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7:25 PM ET, May 6, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
TRANSPARENT BIGOTRY.... Following up on an earlier item, at least one high-profile Republican senator announced he doesn't want to see President Obama nominate a gay American for the Supreme Court. … I don't expect much from Thune, but I have to wonder if he realizes how incredibly ridiculous this is.
Discussion: Majikthise and MyDD
RELATED:
J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Sessions would consider gay SCOTUS nominee  —  Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday he could consider a gay nominee for the nation's highest court.  —  “I'm not inclined to think that's an automatic disqualification,” Sessions said of a gay nominee.
The Politico:
The GOP's new point man  —  By elevating Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions to their top spot on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republicans have selected their chief inquisitor for President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee: a Southern, white conservative man who has drawn fire for racially insensitive comments in the past.
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
A Justice Who Is Gay  —  Two of the most qualified center-left jurists in the country are gay, and they've got friends in high places.  —  Channeling our inner Joy Behars: “Who cares?”  —  Sexual orientation won't matter to President Obama — this I do believe, based on several years of reporting on the guy.
Maine.gov:
Governor Signs LD 1020, An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom  —  AUGUSTA - Governor John E. Baldacci today signed into law LD 1020, An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom.  —  “I have followed closely the debate on this issue.
RELATED:
Matt Wickenheiser / pressherald.mainetoday.com:
Baldacci signs same-sex marriage into law  —  Maine becomes the fifth state to allow same-sex marriage.  The law will take effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session in June.  —  AUGUSTA - Democratic Gov. John Baldacci today signed into law a bill allowing gay marriage …
Bangor Daily News:
Maine governor signs same-sex marriage bill  —  AUGUSTA, Maine - Gov. John Baldacci on Wednesday signed a gay marriage bill passed just hours before by the Maine Legislature.  —  Baldacci made his announcement within an hour of the Maine Senate giving its final approval to LD 1020.
CNN:
Maine legalizes same-sex marriage
The Politico:
Meltdown: Specter stands alone  —  Arlen Specter infuriated Senate Republicans when he bolted from their party last week.  Now he's alienated just about everybody in the Senate Democratic caucus, too.  —  Since declaring himself a Democrat last Tuesday, Specter has defied Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …
RELATED:
Daily Oklahoman:
House bypasses governor's veto to claim Oklahoma's sovereignty  —  Although Gov. Brad Henry vetoed similar legislation 10 days earlier, House members Monday again approved a resolution claiming Oklahoma's sovereignty.  —  Unlike House Joint Resolution 1003, House Concurrent Resolution 1028 does not need the governor's approval.
Discussion: Hot Air, TPMDC and HazZzMat
CNN:
Poll: Don't investigate torture techniques  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A new national poll indicates that most Americans don't want to see an investigation of Bush administration officials who authorized harsh interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists, even though most people think such procedures were forms of torture.
Discussion: Weekly Standard
RELATED:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Polling the Torture Debate
Discussion: The Moderate Voice
Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org:
Colin Powell Bashes Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and GOP  —  Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has once again bashed conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh as well as Alaska Governor Sarah Palin while going a step further this time by piling on the GOP.
RELATED:
Ryan Powers / Think Progress:
Limbaugh Responds To Powell: He Needs To ‘Close The Loop And Become A Democrat’
Discussion: Gallup
Mother Jones:
A Cheney Cover-Up?  —  Someone in the White House tried to deep-six Philip Zelikow's anti-torture memo.  Welcome to the latest Bush-era whodunit.  —  Post Comment  —  Who in the George W. Bush White House tried to shred a memo challenging the use of torture?
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Pakistan-US Relations Are Upside Down  —  I think the headline “U.S. Presses Visiting Pakistani Leader on Taliban Threat” pretty much sums up what's gone wrong in the US-Pakistan relationship.  The Pakistani Taliban are waging a war whose aim is to overthrow the government of Pakistan.
RELATED:
New York Times:
With Taliban Threat Rising, Obama Presses Visiting Allies
Discussion: BAGnewsNotes
Nick Gillespie / Reason:
Obama's Brave Burger Run; Even Takes Biden Along (And You Know How Risky That Can Be)  —  All D.C. is a-twitter with yesterday's big burger run by the White House's answer to the Venture Bros.  —  President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden jaunted off to an Arlington …
RELATED:
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Israel's Nuclear Closet, Ctd  —  It seems that the Obama administration is beginning to show it means business.  This reader helps relieve some of my ignorance:  —  There is a very simple reason why we have to pretend that Israel does not possess nuclear weapons- the Non Proliferation Treaty.
