memeorandum: Financier Eased Obama Aide's Path From Government (Ruby Cramer/BuzzFeed)

6:55 PM ET, September 18, 2012

Top Items:

SECRET VIDEO: On Israel, Romney Trashes Two-State Solution — At a private fundraiser, the GOP candidate calls Middle East peace “almost unthinkable” and says he would “kick the ball down the field.” — At the private fundraiser held May 17 where Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney candidly spoke …

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

A Note on Romney's Arrogant and Stupid Remarks — So we have in 2012 two presidential candidates who—when they thought they were speaking privately to their fellow 1 percenters—have shown contempt for fellow Americans. — Here's Barack Obama, on April 6, 2008, in San Francisco:

Discussion: Politico, Washington Monthly, National Review, CNN, his vorpal sword, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Ballot Box, Washington Wire, First Read, The Daily Dish, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Maddow Blog, Hit & Run, The Reality-Based Community and Dave Winer

David Corn / MoJo Articles:

WATCH: Full Secret Video of Private Romney Fundraiser — Mitt Romney wanted the full tape. Here it is. — On Monday and Tuesday Mother Jones published exclusive video that captured Mitt Romney speaking to donors at a May 17 fundraiser, which was held at the home of private equity mogul Mark Leder.

David Brooks / New York Times:

Thurston Howell Romney — In 1980, about 30 percent of Americans received some form of government benefits. Today, as Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute has pointed out, about 49 percent do. — In 1960, government transfers to individuals totaled $24 billion.

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:

Sen. Brown denounces Romney comments — Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) came out in opposition to Mitt Romney's controversial remarks on the “47 percent.” — Brown, who has been distancing himself from elements of the Republican Party, joins GOP Senate candidate in Connecticut Linda McMahon in coming out against the statements.

Discussion: CNN, Linda McMahon for Senate 2012, Business Insider, GOP 12, Mediaite, Guardian and The Maddow Blog

Rush Limbaugh:

A Golden Opportunity for Mitt Romney — RUSH: I tell you, I really hope that Mother Jones pulls down that Romney video pretty fast. Well, what he said about the Palestinians not wanting peace, that's got the media as riled up as anything. The Palestinians are sacred to some people …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, The Gateway Pundit and CNN

BuzzFeed:

Romney Defends Leaked Comments, Hits Obama For 1998 “Redistribution” Line — On Fox News Tuesday, the Republican presidential nominee hit the president for a recently uncovered clip in which he says he “actually likes redistribution.” Romney also defended his comments about 47% of Americans who he says will vote for Obama.

Discussion: Washington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Magazine and Business Insider

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Romney Has Support Among Lowest Income Voters — Obama also gets support among those with highest incomes — PRINCETON, NJ — Although President Barack Obama has a substantial voting edge over Republican Mitt Romney among low-income Americans, Romney still gets about a third of the vote among …

Discussion: Politico, New York Magazine and The Hinterland Gazette

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box:

Gallup poll: Obama's convention bump gone, lead down to 1 point — President Obama's small bounce in the polls following the Democratic National Convention has all but vanished in Tuesday's Gallup daily tracking poll. — Obama takes 47 percent support among registered voters over Romney's 46, according to the poll.

Discussion: CNN, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and Ricochet Conversations Feed

CNN:

Eastwood: If they were ‘dumb enough to ask me...’ — (CNN) - Clint Eastwood isn't taking much time to reflect on his unique endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at last month's Republican National Convention, after all he says if they're “dumb enough” to ask him, they'll take what they get.

Discussion: Politico, ExtraTV.com, The Hill and ABCNEWS

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:

The Right Is Wrong to Pin Obama's Edge on Welfare State — A lot of conservatives are puzzled that polls show the presidential election is even close, let alone that most show Barack Obama ahead. So convinced are they that Obama has failed that they think he ought to be out of the running.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hit & Run, National Review, Power Line, The Daily Beast, Spectator and The Daily Caller

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:
Conservatives Agree: Romney's Wrong

Discussion: Economix, The Daily Caller, The New Republic, Mediaite, Plunderbund, Power Line, Hit & Run and Ricochet Conversations Feed

John Whitesides / Reuters:
Romney struggles to steady campaign after secret videos

Discussion: Examiner, NewsBusters.org blogs, The PJ Tatler, Hot Air and NewsBusters.org

David Frum / The Daily Beast:
The Sinister Message Behind Romney's “Gaffe”

