memeorandum: Islamist Rebels Create Dilemma on Syria Policy (Ben Hubbard/New York Times)

The 20-lb. swag bag from People/Time's White House Correspondent's party — Pictured below: a disgorged swag bag from the Time/People pre-WHCD cocktail party. It weighed in at 20.6 lbs on an Post bathroom scale (very technical stuff, here). — Whoa, isn't the media industry struggling with hard times?

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Taylor Marsh, The Impolitic and Firedoglake

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

Obama Mocks MSNBC, CNN, Fox, BuzzFeed, His Liberal Critics And Himself In Correspondents Dinner Speech — President Barack Obama took the stage on Saturday at the White House Correspondents Dinner night where he fired off a number of quips at his expense and a number of his allies and critics.

Discussion: Joe. My. God.

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:

Obama tells correpondents: ‘I still make rookie mistakes’ — President Obama spoke to the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night, poking fun at his administration and the press corps, while also paying tribute to the victims of the recent tragedies in Boston and West, Texas.

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Michael Livingston / The Reliable Source:

WATCH: President Barack Obama's White House Correspondents' Dinner one-liners — Here are the best one-liners from President Barack Obama's White House Correspondents' Dinner speech: — On the passage of time: “I look in the mirror. I'm not the strapping young Muslim socialist I used to be. . . I still make rookie mistakes though.

Discussion: JustOneMinute

Gabrielle Bluestone / Gawker:

All the Dumb Questions Politico Writers Are Asking Celebrities Tonight — How dumb is the WHCD? This dumb. You're looking at The Politico's White House Correspondents Dinner memo, left behind at a party last night and obtained by Gawker. — Above, the lengthy section of the memo focused …

Discussion: Gothamist, Hullabaloo, Outside the Beltway and Booman Tribune, more at Mediagazer »

Hope Yen / Associated Press:

Black Voter Turnout Passed White Turnout For The First Time In 2012 — WASHINGTON (AP) — America's blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and by most measures surpassed the white turnout for the first time, reflecting a deeply polarized presidential election …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Booman Tribune and Outside the Beltway

Kevin Liptak / CNN:

McCain: ‘Angry and bitter’ Syrians need America's help — (CNN) - The people of Syria, beleaguered by war and potentially being attacked by chemical weapons, are “angry and bitter” that the United States has not played a more leading role in ending the country's conflict, Sen. John McCain said Sunday.

Discussion: Reuters and Politico

Discussion: The Caucus, The PJ Tatler, Right Turn, The Other McCain, LewRockwell.com Blog and The Reaction

Mary Wisniewski / Reuters:

Kentucky woman ordained as priest in defiance of Roman Catholic Church — (Reuters) - In an emotional ceremony filled with tears and applause, a 70-year-old Kentucky woman was ordained a priest on Saturday as part of a dissident group operating outside of official Roman Catholic Church authority.

Paul Krugman:

The Great Degrader — I've been focused on economic policy lately, so I sort of missed the big push to rehabilitate Bush's image; also, as a premature anti-Bushist who pointed out how terrible a president he was back when everyone else was praising him as a Great Leader, I'm kind of worn out on the subject.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Prairie Weather and Washington Monthly

Patrick Hennessy / Telegraph:

Hand back your benefits, Iain Duncan Smith urges wealthier pensioners — Better-off pensioners should voluntarily pay back their taxpayer-funded benefits, the Work and Pensions Secretary declares. — Iain Duncan Smith says he “would encourage” elderly people who can well afford to pay …

Discussion: BBC, Guardian, Spectator and Althouse

Associated Press:

APNewsBreak: Russia caught bomb suspect on wiretap — WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian authorities secretly recorded a telephone conversation in 2011 in which one of the Boston bombing suspects vaguely discussed jihad with his mother, officials said Saturday, days after the U.S. government finally received details about the call.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The PJ Tatler and The Gateway Pundit

Bradley Klapper / Associated Press:

Obama Is Not The ‘Strapping Young Muslim Socialist’ He Used To Be — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama joked Saturday that the years are catching up to him and he's not “the strapping young Muslim socialist” he used to be. — Obama poked fun at himself as well as some of his …

Bobby Cervantes / Politico:

Gun control reform still possible, Manchin says — Sen. Joe Manchin was optimistic on Sunday that the Senate could take another shot at passing a narrow gun control bill that focuses specifically on mental health and criminal background checks. — “The only thing we've asked for is for people …

Discussion: CNN and Outside the Beltway