memeorandum: Diplomatic Crisis Provides Romney Policy Opportunity (Richard A. Oppel Jr/New York Times)

8:05 AM ET, June 28, 2012

Top Items:

E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:

Justice Scalia must resign — Justice Antonin Scalia needs to resign from the Supreme Court. — He'd have a lot of things to do. He's a fine public speaker and teacher. He'd be a heck of a columnist and blogger. But he really seems to aspire to being a politician — and that's the problem.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Strata-Sphere, American Prospect, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Riehl World View, Whiskey Fire, Outside the Beltway, Prairie Weather, National Review and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Tom Goldstein / SCOTUSblog:

In the end, you have to make a prediction and take responsibility for it. I believe the mandate will not be invalidated tomorrow. Far less important, I expect the principal opinion will be written by the Chief Justice; a majority of the Court will find it has jurisdiction; and the challenge to the Medicaid expansion will be rejected.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, The Reaction, ABCNEWS, National Review, Hot Air and The Volokh Conspiracy

Carol E. Lee / Washington Wire:

Obama Prepares Three Speeches Ahead of Health-Care Ruling — The White House has kept its preparations for the Supreme Court's decision on President Barack Obama's health care law close to the vest. Mr. Obama, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday, the West Wing is merely …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, Maggie's Farm and Jammie Wearing Fools

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Supreme Court health care ruling: Win-lose scenarios — As the climactic Supreme Court announcement nears, all of Washington is on the edge of their seats. — Will President Barack Obama's entire health law go down Thursday? Just the individual mandate? Will the whole thing be upheld?

Discussion: Power Line, Reuters, Prairie Weather and The Hill

Richard A. Posner / Slate:

Supreme Court Year in Review — Entry 11: Justice Scalia is upset about illegal immigration. But where is his evidence? — To: Walter Dellinger and Dahlia Lithwick — Dear Walter and Dahlia, — I have read Arizona v. United States and was particularly struck by Justice Scalia's opinion dissenting …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, ACS Blog, Washington Monthly and Opinionator

Ed Whelan / National Review:

My Prediction on Tomorrow's Obamacare Ruling — [Update: Oops. It turns out that I'm demonstrably wrong on Scalia's practice on reading dissents, as he had already read his dissent from the bench in March in a pair of linked cases. Maybe that bolsters my bottom-line prediction by making …

Discussion: Viking Pundit and Real Clear Politics

Amy Howe / SCOTUSblog:
Anticipating the health-care decision: In Plain English

Discussion: White House Dossier and The New Republic

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Romney: 'My guess is they're not sleeping real well at the White House'

Discussion: Ballot Box

Sarah Kliff / Washington Post:
For SCOTUSblog, one goal: ‘Beat everybody’ and break news of health-care ruling

Discussion: Capital Tonight, Poynter, SCOTUSblog and Washington Wire

Jay Cost / Weekly Standard:
The Mandate Represents What's Wrong With Democrats

Discussion: msnbc.com, RedState and The Hill

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Single Payer Fight to Intensify in States if Court Strikes Down Health Care Law

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, ReportingOnHealth.org and Hullabaloo

Jonathan Allen / Politico:

Black lawmakers plan walkout during contempt vote — The Congressional Black Caucus plans to walk off the House floor during tomorrow's votes to hold Attorney General Holder in contempt of Congress, according to a letter being circulated among members of Congress.

Discussion: Washington Post, Jammie Wearing Fools, theGrio, The Political Carnival and Weasel Zippers

Jordy Yager / The Hill:

Black caucus to stage walkout during Holder contempt vote in House — Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) plan to stage a walkout during Thursday's vote on whether to place Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. — The CBC is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday …

Discussion: Business Insider, Washington Examiner and The Gateway Pundit

Fox News:
Holder in peril as Dems break ranks on contempt resolution

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Taylor Marsh, Associated Press, Influence Alley, The Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, The Lonely Conservative, Jammie Wearing Fools and CBS DC

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Dems urge NRA to stay out of contempt fight

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Jordy Yager / The Hill:
Four House Dems back measure to place Holder in contempt

Discussion: CNN, Weasel Zippers, Politico, Jammie Wearing Fools and Wake up America

John Jannarone / Wall Street Journal:

News Corp. Board Approves Split in Principle — News Corp.'s board unanimously approved a plan to split the media conglomerate in two pieces, separating its lucrative entertainment operations from its publishing business, said a person familiar with the situation.

