memeorandum: The Mediscare Boomerang — ObamaCare gives Republicans a chance … (Wall Street Journal)

2:40 PM ET, August 17, 2012

Top Items:

Paul Ryan — THE TOPLESS PHOTO — THE TOPLESS PHOTO — EXCLUSIVE — Here it is ... the very first photo of Paul Ryan's mysterious athletic physique ... REVEALED!!! — TMZ has (finally) obtained a photo of Mitt Romney's running mate — sans shirt — taken roughly 6 years ago ... right before Ryan got hooked on the P90X workout.

Discussion: Politico, The Moderate Voice, The Hill, The Daily Caller, Towleroad News #gay, Taylor Marsh, Viral Read, Wake up America, ABCNEWS, GOP 12, Business Insider, FishbowlDC, The Hinterland Gazette and New York Magazine

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:

Mitt Romney's Whiteboard Blues — ANALYSIS: Everything you need to know about how this week went for Mitt Romney can be summed up in one word: whiteboard. — There he was in Greer, S.C., with a black dry-erase marker in hand scrawling out on a wood-framed whiteboard how — in his view …

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS, Wake up America and Politico

Politico:

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan pursue united front strategy — Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan plan to campaign together again sooner than aides had originally planned, likely twice next week, as part of a new offensive to take on the touchy issue of Medicare, campaign officials tell POLITICO.

Discussion: CNN, The Caucus, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos, Washington Post, First Read, Connecting.the.Dots and ABCNEWS

Tom Morello / Rolling Stone:

‘Paul Ryan Is the Embodiment of the Machine Our Music Rages Against’ — Rage Against the Machine's guitarist blasts Romney's VP pick and unlikely Rage fan — Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images; Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call … Paul Ryan's love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Influence Alley, Cognitive Dissidence, Mediaite, The Caucus, The Raw Story, The Hinterland Gazette, Shakesville and Hit & Run

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Romney's present, Ryan's future — Vice-presidential picks are always judged by their effect on the coming election. They rarely have any. — They haven't had a decisive influence since Lyndon Johnson carried Texas for John Kennedy in 1960. (That and Illinois put Kennedy over the top.)

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Associated Press, The Daily Beast, AEIdeas, Betsy's Page, Politico, p m carpenter's commentary and The Daily Caller

Matt Rhoades / Barack Obama:

Letter from Jim Messina to Matt Rhoades — Dear Matt: — I am writing to ask again that the Governor release multiple years of tax returns, but also to make an offer that should address his concerns about the additional disclosures. Governor Romney apparently fears that the more he offers …

Discussion: NY Daily News, National Review, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Politico, Hot Air, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, The Hill, Booman Tribune, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Beast, Swampland, The Daily Dish and Washington Wire

CNN:

TRENDING: Obama camp: Let's make a deal on tax returns. Romney camp: No. — (CNN) - President Barack Obama's campaign sought to turn up the pressure Friday on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns, offering to back off on their calls for the release of additional years of returns if he agrees …

Discussion: Wake up America, CANNONFIRE and Outside the Beltway

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Morning Plum: Romney and Ryan muddy the Medicare waters

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABCNEWS, CNN, BuzzFeed, Brad DeLong and Influence Alley

David Jackson / USA Today:
Romney declines Obama deal on tax return releases

Discussion: Firedoglake, Michelle Malkin and American Spectator

Charles Babington / Associated Press:
Obama campaign offers Romney 5-year tax disclosure

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, UrbanGrounds and Riehl World View

Carol E. Lee / Washington Wire:
Obama Campaign Asks Romney for 5 Years of Tax Returns

Discussion: GOP 12 and Wall Street Journal

BBC:

Pussy Riot members jailed for two years for hooliganism — Judge Marina Syrova: “These three plus others... plotted together to undermine civil order, motivated by religious hatred” — Three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been jailed for two years after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Confluence, Shakesville, Joe. My. God. and The Raw Story, more at Mediagazer »

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Russian Punk Band Is Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Anti-Putin Stunt

Discussion: IHT Rendezvous, Emerging Europe Real Time, Via Meadia, Hit & Run, News Desk, The Lede, Washington Free Beacon and Althouse

CBS News:
Russian female punk band Pussy Riot found guilty of hooliganism over Putin protest at church site

Discussion: CBS Chicago, Instapundit and Algemeiner.com

Shiv Malik / Guardian:
Pussy Riot found guilty - live blog

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, PinkNews.co.uk, Media Decoder and The Awl

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Hateful speech on hate groups — Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization, posted an alert on its blog Tuesday: “Paul Ryan Speaking at Hate Group's Annual Conference.” — The “hate group” that the Republicans' vice presidential candidate would be addressing?

