memeorandum: Another Tough Step (Jxpaton/Digital First)

10:10 AM ET, September 6, 2012

Top Items:

Bill Clinton's long, long speech about the meanie Republicans — Bill Clinton, don't get me wrong, was the best speaker Wednesday night. But that is largely because the rest of the evening was atrocious. Clinton was hoarse, and he seemed to holler for no reason at all.

Discussion: Pirate's Cove, Blue Crab Boulevard and Balloon Juice

New York Times:

Transcript of Bill Clinton's Speech to the Democratic National Convention — The following is the full text of former President Bill Clinton's speech on Wednesday from the Democratic National Convention. — PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. (Sustained cheers, applause.)

Discussion: American Prospect, Hit & Run, Shakesville, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Slate, Talking Points Memo, Taylor Marsh, Washington Examiner, The Atlantic Online, The New Republic, News Desk, Sky Dancing, Mother Jones, The Moderate Voice and CNN

Politico:

How Bill Clinton does it — The crowd was roaring, TV commentators were gushing, and Barack Obama himself thanked Bill Clinton for his nominating speech with a big hug as he left the stage here Wednesday night. — Well might Obama be grateful: In 48 minutes, the 42nd president had stated …

Discussion: Washington Post and AEIdeas

Washington Wire:

Text of Bill Clinton's Address to the Democratic Convention … Here is the text of President Bill Clinton's speech to the Democratic National Convention as prepared for delivery and released by the convention's press office: — We're here to nominate a President, and I've got one in mind.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Booman Tribune, No More Mister Nice Blog, Liberty Street, Liberal Values, Grist, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Reaction, The Hinterland Gazette, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Gallup

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Democratic National Convention Night 2: Winners and Losers — CHARLOTTE — The second night of the Democratic National Convention was decidedly slower than its first — with the obvious exception of the speech by former President Bill Clinton. … But, the Fix persevered through this slowness …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Hot Air, Swampland, Taegan Goddard's … and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

New York Times:

Check Point: Democrats Stretch the Truth in Talk and Text - Check Point — Speakers at the Democratic National Convention used an out-of-context quote on Wednesday night to give the misleading impression that Mitt Romney enjoys firing people, and some referred imprecisely to his tax proposals.

Discussion: Poynter and Prairie Weather, more at Mediagazer »

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Bill Clinton: wonk-in-chief

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Balloon Juice, First Draft and The Daily Dish

Daniel Strauss / The Hill: Obama senior adviser: Don't expect big bounce in polls from convention

Associated Press:
Bill Clinton's DNC speech: Full transcript

Discussion: Associated Press and The Agonist

Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Clinton's effective Obama embrace

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Hill, ABCNEWS, CNN and Newsy

Alexander Burns / Politico:
Bill Clinton: ‘Of course’ country better off now

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, ABCNEWS, Weasel Zippers, Connecting.the.Dots and Sky Dancing

Matthew Lee / Associated Press: Hilllary Clinton ‘Anxious’ to See Husband's Speech

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Republicans push to pre-empt Bill Clinton

Discussion: Politico, CNN, ABCNEWS and Daily Kos

Dylan Byers / Politico:

DNC's Wasserman Schultz, Gaspard cancel interviews amid platform debacle — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Democratic National Committee chiefs Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Patrick Gaspard cancelled interviews with local media outlets tonight, amid controversy surrounding the party's decision to reintroduce “God” and “Jerusalem” to the platform.

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, NewsBusters.org blogs, Scared Monkeys, The Hill, PolitiFact, Washington Free Beacon, Associated Press, The Fix, American Spectator, The Mental Recession, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers and The Hinterland Gazette

BuzzFeed:
Chaos As Democrats Try To Put Jerusalem, God Back In Platform

Discussion: Politico, Firedoglake, Commentary Magazine, Tablet Magazine, Riehl World News, Hullabaloo, Israel Matzav, Washington Wire, American Power, Doug Ross, Taylor Marsh, Towleroad News #gay, Wake up America, Blue Crab Boulevard and The Right Scoop

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
Obama intervened on God, Jerusalem platform language

Discussion: Mediaite, Scared Monkeys, RealClearPolitics Video Log and Power Line

Mark Landler / New York Times:
Pushed by Obama, Democrats Alter Platform Over Jerusalem

Discussion: Washington Post, Via Meadia, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, JustOneMinute and The Caucus

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:
How to Understand the DNC's Jerusalem Imbroglio

Discussion: Mondoweiss, The Daily Dish and The Daily Beast

BuzzFeed:
DNC Chair On Why God/Jerusalem Were Overlooked: The Platform Is Many Pages Long

Discussion: Hot Air

Abe Greenwald / Commentary Magazine:
Re: Democratic Delegates Boo “Jerusalem”

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Atlantic Online, Israel Matzav, Power Line and Washington Free Beacon

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
Division over platform at DNC

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, americanthinker.com, Naked Politics, Washington Free Beacon, Power Line, BREITBART.COM and Outside the Beltway

