memeorandum: Obama revamps his foreign policy baseball metaphor (Kevin Liptak/CNN)

9:40 AM ET, May 29, 2014

Top Items:

President Obama Misses a Chance on Foreign Affairs — President Obama and his aides heralded his commencement speech at the United States Military Academy at West Point on Wednesday as a big moment, when he would lay out his foreign policy vision for the remainder of his term and refute his critics.

Discussion: Politico, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Scared Monkeys and Washington Free Beacon

Nile Gardiner / The Hill:

Obama's empty foreign policy vision falls flat at West Point — It was billed as President Obama's comeback speech on foreign policy, a response to mounting criticism — both foreign and domestic — that his international leadership has been a failure. A “big picture” address …

Discussion: CNN

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Cheney: Obama ‘weakest’ president of my lifetime — Former Vice President Dick Cheney blasted President Obama as the weakest president of his lifetime on Wednesday, following the president's speech defending his foreign policy approach at the West Point commencement ceremony.

Kevin Liptak / CNN:

Obama revamps his foreign policy baseball metaphor — Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama is retooling the foreign policy metaphor that caused his critics to claim he was taking a passive stance abroad. — Instead of hitting singles and doubles, Obama now says he's focused on swinging at the right pitch.

Discussion: Power Line and Hit & Run

Kendall Breitman / Politico:

Dick Cheney: President Obama ‘very weak’ — Former Vice President Dick Cheney says President Barack Obama is the “weakest” president of his lifetime. — “I think the perception around the world is increasingly negative but I think the main focus is on our president,” Cheney said in an interview with FOX's “Hannity.”

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Obama Lays Siege to His Critics

Discussion: Guardian

David Hudson / White House.gov Blog:
“America Must Always Lead”: President Obama Addresses West Point Graduates

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, The Heritage Foundation and National Review

New York Times:
Transcript of President Obama's Commencement Address at West Point

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show and Althouse

Washington Post:
Full transcript of President Obama's commencement address at West Point

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, News Desk, The Week, Ricochet, Bloomberg View and National Review

Mark Landler / New York Times:
Obama Warns U.S. Faces Diffuse Terrorism Threats

Discussion: usma.edu, National Review, BizzyBlog, Washington Post, NewsBusters, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Power Line and American Power

Gregg Zoroya / USA Today:

VA investigators: Delayed care is everywhere — Delaying medical care to veterans and manipulating records to hide those delays is “systemic throughout” the Department of Veterans Affairs health system, the VA's Office of Inspector General said in a preliminary report Wednesday.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, KDVR.com, Hot Air, OnPolitics, The World's Greatest …, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Beast and Weekly Standard

Eric K. Shinseki / USA Today:

VA secretary: I'm committed to restoring integrity — IG findings are reprehensible, and we are not waiting to set things straight. — The findings of the interim report of VA's Office of Inspector General on the Phoenix VA Health Care System are reprehensible to me and to this department …

Discussion: Politico, CNN, The Daily Caller and Washington Post

Martin Matishak / The Hill:
Support for Shinseki crumbling

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Politico

New York Times:
Severe Report Finds V.A. Hid Waiting Lists at Hospitals

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show, Politico and Fox News

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:
Richard Burr: No apology to veterans' groups

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Andrew Dugan / Gallup:

Despite Enrollment Success, Healthcare Law Still Unpopular — Affordable Care Act is most popular among blacks, least among whites — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Although the Obama administration is boasting higher-than-expected enrollment for the Affordable Care Act, Americans' attitudes toward …

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite and Heritage Action for America

Lexington Herald-Leader:
Say again, Senator, ACA unkynected?

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Daily Kos, FatLip, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, WFPL, Washington Monthly and Liberal Values

Kickstarter:

Pledge $400 or more — LeVAR VOICEMAIL Package // Everything in the $200 package, plus LeVar will record a personalized VOICEMAIL message for your incoming calls! (More details under REWARDS.) — Estimated delivery: Dec 2014 — Add $20 USD to ship outside the US — Pledge $600 or more

Discussion: New York Magazine, CBS DC, Mashable, The Verge, KTXL FOX40, Mediaite, Washington Post, Gawker, The Week, Daily Dot, CBS Los Angeles and Jezebel

Jake Sherman / Politico:

John Boehner's friends plot tea party crackdown — They've given John Boehner constant headaches during his three years as speaker. — Now, Boehner's friends are trying to make sure that a small pocket of tea-party-aligned Republicans won't have a chance to derail his speakership next year.

John Harwood / New York Times:

Betting on a Brand When Politics Is the Family Business — Three business school professors recently set out to discover what accounts for regional differences in product choices by consumers. — Although about 60 percent of it had to do with regional sales and marketing …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Michelle Obama / New York Times:

Michelle Obama on Attempts to Roll Back Healthy Reforms — WHEN we began our Let's Move! initiative four years ago, we set one simple but ambitious goal: to end the epidemic of childhood obesity in a generation so that kids born today will grow up healthy. — To achieve this goal, we have adhered to one clear standard: what works.

Discussion: Althouse, Guardian, Bloomberg View and The Lonely Conservative

Tim Cavanaugh / National Review:

R.I.P., Maya Angelou, Proud Gun Owner and User — Poet, author and personality Maya Angelou has died at the age of 86. Angelou was found dead this morning at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C. No cause of death has been announced. — Angelou gained literary fame with her 1969 literary memoir …

Discussion: Fox News, his vorpal sword, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Guns.com, KDVR.com, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller and American Spectator

Seth Lipsky / New York Post:

A chance for an ally: Conservative rising in Britain — UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage — Well, well. Opportunity knocks — and with the broad smile of Nigel Farage, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party: The UKIP has stunned just about everyone by eclipsing both Labor …

Discussion: Power Line

Scott Bauer / Associated Press:

AP SOURCE: WALKER IN TALKS TO END CAMPAIGN PROBE — MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A person close to an investigation of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and other conservative groups said Wednesday that Walker's attorney is talking with the lead investigator about a possible settlement that would end the probe.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Jason Stein / JSOnline:
Conservatives stung by talk of John Doe settlement with Scott Walker

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Althouse, PR Watch, Watchdog.org and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Politico:

Hillary Clinton allies mobilize on Benghazi — A broad array of Democrats — including Hillary Clinton's allies — are meeting this week to hammer out a united front on national security issues, including a clear response to Republicans over the Benghazi controversy.

Discussion: Hot Air, CNN and The PJ Tatler