memeorandum: Battles Around Nation Over Proposed Mosques (Laurie Goodstein/New York Times)

5:45 PM ET, August 8, 2010

Top Items:

Ted Olson To Chris Wallace On Marriage Equality: 'Would You Like Fox's Right To Free Press Put Up To A Vote?' — This morning, Ted Olson — the conservative lawyer who represented President Bush in Bush v. Gore — appeared on Fox News Sunday to discuss his recent victory in overturning Proposition 8 …

Discussion: The Confluence and Towleroad News #gay

David / Crooks and Liars:

Ted Olson: Same-sex marriage is a conservative value — The attorney at the center of successfully arguing that California's Proposition 8 is unconstitutional calls Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling an example of “judicial responsibility.” — Ted Olson told Fox News' Chris Wallace Sunday that it's not …

Discussion: The BRAD BLOG, Lez Get Real and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

David S Morgan / CBS News:

Same-Sex Marriage Decision: “Far From Over” — Conservative: “Activist” Judge Ruled Against Human History; Boies Says Fear and Prejudice Were Put on Trial, and Lost — (CBS) Even before this week's ruling in the case involving Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage in California, appeals of the judge's decision were expected.

New York Post:

Half-baked mosque — Not so fast. — The developers of the controversial mosque proposed near Ground Zero own only half the site where they want to construct the $100 million building, The Post has learned. — One of the two buildings on Park Place is owned by Con Edison …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Capital Tonight and JammieWearingFool

Neda Bolourchi / Washington Post:
A Muslim victim of 9/11: ‘Build your mosque somewhere else’

Discussion: pandagon.net, Political Byline, The Talking Dog, Sister Toldjah, Riehl World View, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Mahablog, Jihad Watch, Guardian, Weasel Zippers and Time

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:

Battles Around Nation Over Proposed Mosques — While a high-profile battle rages over a mosque near ground zero in Manhattan, heated confrontations have also broken out in communities across the country where mosques are proposed for far less hallowed locations.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Think Progress, Big Journalism, The Mahablog, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice, Raw Story, Washington Monthly, European Tribune and The Reaction

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / Washington Examiner:

Further thoughts on the higher education bubble — Back at the beginning of the summer, I had a column in this space in which I predicted that higher education is in a bubble, one soon to burst with considerable consequences for students, faculty, employers, and society at large.

Discussion: Don Surber

Frank Rich / New York Times:

How to Lose an Election Without Really Trying — COULD George W. Bush be a kind of Gipper-in-reverse and win yet one more for the Democrats? Clearly this White House sees him as the gift that will keep on giving. The 2010 campaign against the Bush administration is in full cry, with President Obama leading the charge.

Discussion: Don Surber, DownWithTyranny!, No More Mister Nice Blog, Prairie Weather, Commentary and Daily Kos

Paul Ryan / JSOnline:

Krugman's detour on ‘Roadmap’ to solvency — Despite watching European welfare states collapse under the weight of their own debt, those running Washington are leading us down precisely the same path. With the debt surpassing $13 trillion, we can no longer avoid having a serious discussion …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel, Paul Krugman, Weekly Standard and Hot Air

Megan McArdle / The Atlantic Online:
Krugman Is Wrong on Ryan and the CBO

Discussion: Mother Jones and Paul Krugman

Bloomberg:

U.S. Economy Improving, More Stimulus Isn't the Answer, Rubin, O'Neill Say — The U.S. economy will improve slowly and another round of fiscal stimulus probably wouldn't be effective, former Treasury secretaries Paul O'Neill and Robert Rubin said. — Rubin, who served under Democratic …

Discussion: Paul Krugman, Clusterstock and Eschaton

Gretchen Morgenson / New York Times:

Housing Policy's Third Rail — WHILE Congress toiled on the financial overhaul last spring, precious little was said about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance companies that collapsed spectacularly two years ago. — Indeed, these wards of the state got just two mentions …

Discussion: Beltway Confidential

James Zogby / thenational.ae:

Virulent anti-Middle East rhetoric grips the US right — Having become a captive audience to the “clash of civilisations” rhetoric espoused by neo-conservatives and America's Christian right, US Republicans have dug a deep hole for themselves concerning the Middle East and Islam.

Discussion: Doug Ross and The Hill

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Feliz Cumpleaños, and Adiós — Her critics used to paint her as a scary Marxist. Now they cast her as a spoiled princess. — During the campaign, she was caricatured on the cover of The New Yorker as a fist-bumping, gun-toting Black Panther.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Monkey Cage, Big Journalism, Balloon Juice and Media Matters for America