memeorandum: Rand Paul Calls Hussein's Ouster a ‘Mistake,’ and Qaddafi's a ‘Disaster’ (Maggie Haberman/New York Times)

12:20 PM ET, April 28, 2015

Top Items:

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic:

Nonviolence as Compliance — Rioting broke out on Monday in Baltimore—an angry response to the death of Freddie Gray, a death my native city seems powerless to explain. Gray did not die mysteriously in some back alley but in the custody of the city's publicly appointed guardians of order.

Tom Cleary / Heavy.com:

Freddie Gray Arrest Record, Criminal History & Rap Sheet — Freddie Gray, who died a week after suffering injuries while in Baltimore police custody, had a lengthy criminal record, mainly for drug-related offenses, according to state court records. Police claim he was “involved in criminal activity,” prior to his arrest.

Discussion: Vox, Hit & Run, Featured Articles, NBC News, Right, Yahoo Politics, Baltimore Sun and The Verge

David Simon:

Baltimore — First things first. — Yes, there is a lot to be argued, debated, addressed. And this moment, as inevitable as it has sometimes seemed, can still, in the end, prove transformational, if not redemptive for our city. Changes are necessary and voices need to be heard.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Poynter., Daily Kos, Raw Story, CNN, The Daily Caller and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Ted Berg / USA Today:

Orioles COO John Angelos offers eye-opening perspective on Baltimore protests — Demonstrators destroy the windshield of a Baltimore Police car as they protest the death Freddie Gray. (Photo via Jim Watson/Getty Images) — After protests in Baltimore over the death of Freddie Gray turned violent …

Discussion: Corrente, CNN, Mediaite, Hullabaloo, Taylor Marsh, Fox News, The Nation, Business Insider, ThinkProgress and CANNONFIRE

Jelani Cobb / New Yorker:

Baltimore and the State of American Cities — Six weeks ago, before Baltimore had become the latest venue for outrage over the killing of black men by the police, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake delivered her annual State of the City address. Rawlings-Blake, who served previously as the chair …

Scott Dance / Baltimore Sun:
Riots erupt across West Baltimore, downtown

David McCabe / The Hill:
Lynch: Justice Dept. officials will go to Baltimore

Discussion: Politico and Instapundit

ABC News:
Obama Pledges Help for Baltimore Riots After Gray Funeral

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, The Hill, Bloomberg Business and Associated Press

Jeffrey Toobin / CNN:

The lawyers arguing the same-sex marriage case before SCOTUS 4 photos — Mary Bonauto, GLAD's civil rights project director, will argue that states shouldn't be able to ban same-sex marriages. — Hide Caption 3 of 4 — John Bursch, Michigan's former solicitor general …

Discussion: Business Insider, Washington Post and Althouse

Lydia Wheeler / The Hill:

SCOTUS steps into marriage crossfire — Passions are running high ahead of the Supreme Court's oral arguments on gay marriage, with religious leaders pleading for the justices to steer clear of a ruling that could legalize the unions nationwide. — Faith2Action President Janet Porter …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Nate Cohn / New York Times:
Why a Ruling for Same-Sex Marriage Would Help Republicans

Discussion: The Atlantic and Booman Tribune

Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Gay Marriage Arguments Divide Supreme Court Justices

Discussion: The Week

Joseph Landau / New York Times:
Why Chief Justice John Roberts Might Support Gay Marriage

Discussion: Bloomberg View, Los Angeles Times, ACS Blog and ThinkProgress

Devin Henry / The Hill:

Work begins on nation's first offshore wind farm — Rhode Island lawmakers celebrated the start of construction on the nation's first offshore wind farm Monday. — State lawmakers and members of Congress attended a ground-breaking of sorts for Deepwater Wind's project at Block Island …

Discussion: providencejournal.com

Katie Valentine / ThinkProgress:
First Offshore Wind Farm In The U.S. Kicks Off Construction

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:

2% Inflation Rate Target Is Questioned as Fed Policy Panel Prepares to Meet — WASHINGTON — The cardinal rule of central banking, in the United States and in most other advanced industrial nations, is that annual inflation should run around 2 percent. — But as the Federal Reserve prepares …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Patterico's Pontifications

