memeorandum: May special election for seat of NY lawmaker in online dating scandal (Sean J. Miller/Ballot Box)

3:40 PM ET, March 9, 2011

Top Items:

Mark Memmott / NPR:

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns — This follows yesterday's news that then-NPR fundraiser Ron Schiller (no relation) was videotapped slamming conservatives and questioning whether NPR needs federal funding during a lunch with men posing as members of a Muslim organization …

Caroline May / The Daily Caller:

ADL calls for an apology from NPR executive — Joining the ranks of those disappointed with what they saw of two National Public Radio (NPR) executives caught in an undercover sting disparaging aspects of American culture, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Tuesday called on Ron Schiller …

Discussion: JSOnline, Divided We Stand and The Reaction, more at Mediagazer »

Jack Shafer / Slate:

In Defense of Ron Schiller … Like This Story — Follow Slate's Press Box … - Peter King Thinks U.S. Muslims Are Hiding Radical Activity. Where's His Proof? - If Only America Could Be More Like Mauritius, the Greatest Country on Earth- Shafer: The Day Rupert Murdoch Met the Devil- NPR's CEO Stepped Down.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, NewsReal Blog, PostPartisan, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Big Journalism

Mark Memmott / NPR Topics:
NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns After Board Decides She Should Go

Discussion: YID With LID, Hot Air, Little Green Footballs, USA Today, AOL News, The Daily Caller, Big Journalism, Mediaite, Right Wing News, Power Line and Media Decoder

Media Decoder:
Vivian Schiller, NPR Chief Executive, Resigns

Discussion: Hot Air, USA Today, AOL News and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

The Politico:
NPR CEO resigns, money war rages

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The New Republic and Colorlines, more at Mediagazer »

Adam Bernstein / Washington Post:

David Broder dies; Pulitzer-winning Washington Post political columnist — David S. Broder, 81, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post and one of the most respected writers on national politics for four decades, died Wednesday at Capital Hospice in Arlington of complications from diabetes.

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Columnist David Broder dies

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and The Politico

David Brody / The Brody File:

Newt Gingrich Tells Brody File He “felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness” — Newt Gingrich, who is expected to run for President tells The Brody File that he “felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness” over his past marital infidelity and now that he's at the grandfather stage he is …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Taegan Goddard's …, The Atlantic Online, New York Magazine, Sadly, No!, AmSpecBlog, Weasel Zippers, NPR Topics, Mediaite, Oliver Willis, Washington Post and Jay Bookman

Kevinliptak / CNN:

Gingrich planning May presidential announcement — Washington (CNN) - In a conference call Wednesday with former staffers and supporters former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said “we are leaning toward a yes” on a presidential run, CNN has learned. — Leaning heavily.

Discussion: GOP 12 and AmSpecBlog

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly: GINGRICH'S PATRIOTISM LED HIM TO CHEAT ON HIS WIVES. …

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Gingrich: Past Adultery ‘Partially Driven By How Passionately I Felt About This Country’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: Breitbart.tv and Indecision Forever

David Frum / FrumForum: Newt's Family Values Problem

Doug Mataconis / Outside the Beltway: Newt Gingrich: I Cheated On My Wives Because I Love America Too Much

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Just No Hope — I was on Hardball today discussing …

Discussion: Salon

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich: ‘I was doing things that were wrong’

Discussion: The Note, Political Insider and FrumForum

Scott Shane / New York Times:

For Lawmaker Examining Terror, a Pro-I.R.A. Past — WASHINGTON — For Representative Peter T. King, as he seizes the national spotlight this week with a hearing on the radicalization of American Muslims, it is the most awkward of résumé entries.

Laura Murphy / The Politico:
Will King become the next McCarthy?

Discussion: The Note, Right Wing News, The Caucus, JustOneMinute and Indecision Forever

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Palin would base campaign in Scottsdale — The prospect of Sarah Palin running for president is, increasingly, dismissed by a political class that sees her facing weak poll numbers — especially in key early states — and doing nothing to correct them or to buil the infrastructure for a run.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, GOP 12, Public Policy Polling and National Review

Bloomberg:

Government Shutdown Opposed by Americans in Poll Faulting Republican Cuts — Americans are sending a message to congressional Republicans: Don't shut down the federal government or slash spending on popular programs. — Almost 8 in 10 people say Republicans and Democrats should reach …

Discussion: Gallup, Ezra Klein, Resurgent Republic, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, UrbanGrounds, Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, FrumForum, Capital Gains and Games blogs, ECHIDNE of the snakes, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and The Politico

