memeorandum: Holder: Gitmo may stay open beyond 2012 (Jordy Yager/The Hill)

8:05 AM ET, March 2, 2011

Top Items:

Eric Hananoki / Media Matters for America:

Huckabee: Obama Grew Up “In Kenya” — During a radio appearance yesterday, Mike Huckabee repeatedly falsely claimed that President Obama grew up in Kenya. After questioning Obama's purported secrecy about the birth certificate, radio host Steve Malzberg asked Huckabee if “we deserve to know more about this man.”

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Taylor Marsh, Sky Dancing, Examiner, The Reaction, The Note, Roger Ailes, The Hill, No More Mister Nice Blog, A plain blog about politics, Crooks and Liars, The Atlantic Online, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, CNN, Washington Monthly and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Huckagaffe — He's now withdrawn the statement that Obama grew up in Kenya and says he meant Indonesia. Here's the original quote: … Well, how do you get a view of the Mau Mau revolution in Indonesia? So I don't buy the mis-spoke explanation. And Obama did not “grow up with” a Kenyan father and grandfather.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and AMERICAblog News

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Huckabee didn't mean it — Mike Huckabee, who has never indulged paranoia about Obama's birth — and who has generally chided vitriolic attacks on the president and First Lady — pretty clearly misspoke in a radio interview today, prompting a boomlet of outrage. — Says his spokesman Hogan Gidley to POLITICO:

Discussion: Washington Post, PostPartisan, msnbc.com, Media Matters for America, Mother Jones and Mediaite

David Weigel / Weigel:

Mike Huckabee is Not a Birther — Let's call this off right now. I don't hear birtherism anywhere in Mike Huckabee's interview with Steve Malzberg. … Occam's razor: Huckabee is just ill-informed. — 1) Barack Obama spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, with his Indonesian stepfather Lolo Soetoro.

Discussion: The Politico, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Huckabee Questions Obama Birth Certificate

Discussion: FOK News Channel, Mediaite, Salon, Mother Jones, Politics Daily, Swampland, George's Bottom Line and The Political Carnival

Phil / Dane101:

Wisconsin GOP Senator Glenn Grothman chased, trapped by hecklers, saved by Dem. Rep. Hulsey — Phil Ejercito is a 29 year old freelance photographer based in Madison, WI. His primary photographic services include (but are by no means limited to) live music, event coverage, politics and activism …

Discussion: Nice Deb

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

Breaking: Wisconsin GOP Senator Glenn Grothman Mobbed at Wisconsin Capitol (Video) — Breaking Report: Wisconsin Republican Glenn Grothman was just mobbed by a group of union thugs. — Republican youth leader Josiah Cantrall reported that the Republican Senator was mobbed by union thugs as he approached the capitol today.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Whiskey Fire, RedState, Shows and Moonbattery

Michelle Malkin:

Mob rule video: Unhinged crowd corners Wisconsin GOP senator shouting “F**k you,” “Shame!” ; Update: A Fleebagger returns? — Scroll for updates... I got bad chills up and down my spine watching this group of crazed, pro-union Madison thugs gang up on a lone conservative in a public space just trying to do his job.

Discussion: Hot Air, Nice Deb, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and Patterico's Pontifications

Rich Lowry / National Review:

‘I already know I could win’ — Dan already wrote a piece about it, but Chris Christie was in the office last week. I just wanted to quote him more extensively on 2012. I asked him whether he knew that, given the moment, there is a serious chance he could win the Republican nomination if he ran.

Discussion: GOP 12, Hot Air, CNN and Capitol Quickies

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

Christie: I could win the W.H. — Gov. Chris Christie said he knows he could win the White House if he ran for president next year. — The New Jersey governor and GOP rock star made the comments in an interview with the National Review last week while he was in Washington D.C.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and FrumForum

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Issa press aide scandal is like bad reality TV — If Washington's political culture gets any more incestuous, our children are going to be born with extra fingers. — The latest symptom of our deformed political-journalistic complex presented this week, when news broke that the office of Rep. Darrell Issa …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Swampland, USA Today and Balloon Juice

The Politico:
Darrell Issa fires press secretary Kurt Bardella in New York Times e-mail flap

Discussion: News Desk, FishbowlDC, Weigel, Pundits Blog, The Other McCain, FrumForum, TPMMuckraker and New York Magazine

Jack Shafer / Slate:
John F. Harris, go soak your head.

Discussion: The Politico, USA Today, Washington Post, The Atlantic Online and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Politico Requested E-Mails of Other Reporters in 2009

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Ben Smith's Blog, CNN, USA Today, Gawker, Moe Lane, The Note and Washington Wire

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Eric Holder: Black Panther case focus demeans ‘my people’ — Attorney General Eric Holder finally got fed up Tuesday with claims that the Justice Department went easy in a voting rights case against members of the New Black Panther Party because they are African American.

