memeorandum: Brutal, fatal cleaver assault in London called a terrorist attack (CNN)

4:35 PM ET, May 23, 2013

Top Items:

On IRS issue, senior White House aides were focused on shielding Obama — As soon as White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler heard about an upcoming inspector general's report on the Internal Revenue Service, she knew she had a problem. — The notice Ruemmler saw on April 24 gave …

Discussion: Post Politics, Althouse, The Plum Line, Right Turn, Hot Air, First Read, The PJ Tatler, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, BuzzFeed, msnbc.com, Law Blog and Booman Tribune

Mitch McConnell / Washington Post:

The IRS scandal and Obama's culture of intimidation — Mitch McConnell, a Republican, represents Kentucky in the Senate, where he is the minority leader. — Revelations about the Internal Revenue Service targeting conservative groups have raised important questions about the Obama administration's commitment to the First Amendment.

Discussion: American Prospect, PostPartisan, The Maddow Blog, The Hill, The Dish, The World's Greatest …, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Monthly, The Impolitic, The Fix and msnbc.com

Wall Street Journal:

The Unaccountable Executive — If the President doesn't run the government, then who does? — Every day brings new revelations about who knew what about the IRS targeting conservative groups during President Obama's re-election campaign, but the overall impression is of a vast federal bureaucracy run amok.

Discussion: Washington Times, Hot Air, Betsy's Page and americanthinker.com

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Return of the Poor Little Rich Boys

Discussion: Mother Jones

Charles C. Johnson / The Daily Caller:
Ruemmler met one-on-one with Treasury lawyer long before April

Discussion: Power Line and Hot Air

TIME:

TIME Exclusive: President Obama's 1979 Prom Photos — Tucked away in someone else's shoe box of adolescent artifacts, there might be a picture of you in garish clothes and with an outdated 'do, your arm around a high school squeeze. The President of the United States is no different.

Discussion: Politico, New Republic, Yahoo! News, FishbowlDC, Mediaite, The Hill, Post Politics, The Daily Caller and The Huffington Post

Max Rivlin-Nadler / Gawker:
At Long Last, Here are Obama's Prom Pics

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Yahoo! News and New York Times

Syracuse Post-Standard:

What Gov. Andrew Cuomo has to say about Anthony Weiner — Gov. Andrew Cuomo was in Syracuse today to announce new tax incentives to attract businesses to state college campuses. After that he met with the editorial board of the Syracuse Media Groupâs Post-Standard and syracuse.com where he explained his new tax plan in depth.

Discussion: Politico, Yahoo! News, The Huffington Post, Weasel Zippers, Politicker, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Joe. My. God. and Post Politics

Aaron Blake / Post Politics:

Weiner: Women may come forward with more e-mails, photos — Former congressman and newly announced New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner (D) said in an interview Thursday morning with WNYC-FM that there could be women coming forward with more e-mails or photos from the inappropriate digital conversations …

Discussion: CNN, WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air, BuzzFeed, Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, Transportation Nation, Weekly Standard, Business Insider and NBC 10 Philadelphia

Kevin Liptak / CNN:
‘Shame on us’ if Weiner elected, NY Gov. says

Discussion: Yahoo! News and Politico

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:
How Anthony Weiner Managed To Screw The NYC Tabloids

Discussion: Yahoo! News, FishbowlDC, Politicker, FIRST DRAFT, Politico, Balloon Juice and New York Post, more at Mediagazer »

The Sun:

Woolwich terror suspect revealed as Muslim convert known to MI5 — Horrific ... man on camera identified as Michael Adebolajo — A MAN seen ranting at a video camera moments after a soldier was beheaded in the street is Muslim convert Michael Adebolajo - who was known to MI5.