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Schumer Calls GOP Bluff On Spending And Deficits — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the Republican Party's bluff on the need for deficit reduction Wednesday, outlining a fiscal framework that involves broader cuts and revenue raisers than the GOP has proposed — and warning …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama's Weekly Job Approval Retreats to 46% — Lowest weekly average since mid-December — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama averaged 46% job approval the week of Feb. 28-March 6, his lowest weekly average since mid-December. Obama's weekly approval rating had steadily improved …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Fix

Steve Holland / Reuters:
Americans see U.S. on wrong track: Reuters/Ipsos poll

Discussion: The Politico, Weasel Zippers, JammieWearingFool, Pajamas Media and Taegan Goddard's …

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Oh, no! Obama job approval starts down again: Gallup

Discussion: Gallup and Hot Air

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:

White House moving to repair troubled relationship with Cabinet — News this week of the first departure of a Cabinet secretary from the Obama administration comes amid a wide-ranging effort under the new chief of staff, William M. Daley, to repair badly frayed relations between the White House and the Cabinet.

Discussion: Big Government, Sister Toldjah, Fox Nation, The Raw Story, RedState, Weasel Zippers, Prairie Weather, FrumForum, Lynn Sweet and The Page

Mike Carter / Seattle Times:

Arrest in attempted MLK Day bombing in Spokane — The FBI has made an arrest in connection with the attempted bombing along the route of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in downtown Spokane. — An FBI source in Washington, D.C., said one man was arrested Wednesday northeast of Spokane.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, KCPQ and TPMMuckraker

Tyler Durden / zero hedge:

Exclusive: Bill Gross Dumps All Treasuries, Brings Total “Government Related” Holdings To Zero, Flees To Cash - No QE3? — Based on still to be publicly reported data by Pimco's flagship Total Return Fund, the world's largest bond fund, in the month of January, has taken its bond holdings to zero …

Discussion: Money & Company

Russell Berman / The Hill:

GOP ups pressure on president: 'Let's see some leadership' — House Republicans escalated pressure on President Obama to become directly involved in the budget debate roiling Capitol Hill, criticizing the White House for allowing a vacuum of leadership on the issue. — “Where is the president?”

Discussion: The Politico and The Hill

Dan Joseph / CNSNews:
Cantor: Budget Cannot Be Balanced in Next 10 Years Without ‘Severely Impacting’ Seniors — Which GOP Won't Do

Discussion: protein wisdom and The Raw Story

Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:

Common mistakes of left-wing economists? — T., a loyal MR reader, asked for a compendium. This is my off-the-cuff list, but in the interests of fairness I'm doing one on market-oriented economists as well. What are some of the common views found on the left which I consider …

Discussion: TheMoneyIllusion, Yglesias, Bleeding Heart Libertarians and EconLog

Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:
Common mistakes of right-wing and market-oriented economists?

Discussion: The Daily Dish

John Cassidy / Rational Irrationality:

Battle of the Bike Lanes — At the risk of incurring the wrath of the bicycle lobby, a constituency that pursues its agenda with about as much modesty and humor as the Jacobins pursued theirs, and which has found its heroine in transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Naparstek Post, Felix Salmon, Ezra Klein, Gothamist, New York Times, Eschaton, The Daily Dish, Guardian, Paul Krugman and City Room

James C. McKinley Jr / New York Times:

Vicious Assault Shakes Texas Town — CLEVELAND, Tex. — The police investigation began shortly after Thanksgiving, when an elementary school student alerted a teacher to a lurid cellphone video that included one of her classmates. — The video led the police to an abandoned trailer …

Discussion: DISSENTING JUSTICE, Hair Balls, Feministing and Shakesville

Matt Robinson / Reuters:

Targeted civilian killings spiral in Afghan war: U.N. — KABUL (Reuters) - Targeted killings of civilians in Afghanistan doubled last year, the United Nations said on Wednesday, as an expanding insurgency strikes at Western efforts to build up the Afghan government and security forces.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Huffington Post and New York Times

George F. Will / Washington Post:

On Libya, too many questions — In September 1941, Japan's leaders had a question for Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto: Could he cripple the U.S. fleet in Hawaii? Yes, he said. Then he had a question for the leaders: But then what? — Following an attack, he said, “I shall run wild considerably …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Nation and FrumForum

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:

Maine gets first state waiver from healthcare law provision — Maine health insurers are getting a temporary waiver from the health reform law's requirement that they spend at least 80 percent of premiums on care, federal regulators decided Tuesday. — Maine is the first state to get a waiver.

Discussion: Hot Air and Pajamas Media

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Private jets — My colleagues report: — Sen. Claire McCaskill has been aggressive in promoting oversight and transparency for congressional travel, introducing a reform bill that cracks down on overseas travel for lawmakers. — But when it comes to her own domestic flights …

Discussion: The Hill, The Gateway Pundit and National Review