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Hullabaloo

Tony Romm / Reuters:
Mitt Romney ‘47 percent’ recording may have been illegal

Discussion: Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Michael Walsh / National Review:
Mitt's Gettysburg Moment

Discussion: Slate, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Washington Monthly

CNN:
Romney sticks by his ‘47%’ remarks, hits back

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico and ABCNEWS

NBC's Michael Isikoff / First Read:
How the Romney video leaked: For Carters, it was personal

Discussion: Election 2012, Pat Dollard and emptywheel

Erick Erickson / RedState:
Conservatives Agree: Romney's Right

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, Townhall.com and The Daily Beast

David Corn / Mother Jones:
Romney “47 Percent” Fundraiser Host: Hedge Fund Manager Who Likes Sex Parties

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:
How Jimmy Carter's Grandson Helped Leak the Secret Romney Fund-raiser Video

Discussion: Mashable!, Business Insider, Belmont Club, NY Daily News, ABCNEWS, neo-neocon, NewsBusters.org, The Raw Story, Washington Wire, First Read, Politico and Election 2012

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:
The Long Strange Leak Of Mitt Romney's 47% Video

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, more at Mediagazer »

Jim Treacher / The Daily Caller:
OMG, you guys, it's all over! … I can see why Democrats are so offended.

Discussion: Guardian

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Romney's theory of the “taker class,” and why it matters

Erick Erickson / RedState:
Treat the Press as Enemy Collaborators

Discussion: National Review

Michael Barbaro / The Caucus:
How the Romney Campaign Scrambled to Respond to Secret Video

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, New York Times and Business Insider

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The Real Romney Captured on Tape Turns Out to Be a Sneering Plutocrat

Discussion: Capitol Watch, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Online, Althouse, American Prospect, Salon, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Wire, The Maddow Blog, Washington Post, emptywheel, Daily Kos and Lippmann's Ghost

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

BREAKING: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Puts Voter ID Law In Jeopardy — Last month, a Pennsylvania trial judge upheld that state's Voter ID law, in an opinion that relied at least in part on Nineteenth Century precedent which claimed that vote suppressing laws may be permissible to protect against 'rogues …

Discussion: Firedoglake and emptywheel

Ryan J. Reilly / Talking Points Memo:
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Casts Doubt On Voter ID Law

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Richard C. Dujardin / The Providence Journal:

Cranston bans ‘father-daughter’ dances as violation of state law — CRANSTON, R.I. — In a move that has taken some parents by surprise, the school department has announced that it is banning traditional “father-daughter” and “mother-son” activities, saying they violate state law. — Supt.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Washington Post:

Post Poll: Obama up 8 points over Romney in Virginia — President Obama continues to hold a clear lead over Mitt Romney in Virginia, a new Washington Post poll shows, buoyed by enthusiastic support rivaling what he marshaled in 2008 to snap the Democrats' four-decade losing streak in the state.

Discussion: CNN, GOP 12, Politico, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Daily Kos and Ballot Box

Sarah Chayes / Los Angeles Times:

‘Innocence of Muslims’ doesn't meet free-speech test — U.S. 1st Amendment rights distinguish between speech that is simply offensive and speech deliberately tailored to put lives and property at immediate risk. — A scene from the 14-minute video trailer for the film “Innocence of Muslims …

Discussion: L.A. NOW, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Monthly, Mediaite, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Hit & Run, more at Mediagazer »

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

FiveThirtyEight Forecast: G.O.P. Senate Hopes Slipping — Democrats are now favored to retain control of the Senate when the new Congress convenes in January, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecast, breaking a summer stalemate during which control of the chamber appeared about equally likely to go either way.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Rich Lowry / National Review:

Romney's Comment — There are many problems with it starting with the fact, as has already been pointed out in here, that he jumbled together three different groups (the almost half of the country that's going to support Obama no matter what; the roughly half of households that get government benefits …

Discussion: American Prospect

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner / Energy & Environment:

EPA's four-gallon minimum mandate — The latest mandate handed down from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is so ridiculous, even I was shocked. The EPA has now mandated how much gasoline you must buy at certain gas stations. Say hello to the Obama Administration's four gallon minimum.

Discussion: National Review

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:

A Faded Piece of Papyrus Refers to Jesus' Wife — CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School has identified a scrap of papyrus that she says was written in Coptic in the fourth century and contains a phrase never seen in any piece of Scripture: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife ...’”

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and CNN