Discussion: Federal Eye, The Gateway Pundit, Maggie's Notebook, HazZzMat, Patterico's Pontifications, Scared Monkeys, The Political Carnival, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, Sister Toldjah, Public Secrets, The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers, theblogprof, The Hill, Pajamas Media and Liberty Pundits Blog

Jordy Yager / The Hill:

Holder: Gitmo may stay open beyond 2012 — Attorney General Eric Holder left open the possibility Tuesday that the Guantánamo Bay terrorist prison camp might live on beyond President Obama's first term. — Asked in a congressional hearing whether the prison would be closed by November 2012, Holder said: “I don't know.

Discussion: FrumForum

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

House Advances Budget and Cuts $4 Billion — WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday approved a two-week budget measure that cuts $4 billion in federal spending. Senate Democrats said they would quickly pass the bill and send it to President Obama, averting any immediate threat of a government shutdown …

Discussion: Gawker and Booman Tribune

ThinkProgress:
Religious Coalition Tells The GOP That 'The Budget Shouldn't Be Balanced On the Backs Of The Poor'

Discussion: CNN, Cubachi and Don Surber

Felicia Sonmez / 2chambers:
House passes stopgap funding to avert federal shutdown

Discussion: The Fix, Firedoglake, Online NewsHour, Hot Air and Balloon Juice

Fox News:
House Passes Two-Week Spending Bill, Sends To Senate

Discussion: Don Surber, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and New York Magazine

Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:

Assange Complains of Jewish Smear Campaign — LONDON — The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, suggested in comments published on Tuesday that British journalists, including the editor of The Guardian newspaper, were engaged in a Jewish-led conspiracy to smear his organization.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Salon and The Jawa Report

TwitLonger:
WikiLeaks — Because WikiLeaks has some Jewish staff …

Discussion: New York Magazine and Liberal Conspiracy

Sunny Hundal / Liberal Conspiracy:
Assange goes off deep end - blaming Jews and Guardian in Private Eye

Discussion: Salon, AOL News, The Raw Story, Runnin' Scared, FP Passport and Moe Lane

Eric Lach / TPMDC:

Walker Unveils Budget — Says Cuts Will Be More Painful If Dems Don't Return — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) gave a speech at the state Capitol Tuesday to unveil his budget for the next two years, even as the debate over his budget repair bill still rages.

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community

JSOnline:
Walker's budget cuts would touch most Wisconsinites

Discussion: Pajamas Media, AOL News and First Draft

Wall Street Journal:
Wisconsin Governor Seeks $4.2 Billion in Cuts

Discussion: USA Today, Firedoglake, National Review and Hot Air

Eric Lach / TPMDC:

Wisconsin Sheriff Pulled Deputies From Capitol, Says They Won't Be ‘Palace Guard’ (VIDEO) — At the same press conference where Dane County, Wisc., District Attorney Ismael Ozanne told reporters he found nothing criminal in Gov. Scott Walker's comments to a prank caller last week …

Greg Bump / WisPolitics Budget Blog:
Mahoney: Officers aren't the “palace guard”

Discussion: AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, The Nation and TPMDC

Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:

Ohio Lawmakers Battle Over Union Bargaining Rights — COLUMBUS, Ohio — Republican state senators unveiled a new version of a bill governing public employee unions on Tuesday, saying it would preserve their right to collective bargaining, but Democratic lawmakers said the revisions failed …

Discussion: Mish's Global Economic …, The TrogloPundit, The Political Carnival and Truthdig

Mary Wisniewski / Reuters:
Ohio union plan like Wisconsin draws protests

Discussion: AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, The Raw Story, Firedoglake and Pirate's Cove

Stephen C. Webster / The Raw Story:

Fox News reporter appears to have lied about being ‘punched’ by protester — Fox News has been making a lot of hay about one of their reporters allegedly being “punched” by a protester in Madison, Wisconsin. — Turns out, that didn't happen. — Mike Tobin, reporting from amid …

Discussion: Sky Dancing, Salon, The Political Carnival and NewsBusters.org

Katherine Sellgren / BBC:

LSE investigates Gaddafi's son plagiarism claims — There were student demonstrations at the LSE last week over its links with Libya — The London School of Economics has confirmed it is investigating allegations that Colonel Gaddafi's son plagiarised his PhD thesis.

Discussion: Unqualified Offerings and Guardian

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org:

Reich To Rich: Redistribute Or Risk Angry Populace Turning On You! — Nice house there, rich guy. Wouldn't wanna see nuthin' happen to it . . . Robert Reich has actually argued that the rich should welcome redistributing more of their income to prevent an angry American populace from turning on them.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Weasel Zippers

BBC:

Insurance and pension costs hit by ECJ gender ruling — Twins Emma and Nick Lane were quoted very different prices for car insurance — Insurers cannot charge different premiums to men and women because of their gender, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.

Discussion: Crooked Timber

Dan Froomkin / The Huffington Post:

Raucous First Caucus For House Tea Partiers Exposes Dangerous Rifts … UPDATE at 4:21 PM ET: The House has just passed a two-week funding measure to avert a government shutdown. It includes $4 billion in budget cuts for the rest of the fiscal year — but continues to fund Obama's healthcare law (for those two weeks).

Discussion: The Blotter, Hullabaloo, Weekly Standard, Daily Kos and FrumForum