memeorandum: Israeli Teenagers Held in Attack on Palestinian Youths (Isabel Kershner/New York Times)

11:20 PM ET, August 20, 2012

Top Items:

Reports: Akin Advisers Make Preparations For Withdrawal Tomorrow — Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin's advisers are making preparations to withdraw from the race Tuesday, GOP operative Richard Grenell and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson report.

Discussion: Donklephant and Daily Kos

Robert Costa / National Review:

Romney: Akin's ‘Inexcusable’ Comment — In a phone interview this morning, Mitt Romney told National Review Online that Representative Todd Akin's recent comment on rape is “inexcusable.” — “Congressman's Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong,” Romney said.

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Crossroads pulls out of Missouri after Akin comments — The conservative outside-spending powerhouse Crossroads GPS is pulling its ads from the Missouri Senate race, three sources confirmed to POLITICO. — The group had originally booked a new round of ads to start Wednesday but began canceling them earlier today.

Discussion: Mediaite, CNN, The Fix, ThinkProgress, Ballot Box, Talking Points Memo, Election 2012, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, Hotline On Call, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Atlantic Online, AEIdeas and National Review, more at Mediagazer »

National Review:

Step Aside, Todd Akin — Representative Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senator from Missouri, became nationally notorious yesterday for saying something stupid. In the course of explaining why he believes abortion should be illegal even when pregnancies result from rape …

Discussion: Politico, Human Events, New York Times, Hot Air, PJ Media, The Fix, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Weekly Standard, The Daily Beast, The PJ Tatler, Mediaite, Althouse and American Power

Tony Perkins / CNN:

Leading social conservatives rally to Akin's defense — Tampa, Florida (CNN) - While much of the Republican universe spent Monday condemning Missouri Senate hopeful Todd Akin for his comments about “legitimate rape” and abortion, one of the nation's most prominent conservative organizations rallied to his defense.

Discussion: Politico, Plunderbund, Daily Kos, This Just In, Pirate's Cove, The Maddow Blog, The New Republic, Erick's blog, The Hinterland Gazette, Little Green Footballs, The Reality-Based Community, Poynter and The Moderate Voice, more at Mediagazer »

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Hannity to Akin: You know you could cost us the Senate, right? — Via BuzzFeed, it's important that people like Hannity, Coulter, and the boss emeritus are leaning on this guy too, not just Romney and Reince Priebus. Without pressure from all-stars on the right, he can dig in and turn it into a …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Lonely Conservative, BuzzFeed and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Manu Raju / Politico:

Piers Morgan calls Todd Akin ‘gutless little twerp’ — An angry Piers Morgan lashed out at Todd Akin for skipping a scheduled interview on his primetime cable news show Monday night, calling him a “gutless little twerp.” — According to Morgan, Akin backed out at the last minute …

Discussion: The Hill, The Moderate Voice and Daily Kos

Chris Christie / CNN:

Christie says ‘I was right’ about Romney's VP pick — (CNN) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was rumored to be a potential V.P. pick for Mitt Romney, gave new details Monday on the moment he learned his name would not appear on the ballot as Romney's running mate.

Discussion: Politico

Michelle Malkin:

The Todd Akin mess — Ugh. — Over the weekend, GOP Rep. Todd Akin — the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Missouri — said some really, really stupid things. (Twitchy has comprehensive coverage. Click here and keep scrolling.) — There's no sugar-coating or whitewashing this.

Discussion: Power Line, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, American Power, Mediaite, Washington Examiner, Datechguy's Blog, Conservatives4Palin, The Other McCain, Wake up America, Twitchy, Election 2012 and The Raw Story

Pam Belluck / New York Times:

Health Experts Dismiss Assertions on Rape — Representative Todd Akin's assertion that women who are victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant provoked outrage across the political spectrum, but the views he articulated are far from new in anti-abortion circles.

Discussion: Associated Press, Hullabaloo, rightwingwatch.org and Firedoglake

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Family Research Council head defends Akin — From POLITICO's James Hohmann in Tampa: … The officials at SBA List have also reportedly defended Akin, setting up a dynamic in which the party's conservative base is protecting the staunchly pro-life candidate.

Discussion: CNN, Midwest Democracy, ThinkProgress, Stinque, Talking Points Memo and rightwingwatch.org

BuzzFeed:
Republican Source: Akin Moving To Withdraw [UPDATED]

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and The Daily Caller

BuzzFeed:
Mitt Romney Said In 2007 He Would Be “Delighted” To Sign A Bill Banning All Abortions Nationally

Discussion: ThinkProgress, ABCNEWS, The Atlantic Wire, Truthdig, Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, The Hinterland Gazette and The Caucus

Kaili Joy Gray / Daily Kos:
Todd Akin clarifies he's on the same page as Paul Ryan on ‘forcible rape’

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Firedoglake, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Shakesville, Talking Points Memo and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Rosalind S. Helderman / Election 2012:
Jim Talent won't replace Akin

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, Washington Examiner and Conservatives4Palin

RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Hannity Urges Akin To Consider Dropping Out In Interview With Him

Discussion: American Power, Ballot Box, The Gateway Pundit and Twitchy

Meredith Shiner / Roll Call:
Missouri: What Happens If Todd Akin Drops Out

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Raw Story, National Review, Hotline On Call and The New Civil Rights Movement

Pema Levy / Talking Points Memo:
'God's Little Shield': A Short History Of The False No-Pregnancy-From-Rape Theory

Discussion: Roll Call, The Daily Beast, Taking Note, Los Angeles Times, The Lede, American Prospect and Guardian

Noah Bierman / Boston Globe:
Scott Brown calls on Akin to drop out of Missouri Senate race

Discussion: CNN, First Read, Midwest Democracy, Politicker, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Magazine, The PJ Tatler, WPRI.com Blogs, The Reaction, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, Politico, National Review, Washington Examiner and The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:
Todd Akin rape comments prompt GOP to pull campaign funding, calls to exit race

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, 2012 Decoded, Election 2012, News Desk, The Mahablog and The Daily Dish

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:

As a Harvard Alum, I Apologize — Yes, I know, you could imagine many sentences that would follow that headline. But here is what I have in mind right now: A tenured professor of history at my undergraduate alma mater has written a cover story for Daily Beast/Newsweek that is so careless …

Discussion: Liberal Values, 2012 Decoded, The Daily Beast, The Reality-Based Community, New York Magazine, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog and Noahpinion, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Niall Ferguson's ridiculous defense

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Atlantic Online, News Desk, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Maddow Blog and Mediaite

Matthew O'Brien / The Atlantic Online:
A Full Fact-Check of Niall Ferguson's Very Bad Argument Against Obama

Discussion: A plain blog about politics

Niall Ferguson / The Daily Beast:
Newsweek Cover Rebuttal: Paul Krugman Is Wrong

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, The Glittering Eye, Business Insider, Firedoglake, The Daily Dish, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, Wake up America, Conservatives4Palin, Hot Air, Instapundit, Prairie Weather and Crooks and Liars

J. Bradford DeLong / Brad DeLong:
More Lies from Niall Ferguson: Fire-His-Ass-Now Department

Discussion: Economist's View and NewsBusters.org blogs

Aaron Blake / The Fix:

Romney grows cash advantage on Obama — Mitt Romney extended his cash edge over President Obama in July and entered the final three-plus months of the campaign with about 50 percent more in the bank than the incumbent president. — Romney led Obama in cash on hand at the end of July $185.9 million …

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air and The Lonely Conservative

Jonathan Easley / The Hill: Obama campaign holds $123 million in cash

Reuters:
Obama campaign spent more than it raised in July

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Glenn Thrush / Politico:
POLITICO e-book: Obama campaign roiled by conflict

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com, News Desk, Business Insider, Algemeiner.com, The Lonely Conservative, The Glittering Eye, Althouse, Hot Air, Marbury, Weasel Zippers, Belmont Club, Jammie Wearing Fools, Washington Examiner, Election 2012, Right Wing News and Weekly Standard

TMZ.com:

Phyllis Diller Dead — Legendary Comic Dies at 95 — Dead at 95 — EXCLUSIVE DETAILS — Comedian Phyllis Diller — who paved the way for today's female comics — died this morning, TMZ has learned. — Sources close to Diller tell us the comedian died in her sleep at her L.A. home, surrounded by family.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Towleroad News #gay and BLACKFIVE

Rosie.com:

my heart attack — while walking in a parking lot in nyack — “can u help me? she asked again — as i walked toward her — “oh u r rosie odonnell” — yes i am — the ghost of christmas future — me - if i did not wake — there r no accidents i thought — as i braced myself and lifted her

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay, New York Magazine and Mediaite

Toby Harnden / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Obama ‘cancelled missions to kill bin Laden THREE TIMES after getting cold feet - until Hillary Clinton stepped in’, claims explosive new book — Leading from Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him will be published on Tuesday

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Jammie Wearing Fools:
Book Says Obama Deferred to Valerie Jarrett Over Whether To Go After bin Laden: ‘Obama feared taking responsibility’

Discussion: Cold Fury

Michelangelo Signorile / The Huffington Post:

An Open Letter to Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council: Let's Talk About Hate … FRC SPLC , FRC Tony Perkins , FRC Hate Group , FRC Shooting , Family Research Council , Family Research Council Southern Poverty Law Center , Family Research Council Tony Perkins , Family Research Council Hate Group …

Discussion: Addicting Info, GLAAD, The Daily Dish and Joe. My. God.

BuzzFeed:
Family Research Council Backs Akin

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The New Civil Rights Movement

Alexis Levinson / The Daily Caller:

Shock poll: Obama could lose Illinois — President Barack Obama could lose his home state of Illinois in November, a new poll shows. — A poll conducted by Illinois-based pollster and political strategist Michael McKeon found Obama leading Republican Mitt Romney by 49 percent to 37 percent in Cook County, the home of Chicago.

Discussion: Hot Air, Moe Lane and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Alicia Mundy / Washington Wire:

Rabbi Shmuley Gets Boost From Adelsons — Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, among the top donors to the Republican machine this election, is also now the top giver - along with his wife - to the New Jersey congressional race of the reality-TV rabbi, Shmuley Boteach.

Discussion: Algemeiner.com and Israel Matzav

BuzzFeed:

Exclusive: GOP Platform Draft Strongly Defends “Traditional Concept Of Marriage” — Attacks Obama administration for failing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. An olive branch, but no policy, for gay Republicans. — Image by SCOTT AUDETTE / Reuters

Discussion: Daily Kos, Advocate, Joe. My. God. and Election 2012