CNN:
Just in: Democrats update platform with Jerusalem, God reference

Discussion: Politico, Friendly Atheist, The Gateway Pundit, Foreign Policy, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Michelle Malkin, The Caucus, Blue Crab Boulevard, Weasel Zippers, JOSHUAPUNDIT, ABCNEWS and American Power

Nikki Haley / CNN:
TRENDING: Haley a Nazi? Democrat not backing down from analogy

Discussion: Belmont Club, Talking Points Memo and Weekly Standard

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Oh my: Boos at convention as Dems reinstate language on God and Jerusalem in platform; Update …

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, Mediaite, American Spectator, Babalú Blog, The New Civil Rights Movement, “The Lid”, Betsy's Page and Moe Lane

David Brody / The Brody File:
DNC Almighty Nightmare In Charlotte: Now Dems Put God And Jerusalem Language Back Into The Platform

Discussion: Power Line

Associated Press:
Democrats change platform to add God, Jerusalem

Discussion: CNN, BizzyBlog, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Gateway Pundit, Macsmind and Vox Popoli

Rick Klein / ABCNEWS:

Bob Woodward Book: Debt Deal Collapse Led to ‘Pure Fury’ From President Obama — An explosive mix of dysfunction, miscommunication, and misunderstandings inside and outside the White House led to the collapse of a historic spending and debt deal that President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner …

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Politico and ABCNEWS

Miranda Green / The Daily Beast:

Speed Read: Juiciest Bits From Bob Woodward's Book ‘Price of Politics’ — How exactly did the nation's debt crisis play out behind closed doors? From Obama ‘chomping on Nicorette’ to Biden as the GOP ‘whisperer’ and Ryan's anger at the president, the highlights of Bob Woodward's The Price of Politics, out Sept. 11.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Washington Post and Politico

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Secret Service Eyes Romney Tax Return Blackmail Attempt — About 7 p.m. last Thursday, members of the Williamson County Democratic Party returned to their offices in Franklin, Tenn., for a meeting, and found a padded manila envelope that had been dropped through the mail slot.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Tennessean.com, Washington Wire and Newsy

BuzzFeed:
PricewaterhouseCoopers On Romney's “Ransomed” Tax Returns: We're Working With The Secret Service

Discussion: Daily Dot, VentureBeat, CANNONFIRE, No More Mister Nice Blog, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Raw Story

Mashable!:
Hacker Group Claims to Have Romney's Tax Returns

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, ABCNEWS, Politico, DownWithTyranny!, Towleroad News #gay, Business Insider and Booman Tribune

Pastebin.com:
RAW Paste Data

Discussion: Business Insider, VentureBeat, Daily Dot and New York Magazine

Bryan Bishop / The Verge:

Amazon shows new Kindle Fire and backlit ‘Paperwhite’ Kindle readers in TV ad — We're expecting quite a few things out of tomorrow's Amazon event, and the company just helped heighten expectations a little bit more with a new commercial. The brief spot aired during tonight's Giants and Cowboys game …

Discussion: Gizmodo, VentureBeat, Mashable! and AllThingsD

Nilay Patel / The Verge:
Exclusive: Amazon phone confirmed, could be announced tomorrow

Discussion: Gizmodo, TechCrunch and Mashable!

hrw.org:

Delivered Into Enemy Hands — US-Led Abuse and Rendition of Opponents to Gaddafi's Libya — This report is based on interviews conducted in Libya with 14 former detainees, most of whom belonged to an armed Islamist group that had worked to overthrow Gaddafi for 20 years.

Discussion: Firedoglake, New York Times, Law Blog and The Raw Story

CNN:

Kim Kardashian says she's headed to party with Dems at convention — (CNN) - If contemporary politics didn't already resemble a bad reality show, it will come a lot closer Thursday. — Kim Kardashian - reality show star, sex tape entrepreneur, and girlfriend of Kanye West …

Discussion: Associated Press and Jammie Wearing Fools

Politico:

Verdict is in: Obama levels more personal attacks — A crabby, negative campaign that has been more about misleading and marginal controversies than the major challenges facing the country? Barack Obama and Mitt Romney can both claim parenthood of this ugly child.

Discussion: Betsy's Page

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:

Paul Ryan, Mountaineer — UPDATE: Please see official response from the Romney campaign, below. — My mailbox has been blowing up with speculation on why Paul Ryan would have invented such an impressive “personal best” time for the marathon, and whether the invention will matter.

Discussion: Firedoglake, CNN, Gawker, Jesus' General, The Huffington Post, Dependable Renegade and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Chris Ariens / TVNewser:

Tom Brokaw Rushed to Charlotte Hospital — NBC News special correspondent Tom Brokaw was taken by ambulance to a Charlotte hospital this morning after an appearance on MSNBC's “Morning Joe.” — Brokaw, 72, who stepped down as anchor of “Nightly News” after the 2004 election …

Discussion: Mediaite and Fox News Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Steven Sloan / Politico:

5 tax questions for Barack Obama — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — President Barack Obama says his tax policies are all about “fairness.” — The president wants to raise taxes on millionaires, ding hedge fund managers and oil companies and impose new taxes on offshore corporate profits.

Discussion: CNN