memeorandum: Fire and Imagination — The Obama administration seems to be feeling sorry for itself. (Bob Herbert/New York Times)

1:40 PM ET, August 14, 2010

Top Items:

At Ramadan Iftar dinner, Obama supports new mosque on private property near Ground Zero — Text of President Obama's remarks at the White House Iftar dinner on Ramadan — Good evening. Welcome to the White House. To you, to Muslim Americans across our country, and to more than one …

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Obama Strongly Backs Islam Center Near 9/11 Site — WASHINGTON — President Obama delivered a strong defense on Friday night of a proposed Muslim community center and mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, using a White House dinner celebrating Ramadan to proclaim that “as a citizen …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Guardian, ABCNEWS, Ben Smith's Blog, FiveThirtyEight, The Impolitic, No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside the Beltway, The New Republic, The Washington Note, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Gawker and The Page

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Obama defends “Ground Zero mosque” — (updated below) — This is one of the most impressive and commendable things Obama has done since being inaugurated: … What makes this particularly commendable is there is virtually no political gain to be had from doing it, and substantial political risk.

Discussion: Politics Daily, News Hounds, Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, Unqualified Offerings, The Hill, Swampland and AMERICAblog News

Associated Press:

Obama Comes Out in Favor of Allowing Mosque Near Ground Zero — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Friday forcefully endorsed building a mosque near ground zero, saying the country's founding principles demanded no less. — “As a citizen, and as president, I believe that Muslims …

Discussion: Associated Press, The Last Tradition, Scared Monkeys, HazZzMat, The Jawa Report, No Sheeples Here, Weasel Zippers, Sister Toldjah, The Right Scoop and Jihad Watch

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

No, Mr. President — Penetrating commentary on President Obama's remarks last night on Islam, 9/11, and Ground Zero is already available. — The lawyers at Powerline dissect Obama's high-flown rhetoric: “a classic of brain-dead multiculturalism,” “the ultimate destination of multiculturalism is platitudinous stupidity.”

Discussion: Coalition to Honor Ground Zero, Power Line and Wake up America

Andy McCarthy / National Review:

9/11 Families Stunned by President's Support of Mosque at Ground Zero — Here's the statement issued by Debra Burlingame, the co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America: — Barack Obama has abandoned America at the place where America's heart was broken nine years ago …

Fox News:

Obama's Support for Ground Zero Mosque Draws Fire — President Obama is under fire after jumping into the middle of a cultural clash Friday night in favor of building a mosque near ground zero, a stance that has elevated the contentious issue to the presidential level ahead of a difficult election season for Democrats.

Discussion: Think Progress, Mediaite, New York Times and Jihad Watch

Mike Allen / The Politico:

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? Obama strongly backs ‘Ground Zero’ mosque - Michael Gerson agrees - GOP aide: ‘will drive Middle America crazy’ - W.H. official: ‘inconvenient,’ but Obama wouldn't duck it — E-MAIL FROM AUTUMN: The beautiful and perfect Allie Ross Thomas was born at Sibley Hospital yesterday …

Discussion: The Plum Line and The Page

Abby Phillip / The Politico:
Obama defends Ground Zero mosque

Discussion: Don Surber, Washington Wire, Power Line and New York Magazine

Wall Street Journal:
Obama Defends Plan for Mosque Near Ground Zero

Discussion: Washington Wire, Christian Science Monitor, Washington Post, Doug Ross, Weekly Standard, Say Anything and Althouse

Allahpundit / Hot Air: Obama on the Ground Zero mosque: Sounds like a plan

Washington Post:
At Ramadan dinner, Obama defends plans for Ground Zero mosque

Discussion: Creeping Sharia

Jennifer Rubin / Commentary:
Obama Sides with Ground Zero Mosque Builders vs. Americans

Discussion: alicublog and Zandar Versus The Stupid

Washington Post:
Obama's remarks about Ground Zero mosque: The transcript

Discussion: Think Progress, RedState, Power Line, Conservatives4Palin.com and Michelle Malkin

Los Angeles Times:
Obama supports plan for mosque near ground zero

Discussion: Freedom's Lighthouse, Rumproast, Right Pundits and NewsReal Blog

msnbc.com:
Obama defends plans for mosque near ground zero

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, The Last Tradition, Red Dog Report, Big Peace, Gates of Vienna, Wizbang, Riehl World View, Mediaite and Pajamas Media

Ed Driscoll / Pajamas Media:
‘Obama Defends Ground Zero Mosque Plans’

Discussion: Maggie's Farm, Riehl World View, The Other McCain, YID With LID, Atlas Shrugs, Questions and Observations and NewsReal Blog

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Obama backs Manhattan mosque

Discussion: Think Progress

Priya Ganapati / Gadget Lab:

Man Scrawls World's Biggest Message With GPS ‘Pen’ — One man drove 12,238 miles across 30 states to scrawl a message that can only be viewed using Google Earth. His big shoutout: “Read Ayn Rand.” — Nick Newcomen did a road trip over 30 days that covered stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.

Discussion: theblogprof, Lean Left, Hullabaloo, Hit & Run, Wonkette and The New Republic

Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:

American Socialists Release Names of 70 Congressional Democrats in Their Ranks — The Socialist Party of America announced in their October 2009 newsletter that 70 Congressional democrats currently belong to their caucus. — This admission was recently posted on Scribd.com:

Discussion: Wizbang, Nice Deb and Freedom's Lighthouse

Lymari Morales / Gallup:

In U.S., Confidence in Newspapers, TV News Remains a Rarity — No more than 25% say they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in either — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans continue to express near-record-low confidence in newspapers and television news — with no more than 25% …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Gateway Pundit, Don Surber, Right View from the Left Coast, The Other McCain, JammieWearingFool, Pajamas Media and American Power

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
U.S. Approval of Labor Unions Remains Near Record Low

Discussion: Publius Forum and The New Republic

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

WaPo Columnist Ruth Marcus Calls Left, Blogosphere ‘Deranged’ — During an appearance on Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie's Daily Rundown, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus may have one-upped Robert Gibbs' “Professional Left” comments. Having already written a column agreeing with Gibbs …

Discussion: Red Dog Report, PostPartisan, NewsReal Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Madeline Brooks / Pajamas Media:

Terror Ties: Ground Zero Imam Attended Hizb-ut Tahrir Conference — The Marxist-Leninist/Islamist terror group has been banned in Germany, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Saudi Arabia. — In an earlier piece for Pajamas Media, I wrote about how the imam behind …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Riehl World View

Jeff Dunetz / YID With LID:

“WAR” Breaks Out at Civil Rights Commission Meeting Re: Black Panther Case Follow-up — The US Commission of Civil Rights investigation of a possible Justice Department cover-up relating to the New Black Panther voter intimidation case is heating up big time.

Discussion: FoxNews.com, Breitbart.tv, Riehl World View and POWIP

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:

Conservative Bloggers Select The 25 Worst Figures In American History — Out of all the gangsters, serial killers, mass murderers, incompetent & crooked politicians, spies, traitors, and ultra left-wing kooks in all of American history — have you ever wondered who the worst of the worst was?