memeorandum: WH aide: Fox News operates like an arm of the GOP (Martina Stewart/CNN)

10:45 AM ET, October 12, 2009

Top Items:

BREAKING FROM NBC: White House official calls gays part of “Internet left fringe” — UPDATE FROM PAM: … And let me just add that if we're all insignificant children who don't understand politics, and who the White House doesn't worry about, then why did a White House official feel the need …

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

Fox's Volley With Obama Intensifying — Attacking the news media is a time-honored White House tactic but to an unusual degree, the Obama administration has narrowed its sights to one specific organization, the Fox News Channel, calling it, in essence, part of the political opposition.

Discussion: Think Progress, Ben Smith's Blog, neo-neocon, NewsBusters.org, The Nation, Taylor Marsh and Clusterstock

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

White House Thinks Demonstrators “Internet Left Fringe” Who Need to “Take Off The Pajamas” — Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy — Those anonymous White House aides are talking tough again, this time about what the New York Times calls …

Discussion: Salon, The Confluence, DISSENTING JUSTICE and Open Left

Pam Spaulding / Pam's House Blend:

The White House just called LGBTs part of pajama-clad ‘Internet fringe’ for asking for civil rights — In an NBC report less than 24 hours after the President declared his unwavering support for the LGBT community, the White House has decided to sh*t on citizen journalists on the left who are simply advocating for our civil rights.

Discussion: Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, The Agonist, AMERICAblog News, Shakesville and Jules Crittenden

David S Morgan / CBS News:

White House: Don't Ask About “Don't Ask” — During the presidential campaign, then-Senator Barack Obama promised to end “Don't ask, don't tell” - the ban on gays serving openly in the U.S. military - and promised to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 federal law defining marriage as only between a man and a woman.

Discussion: Jezebel, Blogs and Stories, Associated Press and Los Angeles Times

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Gay Rights Marchers Press Cause in Washington

Discussion: The Stranger … and Firedoglake

Dan Zak / Washington Post:
For Gay Activists, The Lady Is a Champ

Discussion: Time

B. Daniel Blatt / GayPatriot:
The (Unexpected) Integrity of Many Gay Left Bloggers

Discussion: Daily Pundit and The Other McCain

Washington Post:
At March, Gay Rights Activists Push for Nationwide Equality

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Monthly, Feministing, GayPatriot, PostPartisan and msnbc.com

CNN:
Gay activists march, put Obama on notice

Discussion: Indecision Forever and The Huffington Post

Ceci Connolly / Washington Post:

Insurance Group Says Health Bill Will Mean Higher Premiums — Report Issued Before Key Committee Vote — After months of collaboration on President Obama's attempt to overhaul the nation's health-care system, the insurance industry plans to strike out against the effort on Monday …

Discussion: Politics Daily, TPM LiveWire, USA Today, The Politico, NO QUARTER, The Foundry, Fox News, The Caucus, Ruby Slippers, Taegan Goddard's …, Prescriptions, Angry Bear, Scared Monkeys, The Page, Suburban Guerrilla and TPMDC

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Insurance Industry Assails Health Care Legislation — WASHINGTON — In a blistering new attack, the health insurance industry said Sunday that health care legislation drafted by Senate Democrats would drive up premiums, rather than making coverage more affordable, as the White House contends.

Discussion: Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, The Hill, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Prairie Weather and The Reality-Based Community

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:

Is the Insurance Industry Declaring War? — Over the weekend, America's Health Insurance Plans circulated a study it commissioned from PriceWaterhouseCoopers. In a memo to AHIP members, reproduced here, president Karen Ignani explained its significance: — The report makes clear …

Discussion: The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, msnbc.com and Talking Points Memo

Eric Zimmermann / The Hill:
Insurance industry report blasts reform

Discussion: TPMDC

Jeffrey Young / The Hill:
Finance health vote will require a leap of faith for several senators

Discussion: Bloomberg and Capitol Briefing

Political Punch:
At Dole's Request, White House Tells DNC to Pull Health Care Reform Ad

Discussion: Washington Wire, TPM LiveWire and Weasel Zippers

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

Heckuva Job, Barack — This was Barack Obama's chance. — Here was an opportunity to cut himself free, in a stroke, from the baggage that's weighed his presidency down — the implausible expectations, the utopian dreams, the messianic hoo-ha. — Here was a place to draw …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Reaction, No More Mister Nice Blog, Balloon Juice and PoliBlog

Naftali Bendavid / Wall Street Journal:

Pelosi Key to GOP 2010 Playbook — Republicans Hope Linking House Speaker to Democrats Can Turn Centrist Districts — WASHINGTON — Republicans are stepping up attacks on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, deciding that a major part of their 2010 electoral strategy will be linking Democratic candidates to her.

Discussion: CBS News, The Note, The Politico, Commentary and msnbc.com

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

2 State Races May Put Lens on Obama — LEESBURG, Va. — When President Obama captured the White House nearly a year ago, his victory in Virginia was, for many Democrats, one of the most heartening moments of the night. — He was the first Democratic presidential candidate to win this state since 1964 …

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Page and Politics Daily

John Harwood / New York Times:
Democrats Must Attack to Win in 2010, Strategists Say

Discussion: New York Times, New Jersey Online and Democratic Strategist

Reid Wilson / The Hill:

Gov. Crist and Freedom's Watch funder plan to fundraise together — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will head to Las Vegas at the end of the month for a well-backed, high-priced fundraiser with perhaps the Republican Party's wealthiest donor. — Crist will benefit from a fundraiser …

Michael Scherer / Swampland:

Cable News Irony Alert: CNN, Fox and The Disappearing General Audience — White House Communications Director Anita Dunn appeared Sunday morning on Howard Kurtz's CNN show Reliable Sources to discuss her comments in my TIME magazine story this week. She continued her criticism of Fox News:

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Gateway Pundit, Another Black Conservative, TVNewser, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Liberal Values, Raw Story, News Hounds, Blogs and Stories, No More Mister Nice Blog and TPM LiveWire

Martina Stewart / CNN:
WH aide: Fox News operates like an arm of the GOP

Discussion: The Swamp and National Review Online

New York Times:

Civilian Goals Largely Unmet in Afghanistan — WASHINGTON — Even as President Obama leads an intense debate over whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, administration officials say the United States is falling far short of his goals to fight the country's endemic corruption …

Discussion: Danger Room, msnbc.com, BBC, American Street, Lens, Wall Street Journal, The Reality-Based Community, George's Bottom Line, CBS News and The Page

McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Are Obama advisers downplaying Afghan dangers?

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Newsweek, Weasel Zippers and Hot Air

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Jackson sees ‘complications’ for Dems in 2010 if no public option — Democrats may suffer “complications” among supporters in next year's midterm elections if they fail to pass a health bill containing a public option, Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-Ill.) warned Monday.

Discussion: Townhall.com