memeorandum: Liberal Suicide March (David Brooks/New York Times)

2:45 PM ET, July 21, 2009

Top Items:

Liberal Suicide March — It was interesting to watch the Republican Party lose touch with America. You had a party led by conservative Southerners who neither understood nor sympathized with moderates or representatives from swing districts. — They brought in pollsters to their party conferences …

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Poll: Public losing trust in Obama — Trust in President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies to identify the right solutions to problems facing the country has dropped off significantly since March, according to a new Public Strategies Inc./POLITICO poll.

Discussion: The Atlantic Politics Channel, Atlas Shrugs, Clusterstock, The Strata-Sphere, No More Mister Nice Blog, Patterico's Pontifications, AMERICAblog News, msnbc.com, JammieWearingFool, Say Anything and Shot in the Dark

The Huffington Post:

Internal RNC Memo: “Engage In Every Activity” To Slow Down Health Care Reform — A private memo distributed by the Republican National Committee calls for like-minded advocates to help defeat President Barack Obama's health care proposals by delaying its consideration.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Think Progress, The Washington Independent, D-Day, Daily Kos, The Plum Line, Fox News and NOW! Blog

Wall Street Journal:

Let's Face It: Obama Is No Post-Partisan — Only last summer we were told that Barack Obama's political appeal rested on his vision for a “post-partisan future.” The post-partisan future was one of the press corps' favorite phrases. It served as shorthand for the candidate's repeated references to …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, TBogg, Commentary, PoliBlog, Betsy's Page and Zandar Versus The Stupid

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

Overblown Overreach — David Brooks, predictable enough, says Democrats are overreaching and destined to reap the whirlwind. Frankly, I have some doubts about this. Remember yesterday's Washington Post poll that was full of bad news for Barack Obama? The one about how the public is losing faith in him and his agenda?

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Sampling The Sausage: A Health Reform Politics Explainer

Discussion: Associated Press, The Treatment and The Awl

Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
FIRST THOUGHTS: FINDING AN ENEMY

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Wonkette

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Washington Sketch: GOP's Steele Couldn't Have Said It Better Himself

Discussion: EconLog, The Note, The Washington Independent, Democratic Strategist and Wall Street Journal

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Voters scared of Obama's rushed ‘experiments’

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:

Health-Care Firms Have Supported Lawmakers Debating Reform — Key Senator Baucus Is a Leading Recipient — As liberal protesters marched outside, Sen. Max Baucus sat down inside a San Francisco mansion for a dinner of chicken cordon bleu and a discussion of landmark health-care legislation …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Huffington Post, Open Congress, The Caucus, The Washington Independent, D-Day, Taylor Marsh, Newshoggers.com, MoJo Blog Posts and Hullabaloo

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

President Obama's Conference Call with Liberal Bloggers: John Amato asks Congress to work through the August recess — You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player! — DOWNLOADS: 761 — PLAYS: 2601 … President Obama and David Axlerod hosted …

Discussion: The Impolitic, Politics Daily, Jules Crittenden, Pundit & Pundette, Personal Democracy Forum blogs, Riehl World View, Associated Press, The Lonely Conservative, Liberty Street, MyDD, AMERICAblog News, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and The Moderate Voice

The Huffington Post:
Obama Calls On Bloggers To Keep Health Care Pressure On Congress

Discussion: Roll Call, Michelle Malkin, theblogprof, AmSpecBlog, Washington Post, Commentary, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Politico, The Treatment, Taylor Marsh, Real Clear Politics, Political Byline, JammieWearingFool, Blog entry, The Note, Pam's House Blend and Hullabaloo

Ezra Klein:
Barack Obama on Health-Care Reform: Trust Us.

Discussion: pandagon.net, Matthew Yglesias, Pajamas Media and The Opinionator

Ezra Klein: Why Does Max Baucus Take This Money?

Huma Khan / ABCNEWS:
Obama Says Health Care Delays Unacceptable as Reform Battle Ramps Up

Discussion: The Swamp, The Note and Hot Air

David Rogers / The Politico:

W.H. gains momentum in F-22 fight — With a vote set for high noon on Tuesday, the political tide in the Senate has shifted to now favor the White House and Pentagon in their pivotal fight to strike new procurement funds for the F-22 fighter. — Just last week, conventional wisdom held …

Discussion: The Note, The Hill's Twitter Room, Weekly Standard, D-Day, MoJo Blog Posts and Political Insider

R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:

Senate Votes Down Funds for F-22s — The Senate voted Tuesday to kill the nation's premier fighter jet program, embracing by a 58-40 margin the argument of President Obama and his top military advisers that the F-22 is no longer needed for the nation's defense and a costly drag …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Political Insider and The Project …

Christopher Drew / New York Times:
Bowing to Veto Threat, Senate Blocks Money for Warplanes

Discussion: Bookworm Room and The Caucus

Wall Street Journal:

The Fed's Exit Strategy — The depth and breadth of the global recession has required a highly accommodative monetary policy. Since the onset of the financial crisis nearly two years ago, the Federal Reserve has reduced the interest-rate target for overnight lending between banks (the federal-funds rate) nearly to zero.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Megan McArdle, The Confluence, Clusterstock, The Provocateur, Cato @ Liberty, Economist's View, Marginal Revolution, Greg Mankiw's Blog and Calculated Risk

Gerry Shih / New York Times:
Fed Chief Says Pace of Decline Seems to Have Slowed

Discussion: Economix, The Page and Real Time Economics

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory:

New NASA Images Indicate Object Hits Jupiter — Scientists have found evidence that another object has bombarded Jupiter, exactly 15 years after the first impacts by the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. — Following up on a tip by an amateur astronomer, Anthony Wesley of Australia, that a new dark …

