memeorandum: Afternoon Fix: Romney endorses in Colorado, Wyoming and Washington … (Felicia Sonmez/The Fix)

6:25 PM ET, August 18, 2010

Top Items:

Mosque supporters beg George W. Bush to come to Obama's rescue — There's a new argument emerging among supporters of the Ground Zero mosque. Distressed by President Obama's waffling on the issue, they're calling on former President George W. Bush to announce his support for the project …

Kerry Picket / Washington Times:

AUDIO - Rep. Pelosi calls for investigation of WTC mosque opposition — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, called for an investigation of those who are protesting the building of the Ground Zero Mosque on Tuesday. She told San Francisco's KCBS radio:

Discussion: NY Daily News, SFGate, Ace of Spades HQ, Power Line, Ironic Surrealism v3.0, Townhall.com, The Other McCain, Say Anything, Breitbart.tv, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Powers That Be, RedState, Daily Pundit, Gawker, NewsReal Blog, Big Government, Left Coast Rebel, Moonbattery, Daily Kos, Wake up America, Moe Lane, Questions and Observations, The Hill, Moe_Lane's blog, Fausta's Blog, Weekly Standard, Outside the Beltway, Red Dog Report, theblogprof, Weigel, GayPatriot, The Daily Caller, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Freedom's Lighthouse, Coalition to Honor Ground Zero, Patterico's Pontifications, Right Wing News, Big Peace, Sweetness & Light, Big Hollywood, Right Pundits, Media Matters for America, JustOneMinute, Weasel Zippers, Cold Fury, Don Surber, Nice Deb, The Camp Of The Saints and POWIP, more at Mediagazer »

The Politico:

Pelosi wants ‘transparency’ on mosque — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Wednesday morning called for “transparency” in the funding behind a planned Islamic community center and mosque being built blocks from ground zero. But she also said there should be similar openness about the money behind …

Discussion: The Note, Politics Daily, YID With LID, Hot Air, Commentary, The Hill, Liberal Values, Alarming News, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Sundries Shack, Ben Smith's Blog, Big Peace, Confederate Yankee and TPMDC

NBC New York:

Mosque Developer Rejects Meeting With Paterson — The developers of an Islamic cultural center that would include a mosque near Ground Zero have rejected Gov. David Paterson's offer to help them find a different site. — Paterson said today the group is apparently committed to building in the proposed site.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Gateway Pundit, TPMDC, Weasel Zippers, Moonbattery, Sweetness & Light, The Mahablog and Nice Deb

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Pelosi clarifies call for look at funding of anti-mosque critics — Nancy Pelosi kicked off a bit of controversy on the right this morning when the news broke that she had told a local San Francisco radio station that she agreed with those calling for a look at how the groups opposing the “Ground Zero mosque” are being funded.

Discussion: Hot Air, San Francisco Chronicle, The Hill, National Review, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Mediaite, Gothamist and HotAirPundit

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Our Mosque Madness — Maybe, for Barack Obama, it depends on what the meaning of the word “is” is. — When the president skittered back from his grandiose declaration at an iftar celebration at the White House Friday that Muslims enjoy freedom of religion in America and have the right …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Commentary, Mediaite, Bare Naked Islam's Weblog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Huffington Post, The Daily Caller, Prairie Weather, DailyHowler.com, Roger Ailes and Wake up America

Peter Beinart / The Daily Beast:
Grow a Pair, Democrats

Discussion: Washington Post, National Review, Red Dog Report and Commentary

Noemie Emery / Washington Examiner:
Let's just appreciate the great Obama presidency

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Michelle Boorstein / Washington Post:
In flap over mosque near Ground Zero, conservative writers gaining influence

Discussion: Jihad Watch, The Atlantic Online and Commentary

Fox News:

Decision Not to Rebuild Church Destroyed on 9/11 Surprises Greek Orthodox Leaders — (Herman Krieger/Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America) — Greek Orthodox leaders trying to rebuild the only church destroyed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks expressed shock this week after learning …

