memeorandum: Reid: Nuclear official is a ‘first-class rat’ and a ‘treacherous, miserable liar’ (Ben Geman/The Hill)

4:30 PM ET, July 30, 2012

Top Items:

ROMNEY COMMENTS AT FUNDRAISER OUTRAGE PALESTINIANS — JERUSALEM (AP) — Mitt Romney told Jewish donors Monday that their culture is part of what has allowed them to be more economically successful than the Palestinians, outraging Palestinian leaders who called his comments racist and out of touch.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Israel Matzav, Los Angeles Times, World, National Review, New York Magazine, Shakesville, Guardian, BuzzFeed, TBogg, Swampland, Althouse, Haaretz and Washington Post

Paul Werdel / Talking Points Memo:

Just Wow — I wrote on Friday that ahead of his visit to Israel, Mitt Romney seemed set to offend Palestinian and wider Arab sensibilities on the delicate issue of Jerusalem, by referring to the city as the country's capital. — In his speech overlooking the Old City …

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Balloon Juice

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:
Romney's Overseas Trip Continues With Another Fumble

Discussion: ABCNEWS

msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Recapping Romney's Israel stop

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Poynter and The Moderate Voice

CNN:
Romney camp: No further tax returns, despite ‘audit’ remark

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Harriet Sherwood / Guardian:
Romney ‘providence’ comments in Israel outrage Palestinians

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Business Insider, The Daily Banter, Colorlines and The Raw Story

CNN:
Palestinians protest Romney statements as ‘racist’

Discussion: National Review, ThinkProgress, The Hinterland Gazette and The Political Carnival

Ashley Parker / The Caucus:
Romney Comments on Palestinians Draw Criticism

Discussion: Washington Post, Little Green Footballs, Taking Note, Mediaite and Daily Kos

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Romney: I've been audited in the past (Updated)

Discussion: Firedoglake and Outside the Beltway

David Martosko / The Daily Caller:

Book bombshell: Obama canceled Bin Laden ‘kill’ raid three times at Jarrett's urging — At the urging of Valerie Jarrett, President Barack Obama canceled the operation to kill Osama bin Laden on three separate occasions before finally approving the May 2, 2011 Navy SEAL mission …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Power Line, Belmont Club, Rush Limbaugh, No More Mister Nice Blog, his vorpal sword, The Other McCain, protein wisdom, Sister Toldjah, The Jawa Report, Moe Lane, Doug Ross, Wake up America, Daily Pundit, Atlas Shrugs, Nice Deb and The Lonely Conservative

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

Cheney: Obama worse than Carter, ‘one of our weakest presidents’ — Former Vice President Dick Cheney, in his first interview since a heart transplant operation in March, blasted President Obama calling him “one of our weakest presidents.” — “Obviously, I'm not a big fan of President Obama …

Discussion: Politico, American Power, CNN, Taylor Marsh, The Hinterland Gazette, Scared Monkeys, The Reaction, The Buzz Florida Politics Feed and ABCNEWS

Rachel Hirshfeld / Arutz Sheva:
‘Gutsy Call’ Not So Gutsy After All, New Book Reveals

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

BuzzFeed:

Romney Praises Israel's Socialized Health Care System — No to ObamaCare, but Israel's mandate is working, Romney says. — Image by Charles Dharapak / AP — JERUSALEM — Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney offered praise for the Israeli health care system today …

Discussion: The New Republic, Indecision Forever, Wonkette, Daily Kos, The Mahablog, Hullabaloo, The Daily Dish and Balloon Juice

Amanda Peterson Beadle / ThinkProgress:
Romney Praises Israel's Universal Health Care System, Which Includes Individual Mandate

Discussion: New York Times, Forward, CNN and The Raw Story

Sarah Kliff / Washington Post: Romney praises health care in Israel, where research says ‘strong government influence’ has driven down costs

Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:

Democratic platform draft includes marriage equality plank: sources — Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon — Send via Email — Send this page to Print Friendly — Rep. Barney Frank confirmed Monday that a marriage equality plank will appear in the Democratic Party platform …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, msnbc.com, Advocate, Lean Forward, The Raw Story, Mediaite, Wonkette, Runnin' Scared, ThinkProgress, theGrio, Daily Kos and Joe. My. God.

