civil Rights Movement and Box Turtle Bulletin

Emily Heil / Washington Post:

White House softball team smoked by pot lobby's bats — Anyone notice a cloud hanging over the Mall last week? That might have been the White House softball team getting absolutely smoked by the team fielded by the marijuana lobby. — The One Hitters, the team of pro-pot activists, beat STOTUS (the Softball Team of the U.S.) 25-3.

Discussion: Wonkette

Nick Valencia / CNN:

Georgia official: KKK won't be allowed to ‘adopt’ highway — Atlanta (CNN) — The Georgia Department of Transportation will not approve the application of a local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan to “adopt” a one-mile stretch of highway in North Georgia, a state official said Tuesday.

Discussion: Sky Dancing