Discussion: Guardian, TVNewser, Deadline.com, GigaOM, Politico and Deal Journal, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / Politico:

WashPost will not retract ‘outsourcing’ story — The Washington Post will not retract their June 21 report about Bain Capital's investments in firms that specialized in outsourcing American jobs, POLITICO has learned. — “We are very confident in our reporting,” Washington Post spokesperson …

Discussion: Mediaite, 2012 Decoded, AEIdeas, ABCNEWS and ThinkProgress

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Romney to seek Washington Post retraction

Discussion: 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, The Week, The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, ABCNEWS, Mediaite, The Maddow Blog, American Prospect, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Little Green Footballs and Guardian

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Washington Post declines Romney request to retract article on Bain Capital

Discussion: Politico, Firedoglake, GOP 12 and Ballot Box

Khaughney / Orlando Sentinel:

Federal judge rejects DOJ request to stop voter purge — TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge rejected a request from the Obama administration to put an immediate stop to the state's non-citizen voter purge program. — The Justice Department had asked for a restraining order …

Discussion: Human Events, Daily Kos and The PJ Tatler

Gary Fineout / Bradenton Herald & Bradenton.com:
Florida voter purge may restart after ruling

Discussion: Florida Governor Rick Scott, Politico, The Political Carnival and Wake up America

Niall Stanage / The Hill:

High court healthcare ruling will be verdict on Obama as a leader — The Supreme Court's healthcare ruling Thursday will deliver a definitive judgment on President Obama's effectiveness as a leader. — If the law is upheld, Obama's victory — which came after he ignored the counsel …

Susan Page / USA Today:

‘Today’ co-host Ann Curry will bid farewell today — Ann Curry's voice chokes when she talks about saying goodbye this morning on NBC's Today show, years earlier than she had hoped. — It's “going to be a bit of a tough day,” she told USA TODAY in a 40-minute phone interview Wednesday …

Discussion: Mediaite, New York Magazine, Poynter and Media Decoder, more at Mediagazer »

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:

Polls: Obama, Romney neck-and-neck in Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire — A new round of NBC News-Marist polls shows President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney running almost neck-and-neck in three key battleground states, with Obama holding a slight advantage in Michigan and North Carolina …

Discussion: The Page

Richard A. Oppel Jr / New York Times:

Diplomatic Crisis Provides Romney Policy Opportunity — It seemed a ripe opportunity for Mitt Romney: The crisis that unfolded last month over the Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng was a way to hammer President Obama as weak on human rights and unwilling to be assertive with China.

Discussion: Politico

DealBook:

JPMorgan Trading Loss May Reach $9 Billion — Losses on JPMorgan Chase's bungled trade could total as much as $9 billion, far exceeding earlier public estimates, according to people who have been briefed on the situation. — When Jamie Dimon, the bank's chief executive …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and Bloomberg

Natalie DiBlasio / USA Today:

A third of Earthlings believe in UFOs, would befriend aliens — Aliens often compete with superheroes, vampires and zombies to top hit movie lists — but more than a third of Americans say UFOs are not a fantasy. — That's the word from a new National Geographic Channel study finding …

Discussion: Gawker, Addicting Info, The Mary Sue, Hot Air, The Hill, Ed Driscoll, Conservatives4Palin, Mediaite, Politico, White House Dossier, Mother Jones, The Spectacle Blog and Hit & Run

National Geographic Channel / PR Newswire:
Two-Thirds of Americans Think Barack Obama Is Better Suited to Handle an Alien Invasion Than Mitt Romney

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Sarah Kliff / Washington Post:

Uninsured and fighting blazes: Welcome to the life of a federal firefighter — Right now, wildfires of “epic proportions” are tearing through the Colorado forests. — Thousands of federal firefighters charged with taming the blazes do not have health insurance. — That includes 27-year-old John Lauer.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, CNN, ThinkProgress and Suburban Guerrilla