memeorandum: Hill holds Obama's legacy in its hands (Jonathan Allen/Politico)

3:40 PM ET, April 8, 2013

Top Items:

‘Tramp the dirt down’: George Galloway's extraordinarily crass tweet leads the Left's sickening ‘celebration’ just minutes after Baroness Thatcher's death — George Galloway has provoked criticism after writing a ‘distasteful’ comment following the death of former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Discussion: Twitchy, Telegraph, National Review, The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, The Other McCain and American Power

BBC:

Margaret Thatcher dies — Former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher has died “peacefully” at the age of 87 after suffering a stroke, her family has announced. — David Cameron called her a “great Briton” and the Queen spoke of her sadness at the death. — Lady Thatcher was Conservative prime minister from 1979 to 1990.

Discussion: TalkLeft, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, NEWS.com.au, Shakesville, The Moderate Voice, BizPac Review, Washington Monthly, Mediaite, The Mental Recession and FP Passport

Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:

Margaret Thatcher and misapplied death etiquette — The dictate that one ‘not speak ill of the dead’ is (at best) appropriate for private individuals, not influential public figures — News of Margaret Thatcher's death this morning instantly and predictably gave rise to righteous sermons on the evils of speaking ill of her.

Discussion: Spectator, Gawker and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

Why The Modern Republican Party Would Reject Margaret Thatcher — Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom, died on Monday, leaving behind her a legacy of conservative values that American politicians still cite to this day. Upon learning of her death …

Discussion: CNN, Telegraph, msnbc.com, National Review, The National Memo and Applesauce

Andrew Sparrow / Guardian:

Margaret Thatcher dies: live reaction and updates — Sort by: — 7.27pm BST — Early evening summary — The death of a major political figure in old age is not always a matter of surprise or shock, but it is always a moment for reflection. Politicians shape our destiny and …

Discussion: Telegraph, david-frum, The Week, Towleroad News #gay, Joe. My. God., Scared Monkeys, The Hinterland Gazette, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth and Jammie Wearing Fools

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Three Who Saved the West

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Power Line

The White House:
Statement from the President on the Passing of Baroness Margaret Thatcher

Discussion: New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Wire, BizPac Review, Weasel Zippers, New York Magazine and Fox News Insider

Joseph R. Gregory / New York Times:
Margaret Thatcher, Conservative Who Reforged Britain, Dies

Discussion: BBC, ArtsBeat, The Caucus, New Republic, Guardian, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, The Week, Spectator and The Hugh Hewitt Show

The Review:
Associated Press: Praise Chavez, Grouse About Thatcher

Discussion: Associated Press, Mediaite, AEIdeas, Babalú Blog, NewsBusters, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Twitchy and National Review

Congressman Steve Stockman:
Stockman: Thatcher would want us to ‘fight on, fight to win’ and crush liberalism

Discussion: Business Insider, Roll Call, Mother Jones and msnbc.com

Richard Allen Greene / CNN:
Margaret Thatcher, Britain's first female PM, dead at 87

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Global Public Square, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Piers Morgan, Hot Air, Applesauce, Feministing, The Moderate Voice and Associated Press

Mark Steyn / National Review:
The Anti-Declinist — Mrs Thatcher's predecessor as Prime Minister …

Discussion: NewsBusters blogs and Ed Driscoll

Sky News:
Margaret Thatcher Dies After Stroke

Discussion: The Spectacle Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Taylor Marsh, americanthinker.com, The PJ Tatler and Vox Popoli

David Frum / david-frum:
Margaret Thatcher Sounded the Alarm on Climate Change

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mother Jones and Taylor Marsh

Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:
No, Margaret Thatcher Wouldn't Have Been a Liberal Now

Discussion: Hit & Run and Eschaton

David Weigel / Slate:
Margaret Thatcher vs. Pop Culture

Discussion: msnbc.com, BuzzFeed and Hullabaloo

Guardian: Margaret Thatcher: a life in quotes

Business Insider:
Margaret Thatcher Was Freakishly Correct About Why The Euro Would Be Such A Big Disaster

Discussion: WorldViews, Twitchy, Wonkblog and BBC

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
MARGARET THATCHER, RIP

Discussion: Washington Monthly, WorldViews and Guardian

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Reid Threatens Filibuster Reform With Nuclear Option — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) threatened in his most explicit terms yet to use the so-called nuclear option to weaken the filibuster if Republicans keep blocking judicial and other nominees from coming to a vote.