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Jawa Report, No More Mister Nice Blog, Gateway Pundit, Cold Fury, Nice Deb, The Powers That Be and The Right Scoop

WorldNetDaily:

WND dumps Ann Coulter from Miami due to Homoconflict — Farah cites her speech to ‘gay’ event as reason — WASHINGTON - Conservative superstar Ann Coulter today was dropped as a keynote speaker for WND's “Taking America Back National Conference” next month because of her plan to address an event titled …

Discussion: Think Progress, Weigel, The Daily Caller, AmSpecBlog, Mediaite, Raw Story, Right Wing Nut House, Outside the Beltway, YID With LID, Little Green Footballs, Shakesville, TBogg, GayPatriot, Ben Smith's Blog and Advocate

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Obama: Social Security ‘is not in crisis’ — President Obama said Social Security is not in crisis and only modest changes are needed to keep it solvent. — The president acknowledged at a small town hall gathering in Columbus, Ohio, Wednesday that the pension fund “has to be tweaked …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Jared A. Favole / Wall Street Journal:
Obama, in Ohio, Seeks to Reassure Voters

Discussion: National Review and Truthdig

Mike Allen / The Politico:
Plouffe: Obama's reelection will follow a different ‘playbook’ …

Discussion: Mediaite and TPMDC

Larry O'Connor / Breitbart.tv:

Howard Dean: Move the Mosque — “This is not about the rights of Muslims to have a worship center...” — This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

Discussion: Tammy Bruce, Hot Air and Freedom's Lighthouse

Larry O'Connor / Breitbart.tv:
Annoyed Obama Has ‘No Regrets’ Over Mosque Comments

Discussion: Gateway Pundit

Sarah Palin / Facebook:

Proud to Support More Women Leaders on the 90th Anniversary of Women's Suffrage — Today marks the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment which granted American women the right to vote. Words cannot express the depth of gratitude we owe to those brave feminist foremothers …

Discussion: Big Government, Washington Wire, Gawker and Post on Politics

Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
Palin backs another seven candidates; hits Rep. Etheridge for ‘turning violent’

Discussion: Wonkette

Corinna Jessen / Spiegel Online:

Tensions Rise in Greece as Austerity Measures Backfire — The austerity measures that were supposed to fix Greece's problems are dragging down the country's economy. Stores are closing, tax revenues are falling and unemployment has hit an unbelievable 70 percent in some places.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Obsidian Wings, The Impolitic, Clusterstock and Economist's View

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

The cash question: Murdoch, Fox and the GOP — Rupert Murdoch, who has never been shy about making his political views known, has voted with his sizable checkbook. — Murdoch's News Corp. has made a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association, triggering swift criticism …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Politics Daily and Donklephant

New York Times:
News Corp. Gives Republicans $1 Million

Discussion: CNN, Wall Street Journal, Media Matters for America, The Huffington Post, THEROOT.COM, The Caucus, Mediaite, Media Decoder, Truthdig, Washington Monthly, The Politico and News Hounds, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

Tea Party Choice Scrambles in Taking On Reid in Nevada — NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Sharron Angle leaned across a table in her campaign office here, defending her suddenly embattled campaign to defeat Senator Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader, under the gaze of a half-dozen advisers …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Daniel W. Drezner, Wonkette, The Page, Ballot Box and Indecision Forever

New York Times:
Interview With Sharron Angle

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Quinnipiac University:

‘Insiders’ Back On Top In Florida Primaries, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Mccollum, Meek Lead, But Races Are Volatile — Two so-called “insiders” in Florida, Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum and Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, have come from behind to overtake so-called …

Discussion: sunshinestatenews.com, The Fix, RedState, Orlando Sentinel, Swing State Project, Ballot Box, The Eye, The Page, CNN, Post on Politics and The Buzz