Discussion: Bad Astronomy, The Moderate Voice, WCBS-TV and Firedoglake

Robert Mackey / The Lede:
Amateur Finds New Earth-Sized Blot on Jupiter

Discussion: New Scientist, The Awl, Little Green Footballs, Guardian and Bad Astronomy

The Live Feed:

Most will carry Obama press conference; time shifted after NBC balked — UPDATED: After some hesitation and a time shift, three major broadcast networks have agreed to carry Barack Obama's latest primetime news conference. — The event was announced Friday afternoon as Obama battles …

Discussion: Salon, Don Surber, TIME.com, Media Matters for America, RedState, AMERICAN DIGEST, NewsBusters.org, FishBowlDC, Perez Hilton and Fishersville Mike

theroot.com:

Lawyer's Statement on the Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. — Charles Ogletree gives Gates' side of the story in controversial arrest of The Root's editor-in-chief. — Statement on Behalf of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. — by Charles Ogletree — This brief statement is being submitted on behalf of my client …

Discussion: WCBS-TV, Above the Law, Feministing, Blogs and Stories, Boston Globe, Pam's House Blend, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Confluence, TigerHawk, ATTACKERMAN and Ta-Nehisi Coates

Susan Donaldson James / ABCNEWS:

Benjamin: Too Heavy to Be Nation's Top Doc? — Leading Experts Say Dr. Benjamin, Though Stellar Nominee, Gives Wrong Message — Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, Obama's pick for the next surgeon general, was hailed as a MacArthur Grant genius who had championed the poor at a medical clinic she set up in Katrina-ravaged Alabama.

Discussion: Townhall.com and Say Anything

Khaled Abu Toameh / Jerusalem Post:

Amman begins stripping state's Palestinians of citizenship — Article's topics: Jordan, Palestinians, West Bank, PLO — Jordanian authorities have started revoking the citizenship of thousands of Palestinians living in Jordan to avoid a situation in which they would be “resettled” …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, PoliGazette, Sense of Events, Raw Story and JOSHUAPUNDIT

Ellen E. Schultz / Wall Street Journal:

Top Earners' Pay Erodes Social Security — Fund Expected to Be Exhausted in 2037 — The nation's wealth gap is widening amid an uproar about lofty pay packages in the financial world. — Executives and other highly compensated employees now receive more than one-third of all pay in the U.S. …

Discussion: The Atlantic Business Channel, naked capitalism, The Enterprise Blog and European Tribune

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

VPOTUS, overheard: ‘Many beautiful women’ — From Peter Spiegel's pool report from Kiev: — VPOTUS and Yushchenko were seated a table in the back of the pub with their two translators, the mayor and vice mayor of Kiev, and the head of the presidential secretariat.... Yushchenko was talking about Ukrainian churches.

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Jeff Sharlet / Salon:

Sex and power inside “the C Street House” — Sanford, Ensign, and other regulars receive guidance from the invisible fundamentalist group known as the Family — Editor's note: Sharlet is the author of the bestselling “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power.”

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Other McCain, Chris Floyd, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Big Brass Blog

Los Angeles Times:

Budget accord reached — Calling for deep cuts and avoiding broad tax hikes, Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agree on ways to close California's $26.3-billion deficit. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders announced today that they have reached a deal …

Discussion: New York Times, The New Republic, Hullabaloo, Calitics, San Francisco Chronicle, The Fix, On Deadline, Donklephant, The Awl, Patterico's Pontifications and American Power

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Kristol: Shut Up, Obama Explained — “The time for talk is through.” — President Obama, talking to liberal bloggers on a conference call Monday night. — The Democratic bills in the House and Senate are a thousand pages long. They're still changing as committees try to mark them up …

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid, Wake up America and Hot Air

reason.tv:

Why America Shouldn't “Buy American” — Is your iPod unpatriotic? — Its 451 parts are made in dozens of nations, and creating the little doodads employs thousands of foreigners. Final assembly is done in China—a country that right-wingers and left-wingers alike fear is an economic threat to the U.S.

Discussion: Hot Air and Say Anything

NY Daily News:

President Barack Obama authorizes extended Secret Service guard for former VP Dick Cheney — WASHINGTON - Former Vice President Dick Cheney's Secret Service protection has been extended for at least another six months, beginning Tuesday. — Normally, ex-veeps only get six months of protection at taxpayer expense.

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Susan Page / USA Today:

Presidential approval tracker — The Gallup organization first started asking Americans how they approved of the job the president was doing in the 1940s. See how each president since then has fared in the approval poll, look at some news events that influenced public opinion and compare …

Discussion: Right Pundits, Wake up America, Weasel Zippers, TPMDC, Macsmind, Hot Air and Redhot

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Moderates Republicans and the GOP Field — For the second month in a row we found Sarah Palin as the most popular of the leading 2012 GOP hopefuls among moderate Republicans. 64% have a positive opinion of her compared to 57% for Newt Gingrich, 53% for Mike Huckabee, and 45% for Mitt Romney.

Emily Pierce / Roll Call:

Byrd Back on the Job — Senate President Pro Tem Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) returned to the Capitol on Tuesday to cast a vote on the Defense authorization bill after being sidelined by illness for nearly two months. — Byrd's first vote in two months came in opposition to President Barack Obama.

Senator Claire McCaskill:

For the record, today I was able to figure out the allegation about my staff flipping off protestors at my St Louis office on Friday. There was only one male staffer at the office on Friday, and I knew he wouldn't do that. He is an Iraq veteran, who handles almost all of our case work for our veterans.

Discussion: Glenn Thrush's Blog and Moe Lane