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4:40 PM ET, August 21, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Obama's Trust Problem  —  According to news reports, the Obama administration — which seemed, over the weekend, to be backing away from the “public option” for health insurance — is shocked and surprised at the furious reaction from progressives.  —  Well, I'm shocked and surprised at their shock and surprise.
RELATED:
Washington Post:
Faith in Obama Drops As Reform Fears Rise  —  Health-Care Effort Is Major Factor, Poll Finds  —  Public confidence in President Obama's leadership has declined sharply over the summer, amid intensifying opposition to health-care reform that threatens to undercut his attempt to enact major changes …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Fierce Cynicism of Naiveté  —  Ta-Nehisi Coates is losing patience with Barack Obama's patience: … He's obviously right about the “shouldn't be a political issue” business.  This is one of the most annoying ticks of political rhetoric out there.
Discussion: MoJo Blog Posts
The Note:
Wee-Wee'd Up: Health care debate slips further from White House control
Lisa Lerer / The Politico:
Hoyer: Public option may have to go  —  A day after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that health reform won't get through the House without a public option, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Friday that the public option may have to go in order to get a bill passed.
Discussion: YID With LID, The Page and TPMDC
RELATED:
Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Hoyer opens door to dropping public option  —  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer on Friday left the door open to moving a health reform package without a public insurance option prized by liberals.  —  Hoyer's remarks were in contrast to statements Thursday by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) …
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:   Breaking: Hoyer says public option could go
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Newspaper corrects 'Jackass'-Keith Olbermann mix-up  —  Thank goodness The Times is the forthright, ethical institution that it is.  —  And when a mistake happens, it rushes to set the journalistic record straight with an honest repair.  —  Here is an actual correction from Page A4 of today's print edition:
New York Times:
Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Sobering Wall  —  The rich have been getting richer for so long that the trend has come to seem almost permanent.  —  They began to pull away from everyone else in the 1970s.  By 2006, income was more concentrated at the top than it had been since the late 1920s.
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
‘Wee-weed up:’ White House explains it  —  So what did the president mean when he said this week that everyone's getting all “wee-weed up” in Washington?  —  “It's a phrase I use,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said today, hesitating at his press briefing to offer a physical demonstration of the phraseology.
Sarah Palin / Facebook:
No Health Care Reform Without Legal Reform  —  President Obama's health care “reform” plan has met with significant criticism across the country.  Many Americans want change and reform in our current health care system.  We recognize that while we have the greatest medical care in the world …
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Who do the birthers love?  —  We decided to break down the birthers by their opinions of Barack Obama and the various leading 2012 contenders.  Here's what we found:  —Not surprisingly only 16% of them approve of Obama's job performance while 75% disapprove.
RELATED:
Mike Littwin / Denver Post:
O birther, how far out art thou?
Discussion: Public Policy Polling
James Rosen / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Seller, beware: Feds cracking down on garage sales  —  WASHINGTON — If you're planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you'd best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law.  As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales …
Discussion: QandO and Moonbattery
Washington Post:
Key Senators Discuss Trimming Health Bill  —  President Calls Public Option a ‘Good Idea’ but Not Essential to Reform Effort  —  Senate health-care negotiators agreed late Thursday to ignore the increasingly strident rhetoric from Republican and Democratic leaders and to keep working toward …
RELATED:
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Baucus Continues Slow-Walking Health Reform
Discussion: TalkLeft
Peter Finn / Washington Post:
Lawyers Showed Photos of Covert CIA Officers to Guantanamo Bay Detainees  —  Justice Dept. Looking Into Whether Attorneys Broke Law at Guantanamo  —  By Peter Finn, Page A01  —  The Justice Department recently questioned military defense attorneys at Guantanamo Bay about whether photographs …
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Bush Official, in Book, Tells of Pressure on '04 Vote  —  WASHINGTON — Tom Ridge, the first secretary of homeland security, asserts in a new book that he was pressured by top advisers to President George W. Bush to raise the national threat level just before the 2004 election in what he suspected was an effort to influence the vote.