Niall Stanage / The Hill:

GOP's open season on Clinton — Democrats are quickly learning the perils of having a de facto presidential nominee in Hillary Clinton. — With the controversy around donations to her family's charitable foundation growing, Democrats are bracing for more attacks on the former secretary of State …

Zach C. Cohen / National Journal:
Here Are All Seven Media Questions Hillary Clinton Has Answered During Her Campaign

Discussion: Vox, Hot Air, Politico, Fox News and Mediaite

Karyn Polewaczyk / Jezebel:

Woman Uncovers Two-Way Mirror in a Bar Bathroom; Owner Says It'll Stay — Tonight a reader tipped us off to a video posted by comic Tamale Rocks, who uncovered a two-way mirror in the women's bathroom at Chicago bar Cigars and Stripes. — Here's the video, which shows the stall …

Discussion: Raw Story, Chicagoist, now.snopes.com, WGN-TV, New York's PIX11, The Daily Caller and BarbWire.com

Evan Bleier For / Daily Mail:

The no-nonsense Vietnam vet who stepped in front of the police line and shamed Baltimore rioters into going home — That's how Vietnam veteran Robert Valentine identified himself after he stood up to young rioters in Baltimore and shamed them for how they were behaving in the wake of Freddie Gray's death.

Discussion: FreakOutNation, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The PJ Tatler

Tim Hanrahan / Wall Street Journal:

Live Blog: Gay Marriage Arguments at Supreme Court Tuesday — Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

Ryan Knutson / Wall Street Journal:

Regulators May Reject Dish Entities' Spectrum Discount Claims — FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler told the commission's staff to study the spectrum auction applications of the entities closely — The Federal Communications Commission may reject Dish Network Corp. 's attempt to benefit from billions …

Discussion: The Hill and Washington Free Beacon

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Rand Paul Calls Hussein's Ouster a ‘Mistake,’ and Qaddafi's a ‘Disaster’ — Senator Rand Paul visited the headquarters of Torah Umesorah, the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, in Brooklyn on Monday.Credit: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times — For some time, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky …

Discussion: The New York Observer, Fox News, Political Wire, Washington Times and The Week

Sean Kelly / OpposingViews.com:

Teen Pleads With School, Students To Stop Bullying Her (Video) — 1.4 K — A Michigan teen posted a heartbreaking video to YouTube, begging her school and fellow students to stop bullying her and allowing the cruel behavior to continue. — Dana Hamrick, a 16-year-old student …

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Joe Pinsker / The Atlantic:

To the Media, ‘Black’ Is Too Often Shorthand for ‘Poor’ — What does poverty look like in America? — Judging by how it's portrayed in the media, it looks black. — That's the conclusion of a new study by Bas W. van Doorn, a professor of political science at the College of Wooster …

Discussion: FishbowlDC

Matt Hamilton / Los Angeles Times:

Bumble Bee Foods, 2 others charged after employee died in pressure cooker — Bumble Bee Foods and two of the tuna company's employees were charged Monday with willfully ignoring safety rules, leading to a plant worker burning to death inside an industrial pressure cooker in 2012, prosecutors said.

Discussion: now.snopes.com and Raw Story

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

As Baltimore Burns, O'Malley Speaks Out, Hillary Tweets About Bumper Stickers — Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland and possible Democratic presidential candidate, is speaking out on the violence in Baltimore. O'Malley's rival, Hillary Clinton, is not.

Discussion: Althouse

Baltimore Sun:

Baltimore rioting kicked off with rumors of ‘purge’ — It started Monday morning with word on social media of a “purge” — a reference to a movie in which crime is made legal. It was to begin at 3 p.m. at Mondawmin Mall, then venture down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Inner Harbor.

Discussion: Business Insider

Hmarr / The Office of Governor Lawrence J. Hogan, Jr.:

Governor Larry Hogan Signs Executive Order Declaring State Of Emergency, Activating National Guard — ANNAPOLIS, MD - Governor Larry Hogan today, at the request of Baltimore City, has signed an Executive Order declaring a state of emergency and activating the National Guard to address the growing violence and unrest in Baltimore City.