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6:40 PM ET, July 26, 2012

Top Items:

Joshua Keating / FP Passport:

Romney book: Britain is a tiny island that makes stuff nobody wants — Mitt Romney has already gotten in a spot of trouble in London for suggesting that Britain may not be quite ready to host the Olympic Games. Romney has walked back his comments, but it's not the first time the candidate …

Discussion: Telegraph, BuzzFeed, Outside the Beltway, Taegan Goddard's …, msnbc.com, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival, The Hinterland Gazette and The Daily Dish

Guardian:

Mitt Romney's Olympics blunder stuns No 10 and hands gift to Obama — US presidential hopeful backtracks on warning of ‘disconcerting’ signs for Games after light-hearted rebuke by David Cameron — Mitt Romney handed Barack Obama a priceless gift for the US presidential election campaign …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Examiner

Alex Spillius / Telegraph:

Commentary: if Mitt Romney doesn't like us, we shouldn't care — Mitt Romney is perhaps the only politician who could start a trip that was supposed to be a charm offensive by being utterly devoid of charm and mildly offensive. — Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, Los Angeles Times, Washington Wire and msnbc.com

Owen Gibson / Guardian:

David Cameron hits back at Mitt Romney over London 2012 doubts — Prime minister says Olympics have brought the UK together to put on a ‘friendly Games’ for international visitors — The prime minister has hit back at comments from the US presidential candidate Mitt Romney querying Britain's readiness …

Discussion: Sky News, Riehl World View, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Examiner and Balloon Juice

Ashley Parker / The Caucus:

Romney's Remarks on Olympics Cause Stir in London — LONDON — Mitt Romney's carefully choreographed trip to London caused a diplomatic stir when he called the British Olympic preparations “disconcerting” and questioned whether Londoners would turn out to support the Games.

Discussion: Boston Globe, CNN, The Mahablog, Telegraph, New York Times, Daniel W. Drezner, Shakesville, New York Magazine and Balloon Juice

Steve Holland / Reuters:

“Anglo-Saxon” quote overshadows start of Romney tour — (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney began a foreign tour on Wednesday forced to disavow a report that an adviser had accused President Barack Obama of not understanding the shared “Anglo-Saxon heritage” of Britain and the United States.

Discussion: Swampland, The Daily Dish, American Prospect, The Moderate Voice and Weekly Standard

Paul Harris / Guardian:

A good point. … Mitt Romney's charm offensive. … Good morning and welcome to our Thursday live blog politics coverage. Mitt Romney has told London it is not ready to host the Olympics. The statement has drawn catty rebukes from the highest levels, i.e. Prime Minister David Cameron.

Discussion: Telegraph, The Hinterland Gazette, Indecision Forever, Daily Kos and Conservatives4Palin

Sara Murray / Washington Wire:

Romney's Not-So-Secret Meeting With MI6 — LONDON-Mitt Romney met privately with the head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service — also known as the MI6 — Thursday to discuss the civil unrest in Syria. — “I appreciated the insights and perspectives of the leaders of the government …

Discussion: The Raw Story and The Hinterland Gazette

BuzzFeed:
Mitt Romney Issued Comically Bizarre Cartoon-Mitt-Romney Olympic Pins

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Adam Gabbatt / Guardian:
Oh, Mitt: those Romney gaffes in full

Discussion: Firedoglake, BBC, ThinkProgress, TBogg, Mediaite, Indecision Forever and USA Today

BBC:
Boris Johnson hails ‘Olympomania’ for torch at Hyde Park

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Little Green Footballs, Mediaite, The Political Carnival and Washington Post

Daily Mail:
‘Are we ready? Yes we are!’ …

Discussion: Politicker and Business Insider

David Blair / Telegraph:
Mitt Romney questions whether Britain is ready for Olympic Games

Discussion: Mediaite, ABCNEWS, The Atlantic Cities, Taking Note, The PJ Tatler, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Politico and Guardian

Chris Good / ABCNEWS:
Made in China: Olympic Pin Shaped Like Mitt Romney's Face

Discussion: Truthdig, Mediaite, iWatch News Latest Stories and Washington Post

First Read / msnbc.com:
Romney steps onto the world stage

Discussion: Althouse, The Political Carnival, Taegan Goddard's …, Telegraph and The Impolitic

David Taintor / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Mitt Romney is off to a spectacularly bad start in London …

Discussion: Guardian, The Political Carnival, The Impolitic, Wonkette, Booman Tribune, Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo and The Reality-Based Community

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:
Olympics Committee: No Games footage in campaign ads

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, ABCNEWS, Mediaite and GOP 12

CNN: TRENDING: Romney's Olympics false start

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama super-PAC pulls ad using Olympic footage

Discussion: CNN

Washington Post:
Mitt Romney salutes U.S.-British relationship, steers around Olympics controversy

Discussion: The New Republic and The Hill

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:
‘D’ Is for Diplomacy — LONDON — Mitt Romney has only been …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, ABCNEWS, The Reaction, ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and Washington Monthly

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Rahm Emanuel's dangerous free speech attack — Chicago blocks a business from expanding because its president opposes same-sex marriage — Should government officials be able to block businesses from opening or expanding due to disagreement with the political views of the business' executives?