Politico:

Gay marriage headed to DNC platform — Democrats are set to include a pro-gay marriage plank in their convention platform for the first time in history, party sources confirm to POLITICO. The language was approved unanimously by a 15-member platform draft committee, and now heads for approval by the full platform committee in August.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Dem convention panel OKs language backing same-sex marriage

Discussion: CNN

Ben Geman / The Hill:

Reid: Nuclear official is a ‘first-class rat’ and a ‘treacherous, miserable liar’ — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has launched a blistering verbal assault against William Magwood, a Democratic member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission nominated by President Obama, calling him a …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Mediaite

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:

Bill Magwood, NRC Democrat, Is ‘Treacherous, Miserable Liar’ And ‘First-Class Rat,’ Says Harry Reid … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Harry Reid , Video, Greg Jaczko, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Bill Magwood, Bill Magwood Nrc, Democratic Party, Magwood, Magwood Nrc, Nrc, William-Magwood, Politics News

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Politico and Influence Alley

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Americans Want Next President to Prioritize Jobs, Corruption — Lowest priorities are taxing wealthy and environmental problems — PRINCETON, NJ — Creating good jobs, reducing corruption in the federal government, and reducing the federal budget deficit score highest when Americans rate 12 issues …

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation Blog, The Atlantic Online, Firedoglake, Washington Examiner, CNBC, Politico, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, American Prospect, PoliticusUSA, The Other McCain, Questions and Observations, Wake up America, USA Today, National Review and Seeing the Forest

Sheldon Alberts / The Hill:
The Hill Poll: Voters say Romney, Obama equal on issues of character

Discussion: Indecision Forever, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Politico and National Review

Geneva Sands / Ballot Box:

Olympic athletes praise Romney in super-PAC TV ad — Several Olympic gold-medalists are praising Mitt Romney's handling of the 2002 Winter Olympics in a new ad released on Monday. — The ad by the pro-Romney super-PAC Restore Our Future, titled “Olympics,” features Olympic gold-medal …

Discussion: CNN, Politico and USA Today

BuzzFeed:
Ron Paul Revolution Follows Romney To Poland

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and The Daily Caller

ABCNEWS:
Former Polish President Lech Walesa Endorses Mitt Romney

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and The Raw Story

Emily Schultheis / Politico:

Voter ID laws could swing states — At least 5 million voters, predominantly young and from minority groups sympathetic to President Barack Obama, could be affected by an unprecedented flurry of new legislation by Republican governors and GOP-led legislatures to change or restrict voting rights by Election Day 2012.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The PJ Tatler, Truthdig, Althouse, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Eclectablog

Mike Reicher / Los Angeles Times:

Secret Service won't pay Newport Beach for police at Obama event — Newport Beach billed President Obama's campaign for police security at a fundraiser. The Secret Service says that security is its job, not the campaign's, but that it can't reimburse the city.

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Outside the Beltway

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Bill Clinton to Have Key Convention Role

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Obama Press Secretary Marries ABC Reporter — A deputy press secretary for Barack Obama's reelection campaign married an ABC reporter over the weekend. The ABC reporter, Matthew Jaffe, “covering the 2012 presidential campaign,” according to his biography on the website of ABC News.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Daily Caller, The Lonely Conservative and The Other McCain

John Koblin / Deadspin:

NBC's No. 1 Tweeting Critic Has Been Suspended From Twitter — Guy Adams is The Independent's Los Angeles bureau chief. During the Olympics so far, he has carved out a nice spot on the how-much-NBC's-coverage-sucks beat. Now his Twitter account has been suspended—supposedly because NBC had it cut off after he complained:

Discussion: Mashable!, Runnin' Scared, Guardian, TechCrunch, The Raw Story and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Julie Bosman / Media Decoder:

Jonah Lehrer Resigns From The New Yorker After Making Up Dylan Quotes for His Book — 2:12 p.m. | Updated Jonah Lehrer, the staff writer for The New Yorker who apologized in June for recycling his previous work in articles, blogs and his best-selling book “Imagine,” resigned from the magazine, he said in a statement.

Discussion: Mashable!, Poynter, New York Magazine, Gawker and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Views on Gun Laws Unchanged After Aurora Shooting — OVERVIEW — There has been no significant change in public views on the issue of gun control and gun rights following the July 20th shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Currently, 47% say it is more important to control gun ownership …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Political Capital and New York Magazine

BuzzFeed:

Senate's Top Republican Hails The Fall Of Old Media — Mitch McConnell talks to BuzzFeed about the Web, the election, and his plans to let Democrats take a few votes if he becomes Majority Leader. “I kind of like this new environment.” — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told BuzzFeed …

Discussion: Politico, The Hill and FishbowlDC