Discussion: Swampland
RELATED:
Lee Fang / Think Progress:
EXCLUSIVE AUDIO: Limbaugh Mocks Recession During Speech To Wealthy Right-Wing Donors  —  Last night, Rush Limbaugh came to Washington, D.C. to address the President's Club Dinner, a meeting of wealthy donors and supporters of the Heritage Foundation.  The audience included Supreme Court …
Megan McArdle:
The Price of the King's Shilling  —  Apparently, the $34 billion figure is good news because BAC has all those preferreds at Treasury that can be converted to common stock, leaving Treasury with $34 billion of common and $11 billion of preferreds.  But Joe Weisenthal asks a good question:
Wall Street Journal:
Citi, GMAC, Wells Need New Capital  —  J.P. Morgan, AmEx, Goldman Won't Need New Capital; Shortfalls for Citi, Morgan Stanley  —  Results of the government's stress tests of the nation's largest 19 banks started to trickle out Wednesday, highlighting the burgeoning gaps between the industry's strong and weak players.
David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
Too Much, Magic Bus  —  PajamasTV hasn't really been in the news since it hired Sam “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher to report on the war in Gaza, but it's still kicking.  Some of its most popular content is coming from black conservative comic Alphonzo Rachel, who sometimes appears as “President Zobama.”
Discussion: Indecision Forever and Wonkette
Wall Street Journal:
Obama's Global Tax Raid  —  President Obama revealed Monday that he's half a supply-sider.  If only someone could explain to him the other half.  We have a tax code, the President said, “that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York.”
Discussion: Reason and Fraters Libertas
BBC:
Eco-sailors rescued by oil tanker  —  An expedition team which set sail from Plymouth on a 5,000-mile carbon emission-free trip to Greenland have been rescued by an oil tanker.  —  Raoul Surcouf, Richard Spink and skipper Ben Stoddart sent a mayday because they feared for their safety amid winds of 68mph (109km/h).
Jimmy Vielkind / Politicker NY:
Dalai Lama Prays for Senate, Sympathizes With Republicans  —  ALBANY—His Holiness the Dalai Lama is in town, and just offered the opening prayer over the State Senate chamber.  —  “Compassion will guide more of our activities in way that they become constructive,” the Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso said.
Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
Tortured Logic  —  Hit me Bybee, one more time.  —  Remember the Rule of Law?  In the late 1990s, it was all the rage in conservative circles.  Having maneuvered Bill Clinton into a position where he could either lie under oath or suffer massive personal and political embarrassment …
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The North Repopulates, Ctd.  —  Mark Steyn replies to Martin Walker:  —  Let's say you have 950,000 ethnic Europeans whose fertility rate is 1.3.  And 50,000 immigrants move in with a fertility rate of 3.5.  You'd have an overall fertility rate increase to 1.41, or almost 10 percent, entirely due to a tiny segment of the population.
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Obama Offers D.C. Voucher Program Extension for Existing Students  —  President Obama will seek to extend the controversial D.C. school voucher program until all 1,716 participants have graduated from high school, although no new students will be accepted, according to an administration official …
Discussion: Weekly Standard and Hot Air
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Steele yields powers to foes in RNC  —  Accepts limits on spending  —  Capitulating to critics on the Republican National Committee, embattled Republican Party Chairman Michael S. Steele has signed a secret pact agreeing to controls and restraints on how he spends hundreds …
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
A Complicated Question  —  I had dinner once with John and Elizabeth Edwards, when he first burst onto the national scene.  —  Looking across the booth at her grinning, boyish husband, she told me that it was irritating to be married to someone so comely who looked so much younger.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
Bright Spot in Downturn: New Hiring Is Robust
Ken Belson / Wheels:
Congress Close on ‘Cash for Clunkers’
Discussion: Reason, Big Brass Blog and Wonkette
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
DOING NOTHING ON CLIMATE CHANGE IS EXPENSIVE.
Paul Caron / TaxProf Blog:
Law School Commencement Speakers
Discussion: Above the Law
The Huffington Post:
DNC Survivor Ad Mocks Republicans As Hapless Castaways
Kristi Keck / CNN:
Obama tones down National Prayer Day observance
 Earlier Items: 
Wesley Young / Winston-Salem Journal:
Foxx sends note of apology to gay man's mother
Discussion: Think Progress
Amy Diluna / NY Daily News:
Old duds, Michelle still fab
Discussion: Cassy Fiano and The Anchoress
Michael Goldfarb / Weekly Standard:
Elena Kagan, Radical?
Discussion: Balkinization and Ben Smith's Blog
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Confederate Legacy  —  Ed Kilgore has a very interesting post …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
White House Cheat Sheet: Republican Recruiting Recovering
Discussion: The Campaign Spot and Roll Call