memeorandum: Rand Paul Wraps Up in Kentucky (The Atlantic Online)

11:05 AM ET, May 18, 2010

Top Items:

Raymond Hernandez / New York Times:

Blumenthal's Words Differ From His History — At a ceremony honoring veterans and senior citizens who sent presents to soldiers overseas, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut rose and spoke of an earlier time in his life. — Multimedia — Enlarge This Image

Discussion: JustOneMinute, msnbc.com, Matthew Yglesias, Talking Points Memo, The Note, Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Taegan Goddard's …, The Plum Line, Michelle Malkin, The Huffington Post, Top of the Ticket, Wonkette, MyDD, The Corner on National …, BLACKFIVE, Associated Press, Cassy Fiano, USA Today, Hotline On Call, Right Now, Washington Post, The Politico, Mudville Gazette, PostPartisan, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, Sweetness & Light, This Just In, PoliPundit.com, Guardian, NewsBusters.org, FiveThirtyEight, TPMMuckraker, Political Insider, Gateway Pundit, The Powers That Be, DaTechguy's Blog, Another Black Conservative, No More Mister Nice Blog, Law Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, This ain't Hell …, Commentary, Don Surber, Politics Daily, Outside The Beltway, Betsy's Page, The Moderate Voice, YID With LID, NPR Topics, Gawker, Open Left, Blogs of War, The Eye, Clusterstock, Dan_McLaughlin's blog, Real Clear Politics, JammieWearingFool, Swampland, The Other McCain, Balloon Juice, Moonbattery, Neptunus Lex, Weekly Standard, TigerHawk, Swing State Project, GayPatriot and First Draft

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:

Blumenthal Responds To Vietnam Allegations — Connecticut Attorney General Dick Blumenthal is denying a New York Times report that he routinely lied about his service in Vietnam. — “The New York Times story is an outrageous distortion of Dick Blumenthal's record of service,” …

Discussion: Ballot Box, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Prairie Weather, Liberty Pundits Blog and JammieWearingFool

The Politico:

GOP takes credit for N.Y. Times hit — Pulling back the curtain on journalistic sausage-making usually hidden from voters, a Republican Senate candidate is taking credit for the front-page New York Times story accusing Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal of “plainly untrue” remarks about Vietnam service.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Ben Smith's Blog and American Power

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Bombshell: Democratic Senate candidate lied about serving in Vietnam; Update: Blumenthal responds, sort of — Not just any Democratic Senate candidate, either. It's Richard Blumenthal, current attorney general of Connecticut, whom Chris Dodd made way for by retiring earlier this year.

Discussion: National Review, The Strata-Sphere, Public Policy Polling and iOwnTheWorld.com

Paul Bass / New Haven Independent:

Simmons Stands To Gain Most From Blumenthal Expose — (First blush analysis; updated.) The words were all sober. No hint of gloating And yet there was no mistaking the glee in the press release Rob Simmons rushed out Monday night. — A New York Times expose had just hit the web.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Talking Points Memo

Joshua Green / The Atlantic Online:
Richard Blumenthal's Bogus War Record

Discussion: Marbury

Linda McMahon / Linda McMahon for Senate:
In Case You Missed It: McMahon Strikes Blumenthal In NYT Article

Discussion: The Daily Caller, This Just In and The Eye

Kevin / Daily Ructions:
McMahon Strikes. Turns Blumenthal into Bruce Caputo.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Taylor Marsh, Weasel Zippers, The Huffington Post, msnbc.com, Outside The Beltway, The Eye and The Moderate Voice

J. Taylor Rushing / Ballot Box:
Lieberman undecided on whether to back Republican or Dem in Senate race

Discussion: CNN

Chris Cillizza / The Fix: Vietnam allegations threaten frontrunning Blumenthal in CT-Senate

Fox News:

Exclusive: Indiana Rep. Mark Souder to Resign Amid Allegations of Affair With Staffer — Eight-term Rep. Mark Souder will announce his resignation Tuesday after it came to light that he was conducting an affair with a female staffer who worked in his district office, Fox News has learned.

Discussion: TPMMuckraker, Weasel Zippers, Towleroad News #gay, The Eye, Liberty Pundits Blog, Hot Air, Politics Nation and Don Surber

The Politico:

Souder: ‘I am so shamed’ — Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) is resigning from Congress after telling colleagues he had an affair with a female aide. — “I sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff,” Souder said in a statement Tuesday.

Discussion: The Swamp, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Townhall.com, RHRealityCheck.org, Hotline On Call, Swampland and Swing State Project

Justin Elliott / TPMMuckraker:

Family Values GOP Rep To Resign Over Affair (VIDEO) — Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN), a champion of abstinence education and traditional family values, will resign effective Friday after an affair with a female staffer in his district office, he announced today. — He said in a statement that he …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, BuzzFlash.org, Raw Story, Instapundit and MyDD

Sylvia A Smith / The Journal Gazette:

Citing ‘relationship’ with staffer, Souder to resign — WASHINGTON — Saying he “sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff,” Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd, said Tuesday he will resign from Congress.

