memeorandum: Mitt's Political Vortex (Gail Collins/New York Times)

11:15 AM ET, July 14, 2012

Top Items:

CNN:

What we learned from Mitt Romney — Washington (CNN) - Mitt Romney tried time and again to make one thing clear in our interview. On five different occasions in the first few minutes of the interview, Romney said he had “no role whatsoever” at Bain Capital after February 1999. — Here are the ways he said it:

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, naked capitalism, Talking Politics, The Reality-Based Community and Politico

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Romney Demands Apology From Obama on Bain Allegations — WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney demanded an apology from President Obama on Friday for making what he called “reckless” and “absurd” allegations in an escalating battle over whether Mr. Romney's business record included outsourcing American jobs.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Right Wing News, The Caucus, Weasel Zippers, First Draft, Althouse, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and ABCNEWS

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Mitt's Political Vortex — Do you think it's a coincidence that ever since the world's physicists announced that they had discovered a possible breakthrough in the study of mass and energy last week, our politics has taken on a kind of black-hole quality? — First, Bain Capital.

Discussion: Althouse and Daily Kos

WJLA-TV:

President Obama says Romney should answer Bain Capital questions — In an exclusive interview, President Barack Obama tells ABC7's Scott Thuman that GOP challenger Mitt Romney should answer questions about Bain Capital and his time there. Here's a transcript of the interview.

Discussion: Power Line, New York Times, The Caucus, National Review, msnbc.com, Hot Air, Washington Wire, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Business Insider and CNN

David Weigel / Slate:

Did the Romney Campaign Create the Swift-Yachting Story? … - Josh Levin: Penn State Should Cancel Its Football Program for a Few Seasons — Is It Legal for Airlines To Let Richer Passengers Go Through Airport Security First? — Manjoo: Buying an iPhone? Get the Smallest Possible Amount of Storage.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Mahablog, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress and Mother Jones

CNN:

Acosta interview: Romney's spirited Bain rebuttal — (CNN) - Following a week of some of the sharpest attacks yet on his management of the financial firm Bain Capital, Mitt Romney offered a vocal defense Friday of his tenure there and strongly disputed reports he left the firm years later than he has previously said.

Discussion: The Caucus, Mediaite, The Lonely Conservative, News Desk, KDVR.com and The Daily Dish

CBS News:

Romney interview with CBS News: Full transcript — presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney sat down for interviews with all five networks following several days of heightened criticisms over his time at the private equity firm Bain Capital. Romney defended his work …

Discussion: The Right Sphere, ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, JOSHUAPUNDIT and Business Insider

ABCNEWS:
Transcript: Romney Responds to Bain Attacks In ABC Interview

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette and The Moderate Voice

Jed Lewison / Daily Kos:
Bain Capital press release described Romney as ‘part-time’ in July, 1999

Discussion: Prairie Weather, BuzzFeed, The Reality-Based Community, Balloon Juice, The Daily Dish, Brad DeLong, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, The Maddow Blog, Little Green Footballs, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Politicker

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Romney to give television interviews today

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

Lindsey Boerma / CBS News:
Romney: Obama owes me an apology

Discussion: The Caucus

Ginger Gibsonand Dylan Byers / Politico:
Mitt counter-punches on Bain

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Business Insider

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Team Romney: Obama campaign is ‘unraveling’

Discussion: CNN

Matt Negrin / ABCNEWS:
Romney to Obama: Apologize for Bain Questions

Discussion: Ballot Box, Jammie Wearing Fools, CNN and ABCNEWS

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:

Obama uses the ‘tax’ word to describe mandate — RICHMOND, Va. - President Obama used the word “tax” to describe the health care mandate under his reforms, a departure from his prior etymological stance that it is a penalty. — “By the way, if you've got health insurance …

Discussion: The Right Sphere and Riehl World View

Rolling Stone:

Romney's ‘Free Stuff’ Speech Is a New Low — Wow. If you live long enough, you'll see some truly gross things in politics, but Mitt Romney's work this past week “courting black support” was enough to turn even the strongest stomach. — Romney really showed us something …

Discussion: Prairie Weather, CANNONFIRE, Hot Air and NewsBusters.org

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

More than 20 People Faint During Obama Speech — The pool report on President Obama's trip to Roanoke, Virginia says that more than 20 people fainted during the president's speech this evening. — “TV viewers may have heard POTUS pointed out a couple of faintings during the rally in downtown Roanoke,” writes the pool report.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and American Glob

Washington Free Beacon:

U.S. Olympic Uniforms: Made in China by Democratic Donor's company — Lawmakers were livid to discover that the United States' Olympic team uniforms were made in China. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) even suggested “they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again.”

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The PJ Tatler, Michelle Malkin, The Spectacle Blog, The Lonely Conservative and Jammie Wearing Fools

Donna Cassata / Associated Press:
Lawmakers furious over China-made Olympic uniform

Discussion: Bangor Daily News, Weasel Zippers, Crooks and Liars and Towleroad News #gay

Isthmus|The Daily Page:

Feingold says he would have lost to Walker in recall election — Feingold: 'The bottom line is, we've got to look to the future.' — Article Tools: Read more News items — Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold broke a lot of progressive hearts when he declined to run in the recall election against Gov. Scott Walker.

Discussion: Washington Examiner

msnbc.com:

Romney: I left all management of Bain in 1999 — Mitt Romney says in an interview with NBC News that despite reports that his name appeared on government documents on behalf of Bain Capital until 2002, he had absolutely no working relationship with the company after February 1999.

Discussion: Unqualified Offerings

Ben Chu / The Independent:

Libor: They all knew - and no one acted — Regulator's claim it knew nothing thrown into doubt as documents show authorities were told of rate-rigging in 2008 — NOTE: WE DO NOT STORE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS(ES) BUT YOUR IP ADDRESS WILL BE LOGGED TO PREVENT ABUSE OF THIS FEATURE.

Stewart Bell / National Post:

Quebec Muslim activist becomes first woman charged under 9/11 terror laws over Hezbollah gun-running plot — A Quebec activist who fought the stereotyping of Muslims was charged with supporting terrorism on Friday after an RCMP investigation linked her to an alleged scheme to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Jihad Watch