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, Box Turtle Bulletin, The Raw Story, The Other McCain, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hit & Run, Hot Air, American Power, Holy Bullies … and The Reality-Based Community

Christian Newswire:
LivePrayer to File $100 Million Lawsuit Against Southern Poverty Law Center

Discussion: National Review and Joe. My. God.

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Family Research Council head puts blame on Law Center

Discussion: Washington Monthly, GLAA Forum, Associated Press and BuzzFeed

Washington Examiner:

Hillary rejected VP slot to ready her own 2016 run … Popular in Politics — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was pressed by her husband and a top Obama aide to consider replacing Vice President Joe Biden just a couple of weeks ago, claims the author of the New York Times bestseller “The Amateur.”

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Power Line, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:
‘The Amateur’ author Ed Klein: Hillary dismissed VP possibility two weeks ago

Discussion: Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative and Power Line

David Simon:

Mitt Romney paid taxes at a rate of at least 13 percent. And he's proud to say so. — Can we stand back and pause a short minute to take in the spectacle of a man who wants to be President of The United States, who wants us to seriously regard him as a paragon of the American civic ideal …

Discussion: The Hill, New York Magazine, New York Times, p m carpenter's commentary, Mediaite, Business Insider, ThinkProgress, Dave Winer and Shakesville

Ryan J. Reilly / tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPMMuckraker — Federal Court Rules Florida's Shortening Of Early Voting Discriminates Against Blacks — A panel of federal judges ruled late Thursday that a Florida law that limits the number of early voting days cannot be implemented in several counties because it would have an adverse impact on minority turnout.

Discussion: Firedoglake, ThinkProgress and Talking Points Memo

Gary Fineout / Minneapolis Star Tribune: Federal court gives 5 Florida counties extra early voting days

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs:

City of San Francisco to place sharia-compliant disclaimers next to every AFDI pro-Israel bus ad — Scott Goldstein, President of Titan Transit advertising, just called me. Titan handles the outdoor ads for San Francisco MUNI and BART. — In an unprecedented move, the city of San Francisco …

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com and Joe. My. God.

CBS San Francisco:
Muni Not Taking Down Controversial ‘Jihad’ Ads On SF Buses

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

BBC:

Moscow bans gay pride for century — Nikolay Alexeyev has been campaigning for years for the right to stage gay parades in Russia — Moscow's top court has upheld a ban on gay pride marches in the Russian capital for the next 100 years. — Earlier Russia's best-known gay rights campaigner …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Raw Story, Outside the Beltway and Towleroad News #gay

Christopher Bedford / The Daily Caller:

Biden's ‘good friend,’ donor receives $20M federal loan to open foreign luxury car dealership in Ukraine — In late July, John Hynansky — a longtime friend of Vice President Joe Biden, and a major donor to Biden's campaigns as well as President Barack Obama's — was awarded a $20 million taxpayer loan …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Betsy's Page, The Gateway Pundit and Cold Fury

Matthew Mosk / ABCNEWS:

Secret ‘Menu’ Details Perks for Big Democratic Donors — Those seeking invites to the most lavish receptions at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, “gold ticket” access to “dialogues,” and private breakfast briefings with party luminaries, can expect a hefty price of admission.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Aug. 16: Why I'm Not Buying the Romney Rally — At the political futures market Intrade, shares in Mitt Romney have been a hot commodity this week. As of early Thursday evening, the bettors there gave Mr. Romney a 43.5 percent chance of winning November's election.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com and rubber hose

CBS News:

Afghanistan police officer kills 2 U.S. troops in latest “green-on-blue” attack … Afghanistan: The Way Forward — (CBS News) LONDON - Two U.S. troops were killed in the western Afghan province of Farah when an Afghan Local Police officer turned his gun on them, one of two so-called green …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Jen Chung / Gothamist:

Islamophobic Billboard At Metro-North Station Encourages Hatred, Says Local Pol — On the heels of a pro-Palestine ad at Metro-North stations and a judge ruling that the MTA shouldn't have rejected Islamophobic pro-Israel ads is a new poster controversy: At the Hartsdale Metro-North station …