memeorandum: Testy Conflict With Goldman Helped Push A.I.G. to Edge (New York Times)

10:20 AM ET, February 7, 2010

Top Items:

Did Palin write the answers to Tea Party Convention questions on her hand? — Tonight, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin spoke to the National Tea Party Convention in Nashville, TN, an event that was ditched by other high-profile Republicans who disliked its for-profit model.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Confluence, News Hounds and AMERICAblog News

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:

Palin Speaks: 'How's that Hopey-Changey Thing Working Out for Ya?' — NASHVILLE — “I'm so proud to be an American! Happy birthday, Ronald Reagan.” — Sarah Palin took the stage of the National Tea Party Convention to a thundering ovation, which she cut down quickly by praising …

Discussion: Post Politics, Washington Monthly, Instapundit, The Moderate Voice, Riehl World View, Gateway Pundit, The Hill, Scared Monkeys, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Liberal Values and Founding Bloggers

Stefan Sirucek / The Huffington Post:

EXCLUSIVE (Update): Palin's Tea Party Crib Notes — Closer inspection of a photo of Sarah Palin, during a speech in which she mocked President Obama for his use of a teleprompter, reveals several notes written on her left hand. The words “Energy”, “Tax” and “Lift American Spirits” are clearly visible.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, The Mudflats and Riehl World View

Denny McAuliffe / Washington Post:

Sarah Palin watch: She looks trim, fit — and brimming with energy and plans — It had been a while since we had seen Sarah Palin live and in person. And then she popped onto stage Saturday night at the National Tea Party convention in Nashville, and we made these observations:

Discussion: Althouse and The Corner on National …

Kate Zernike / New York Times:

Palin Assails Obama at Tea Party Meeting — NASHVILLE - As Sarah Palin left the stage at the inaugural National Tea Party Convention here Saturday night, the crowd erupted into chants of “Run Sarah Run!” — “I think you like her!” said Judson Phillips, the chief organizer of the convention …

Discussion: The Swamp, Washington Monthly, The Politico, Gothamist, The Caucus, MyDD, Prairie Weather and ABCNEWS

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:
Sarah Palin assails Obama at ‘tea party’ gathering

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Fix and Washington Post

Mary C. Curtis / Politics Daily: Scenes from the Tea Party: A Reporter's Notebook in Nashville

David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
Birther Speaker Takes Heat at Tea Party Convention

Discussion: Booman Tribune, The washington times Blogs, Taylor Marsh, Hit & Run, Coop's Corner, Little Green Footballs, The Lonely Conservative and Townhall.com

Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Sarah Palin was a blithering idiot until she became a devious genius.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, RedState, The Gun Toting Liberal, Pam's House Blend and Conservatives4Palin.com

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Breitbart, Farah argue Birtherism at Tea Party convention

Discussion: Mediaite

Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Andrew Breitbart at National Tea Party Convention to Media …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Associated Press, The Lonely Conservative, American Power, WBBM-TV, Scared Monkeys, race42008.com and Big Government

David Weigel / The Washington Independent: Tennessee Tea Party Leaders Attack the Convention, Sort Of

Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Tea Party Looks to Move From Fringe to Force

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air and American Power

Richard Kerbaj / Times of London:

Amnesty International is ‘damaged’ by Taliban link — An official at the human rights charity deplores its work with a ‘jihadist’ — A SENIOR official at Amnesty International has accused the charity of putting the human rights of Al-Qaeda terror suspects above those of their victims.

Discussion: normblog, Jules Crittenden, JammieWearingFool and Harry's Place

Norimitsu Onishi / New York Times:

Sinatra Song Often Strikes Deadly Chord — GENERAL SANTOS, the Philippines — After a day of barbering, Rodolfo Gregorio went to his neighborhood karaoke bar still smelling of talcum powder. Putting aside his glass of Red Horse Extra Strong beer, he grasped a microphone …

Jonathan Wynne-Jones / Telegraph:

Church of England is ‘living in the past’, says BBC's head of religion — The BBC's head of religion has accused the Church of England of “living in the past” and said that the corporation should not give Christianity preferential treatment. — BBC's head of religion, Aaqil Ahmed

Discussion: Jihad Watch and Biased BBC

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

One Last Word — If you are one of those people who think this person cannot become president of the United States, think again. — Two lines stood out for me. The first is a sign that she believes and her followers believe that she has a divine destiny. She is Esther, with a touch of martyrdom:

Discussion: Outside The Beltway

New York Times:

The Truth About the Deficit — When the White House released its new budget last week, including more spending to create desperately needed jobs, Republican leaders in Congress denounced President Obama for driving up the deficit and demanded that the Democrats halt their “reckless” ways.

Discussion: Beat the Press and EconLog

CNN:

Clinton defends Obama's engagement strategy on Iran, N. Korea — Washington (CNN) - President Barack Obama's strategy of engaging both Iran and North Korea has shown positive results by starting to bring together the rest of the world to act jointly against their nuclear ambitions, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

Discussion: The Page

New York Times:

Testy Conflict With Goldman Helped Push A.I.G. to Edge — Billions of dollars were at stake when 21 executives of Goldman Sachs and the American International Group convened a conference call on Jan. 28, 2008, to try to resolve a rancorous dispute that had been escalating for months.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Felix Salmon, The Big Picture, naked capitalism and Truthdig