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Examiner, protein wisdom and Weekly Standard

Fran Spielman / Chicago Sun Times:

Emanuel goes after Chick-fil-A for boss' anti-gay views — The anti-gay views openly espoused by the president of a fast food chain specializing in chicken sandwiches have run afoul of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a local alderman, who are determined to block Chick-fil-A from expanding in Chicago.

Discussion: RedState, Lynn Sweet, Moonbattery, Independent Journal Review, Outside the Beltway, Fox News, Weekly Standard, Sister Toldjah, National Review, americanthinker.com, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, iOwnTheWorld.com and The Anchoress

Joshua Rhett Miller / Fox News:
Legal eagles cry fowl over politicians' plans to block Chick-fil-A

Discussion: Riehl World View

KNSD-TV:
Protest Disrupts Grand Opening of Laguna Hills Chick-fil-A

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Boston Globe:
Menino shouldn't block Chick-fil-A because of president's views

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, ThinkProgress, Wizbang, Washington Examiner, Independent Journal Review, Datechguy's Blog, Maggie's Farm, Taylor Marsh, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Ed Driscoll, Althouse and Good As You

Hal Dardick / Chicago Tribune:
Chicago Chick-fil-A owner wants to talk with Emanuel

Discussion: Politico, GLAAD and Towleroad News #gay

Jonathan Capehart / Washington Post:

It's not OK to ignore this pro-Romney ad — There are two really effective campaign ads blanketing the airwaves. One from each campaign. But only one of them is perhaps the most dangerous in its potential impact against its target. And Democrats better beware.

Discussion: Wake up America, Wizbang, Betsy's Page, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Althouse and American Prospect

David Weigel / Slate:

It's a Weekday, So It's Time for Another Misleading Edit of an Obama Quote … - Republican-Sponsored Voter ID Laws Could Actually Disenfranchise a Lot of Republicans - Weigel: Another Misleading Edit of an Obama Quote - Did Darwin Have Smoldering Hepatitis? Should We Dig Him Up To Find Out?

Discussion: Hit & Run, Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice and Washington Examiner

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

Context be damned: Obama's ‘It worked’ quote should work for Republicans — Context is dead. Long live context. — For the second time in two weeks, Mitt Romney's campaign has an out-of-context quote it can use to bludgeon President Obama. First it was “You didn't build that,” …

Discussion: The New Republic and Balloon Juice

Paul M. Barrett / Business Week:

Karl Rove: He's Back, Big Time — On the evening of June 29, Amedeo Scognamiglio, a jewelry designer on the Isle of Capri, met friends for drinks at the elegant Grand Hotel Quisisana. Around midnight, Scognamiglio says, “I noticed some familiar American faces.” He took to Twitter.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Truthdig

unionleader.com:

Romney's taxes: Why do they matter? — Mitt Romney is a rich man. Like everyone, rich or poor, he has done everything legally available to him to minimize the tax bite. There are very few people standing in line waiting for the opportunity to overpay their taxes.

Discussion: GOP 12, The Caucus, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress and Taylor Marsh

Lymari Morales / Gallup:

U.S. Business Owners Now Among Least Approving of Obama — Professional workers are the most approving — WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. business owners' approval of President Barack Obama fell in the second quarter of 2012 to 35%, essentially tying farmers and fishers for the lowest approval among major occupational groups.

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Power Line, Weasel Zippers, Wake up America, The Strata-Sphere, Business Insider, Politico, Weekly Standard, National Review, Washington Free Beacon, GOP 12, Pirate's Cove and The Lonely Conservative

Dianne Williamson / Worcester Telegram & Gazette:

‘Plans’ don't include sale to gay couple — It's bad enough that the Catholic Church discriminates against gay people. But it's poor form — and possibly illegal — to document the bigotry and then mistakenly email it to the victims. — This embarrassing etiquette lapse occurred …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Advocate

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Romney: ‘Looking Forward to the Bust of Winston Churchill Being in the Oval Office Again’ — At an event in London, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, “I'm looking forward to the bust of Winston Churchill being in the Oval Office again.”

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon