memeorandum: A Détente Before the Election — Does voter fraud … (Richard L. Hasen/Campaign Stops)

3:10 PM ET, August 6, 2012

Top Items:

Mark Potok / Hatewatch:

Bulletin: Alleged Sikh Temple Shooter Former Member of Skinhead Band — The man who allegedly murdered six people at a Sikh temple in suburban Milwaukee yesterday, identified in media reports as Wade Michael Page, was a frustrated neo-Nazi who had been the leader of a racist white-power band.

John Diedrich / JSOnline:

FBI: Seeking second “person of interest” in Oak Creek Sikh temple shooting — A man with a 9/11 tattoo looks at his cell phone Sunday after taking video of media, friends and relatives gathered by police in a parking lot near the Sikh temple in Oak Creek. Authorities are attempting to identify the man …

Discussion: Wired, The Raw Story, Denver Post, Shakesville, BuzzFeed and The Agonist

Jana Winter / Fox News:

Gunman in Sikh temple identified, was former soldier — CUDAHY, WIS. - The man authorities say killed six in a Milwaukee-area Sikh temple before police shot him was a heavily-tattooed, 40-year-old ex-Army soldier, sources told Fox News, but what triggered his rampage remains unclear.

Matt Higgins / CBS DC:
CBS News: Shooter Identified As Former US Military Member

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog, Shot in the Dark, The Huffington Post and Vox Popoli

Los Angeles Times:
Gunman's tattoos lead officials to deem Sikh shooting terrorism

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:

Nancy Pelosi: ‘It Is A Fact’ That Somebody Told Harry Reid About Romney Not Paying Taxes … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Harry Reid , Mitt Romney, Nancy Pelosi, Elections 2012, Video, Mitt Romney Tax Returns, Mitt Romney Taxes, Harry Reid Mitt Romney, Harry Reid Mitt Romney Taxes, Politics News

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Business Insider, Mediaite, First Read, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Pirate's Cove, AEIdeas, The PJ Tatler, US Politics, National Review and New York Magazine

Tomer Ovadia / Politico:

John Sununu: Barack Obama behind Harry Reid's claim — John Sununu joined the growing number of Republicans claiming that Sen. Harry Reid is lying about Mitt Romney's tax returns, calling him a “bumbling Senate leader” and alleging that President Barack Obama is “behind this dishonesty and misrepresentation.”

Discussion: The Mahablog, CNN, Daily Kos and Examiner

John Bresnahan / Politico:

David Krone, Harry Reid's chief of staff, denounces GOP ‘cowards’ — The war over Mitt Romney's tax returns is getting more bitter by the moment, with a top aide to Senate Majority Harry Reid blasting Republicans as “cowards” and “henchmen” for their attacks on the Nevada Democrat.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos, Washington Examiner, Business Insider and The Daily Caller

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
White House: Sen. Reid ‘speaks for himself’ on Romney tax returns

Discussion: Hot Air

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
Harry Reid's gutter politics

Discussion: Wake up America, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Mediaite, ABCNEWS and The Huffington Post

Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box:
Romney camp, RNC announce $101.3M July fundraising total

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Hot Air, Wake up America, mittromney.com, GOP 12 and The Other McCain

Reuters:

Historic Curiosity probe lands safely on Mars — (Reuters) - NASA's Mars science rover Curiosity landed safely late on Sunday after hurtling through the pink Martian skies at the start of a two-year quest for signs the Red Planet once hosted key ingredients for life.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay, Truthdig, The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, americanthinker.com, Shakesville and Mediaite

mars.jpl.nasa.gov:

MULTIMEDIA — Curiosity Spotted on Parachute by Orbiter — NASA's Curiosity rover and its parachute were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as Curiosity descended to the surface on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Outside the Beltway

Aaron Smith / CNNMoney.com:
How many jobs did the Mars landing create?

Discussion: CNN and The Raw Story

BuzzFeed:
America Lands Mars Curiosity, Meets Bobak Ferdowsi

Discussion: Guardian, The Atlantic Online, Boing Boing, The Raw Story and Joe. My. God.

