memeorandum: Who should Democrats fear the most? Maybe it's Grandma (Margaret Talev/McClatchy Washington Bureau)

5:25 PM ET, May 1, 2010

Top Items:

Editorial: Unanswered Questions on the Oil Spill — President Obama has ordered a freeze on new offshore drilling leases as well as a “thorough review” into what is almost sure to be the worst oil spill in this country's history — exceeding in size and environmental damage the calamitous Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989.

Discussion: Beltway Confidential, Recent Updates for Gulf …, LA Times Environment Blog, Clusterstock, Taylor Marsh, NewsBusters.org, JammieWearingFool, The Huffington Post, Paul Krugman, Ezra Klein, Facebook, Hot Air and Mother Jones

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org:

Bill Maher: 'Why Isn't Barack Obama Getting More S—t For This' Oil Spill? — HBO's Bill Maher on Friday asked an extraordinary question of his guest panel: “Why isn't Barack Obama getting more s—t' for the oil spill in the Gulf? — Almost as surprising, the studio audience applauded after the “Real Time” host said this.

Discussion: Hot Air, Breitbart.tv, CNN, Washington Post and The Other McCain

New York Times:

BP Is Criticized Over Oil Spill, but U.S. Missed Chances to Act — NEW ORLEANS — As oil edged toward the Louisiana coast and fears continued to grow that the leak from a seabed oil well could spiral out of control, officials in the Obama administration publicly chastised BP America …

Discussion: Green, Left Coast Rebel, Gateway Pundit, Pundit & Pundette and Prairie Weather

Helene Cooper / New York Times:

White House Memo: Shadow of Katrina Hangs Over Official Response to Spill — WASHINGTON — There's a world of difference between the impact of an oil spill and a deadly hurricane. And the White House hopes it stays that way. — As President Obama stepped up his administration's response …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Media Matters for America, The Caucus, Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, The Hill, New York Times and Breaking News …

Michael Muskal / D.C. Now:

Obama uses commencement speech to explain politics and government — President Obama on Saturday urged graduates at the University of Michigan to participate in public life as the president forcefully defended an activist role for government in dealing with society's problems.

Discussion: Top of the Ticket and Weasel Zippers

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama inspecting oil-spill: Gulf crisis

Discussion: The Confluence and D.C. Now

New York Times:
BP Is Criticized on Spill, but U.S. Missed Chances to Act

Discussion: The Caucus, NewsBusters.org and The Daily Caller

Boston Globe:
Oil spill approaches Louisiana coast

Discussion: Doug Ross, Clusterstock, Corrente, NASA Earth Observatory, Breaking News … and Firedoglake

msnbc.com:
Surface area of Gulf spill has tripled

Discussion: Gothamist, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Associated Press, Reuters, Newsweek Blogs, Bloomberg and New York Magazine

National Enquirer:

OBAMA CHEATING SCANDAL — PRESIDENT OBAMA has been caught in a shocking cheating scandal after being caught in a Washington, DC Hotel with a former campaign aide, sources say. — And now, a hush-hush security video that shows everything could topple both Obama's presidency and marriage to Michelle!

Discussion: Mediaite, DBKP - Death, Scared Monkeys, Left Coast Rebel, Gawker, Outside The Beltway, NO QUARTER, Below The Beltway, Freedom's Lighthouse, Weasel Zippers, Wake up America, Townhall.com, JustOneMinute, No Sheeples Here, American Power, The Jawa Report and YID With LID

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

On my desk: The Manchurian President — My friend Aaron Klein, now a WABC radio host who has done some amazing work in probing Islamist terrorism in the Middle East, and Brenda Elliott have turned their attention to domestic politics and Barack Obama in his latest book, The Manchurian President …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Freedom's Lighthouse and Balloon Juice

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

CAN YOU HEAR THEM NOW?.... They're unlikely to get the kind of attention Tea Party events generate, but there will be quite a few folks turning out today for nationwide events on immigration policy. … Attendance at May 1 events have varied in recent years, but it was just a few years ago …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Associated Press and Balloon Juice

Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:

Rep. Gutierrez arrested outside of White House in immigration protest — Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) was arrested outside the White House on Saturday during a May Day protest for immigration reform. — Guiterrez had been speaking to a crowd of hundreds at Lafayette Square when he announced …

Discussion: CNN

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Why does the Wall Street regulation overhaul give FTC authority over the Internet? — Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported on another little Easter egg in a bill cruising through Congress that would normally have followed Nancy Pelosi's policy of discovery ex post facto.

Charles M. Blow / New York Times:

Op-Ed Columnist: Redrawing Abortion's Battle Lines — While we've been distracted by Tea Party antics, the government's efforts to sack Goldman Sachs and the tawdry drama of John Edwards and his baby's mama, a rash of states has rushed to restrict access to abortion.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Althouse and Politics Daily

truthout:

Whistleblower: BP Risks More Massive Catastrophes in Gulf — A former contractor who worked for British Petroleum (BP) claims the oil conglomerate broke federal laws and violated its own internal procedures by failing to maintain crucial safety and engineering documents related to one of the firms …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Suburban Guerrilla

Arizona Republic:

Pinal County Sheriff's deputy shot after traffic stop — A Pinal County Sheriff's deputy was shot in the stomach Friday by an undocumented immigrant off Interstate 8, according sheriff's officials. — Lt. Tami Villar told 12 News that the search and rescue deputy was investigating a load …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The Jawa Report, Left Coast Rebel and This Just In