memeorandum: How A Public Corruption Scandal Became A Fight Over Free Speech (Nina Totenberg/NPR)

11:10 PM ET, April 28, 2014

Top Items:

Donald Sterling Is a Registered Republican — Does it really matter whether racist LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling is a registered Democrat? Or a Republican? Or a member of the Pirate Party of Russia? — Well, according to multiple conservative media outlets, yes, it does matter.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, American Power, Washington Post, NewsBusters, Mediaite, PoliticusUSA, Little Green Footballs, BobCesca.com, Hinterland Gazette, Hit & Run, BuzzFeed, The Week, Liberaland, The Raw Story, Rush Limbaugh, Balloon Juice, The Daily Caller and Politico

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar / TIME:

Welcome to the Finger-Wagging Olympics — It's time to look at ourselves — and our collective moral outrage — in the mirror, says former NBA player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. — Moral outrage is exhausting. And dangerous. The whole country has gotten a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Taylor Marsh, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, USA Today, Althouse and Sporting News Feed RSS

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Places Blame On Sterling's Girlfriend For ‘Cajoling’ Him Into Racist Comments — Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar suggested on Monday that Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling's racist rant is at least partially his girlfriend's fault.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Conservatives Called Him A Democrat, But Sterling Is Registered Republican — Over the weekend, while nation-wide attention was focused on the racist comments reportedly made by Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, some conservative commentators were focused on something else: Sterling's party affiliation.

Discussion: Reuters, BobCesca.com, Joe For America, The PJ Tatler, The Mahablog, Washington Post and The Raw Story

Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:
Donald Sterling and the Neverending Fantasy of ‘Democrat’ Racism

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, NewsBusters, PoliticusUSA, Politico, Althouse and Balloon Juice

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:
Donald Trump on Donald Sterling comments: ‘The girlfriend from hell’

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Mediaite and CBSSports.com

Dylan Byers / Politico:

John Kerry's private remarks allegedly taped by Daily Beast reporter — Secretary of State John Kerry's private remarks to a meeting of influential world leaders last week were allegedly taped by a reporter from The Daily Beast, a fact that led to a personal apology from Trilateral Commission chairman Joseph S. Nye on Monday.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and Taylor Marsh

Josh Rogin / The Daily Beast:

Exclusive: Kerry Warns Israel Could Become ‘An Apartheid State’ — The secretary of state said that if Israel doesn't make peace soon, it could become ‘an apartheid state,’ like the old South Africa. Jewish leaders are fuming over the comparison. — If there's no two-state solution …

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:

Barbara Boxer: John Kerry apartheid critique ‘ridiculous’ — Sen. Barbara Boxer took an apparent swipe at Secretary of State John Kerry, saying on Twitter that any statement comparing Israel to apartheid “is nonsensical and ridiculous.” — While Boxer didn't mention Kerry by name …

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Ted Cruz: John Kerry should step down

Discussion: RealClearPolitics Video Log, Hot Air, Mediaite, Business Insider, The Heritage Foundation and The PJ Tatler

Michael Wilner / Jerusalem Post:
US State Department does not deny Kerry's Israel ‘apartheid’ warning

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Rod Dreher / The American Conservative:

The Sacrilegious Sarah Palin — Man, the 12 minute speech Sarah Palin gave to the NRA convention is awful. It's just witless, red-meat blathering, delivered in that nasal whine of hers that makes it sound like she's chewing wads of tinfoil. For people who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing they like.

Discussion: The Dish, The Gospel Coalition Blog, National Review, Hit & Run, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Reaction, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, The Federalist, Roger Ailes, The Raw Story, The Huffington Post, Joe For America, The Reality-Based Community and The Hill

Patrick Brennan / National Review:

Sarah Palin's Barbarism — It's been no secret for a while that Sarah Palin, erstwhile vice-president candidate, is no longer a serious political contender — for evidence of that transition, note that even among her faithful, at CPAC this year, she got just 2 percent of the vote in the straw poll, tied with Condoleezza Rice.

