memeorandum: Top Posts Remain Vacant Throughout Obama Administration (Michael D. Shear/New York Times)

10:35 AM ET, May 3, 2013

Top Items:

The Howard Kurtz saga — At the height of his influence, Howard Kurtz was widely regarded as the most influential media reporter and critic in the country. But in recent years, erroneous reporting and careless errors reduced him to fodder for the media reporters and critics who followed in his footsteps.

Discussion: The Other McCain, Mediaite, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Week and Business Insider

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Daily Beast drops Howard Kurtz — The Daily Beast is dropping Howard Kurtz, the veteran media critic who made headlines this week for his erroneous report about NBA star Jason Collins. — “The Daily Beast and Howard Kurtz have parted company,” Tina Brown, the site's editor in chief, said in a statement sent to POLITICO.

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Howard Kurtz leaves Daily Beast following Jason Collins column mistake

Discussion: New York Times, Althouse, Salon, Instapundit and Roger Ailes

New York Times:

Boston Plot Said to Initially Target July 4 — WASHINGTON — The surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings told F.B.I. interrogators that he and his brother considered suicide attacks and striking on the Fourth of July as they plotted their deadly assault, according to two law enforcement officials.

Discussion: The Hill, Weasel Zippers, Taylor Marsh, The Week, BizPac Review, The Caucus, IHT Rendezvous, Guardian, Telegraph and Little Green Footballs

Fox News:
Boston Marathon bombing suspects originally plotted July 4 attack, sources say

Discussion: The Jawa Report and “The Lid”

Steve Almasy / CNN:
Sources: Boston bombs built in older Tsarnaev's home, first target was July 4

Discussion: WGN-TV, ABCNEWS, New York Post, The Moderate Voice, Weasel Zippers, TalkLeft and Boston Globe

Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence:

Letter to Catholics on the Approval of “Same-Sex Marriage” in RI — 05, 02, 2013 - / Category Uncategorized - / Posted By admin - / No Comments. … My dear Brothers and Sisters, — Since the legislative approval of “same-sex marriage” in Rhode Island, a number of people …

Discussion: Good As You, WPRI-TV, ThinkProgress and The Raw Story

Lincoln Chafee / New York Times:

Why I Am Signing Marriage Equality Into Law — PROVIDENCE, R.I. — ON Thursday, the Rhode Island House of Representatives is expected to approve legislation to extend the right to marry to all Rhode Islanders, regardless of sexual orientation. I plan to sign the Marriage Equality Act …

Discussion: Associated Press, ThinkProgress, Advocate, msnbc.com, AL.com, Daily Kos, Joe. My. God. and The Raw Story

David Klepper / ABCNEWS:
RI to Become 10th State Allowing Gay Marriage

Discussion: The Reaction, Addicting Info and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:

Joe Biden planning fresh gun control push — Vice President Joe Biden is planning a new gun control offensive - one he told a group of law enforcement officials he hasn't informed President Barack Obama about yet. — Biden, who will appear Friday night at a South Carolina Democratic dinner …

Discussion: msnbc.com

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:
Biden ponders a 2016 bid, but a promotion to the top job seems to be a long shot

Discussion: First Read, Jammie Wearing Fools and This ain't Hell …

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
OFA's first foray falls short

Discussion: First Read

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Winning Hispanic vote would not be enough for GOP … After six months of mulling over November's election results, many Republicans remain convinced that the party's only path to future victory is to improve the GOP's appeal to Hispanic voters. But how many Hispanic voters do Republicans need …

Frank Phillips / Boston Globe:

Michelle Obama to headline fundraiser for Democratic US Senate nominee, Edward Markey — In the first sign that Democrats are preparing to pull out the party's big financial guns for US Senate nominee Edward J. Markey, Michelle Obama is scheduled to appear at a Boston fund-raiser …

Discussion: Ballot Box, CNN, theGrio and Post Politics

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:

Commerce Appointment Opens A New White House Rift — Room enough for Valerie Jarrett and Penny Pritzker both to reach out to business, the White House says. But Jarrett tried to kill the appointment. — Via: Larry Downing / Reuters — WASHINGTON — The nomination of billionaire Penny Pritzker …

