memeorandum: Abramson to Replace Keller as The Times's Executive Editor (Jeremy W. Peters/New York Times)

6:05 PM ET, June 2, 2011

Top Items:

First Read / msnbc.com:

Palin fires shot at Romney at Bunker Hill — By NBC's Shawna Thomas, Alex Moe, and Mark Murray — In remarks made at Bunker Hill in Massachusetts — of all places — Sarah Palin fired a shot at Mitt Romney over the health-care mandate that Romney signed into law in the state in 2006.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Political Carnival, The Hill, Conservatives4Palin, Maggie's Notebook, Associated Press, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Dish, Fox Nation and Public Policy Polling

Joshua Green / The Atlantic Online:

Why Going Rogue Won't Work — Sarah Palin is dominating the political conversation. But if she really wants to be president, she's going about it all wrong. — Even before donning biker leather and mounting a Harley-Davidson for a motorcycle rally in Washington last weekend …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Someday, Romney will pick a persona and stick with it — Any minute now, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will stand on a New Hampshire stage and launch his second presidential campaign, following a third-place finish in 2008. He'll have a hard-hitting message to share, which we certainly haven't heard from Romney before.

Discussion: msnbc.com and Prairie Weather

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Romney, Palin lead the way

Discussion: GOP 12, Ben Smith's Blog, Barefoot and Progressive and Conservatives4Palin

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Palin attacks Romney's record on his announcement day

Discussion: Associated Press, ABCNEWS, Washington Monthly, The Note, AmSpecBlog and ThinkProgress

The Note:
Mitt Romney Targeted by Joe Miller's Tea Party Group

Discussion: Daily Kos

James Oliphant / Los Angeles Times:
Sarah Palin to collide with Mitt Romney rollout in New Hampshire

Discussion: The Politico, Reuters, Daily Kos and No More Mister Nice Blog

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Mitt Romney's strange counting of pages to distinguish ‘Romneycare’ from ‘Obamacare’

Discussion: ThinkProgress and americanthinker.com

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Romney will say Obama ‘has failed America’ in 2012 launch speech

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, CNN, The Note, PERRspectives, ABCNEWS, ThinkProgress, The Politico, New York Post, Connecting.the.Dots, Pat Dollard, Taylor Marsh and unionleader.com

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Romney Makes His Run for President Official

Discussion: Boston Globe, Wonkette, Pajamas Media, Guardian and The Washington Independent

Mike Murphy / Swampland: The Great New Hampshire Heist

The Smoking Gun:

The Wolfe At Anthony Weiner's Front Door — Paranoid Twitter mystery man fears pol's “Clinton connections” … The prescient Twitter provocateur who, weeks ago, somehow divined that a lewd photo scandal was looming for Rep. Anthony Weiner claims he is fearful that his leading role in …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, minx.cc, The Other McCain, Little Green Footballs, Joe Report, Joe. My. God., Simply Left BehindThe … and CANNONFIRE

Justin Elliott / Salon:

Embarrassing emails from Weiner tweeter leaked — Did Andrew Breitbart leak embarrassing personal emails sent to him by the mystery Twitter user at the center of the Anthony Weiner crotch shot scandal? Possibly. — This gets in the weeds of the Weiner saga, but it could help shed light …

Discussion: Gawker, Slate Magazine and The Daily Caller

CBS News: Probe could give Weiner more headaches: expert

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
GOP's Cantor urges Weiner to ‘come clean’ on controversy

Discussion: The Maddow Blog and Weasel Zippers

Emily Miller / Washington Times:
(AUDIO) MILLER: Anthony Weiner's lewd jokes

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ, The Sundries Shack, National Review, Founding Bloggers, The Daily Caller and The Powers That Be

Juli Weiner / Vanity Fair:
On Having the Last Name Weiner, an Open Letter to Anthony Weiner

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Beast, Swampland, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine and Politics

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:

Employment Data May Be the Key to the President's Job — WASHINGTON — No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent. — Seventeen months before the next election, it is increasingly clear …

Discussion: Liberty Street Economics, Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, ThinkProgress, Salon, The Nation, Washington Post, Pirate's Cove, The Confluence, JustOneMinute, Free exchange, msnbc.com, The Daily Dish, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Associated Press and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Nile Gardiner / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:

Why Barack Obama may be heading for electoral disaster in 2012 — On a recent visit to London I was struck by how much faith many British politicians, journalists and political advisers have in Barack Obama being re-elected in 2012. In the aftermath of the hugely successful Special Forces operation …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, UrbanGrounds, Nice Deb, New York Magazine, Wake up America, Left Coast Rebel, Pajamas Media, Adrienne's Corner, Rasmussen Reports and White House Dossier

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Presidents, unemployment rates, and context

Discussion: Rooted Cosmopolitan, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post and The Glittering Eye

Ginger Gibson / New Jersey Online:

Gov. Christie reimburses N.J. for use of state helicopter to attend son's baseball games — TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie and the state Republican Party will repay the state for two trips on a State Police helicopter to get to his son's baseball games. — The most recent ride, on Tuesday …

Discussion: The Politico and Gawker

Marie Diamond / ThinkProgress:

Gov. Christie Thinks A Family Making $6,000 A Year Is Too Rich To Qualify For Medicaid — Despite recent polls that show Americans are just as protective of Medicaid as they are of Medicare, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is trying to gut the popular program in his state and prevent 23,000 people from receiving benefits.

