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1:25 PM ET, April 17, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Wall Street Journal:
The President Ties His Own Hands on Terror  —  The point of interrogation is intelligence, not confession.  —  The Obama administration has declassified and released opinions of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) given in 2005 and earlier that analyze the legality …
RELATED:
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
“On a bright, sunny, safe day in April 2009.”  —  It wasn't really a surprise that President Obama sided with leftist lawyers in his Justice Department and released, over the objections of the intelligence community, four Office of Legal Counsel memos that concluded certain interrogation techniques used …
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The significance of Obama's decision to release the torture memos  —  (updated below)  —  Numerous commentators are objecting to the idea that Barack Obama deserves credit for his release of the OLC torture memos yesterday in light of his accompanying pledge that CIA officials relying in good faith on those memos won't be prosecuted.
Melinda Henneberger / AOL News:
Palin Says She Considered Abortion  —  In her first out-of-state political appearance since last fall's presidential election, former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin confided to 3,000 at a right-to-life event here that she had “just for a fleeting moment” contemplated seeking …
RELATED:
Kate Snow / ABCNEWS:
Sarah Palin: I Had to ‘Walk the Walk’  —  At Anti-Abortion Rights Event, Gov. Palin Gets Personal About her Last Pregnancy  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin doesn't get out much.  Out of Alaska that is.  —  Last night, on her second trip outside the state this year, Palin reflected a bit …
Wall Street Journal:
Veterans a Focus of FBI Extremist Probe  —  WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year launched a nationwide operation targeting white supremacists and “militia/sovereign-citizen extremist groups,” including a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan …
RELATED:
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Role of Bush NSA Plan Under Review
Discussion: New York Times
David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:
Pat Robertson urges his callers to crash Homeland Security hotline
Discussion: CBN.com
Jazz Shaw / The Moderate Voice:   Obama Fails to Stop Bush Era Targeting of Veterans
John M. Broder / New York Times:
E.P.A. to Clear the Way for Regulation of Warming Gases  —  WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday is expected to formally declare carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases to be pollutants that threaten public health and welfare, setting in motion a process …
RELATED:
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
EPA: Greenhouse gases health threat
Discussion: The Politico
Max Twain / race42008.com:
One of the most hateful rants in history  —  http://www.youtube.com/watch?  v=jAAHMDpk7Ik  —  Surprisingly, Olbermann is not the craziest person in this video.  That alone puts this into a special category of left-wing vile that stands out as some of the most hateful speech you will ever hear on television.
Rasmussen Reports:
In Texas, 31% Say State Has Right to Secede From U.S., But 75% Opt To Stay  —  Thirty-one percent (31%) of Texas voters say that their state has the right to secede from the United States and form an independent country.  —  However, the latest Rasmussen Reports poll in the state finds …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Green Shoots and Glimmers  —  Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, sees “green shoots.”  President Obama sees “glimmers of hope.”  And the stock market has been on a tear.  —  So is it time to sound the all clear?  Here are four reasons to be cautious about the economic outlook.
RELATED:
Brian C. Mooney / Boston Globe:
Dodd faces steep road to reelection  —  Conn.'s senior senator trails 3 Republicans  —  HARTFORD - The election is still more than 18 months away, but US Senator Chris Dodd is barnstorming Connecticut this week like an incumbent in trouble.  Voters who have supported him for 29 years …
RELATED:
The Politico:
FEC scorecard: 10 election insights
Discussion: Scorecard's Blog
Jamie Larson / The Register Star Online:
Tedisco asks to be declared winner  —  COLUMBIA COUNTY — 20th Congressional District candidate Republican Jim Tedisco submitted a petition to the Dutchess County Supreme Court Thursday asking the judge to declare him the winner of the extremely close special election race …
Dafna Linzer / ProPublica:
Newly Released Memo Inadvertently Reveals CIA Held (and Abused) Missing Prisoner  —  Among the OLC memos released today, one appears to inadvertently reveal that a top al-Qaida suspect captured in northern Iraq in January 2004 was held by the CIA in a secret prison.