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Plum Line

Jonathan Allen / Politico:

Hill holds Obama's legacy in its hands — It's now or never for the White House. — President Barack Obama's second-term agenda is in doubt as Congress returns to Washington this week for a spring and summer stretch that could go a long way to define the scope of Obama's legacy.

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Capital New York, msnbc.com, Prairie Weather and The Hill

Washington Post:
Gun legislation's prospects improve

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Hill and Prairie Weather

Washington Post:
Gun legislation's prospects improve

Discussion: The Fix, New York Times, The Week, Yahoo! News, The National Memo, msnbc.com, Booman Tribune, American Prospect and First Read

Politico:
Obama's make-or-break week on guns

Discussion: CNN, Roll Call, Freedom's Lighthouse, The Fix, Hartford Courant, Daily Kos and msnbc.com

Hollywood Reporter:

Westboro Baptist Church to Picket Roger Ebert's Funeral — The anti-gay group says it will protest outside the movie critic's memorial service Monday in Chicago. — Leaders of Kansas' Westboro Baptist Church, notorious for picketing at the funerals of soldiers and gay teenagers …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Guardian, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, Scared Monkeys and Mashable

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Chelsea Clinton opens door to run — Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton said Monday she would consider running for office if she could make a “meaningful” impact on the country. — “Right now, I'm grateful to live in a city and a state and a country where I strongly support my mayor …

Discussion: CNN, The Hinterland Gazette and Ballot Box

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Americans' Concerns About Global Warming on the Rise — Majority believe global warming is happening, but many still say it's exaggerated — PRINCETON, NJ — U.S. worry about global warming is heading back up after several years of expanded public skepticism.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Firedoglake, Post Politics, Politico and E2-Wire

DAYLIGHT DISINFECTANT:

COMMUNISM SURVIVOR BLASTS SALEM GUN GRABBERS: “YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT FREEDOM IS!” — “You don't know what freedom is because you never lost it!” With a pointed finger Manuel Martinez called out Anti-Gun Committee Leader Floyd Prozansky during heated testimony on Friday. You can bet Prozansky got the message.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, BizPac Review and Weasel Zippers

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Sen. Tim Johnson Endorses Gay Marriage — Sen. Tim Johnson (D-SD), one of the last remaining Democratic holdouts to oppose same-sex marriage, announced Monday that he now supports gay nuptials. — “After lengthy consideration, my views have evolved sufficiently to support marriage equality legislation,” Johnson said in a statement.

Discussion: Joe. My. God. and Outside the Beltway

Michael Tackett / Bloomberg:

Texas Turns Battleground as Cowboy Boots Win Hispanics — Alex Steele begins his pitch on how to turn Texas into a Democratic state like any good politician, with the story of how he got to this place. — It begins in California's Central Valley, where he grew up: his father working …

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / New York Post:

We need an IQ test for politicians — While politicians talk about expanding background checks for gun owners, I'm starting to think that what we really need are IQ tests for political officeholders. The only problem is, that might leave us with a lot of vacancies in Congress and America's statehouses.

Discussion: Ed Driscoll, Clayton Cramer's Blog, Hit & Run and UrbanGrounds

Catherine Herridge / Fox News:

Special ops veterans' group calls for select probe of Benghazi attack — More than 700 Special Operations veterans are urging members of Congress to back a select committee to investigate last year's Benghazi terrorist attack, according to a letter first obtained by Fox News.

Discussion: Right Wing News, americanthinker.com, BizPac Review and NO QUARTER USA NET