Discussion: The Dish and Washington Post

Robert Costa / Washington Post:
Sarah Palin soldiers on as a diminished figure in the Republican Party

Discussion: The Week, PoliticusUSA and Taylor Marsh

Zoe Szathmary / Daily Mail:
Sarah Palin tells NRA conference waterboarding is ‘baptism for terrorists’

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, CBS News, BobCesca.com and The Raw Story

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Fox News Tries And Fails To Get Any Details About The GOP's Obamacare Replacement — Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) struggled to articulate a credible GOP alternative to the Affordable Care Act during an appearance on Fox News Monday morning, promising only to replace President Obama's health care reform with …

Discussion: Daily Kos and New York Times

Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:
Sorry Democrats, Obamacare is still electoral kryptonite

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Heritage Foundation, AEIdeas, The Huffington Post and Real Clear Politics

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Obamacare's Poll Numbers Improve In Republican Districts

Discussion: Daily Kos, Capitol Report, Washington Post and Mediaite

Manu Raju / Politico:

Police investigating Cliven Bundy-related threats to Harry Reid — Federal law enforcement officials are investigating threats made against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in the aftermath of his sharp-edged attacks against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, sources said Monday.

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Howie Kurtz Turns On His Network Fox News For Its Silence On Bundy's Racist Comments (VIDEO)

Discussion: Mediaite

The White House:

Statement by the Press Secretary on Ukraine — The United States has taken further action today in response to Russia's continued illegal intervention in Ukraine and provocative acts that undermine Ukraine's democracy and threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Post, Bloomberg View, Mediaite, Fox News, The Daily Caller and The Week

U.S. Department of the Treasury:
Announcement Of Additional Treasury Sanctions On Russian Government Officials And Entities

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Taylor Marsh, The Moderate Voice, Hinterland Gazette and Mashable

Reuters:
U.S. sanctions more Russians over Ukraine

Discussion: Forbes, Daily Kos, VodkaPundit, New York Times and The Dish

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / USA Today:

Politics don't belong in science fiction: Column — A writer shouldn't be punished for his political beliefs. — There was a time when science fiction was a place to explore new ideas, free of the conventional wisdom of staid, “mundane” society, a place where speculation replaced group think …

Discussion: Liberal Values, Roger Ailes, his vorpal sword, Ed Driscoll, Vox Popoli and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Aaron Katersky / ABC News:

FBI Arrests and Rips Rep. Michael Grimm, an Ex-FBI Agent — The FBI arrested New York Congressman Michael Grimm — a former FBI agent — on fraud and perjury charges today and then ripped into him for dishonoring the FBI code. — Grimm, a Republican from New York City's borough of Staten Island, surrendered to the FBI this morning.

Discussion: Politico

Politico:
Michael Grimm: 'I'm a moral man'

Discussion: Gothamist, Business Insider and The Week

Colin Campbell / The New York Observer:
‘I Have an Election to Win’: Michael Grimm to Continue Campaign Despite Indictment

Discussion: Business Insider

The News Star:

32 a.m.: Fifth District U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister won't seek re-election this fall but will complete his term. — As first reported at thenewsstar.com, McAllister, R-Swartz, said he and his wife Kelly made the final decision Monday morning. The couple is flying to Washington, D.C. together today as Congress goes back into session.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, New York Times, Washington Examiner and The Raw Story

Vance McAllister / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Vance McAllister won't seek reelection, The News-Star reports

Discussion: Liberaland, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite and Roll Call

Politico:

Wall Street Republicans' dark secret: Hillary Clinton 2016 — NEW YORK — The biggest parlor game on Wall Street and in corporate boardrooms these days is guessing whether former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will run for president and save the GOP's old establishment base from its rising populist wing.

Discussion: neo-neocon, Washington Examiner, PoliticusUSA, protein wisdom, TruthRevolt.org, Booman Tribune, Liberaland, Taylor Marsh, The Week, Capitol Report and Washington Post

Hayley Tsukayama / Washington Post:

Google removes “deceptive” pregnancy center ads — Google is removing Web search ads for some “crisis pregnancy centers,” after an investigation by NARAL Pro-Choice America found evidence that the ads violate Google's policy against deceptive advertising. — “We have no problem …

Discussion: LifeNews.com, TruthRevolt.org, Feministing, The Daily Caller and ThinkProgress

Patrick Howley / The Daily Caller:

Boehner Tea Party Challenger Fired Over Anti-Boehner Ad — House Speaker John Boehner's tea party primary challenger J.D. Winteregg has been fired from his position as adjunct professor at Cedarville University in Ohio due to his recent viral web ad accusing Boehner of “Electile Dysfunction,” The Daily Caller has learned exclusively.

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air and The Right Scoop