RELATED:
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Flashback: Ridge offered to take lie detector test to prove …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Huckabee: Evangelicals more supportive of Israel than Jews  —  Mike Huckabee, a longtime Christian Zionist wrapping up a trip to Israel, tells CBN that he was struck by firmer support for Israel — as he sees it — from American Christians than from American Jews.
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
REMEMBER, HE LOST.... Chris Cillizza let readers know this morning about what to watch on Sunday morning. … Cillizza described McCain's appearance as “Must Watch TV.”  I have no idea why.  —  First, let's note that John McCain is not a key senator right now.
Daily Show Videos:
Betsy McCaughey Pt. 1  —  Jon asks Betsy McCaughey to find the page in the health care bill that makes end-of-life consultations mandatory.  —  Guest(s):Betsy McCaughey  —  A Taliban threat causes low voter turnout in Afghanistan's election.  Americans turn in their Ford Explorers, and banks profit from overdraft fees.
Hillary Rodham Clinton / People.com:
Hillary Clinton Pledges to ‘Banish Sexual Violence’  —  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton  —  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may be taking some well-earned R&R in Bermuda this week, but last week, the former First Lady and U.S. Senator wrapped up a grueling seven-nation diplomatic mission to Africa.
Discussion: The Note, Shakesville and The Page
Benjamin Spillman / Las Vegas Review-Journal:
STATEWIDE POLL: Poll suggests Gibbons a guaranteed election loser  —  Two preferred choices not even seeking office yet  —  Talk about a mandate for change, Nevadans' favorite candidates for governor aren't even running for office.  —  Respondents to a statewide poll said if the governor's election …
Jennifer Harper / Washington Times:
Voight: Is Obama creating a civil war in America?  —  Inside the Beltway column  —  CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE  —  A Hollywood conservative has headed East.  It's “Freedom Concert” time for Jon Voight.  The Academy Award winner will join Sean Hannity in Cincinnati and Atlanta this weekend …
Discussion: GayPatriot, No Sheeples Here and Salon
Wall Street Journal:
No Maine Miracle Cure  —  Another state ‘public option’ that failed.  —  Printer  —  Friendly  —  Want a preview of ObamaCare in action?  Sneak a look at what has happened in Maine.  In 2003, the state to great fanfare enacted its own version of universal health care.
Zogby:
Zogby Interactive Poll: Obama's Job Approval Sinks to Record Low 45%  —  UTICA, New York - President Barack Obama's job approval rating has sunk to a record low of just 45%, the latest Zogby Interactive poll shows.  Fifty-one percent of likely voters now say they disapprove of the President's job performance.
Ronald Brownstein / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Where Obama Is Losing Ground  —  The Pew Research Center for The People & The Press national survey released Wednesday joined a lengthening line of polls showing President Obama's approval rating sinking from its heights earlier this year back to levels closer to his actual vote in November 2008.
Discussion: Democratic Strategist
The Daily Politics:
Paterson Accuses Media Of Racism, Says 2010 Loss Would Be ‘Highest Honor’  —  Gov. David Paterson played the race card in a big way today, suggesting he is facing tougher questions about his performance and political viability than the governors of most other struggling states because he is black.
 
 
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 More Items: 
truthout:
The Policy-Speak Disaster for Health Care
Discussion: The Huffington Post
Anne Laurie / Balloon Juice:
Roseanne the Riveter & the New Guilted Age
Discussion: Unqualified Offerings
BBC:
US wiretapping challenge rejected
Discussion: Truthdig
 Earlier Items: 
Jordy Yager / The Hill:
Gun rights, control groups find fight in health debate
Discussion: Don Surber
Raw Story:
Mexico legalizes drug possession
Discussion: The Impolitic and The Reaction
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Tort Reform Won't Fix Healthcare?, Ctd
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Bloggers, Take a $300,000 Victory Lap
Discussion: Delaware Way