Michael Beckel / OpenSecrets.org:
Aviation Corporation, Previously Maxed-Out Donors Spend Big …

Discussion: The Washington Independent

Matt Bai / New York Times:

The Paradox of a Legislative President — Democrats in Washington are divided and somewhat puzzled over President Obama's fading popularity. They reject, of course, the Republican view that the president is basically a closet Socialist whose disdain for free enterprise has alienated voters.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Firedoglake, New York Times and Eschaton

Spencer Ackerman / Danger Room:

Petraeus: Here's My Afghan Redeployment Strategy — KABUL, Afghanistan - General David Petraeus isn't planning to wake up one morning after July 2011 and order his troops out of Afghanistan's provinces all at once. Instead, his idea is to slowly and deliberately remove small units …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, Newshoggers.com, CNN, Matthew Yglesias and Chicago Boyz

Russell Goldman / ABCNEWS:

Islamic Center Backers Won't Rule Out Taking Funds from Saudi Arabia, Iran — ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Developers in Talks With NY Gov. Paterson — The developers behind the Islamic center planned for a site near Ground Zero won't rule out accepting financing from the Mideast …

Discussion: Keep America Safe

Carla Hall / Los Angeles Times:

It's unanimous, president's visit leaves L.A. boiling — President Obama's Monday evening ride from the Beverly Hilton to Hancock Park caused havoc as roads across the city were closed. Tuesday, he wisely chose to helicopter back to the airport. — A Marine helicopter carrying White …

Discussion: Mediaite and JammieWearingFool

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:

AP Poll: Obama at new low for handling economy — WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama earned his lowest marks ever on his handling of the economy in a new Associated Press-GfK poll, which also found that an overwhelming majority of Americans now describe the nation's financial outlook as poor.

Discussion: Sweetness & Light, Red Dog Report, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and JammieWearingFool

Scott McCabe / Washington Examiner:

Fire-breathing bartenders arrested, face 45 years — Two fire-breathing bartenders face up to 45 years in prison each for performing flaming bar tricks. — Jimmy's Old Town Tavern owner Jimmy Cirrito said his bartenders have been entertaining his customers — by juggling bottles of alcohol …

Discussion: Left Coast Rebel and Hit & Run

Felicia Sonmez / The Fix:

Afternoon Fix: Romney endorses in Colorado, Wyoming and Washington; Carnahan slams Blunt on bailout — Make sure to sign up to get “Afternoon Fix” in your email inbox every day by 5 pm! — EARLIER ON THE FIX — Senate Democrats' Florida conundrum — Daily Fix Poll: The New York City mosque and the Republican Party

Discussion: Idaho Statesman

The Huffington Post:

Famed Investor Bill Gross Calls For Massive Taxpayer-Backed Mortgage Refinance Initiative — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — The head of the world's biggest bond fund, bemoaning the slow economic recovery, reignited debate Tuesday by publicly supporting a massive new refinance program currently roiling …

Discussion: Newshoggers.com

Anahad O'Connor / Media Decoder:

Dr. Laura Schlessinger to End Radio Show — Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the conservative talk radio commentator under fire for repeatedly using a racial epithet, announced on Tuesday that she was ending her long-running radio show. — Dr. Schlessinger made the announcement on Tuesday night on …

Sean Trende / Real Clear Politics:

As Goes Washington, So Goes the Nation — In the years before reliable polling, political prognosticators relied on a simple maxim to forecast elections: As goes Maine, so goes the nation. The saying didn't arise because Maine was a swing state. Maine was in fact a solidly Republican state until …

Discussion: National Review, FiveThirtyEight, Swing State Project, Democratic Strategist and Weekly Standard

Financial Times:

US matches Indian call centre costs — By James Lamont in New Delhi and Joe Leahy in Mumbai — Call centre workers are becoming as cheap to hire in the US as they are in India, according to the head of the country's largest business process outsourcing company.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Washington Independent and naked capitalism