New Jersey Online:
Christie refuses to reimburse N.J. for traveling by helicopter to see son's baseball game

Discussion: The Star-Ledger Editorial Page, USA Today, CBS New York, WyBlog, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, The Political Carnival and AMERICAblog News

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Gov. Christie reimburses state for helicopter ride to baseball game

Discussion: The Politico and New Jersey Online

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Abramson to Replace Keller as The Times's Executive Editor — Jill Abramson, a former investigative reporter and Washington bureau chief for The New York Times, will become the paper's executive editor, succeeding Bill Keller, who is stepping down to become a full-time writer for the paper.

Discussion: Don Surber, Felix Salmon, Mashable!, The Politico, The Daily Caller, Guardian, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Runnin' Scared, Pajamas Media, National Review, americanthinker.com, Althouse, Feministing and TalkLeft, more at Mediagazer »

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

Exclusive: Glenn Beck's Last Day On Fox News Will Be June 30th — Mediaite has learned that Glenn Beck's last day on Fox News is currently scheduled to be June 30th. Fox News has confirmed this information to Mediaite. — In the past month, ratings for Beck's ratings saw a double digit decline …

Discussion: Gawker, The Political Carnival, Don Surber and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Russell Berman / The Hill:

GOP bill disapproving Libya mission gains steam in the House — A House Republican is gathering fast support for a resolution expressing disapproval of the U.S. military intervention in Libya, raising the possibility of a rare congressional rebuke of President Obama on foreign policy.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

John Bresnahan / The Politico:
GOP drafts alternative Libya resolution

Discussion: Washington Post, CNN, The Note, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, Eunomia, Booman Tribune and Reuters

Moody's:

Announcement: Moody's Updates on Rating Implications of US Debt Limit, Long-Term Budget Negotiations — CREDIT RATINGS ARE MOODY'S INVESTORS SERVICE, INC.'S ("MIS") CURRENT OPINIONS OF THE RELATIVE FUTURE CREDIT RISK OF ENTITIES, CREDIT COMMITMENTS, OR DEBT OR DEBT-LIKE SECURITIES.

Discussion: Washington Post, TPMDC and Political Punch

The Note:
Moody's Will Review U.S. Credit Rating if No Debt Limit Progress in the Coming Weeks

Discussion: National Review and Pajamas Media

Carolyn Hax / Washington Post:

Listen up, fellas: Naked man-parts? Not so sexy. — A general note for men: — Over the weekend, it was revealed that Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), or someone pretending to be Weiner, allegedly sent a photo of his bulging briefs to one of his Twitter followers.

Discussion: Feministe and Moe Lane

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

The Lame Justification For Debt Ceiling Hostage-Taking — John Taylor, the Hoover Institute economist who always supports the Republican position, has an op-ed in today's Wall Street Journal supporting the Republican position on the debt ceiling. How could an economist justify a policy …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Washington Monthly

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Making the hostage strategy explicit

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Sky Dancing

Townhall.com:

Steve Breen Political Cartoons — Townhall Cartoons Steve Breen — Stephen Paul Breen (born April 26, 1970 in Los Angeles, California) is a nationally syndicated cartoonist. He twice won the Pulitzer Prize, in 1998 and 2009. — He graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 1988 …

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com

James Gilbert / Yuma Daily Sun:

Suspect in multiple shootings is dead, police say — Updated 1:08 p.m. - The suspect in a series of shootings around Yuma County is dead, police said. Carey Hal Dyess, 73, of Yuma, apparently shot and killed one person in Yuma and three people in Yuma County before shooting himself …

Discussion: New York Times, Arizona Republic, msnbc.com and Confederate Yankee

CBS Baltimore:

MTA Officers Detain Man For Taking Pictures — BALTIMORE (WJZ) — The Maryland Transit Administration says more training may be called for after three MTA officers detained a man for taking pictures at a light rail station. — Pat Warren has more on the incident.

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:

O'Donnell: FEC complaint dismissed — Former Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell says the Federal Elections Commission has dropped a campaign finance complaint filed against her last year by the state's Republican Party. — O'Donnell's attorney, Cleta Mitchell …

Discussion: National Review and Joe. My. God.

Mike Carter / Seattle Times:

Judge refuses to toss out lawsuit over gay softball — A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three men who claim they were disqualified from the 2008 Gay Softball World Series near Seattle for not being gay enough. — The men, members of a San Francisco softball team …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Simply Left BehindThe …

David Rogers / The Politico:

GOP plan slashes renewable energy — House Republicans unveiled a scaled-back $30.6 billion energy and water budget Wednesday that makes deep cuts from energy efficiency and renewable energy programs while trying to stabilize science and defense investments within tighter spending caps.

Discussion: ThinkProgress