Richard Danielson / Tampa Bay Times:

RNC speakers include Rick Scott, John McCain, Condoleezza Rice, Nikki Haley, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich and Susana Martinez — TAMPA — Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Sen. John McCain and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are among seven headline speakers announced today for the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Caucus, americanthinker.com, CNN, Hot Air, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, BuzzFeed, USA Today, Mediaite, The Hill, GOP 12, First Read, New York Magazine and The Gateway Pundit

First Read:

First Thoughts: Reaching the saturation point — Are we now reaching the saturation point in TV ads? It's possible that $45-50 million could be spent on the presidential race this week alone — in August (!!!)... Romney campaign looking to turn page on a rough last seven weeks …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, American Prospect, Guardian, Hot Air and GOP 12

Kevin Robillard / Politico:
Donald Trump: I'm wanted at convention

Discussion: The Raw Story and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Washington Post:

Obama associate got $100,000 fee from affiliate of firm doing business with Iran — David Plouffe, a senior White House adviser who was President Obama's 2008 campaign manager, accepted a $100,000 speaking fee in 2010 from an affiliate of a company doing business with Iran's government.

Discussion: National Review, The Hill, ABCNEWS, Power Line, BuzzFeed, PERRspectives, The Raw Story, Politico, Scared Monkeys, The Lonely Conservative, Israel Matzav, “The Lid”, americanthinker.com, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon and Salon

Keith Koffler / White House Dossier:
WH Press Corps Goes Seven Weeks Without a Question

Discussion: Nice Deb, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller

Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times:

Fear of ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Has Industry Pulling Back — A rising number of manufacturers are canceling new investments and putting off new hires because they fear paralysis in Washington will force hundreds of billions in tax increases and budget cuts in January, undermining economic growth in the coming months.

Discussion: Politico, Firedoglake, Hit & Run, Booman Tribune, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, The Confluence, Washington Examiner, Via Meadia and Althouse

Bloomberg:

Romney Persona Non Grata In Italy For Bain'S Deal Skirting Taxes — Mitt Romney skipped Italy on his swing through Europe. That was probably prudent. — That's because Bain Capital, under Romney as chief executive officer, made about $1 billion in a leveraged buyout 12 years ago that remains controversial in Italy to this day.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Balloon Juice, Prairie Weather and Newshoggers.com

Nyasa / Malawi news, Malawi:

Panic as Clinton jets out of Malawi, bees mystery — United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton might have had a tight schedule in Malawi but her first visit to the southern African nation will indubitably remain memorable to her as much as it will be historic to the country.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, ABCNEWS, Malawi Voice, JustOneMinute and New York Magazine

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Bee swarm attacks Hillary Clinton

Discussion: Mediaite, Hit & Run and JOSHUAPUNDIT

ninemsn:

Men less supportive of gay marriage: poll — A new opinion poll suggests almost two-thirds of Australians support same-sex marriage but there's a clear gender divide with men generally less keen on the idea than women. — The survey, released on Monday, comes just days …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Towleroad News #gay

Politico:
GOP steers clear of gay marriage issue

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, GayPatriot and First Read

Josh Margolin / New York Post:

Dems' dire seat-uation — Top aides on President Obama's re-election team are terrified that there will be scores of empty seats when he makes his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, party insiders said. — Obama, once the biggest draw in politics …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Democratic National Convention 2012: Elizabeth Warren: A plus or minus?

Discussion: Hot Air, TBogg and Taylor Marsh

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Veep Sheet: Paul Ryan rising? — Happy Monday and welcome back to the Veep Sheet. This was a busy weekend in veepstakes world. As POLITICO's Mike Allen pointed out in Saturday's Playbook, two influential conservatives at The Weekly Standard called on Mitt Romney to make a bold vice presidential pick …

Discussion: The New Republic, No More Mister Nice Blog and Hullabaloo

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Would picking Ryan really help Romney?

Discussion: Washington Monthly

BBC:

Syria's prime minister defects — Riad Hijab is from the Deir al-Zour area which has been caught up in the March 2011 uprising — Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab has defected from President Bashar al-Assad's government, to join “the revolution”, his spokesman says.

Discussion: Rock the Vote Blog, thomaspmbarnett.com, National Review, Via Meadia, Newsy and Outside the Beltway

New York Times:
Syrian Opposition Claims Prime Minister Defected

Discussion: Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Mashable! and Taylor Marsh

The New / New York Times:

Times Photographer Is Arrested on Assignment — A freelance photographer for The New York Times was arrested on Saturday night while on assignment with two reporters who were conducting street interviews in the Bronx. — The photographer, Robert Stolarik, 43, who has worked regularly …

Discussion: Guardian, Poynter, New York Magazine, Gothamist and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

Joe Romm / ThinkProgress:

IEA Bombshell: Global Warming May Lead To ‘Miami Beach In Boston’ Situation Unless Urgent Action Is Taken — The International Energy Agency was, until recently, a conservative and staid body. When I was at the U.S. Department of Energy in the 1990s, we ignored most IEA reports, because …

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com