memeorandum: U.S. troops at Ft. Stewart plotted to kill Obama? (Jay Bookman)

11:20 PM ET, August 27, 2012

Top Items:

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Rush Limbaugh: Hurricane Center is ‘Obama’ — Rush Limbaugh, while repeatedly insisting he is “not alleging a conspiracy,” suggested Monday that the National Hurricane Center's forecast models for Tropical Storm Isaac were altered to help President Barack Obama and “cast a pall” over the Republican National Convention.

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS, ABCNEWS, BuzzFeed, Wonkette, The Moderate Voice and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Glen Johnson / Boston Globe:

While Romney campaign talks of forging ahead, Isaac may prompt convention cancellation — TAMPA - There is a distinct possibility that the 2012 Republican National Convention will be cancelled. — The decision may come not so much because the Tampa-St. Petersburg area will suffer a direct hit from Isaac …

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, NationalJournal.com, Advocate, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Daily Kos, Hit & Run, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

Rush Limbaugh Suggests Obama Manipulated Hurricane Predictions To Get GOP To Cancel Convention — Even President Obama's biggest fans don't think he can make it rain — but Rush Limbaugh does. — On his radio show this afternoon, Limbaugh suggested that President Obama might …

Discussion: Mock, Paper, Scissors, Towleroad News #gay and Hullabaloo

Daniel Strauss / Twitter Room:

Samuel L. Jackson asks why GOP ‘spared’ by tropical storm — Samuel L. Jackson on Monday tweeted it was “unfair” that Tropical Storm Isaac had spared the GOP convention in Tampa and appeared to be heading for New Orleans. — Jackson said in a profanity-filled tweet that he was …

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Republican Talking Points

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Monthly and Taylor Marsh

Russell Goldman / ABCNEWS:
RNC's 1st Day Lasts Just Seconds

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, CNN, Liberal Values and Reuters

Rush Limbaugh:
Tracking the Hurricane with the Media

Discussion: Business Insider

Brian Tashman / rightwingwatch.org:
Christian Broadcasting Network Wonders if Prayer Moved Storm Away From Tampa to Protect the RNC

Discussion: The Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay, Gawker, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake and The PJ Tatler, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:
CNN's GUT CHECK for August 27, 2012

Discussion: Politico, New York Times and The Huffington Post

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Obama signs state of emergency as Isaac barrels toward Louisiana

Discussion: Politico

Keegan Gibson / PoliticsPA:

Smith Makes Abortion Gaffe (Listen to Audio) — Harrisburg — Republican Tom Smith spoke at the Pennsylvania press club luncheon Monday afternoon The defining moment occurred a few moments after the formal program when, asked about abortion amid a group of reporters, Smith seemed to suggest …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, Philly.com, Slate, Daily Kos, Truthdig, The Raw Story, Business Insider and Hullabaloo

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:

Pennsylvania GOP Senate Candidate: Getting Pregnant From Rape Is ‘Similar’ To Having A Baby Out Of Wedlock — In the aftermath of Rep. Todd Akin's (R-MO) offensive and medically inaccurate comments that “legitimate rape” doesn't often lead to pregnancy, Republicans have been scrambling to distance themselves from Akin.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, The Frisky, Wonkette and Taylor Marsh

Robert J. Vickers / PennLive.com:
GOP Senate candidate says out-of-wedlock pregnancy and rape are ‘similar’

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Gawker, Mediaite and Runnin' Scared

Eric Kleefeld / Talking Points Memo:
Pennsylvania Senate Candidate: Daughter's Out-Of-Wedlock Pregnancy ‘Similar’ To Rape

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Outside the Beltway and The Maddow Blog

Jim Geraghty / National Review:

Priebus on Chris Matthews: ‘He Made the Case for Us.’ — Shortly before our chat, Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus held a brief press “gaggle” in the media center, and briefly talked about his exchange with Chris Matthews on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” this morning.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, Hot Air, “The Lid” and The Moderate Voice

Geoffrey Dickens / NewsBusters.org:

Newt Takes it to Chris Matthews on His ‘Racist Thinking’ — A A — Chris Matthews, on Monday's Hardball, attempted to hit Newt Gingrich with the same old liberal line about the GOP using racial code words whether it's Mitt Romney talking about welfare reform or Gingrich calling Barack Obama the “food stamp president.”

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative and The Gateway Pundit

Pema Levy / Talking Points Memo:
Chris Matthews Calls Out GOP: You Are Playing The ‘Race Card’

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Hinterland Gazette and No More Mister Nice Blog

Peter Nicholas / Washington Wire:
Newt Gingrich: Happy to Teach ‘Newt U’ in Tampa

Discussion: The Other McCain

Elspeth Reeve / The Atlantic Wire:
Race Takes Over the Race — Mitt Romney says that Obama allowed …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Townhall.com, The Hill, Hot Air, Firedoglake, Mother Jones, Brad DeLong, Election 2012 and The Reality-Based Community

Russ Bynum / Associated Press:

Prosecutor: Ga. murder case uncovers terror plot … LUDOWICI, Ga. (AP) — Four Army soldiers based in southeast Georgia killed a former comrade and his girlfriend to protect an anarchist militia group they formed that stockpiled assault weapons and plotted a range of anti-government attacks, prosecutors told a judge Monday.