Discussion: Joe. My. God. and msnbc.com

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Mark Souder to resign after affair — Indiana congressman Mark Souder (R) will resign his seat after an affair with a staffer came to light, he said in a statement this morning. — “It is with great regret I announce that I am resigning from the U.S. House of Representatives as well as resigning …

Discussion: Mediaite

Michael O'Brien / The Hill: Rep. Souder to resign from House

The Atlantic Online:

Rand Paul Wraps Up in Kentucky — BOWLING GREEN — Now it's up to you, Kentucky GOP voters: Rand Paul just wrapped up the last public event of his insurgent campaign for the Senate in his hometown of Bowling Green with a full-throated endorsement of the Tea Party.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly and The New Republic

CNN:
Democrats think Tea Party favorite could hurt GOP chances

Discussion: The Politico

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Incumbent Armageddon?: What to watch for

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Washington Post and The Politico

The Politico:
What to watch in Tuesday's primaries

Discussion: Washington Post and The Caucus

The Politico:
Obama steers clear of shaky Specter

Discussion: The Swamp, The New Republic, Slate, Washington Wire, Newsweek Blogs, The New Ledger and CNN

Scott Gottlieb / Wall Street Journal:

No, You Can't Keep Your Health Plan — Insurers and doctors are already consolidating their businesses in the wake of ObamaCare's passage. — President Obama guaranteed Americans that after health reform became law they could keep their insurance plans and their doctors.

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Todd Ackerman / Houston Chronicle:

Texas doctors fleeing Medicare in droves — Texas doctors are opting out of Medicare at alarming rates, frustrated by reimbursement cuts they say make participation in government-funded care of seniors unaffordable. — Two years after a survey found nearly half of Texas doctors weren't taking …

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Pajamas Media and Sweetness & Light

Benjamin Joffe-Walt / Jerusalem Post:

Saudi woman beats up virtue cop — Incident follows a wave of challenges to religious authorities. — Talkbacks (16) — Make JPOST.COM your Home Page — Iranian Threat — Jewish World — Local Israel — Arts & Culture — Français — Classifieds — Israel — Middle East

Discussion: Jihad Watch, The Jawa Report, Stop The ACLU, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Another Black Conservative, Left Coast Rebel, Israel Matzav, Betsy's Page, Neptunus Lex and Gawker

Dexter Filkins / New York Times:

Suicide Car Bomber Hits U.S. Convoy in Afghanistan — KABUL, Afghanistan — A man driving a Toyota minivan laden with explosives steered into an American convoy on Tuesday morning, killing 18 people, including 5 American troops, and 12 civilians caught in rush hour traffic in the Afghan capital.

Discussion: Laura Rozen's Blog, BBC and Jules Crittenden

Amir Shah / Associated Press:
Taliban suicide bomb hits NATO convoy, kills 18

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and The AfPak Channel

Joby Warrick / Washington Post:
Bomb attack on NATO convoy kills 18 in Kabul

Discussion: FP Passport and The Washington Independent

Jennifer Rubin / Commentary:

Obama Won't Say Who Killed Daniel Pearl — At a signing ceremony for the Freedom of Press Act, it is ironic and shameful that Obama could not bring himself to identify the killers who beheaded the man who fearlessly reported on the jihadist terrorists. Obama had this to say:

Discussion: New York Times, Top of the Ticket, Gateway Pundit, The White House, Pundit & Pundette, Weekly Standard, White House.gov Blog Feed, The Corner on National … and RedState

Chip Reid / CBS News:
Press Freedom, Sure. But No Questions.

Discussion: The Foundry, Wizbang, CNN, Commentary, Left Coast Rebel, Pajamas Media and Another Black Conservative

Fox News:

Rev. Wright: ‘Obama Threw Me Under the Bus’ — NEW YORK — The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's controversial former pastor, said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that he is “toxic” to the Obama administration and that the president “threw me under the bus.”

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Questions and Observations

Walter Alarkon / The Hill:

Democrats prepare to pass war funding bill without Republican support — House Democrats are preparing to pass an Afghanistan war-spending bill on a party-line vote as Republicans balk at extra provisions the White House wants in the measure. — Passing such a spending bill through …

Discussion: The Politico and Weasel Zippers

Damien Cave / New York Times:

A Generation Gap Over Immigration — MIAMI — Meaghan Patrick, a junior at New College of Florida, a tiny liberal arts college in Sarasota, says discussing immigration with her older relatives is like “hitting your head against a brick wall.” — Cathleen McCarthy, a senior at the University of Arizona …

Discussion: protein wisdom and pandagon.net

Jerry Markon / Washington Post:

Memo from 2002 could complicate challenge of Arizona immigration law — In the legal battle over Arizona's new immigration law, an ironic subtext has emerged: whether a Bush-era legal opinion complicates a potential Obama administration lawsuit against Arizona.

Discussion: Think Progress, TPMMuckraker, Law Blog and Main Justice

Martin Feldstein / Washington Post:

For a solution to the euro crisis, look to the states — The Greek budget crisis has made it clear that something must be done to limit fiscal deficits in eurozone countries. The attempt to do so with the group's Stability and Growth Pact has failed. Although the pact

Discussion: Economist's View and Clusterstock

David Brooks / New York Times:

Children of the '70s — Today you can walk around the Upper West Side of Manhattan in such ease and safety that you could get the impression it was always this way. But it wasn't. — On July 5, 1961, a gigantic brawl broke out on 84th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues.