memeorandum: Ashburn talks gay rights on Senate floor (Anthony York/PolitiCal)

10:55 AM ET, May 28, 2010

Top Items:

Sestak says his brother, White House met about alleged job offer — Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) said Thursday his brother has spoken with White House officials about the congressman's allegation that he was offered an Obama administration job if he would stay out of a Democratic Senate primary.

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

EXCLUSIVE: White House asked Clinton to talk to Sestak about Senate run — Senior White House advisers asked former President Bill Clinton to talk to Joe Sestak about whether he was serious about running for Senate, and to feel out whether he'd be open to other alternatives, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Washington Post, The Corner on National …, RedState, Verum Serum and The Eye

Jim Meyers / NewsMax.com:
Sestak-gate: White House Offered Romanoff Job, Too

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Wizbang, Right Now, NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, RealClearPolitics Video Log and Weasel Zippers

New York Times:

House Votes to Allow Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Law — WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday to let the Defense Department repeal the ban on gay and bisexual people from serving openly in the military, a major step toward dismantling the 1993 law widely known as “don't ask, don't tell.”

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Senate Panel Votes To End Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Discussion: Think Progress, Outside the Beltway, The Political Carnival, Open Congress, The Washington Independent, FrumForum, The Reality-Based Community, Washington Monthly, Weekly Standard, Wonk Room and Roll Call

Jen DiMascio / The Politico:
House votes to repeal Don't ask

Discussion: PostPartisan, Ben Smith's Blog and FrumForum

Washington Post:
House votes to end ÂÂ'don't ask, don't tell' policy

Discussion: Federal Eye and New York Magazine

Igor / Wonk Room:
GOP Unleashes Campaign Against Gays In The Military On The House Floor

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, skippy the bush kangaroo, AMERICAblog Gay and Outside the Beltway

Yvonne Wenger / postandcourier.com:

Folks' data shows 600 Haley calls — Colleagues' talks prove nothing, candidate's manager says — COLUMBIA — In 2007, the year political blogger Will Folks claims he had an affair with state Rep. Nikki Haley, the two spoke by phone at least 600 times. — Some of those calls came late at night …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, RedState, Riehl World View, Charleston City Paper, TPMMuckraker, New York Magazine and Erick's blog

FITSNews:

“Haley-gate:” Night Calls — S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley and FITSNews' editor Will Folks exchanged over 700 phone calls during the past three years - most of them during the time that Folks admitted engaging in an “inappropriate physical relationship” with the front-running Republican gubernatorial candidate.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Charleston City Paper and TPMMuckraker

Raymond Rivera / WCIV:
ABC NEWS 4 Exclusive Interview with Nikki Haley

Discussion: Breitbart.tv, FITSNews and The Other McCain

Erick Erickson / RedState:
BREAKING: We Know Who Did It — Who paid Will Folks?

Discussion: Liberty Pundits Blog, Hot Air, FITSNews, Charleston City Paper, The Other McCain, NBC Augusta 26, The Daily Caller, TPMMuckraker, The Politico, New York Magazine and Right Now

Wall Street Journal:

He Was Supposed to Be Competent — The spill is a disaster for the president and his political philosophy. — I don't see how the president's position and popularity can survive the oil spill. This is his third political disaster in his first 18 months in office.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Pajamas Media and Liberty Pundits Blog

Laura Myers / Las Vegas Review-Journal:

OPINION POLL: U.S. SENATE RACE: Survey shows Lowden gives GOP best chance of winning in fall — Lowden would attract more independent voters than Reid — Republican Sue Lowden has the best chance of defeating U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, according to a new poll for the Review-Journal that also suggests …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Wonkette, Hot Air, Washington Post, TPMDC, The Eye and Real Clear Politics

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

The Atlantic Has A Mess On Its Hands — The Atlantic Magazine thought it would be able to speak poetic historical justice, by splashing the headline that the original reviled one, Kenneth Starr of Monica and Bill and Blue Dress and Impeachment fame, had been arrested for running a Ponzi Scheme.

Discussion: Althouse and The Daily Beast

Daniel Indiviglio / The Atlantic Online:
Kenneth Starr Charged With Running $30 Million Ponzi Scheme

Discussion: Rough Sketch, Outside the Beltway, Pajamas Media, U.S. Securities …, The Daily Beast, FT Alphaville, JammieWearingFool and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

GOP moves to repeal healthcare law — House Republican leaders introduced a bill Thursday to repeal and replace the sweeping healthcare law adopted in late March. — According to Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the measure would repeal the current law and replace it with the alternative …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Foundry and Weasel Zippers

John Kennedy / Palm Beach Post:

Crist switches on 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy on gays in the military — TALLAHASEE — Gov. Charlie Crist's switch on the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy Thursday left the no-party Senate contender caught in a crossfire of criticism from his Democratic and Republican opponents.

Discussion: The Buzz, Hot Air and The Page

Lesley Clark / St. Petersburg Times:
Crist does about-face on 'don't ask, don't tell'

Discussion: Naked Politics, The Atlantic Online and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Crist now supports DADT repeal compromise

Discussion: Think Progress, AMERICAblog News and Advocate

New York Times:

‘Top Kill’ Effort Seems to Be Working, U.S. Says Cautiously — HOUSTON — The latest effort to plug a gushing underwater oil well in the Gulf of Mexico appeared to be working, officials and engineers said on Thursday morning, though definitive word on its success was still hours away.

CNN:
BP: Spill is ‘environmental catastrophe’

Discussion: Think Progress, Washington Monthly and This Just In

Boston Globe:

Mass. Senate passes crackdown on illegal immigrants — With one lawmaker citing President Lincoln's respect for the rule of law, the Massachusetts Senate passed a far-reaching crackdown this afternoon on illegal immigrants and those who would hire them, going further, senators said …

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, NewsBusters.org, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, Don Surber, Questions and Observations, sisu and Weasel Zippers

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Clinton: ‘The rich are not paying their fair share’ — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a rare foray into domestic politics today, offering her view that — given America's high unemployment — wealthy Americans don't pay enough taxes. — “The rich are not paying their fair share …

Discussion: CNN, protein wisdom, Questions and Observations, The Glittering Eye, Weasel Zippers, The Confluence, Laura Rozen's Blog, Don Surber and The Washington Independent

Jillian Rayfield / TPM LiveWire:

Rand Paul Suggests Children Of Illegal Immigrants Should Not Be U.S. Citizens (VIDEO) — Here's another one for the list of out-there Rand Paul statements... Paul recently suggested to a Russian TV station that the U.S. should abandon its policy of granting citizenship to the children …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Stephanie Chen / CNN:

Pediatricians now reject all female genital cutting — On Thursday the AAP withdrew a policy statement on female genital cutting released in April. The statement suggested genital “pricking.” — (CNN) — The American Academy of Pediatrics has rescinded a controversial policy statement raising …

Discussion: Shakesville, Dennis the Peasant and Pharyngula

Reid Wilson / Hotline On Call:

DNC Pushes Sex Scandal Story — The DNC, the political wing of a president who launched his campaign decrying slash-and-burn campaign tactics, is highlighting new stories about a sex scandal rocking a GOP primary. — Earlier today, the DNC sent around a report from WSPA, the Spartanburg …

Discussion: RedState

Susan Page / USA Today:

Poll finds anger over country's leaders — WASHINGTON — Americans are increasingly optimistic about the economy, but that brightening outlook hasn't softened their outrage over the country's direction and its political leadership, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Commentary and The Page

Peter Feaver / Foreign Policy:

Obama's National Security Strategy: real change or just ‘Bush Lite?’ — The roll-out of President Obama's National Security Strategy tries to frame the strategy as a repudiation of his predecessor's. But the reality is that the new strategy is best characterized as “Bush Lite” …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, democracyarsenal.org, Washington Post, New Atlanticist, Laura Rozen's Blog, Outside the Beltway, The Glittering Eye, Prairie Weather and New York Times

Nikki Sutton / White House.gov Blog Feed:
A Blueprint for Pursuing the World that We Seek

Discussion: The Foundry and Information Dissemination

Greg Hengler / Townhall.com:

Tavis Smiley: More Christians Than Muslims Blow Up People Every Single Day — Not only does this man of the Left believe what he is saying, but he does it with passion and conviction. Smiley—a so-called Christian—is the product of a liberal education. Liberalism in America has triumphed.

Discussion: The Right Scoop