Discussion: Gawker, his vorpal sword, Talking Points Memo, A Blog For All, The Raw Story and The Agonist

Jay Bookman:

U.S. troops at Ft. Stewart plotted to kill Obama? — Boy, I'd sure like to know more about this, and I suspect that we will in time. But for the moment, this is all we know, via AP: … Sometimes these things get blown out of proportion, but $87,000 in weaponry suggests otherwise.

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid

John Hudson / The Atlantic Wire:
Prosecutors: U.S. Soldiers Plotted to Kill President Obama

Discussion: Gawker, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Outside the Beltway and Balloon Juice

Paul Ryan / The Daily Beast:

What the *#@% Is Wrong With Republicans?! — It's not just Akin. By pushing some of the most invasive state policies in modern history, the men of the GOP are driving their party off a cliff. — Blame it on the “idea cloud”—that cumulus cartoon bubble that dumps the same idea on diverse populations at once.

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Daily Beast, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Dish and New York Times

CBS News:
Romney: My views on abortion rights are clear

Discussion: Washington Post, Daily Kos and No More Mister Nice Blog

Rob Portman / CNN:
TRENDING: First on CNN: Portman to play Obama in Romney debate prep

Discussion: The Fix, USA Today and Politico

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Poll: Majority of Floridians would vote for Obama-Biden

Discussion: Politico, CNN and ABCNEWS

Jessica Wakeman / The Frisky:

No, Michelle Obama Topless On A Magazine Cover Is Not “Artsy” — Plenty of absurd things are “artsy,” like crafting Jesus on the cross out of elephant feces or giving birth inside an art gallery as a live action installation. But a drawing of Michelle Obama topless on the cover …

Discussion: BuzzFeed and Weasel Zippers

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

RNC swag bag has Romney book with unaltered health care section … TAMPA — All credentialed media checking into the Republican National Convention are being given a swag bag featuring brochures and items from various sponsors such as sunglasses and a pocket fan.

Discussion: A plain blog about politics, The Buzz Florida Politics Feed, The Raw Story and Daily Kos

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:
Romney book distributed at GOP convention contains pro-healthcare reform content

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jim Treacher / The Daily Caller:

We all know the world revolves around The Greatest President in the History of Everything. So it makes sense that all the other celestial bodies were placed in the sky to shine down upon him. — This is not a Photoshop. This was actually posted on Obama's official Tumblr page:

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze.com, Wizbang, Sense of Events, The Lonely Conservative, Ed Driscoll, The Jawa Report, SOOPERMEXICAN, Obama for America, Pirate's Cove, Atlas Shrugs, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Doug Ross and small dead animals

BuzzFeed:

Trial Judge Orders Prop 8 Case Closed — Judge James Ware issues an order under which same-sex couples should be allowed to marry immediately in California. Supporters of the initiative could ask the Supreme Court to stop weddings. — The trial court judge in California who has taken …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Joe. My. God.

Jim Ragsdale / Hot Dish Politics:
Supporters of proposed constitutional amendments win both Supreme Court cases

Discussion: Power Line and Joe. My. God.

Paul Slansky / The Huffington Post:

Paul Ryan Said Something That Should Force Him Off the Ticket, But You Probably Didn't Hear About It … Elections 2012 , Abortion , Elections 2012 , Paul Ryan , Video , Todd Akin , Method Of Conception , Paul Ryan Abortion , Paul Ryan Rape , Rape , Todd Akin Legitimate Rape , Todd Akin Rape , Politics News

Discussion: Wizbang, Little Green Footballs and Blog for Choice

Michael Tackett / Bloomberg:

Hero Reagan's Compromise Would Collide With Tea Party Certitude — Ronald Reagan remains the modern Republican Party's most durable hero. His memory will be hailed as The Great Uncompromiser by those who insist the GOP must never flag in its support for smaller government, lower taxes and conservative social values.

Discussion: Politico and Business Insider

Charles Babington / Associated Press:
Happy Now for Tea Party Help, GOP Faces Challenges

Discussion: Bangor Daily News and Politico

Kim Parker / Pew Social & Demographic Trends:

Yes, the Rich Are Different — As Republicans gather for their national convention in Tampa to nominate a presidential candidate known, in part, as a wealthy businessman, a new nationwide Pew Research Center survey finds that many Americans believe the rich are different than other people.

Discussion: National Review, Economix, Politico and Firedoglake

Dan Gross / Philly.com:

Arlen Specter hospitalized with a serious illness, friends confirm — Arlen Specter has been hospitalized with a serious illness, confirm friends of the longtime U.S. Senator. One asked that people keep him in thoughts and prayers. — Specter, 82, announced in 2005 that he had Hodgkin's disease for which he underwent chemotherapy.

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:

Elizabeth Warren Aide Knocks Around Republican Cameraman — An aide to Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat, appears to have knocked the video camera of a Republican tracker after an event this weekend in Martha's Vineyard. Watch the video below: