memeorandum: Unwelcome mat: White House tries to counter Netanyahu visit (Associated Press)

1:05 PM ET, February 21, 2015

Top Items:

Celeste Katz / NY Daily News:

Rudy Giuliani clarifies Obama comments by claiming the President has been influenced by communism, socialism — Trying to explain his controversial comments that President Obama doesn't love America, Rudy Giuliani said Friday that he believes the President has been influenced by communism and socialism.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CANNONFIRE and Hinterland Gazette

Joe Raedle / National Review:

Rudy Is Right — Barack Obama doesn't even like America. — Rudy Giuliani is in the stocks for saying that he does not believe that President Barack Obama “loves America.” He said this at a small, private dinner for Scott Walker, who probably will not be inviting Giuliani to very many events in the near future.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Viking Pundit, Instapundit, BREITBART.COM, Associated Press, Hot Air, American Thinker, Ed Driscoll, Wall Street Journal and Mediaite

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Scott Walker's cowardice should disqualify him — What Rudy Giuliani did this week was stupid. — What Scott Walker did ought to disqualify him as a serious presidential contender. — Dana Milbank writes about political theater in the nation's capital. He joined the Post as a political reporter in 2000.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Althouse, Patterico's Pontifications, RedState, New York Times, Washington Free Beacon, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, American Spectator and Slate

Cesar Vargas / The Hill:

Mr. President, don't back down on immigration — This week, a federal judge in Texas issued an injunction preventing the implementation of immigration programs that would provide deportation relief to Dreamers and parents of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.

Discussion: FOX News Radio, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Immigration Impact

The Huffington Post:

Two House Bills Would End Federal Prohibition Of Marijuana — Two congressmen filed separate House bills on Friday that together would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana at the federal level, effectively ending the U.S. government's decadeslong prohibition of the plant.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D. / C-FAM:

Obama Tells Faith-Based Groups they Must Refer Refugee Children for Abortions — NEW YORK, February 20 (C-Fam) The Obama administration is getting ready to issue new rules requiring charities to provide abortions to child refugees entering the US without their parents.

Discussion: RedState and The Gateway Pundit

Reuters:

Yemen's former leader flees to Aden — (Reuters) - Yemen's former president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi escaped weeks of house arrest by the Houthi militia at his official residence on Saturday and fled to his home town of Aden, sources close to him said. — He will make a speech later on Saturday …

Discussion: The Week and Booman Tribune

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Hillary Clinton Begins Process of Vetting — Herself — Hillary Rodham Clinton, the subject of intense news media attention and public scrutiny for the last three decades, is preparing for another thorough vetting as she plans for a likely presidential campaign.

Patrick Marley / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Female inmate in Wisconsin ordered to do jumping jacks during strip search — MADISON, WIS. — Corrections officials forced a female inmate to perform naked jumping jacks last year because they believed - wrongly - she had hidden a bottle of urine in her vagina so she could falsify a drug test.

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Fox News:

Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points Memo 2/20/15 Airing Tonight at 8PM ET — O'REILLY FACTOR TALKING POINTS MEMO — Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly ... thanks for watching us tonight ... more proof the American media is corrupt. — That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points memo.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Mediaite, Raw Story, The Huffington Post, TVNewser, Politico and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Julie Zauzmer / Washington Post:

Defendant allegedly asked about hit man to kill child witnesses — A former Falls Church Democratic Party chairman, charged with molesting two young girls, talked about hiring a hit man to kill them before they could be witnesses at his March 4 trial, according to court documents.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Ian Livingston / Washington Post:

120-year-old record low broken in D.C., one of many today and in the past week — We talk about record highs a lot in Washington, but the recently unfathomable was accomplished this morning. We broke a record low. — A temperature of 5 degrees was enough to smash a 120-year-old record for the date …

Discussion: Gothamist