Discussion: Mediaite, Jihad Watch and Business Insider

CNN:
Brutal, fatal cleaver assault in London called a terrorist attack

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

BBC:
Woolwich attack: Suspects known to security services

Discussion: NewsBusters blogs, americanthinker.com, Guardian, Weasel Zippers, The Heritage Foundation, New York Times, National Updates, News Desk, Telegraph, USA Today, The PJ Tatler, Hot Air, Riehl World News, The Gateway Pundit, Spectator and Business Insider

New York Times:

Obama's Speech on Drone Policy — Following is the text as prepared for delivery of President Obama's speech on U.S. drone policy, as provided by the White House: — PRESIDENT OBAMA: It's an honor to return to the National Defense University. Here, at Fort McNair, Americans have served …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Verge, The Dish, CNN, Weasel Zippers, Shakesville and Guardian

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Ten Potential Democratic Supreme Court Nominees Who Aren't Named ‘Sri Srinivasan’ — This afternoon, the Senate confirmed Sri Srinivasan to the staunchly conservative United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans already have a plan to prevent anyone else …

George F. Will / Washington Post:
Appeals court limits labor board's lawlessness

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Balloon Juice

Kate Nocera / BuzzFeed:

How Long Can House Republicans Go Before Turning On Each Other? — The divided conference unifies in the wake of Washington scandals — but how long can it really last? “I think there's a little spring in our step these days, but the real test will be the debt limit,” says Hudson.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, The Impolitic and Goppers

Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Boehner: House won't be ‘stampeded’ by Obama or Senate on immigration

Discussion: Politico

Nick Robinson / BBC:

One phrase and why I'm sorry I quoted it — It was a barbaric attack carried out in broad daylight on the streets of London. A man hacked to death. The attackers had been shot by the police. An extraordinary and horrific story but not one, you might think, for the Political Editor of the BBC.

Discussion: Telegraph, The PJ Tatler and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

Lamar Alexander / Wall Street Journal:

Kathleen Sebelius, Meet Oliver North — Is the Department of Health and Human Services engaged in a domestic Iran-Contra? — Major news outlets in recent days have reported that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is raising money from the private sector …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The Moderate Voice

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Alexander likens Sebelius to Iran-Contra figure Oliver North

Discussion: Politico and The Hinterland Gazette

Inside Government:

News story: Drummer Lee Rigby killed in Woolwich incident — The soldier's details are being released pending formal identification from the Metropolitan Police Service. — Drummer Lee Rigby, 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers — Drummer Lee Rigby or ‘Riggers’ to his friends …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, Gawker, The Hinterland Gazette, Business Insider, Spectator and FP Passport

George Talbot / AL.com:

BREAKING: Rep. Jo Bonner resigning from Congress — MOBILE - U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Mobile, informed friends and supporters today that he intends to resign from Congress later this year and take a job at the University of Alabama. — Bonner, 53, has represented Alabama's 1st Congressional District since taking office in 2003.

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, Roll Call and Post Politics

Kyle Trygstad / Roll Call:

National Republicans Send Staff to Massachusetts #MASEN — Jerry Moran is the NRSC's chairman. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo) — National Republicans have dispatched staff to Massachusetts to assist with the Senate special election that has become tantalizingly close.

Discussion: Post Politics

The Boston Globe:
Gabriel Gomez reports 6 years of income to be $10.1 million

Discussion: Ballot Box, Boston Globe and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Bloomberg:

Obama Probes Create Immigration Magic as Bill Advances — The trio of investigations causing headaches for President Barack Obama's administration has also provided a honeymoon period for the marquee element of his domestic agenda: revising immigration laws.

Yahoo! News: Watch the other hand: Immigration reform advances under cover of scandals

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:

Code Pink heckler interrupts Obama counterterror speech — President Obama's major counterterrorism speech was going well, his delivery smooth and strong on Thursday afternoon. — Then, with a shout from Medea Benjamin, a member of Code Pink, the whole thing got a bit bumpier.

Discussion: CNN, Yahoo! News and The Raw Story

The Atlantic Online:

Josh Barro, the Loneliest Republican — What to make of the 28-year-old columnist's contempt for the GOP—and its would-be reformers — A week had passed since the 2012 election when Josh Barro finally said the unsayable. The 28-year-old Bloomberg View columnist is—or, arguably, was …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and AEIdeas