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau

The Lead with Jake Tapper: Change you can believe in? Obama's bundlers get plum posts

Gavin Lesnick / ArkansasOnline.com:

Pelosi says she ‘prays’ Hillary Clinton will run for president — House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that she “prays” Hillary Rodham Clinton will run for president. — Pelosi, D-Calif., speaking in Little Rock about current affairs in American politics …

Discussion: Politico, The Lonely Conservative and Jammie Wearing Fools

Gavin Lesnick / ArkansasOnline.com:
Pelosi ‘prays’ Hillary Clinton will run for president

Discussion: The Hill, Weekly Standard and Mediaite

Vicki Needham / The Hill:

Economy adds 165,000 jobs, unemployment falls to 7.5 percent — The economy added 165,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. — The monthly job numbers were better than expected, but the brightest spot of the report …

Discussion: Politico

Jeff Cox / CNBC:
Back in Business: Jobs Picture Brightens in April

Discussion: Associated Press, New York Times, American Prospect, Yahoo! News, Hot Air, Daily Kos and The Gateway Pundit

Marco Rubio / Wall Street Journal:

The Immigration Reform Opportunity — Several Senate colleagues and I drew up a reform bill, and now Americans' input will help us improve it. — Next week, the Senate will begin making changes to and, hopefully, improve the immigration-reform legislation I introduced with several colleagues last month.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, CNN, Politico, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Taylor Marsh and The Daily Caller

The Daily Currant:

Bloomberg Refused Second Slice of Pizza at Local Restaurant — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was denied a second slice of pizza today at an Italian eatery in Brooklyn. — The owners of Collegno's Pizzeria say they refused to serve him more than one piece to protest Bloomberg's proposed soda ban …

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider, The Jawa Report, This ain't Hell … and LewRockwell.com Blog

Wall Street Journal:

Pentagon Bulks Up ‘Bunker Buster’ Bomb to Combat Iran — U.S. Upgrades Weapon to Penetrate Key Nuclear Site; Push to Persuade Israelis … A 2009 satellite image shows a suspected nuclear facility being built in Iran. — WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has redesigned its biggest “bunker buster” …

Discussion: Israel Matzav and Telegraph

DealBook:

JPMorgan Caught in Swirl of Regulatory Woes — Government investigators have found that JPMorgan Chase devised “manipulative schemes” that transformed “money-losing power plants into powerful profit centers,” and that one of its most senior executives gave “false and misleading statements” under oath.

Discussion: Business Insider, naked capitalism and E2-Wire

Adam Weinstein / Gawker:

The New NRA President Fantasizes About “Whipping” Anti-Gun Opponents — Just in time for its wingnut-filled annual meeting tomorrow, the National Rifle Association is set to install a new president: an Alabama lawyer who laments “the war of Northern Aggression,” calls Barack Obama …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Gregory Gwyn-Williams, Jr / CNSNews:

Poll: 29% of Registered Voters Believe Armed Revolution Might Be Necessary in Next Few Years — Twenty-nine percent of registered voters think that an armed revolution might be necessary in the next few years in order to protect liberties, according to a Public Mind poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, americanthinker.com, UPI, Vox Popoli, msnbc.com, Firedoglake, Addicting Info, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Talking Points Memo

Christopher Buckley / New York Times:

Rat Meat Sold as Lamb Highlights Food Fears in China — HONG KONG — Even for China's scandal-numbed diners, news that the lamb simmering in the pot may actually be rat took the country's endless outrages about food hazards into a new realm of disgust. — In an announcement intended to show …

Discussion: Guardian, Real Science and Balloon Juice

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

Local NBC Reporter Hilariously Denies Soviet Flags Present At May Day Rally: ‘What Do They Represent?’ — While covering a May Day rally in Manhattan's Union Square on Wednesday, NBC New York reporter Ida Siegal was cornered and asked if her network planned to show the communist imagery the protesters were displaying.