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
We Are Now Indonesia  —  Greenwald points to this nugget: … And this is, in fact, the Bush-Cheney position.  Because America did these things, they are not torture.  This is also, by the way, the position of the news reporters and editors at the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama Averages 63% Approval in His First Quarter  —  Highest first-quarter average since 1977  — USA - Government and Politics - Presidential Job Approval - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama's first quarter in office concludes on Sunday …
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Bigger Picture  —  It will take some time to absorb the full implications of the ICRC report and the OLC memos.  Right now, many are understandably focused on the legal details, the grotesque specifics of the techniques ("insects", “walling”?), the inconsistencies of the memos …
Kahrin Deines / Associated Press:
New gun law aimed at asserting sovereignty  —  Gov. Brian Schweitzer has signed into law a bill that aims to exempt Montana-made guns from federal regulation, adding firepower to a battery of legislative efforts to assert states' rights across the nation.  —  “It's a gun bill …
Yael T. Abouhalkah / Kansas City Star:
Limbaugh's ‘just an entertainer,’ says GOP congressman  —  U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Kansas is a feisty and ardent conservative.  But he said something Tuesday that might irritate Rush Limbaugh's ditto-head followers.  —  Tiahrt was asked by a Kansas City Star Editorial Board member whether Limbaugh …
Abe Greenwald / Commentary:
It Was a Caterpillar  —  Bug-Gate is bad, folks, really bad.  But I remain convinced that the only way we'll ever bring this “dark and painful chapter in our history” to a close is to face the horror of it full on.  Only then can we heal as a nation.  So steel yourself for what comes next:
Megan McArdle:
Do We Hate Credit Default Swaps for The Wrong Reasons?  —  There's a lot of crazy ignorant hating on CDSs out there, especially from certain political journalists who displayed no interest in learning about the financial community until they found that pronouncing the words “credit default swaps” …
Steven Erlanger / New York Times:
3 Courses With Sarkozy, Skewered Leaders on Side  —  PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy is known for his love of action.  But he also likes to brag and run down his fellow world leaders in not-so-private gatherings, like a cross-party lunch on Wednesday for 24 members of Parliament engaged in economic issues.
Bruce Bartlett / Forbes:
Tax Tea Party Time, Part Two  —  A look at today's taxes compared to those in the past.  —  Last week, I presented data comparing taxation in the United States to other major countries and concluded that Americans are not especially overtaxed.  The almost universal reaction to this analysis was, “So what?”
Discussion: Washington Monthly and Economix
Paul Demko / Minnesota Independent:
Tinklenberg v. Bachmann redux?  DFLers already eyeing 2010  —  Michele Bachmann represents the most Republican-friendly congressional district in Minnesota.  John McCain carried the area by eight percentage points in 2008 — the largest spread in the state.
CNN:
Some foreclosed homes too damaged to sell  —  CNN Special Investigations Unit  —  NASHUA, New Hampshire (CNN) — The economy in southern New Hampshire is not by any means among the worst in the nation.  Still, according to city records, there are 29 foreclosed homes on the books in Nashua — many of which are in deplorable condition.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Philly.com:
Clout: Not all play street$ ball
Paul Kane / Washington Post:
3 Lawmakers Report Drop in Donations After Lobby Firm Closes
Barry Ritholtz / The Big Picture:
Stiglitz: Blame Summers
Discussion: Obsidian Wings and Eschaton
Wall Street Journal:
Alternative Fuel Folly
Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard
 Earlier Items: 
Joshua Stanton / The New Ledger:
Christopher Hill: Deep Kimchee for Iraq
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
White House Cheat Sheet: Influencing the Influencers
Discussion: Alex Conant
Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Obama: ‘I have not backed off’ on assault weapons ban
Discussion: The Reaction and Think Progress
New York Times:
Justice Thomas and Rights
Discussion: Bench Memos
Michael Sandler / The Hill:
Dean, Emanuel bury the hatchet
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Barack Obama's ‘New Foundation’ - a Sting in Four Parts