memeorandum: Derek Fenton, Koran-burning transit worker fired from his job after Ground Zero protest, re-hired (Larry McShane/NY Daily News)

10:35 AM ET, April 23, 2011

Top Items:

Molly Hendrickson / WBAY-TV:

School District Employee Disciplined for Political Phone Call — A Sheboygan gas station owner is baffled after a mystery caller tells a clerk it's a bad idea to do business with a Sheboygan-area state senator. — It started Tuesday when a woman called Dick Hiers's Northeast Standard gas station …

Doug Powers / Michelle Malkin:

Wisconsin School Employee Makes Threatening Phone Call to Business for Selling Gas to GOPer — Maybe the caller was only trying to make sure the pumps were clear in case any Wisconsin Senate fleebaggers needed to top off the tank for another escape to Illinois. — From WBAY-TV:

BBC:

Syria unrest: ‘Bloodiest day’ as troops fire on rallies — Amateur video purportedly showing large protests across the country — Protesters in Syria report 60 people killed by security forces - the highest death toll in five weeks of unrest against President Bashar al-Assad.

Discussion: Syria Comment, The Washington Note, Right Wing News, Reuters, The Reaction and Jay Currie

Washington Post:

Shameful U.S. inaction on Syria's massacres — FOR THE PAST five weeks, growing numbers of Syrians have been gathering in cities and towns across the country to demand political freedom — and the security forces of dictator Bashar al-Assad have been responding by opening fire on them.

Discussion: Maggie's Farm

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Statements on Syria — Obama, in what Crowley describes as a “bind” on today's violence, says: — The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the use of force by the Syrian government against demonstrators. This outrageous use of violence to quell protests must come to an end now.

Discussion: Hot Air, CNN and Swampland

Anthony Shadid / New York Times:
Security Forces Kill Dozens in Uprisings Around Syria

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Hit & Run, The Belgravia Dispatch, FrumForum, Al Jazeera Blogs and CNN

Bassem Mroue / Reuters:
Syria Protests Spread As Forces Open Fire On Demonstrators

Discussion: Swampland

Gautham Nagesh / The Hill:

Obama: No ‘silver bullet’ to bring down gas prices — President Obama said Saturday there are no easy answers for lowering gas prices, which are hovering above $4 a gallon, and criticized politicians who push plans to immediately reduce the price of gas. — “You see people trying …

Discussion: The Politico, JammieWearingFool, FrumForum and Scared Monkeys

The Professor / Streetwise Professor:
The Department of Distraction Swings Into Action

Discussion: Pundit & Pundette, Power Line and Hit & Run

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

Paul Krugman says “So, let's try another shot to the head.” — I realize he's talking about a misconception, and he has designated the misconception a “zombie,” and according to zombie lore, zombies are destroyed by shooting them in the head. But still. That's quite a violent way to talk …

Discussion: JustOneMinute

Paul Krugman:
Zombie Tax Lies

Discussion: The Mahablog and The New Republic

Evan Harris / ABCNEWS:

Franklin Graham: Trump Might be Candidate of Choice — The Rev. Franklin Graham, whose family has served as spiritual advisers to numerous prominent political figures, told “This Week” anchor Christiane Amanpour that businessman Donald Trump might be his candidate of choice in 2012 …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CNN, Hot Air, TPMDC, Little Green Footballs, The Hill, Taylor Marsh, FrumForum and Weigel

Larry McShane / NY Daily News:

Derek Fenton, Koran-burning transit worker fired from his job after Ground Zero protest, re-hired — A Koran-burning New Jersey Transit worker, fired for his protest near Ground Zero last Sept. 11, is getting his job back - along with an extra $25,000 for his troubles.

Discussion: National Review and The Volokh Conspiracy

Josiah Ryan / The Hill:

Collins is first GOP senator to oppose Ryan budget proposal — Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine.) said Friday that she will not support the 2012 budget passed by the House last week. — “I don't happen to support Congressman Ryan's plan but at least he had the courage to put forth a plan …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Guardian and TPMDC

Pat Callaghan / WCSH-TV:
In The Arena: Sen. Susan Collins

Discussion: The Raw Story and FrumForum

Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:

Tim Pawlenty's Big Chill — How the GOP presidential contender left a famed Arctic explorer in the cold on global warming. — Post Comment — When Will Steger was 15 years old, he and his brother piloted an old motorboat down the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans.

Discussion: Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and The Blotter

The Politico:

John Ensign bolted to avoid more public embarrassment — Sen. John Ensign abruptly announced his resignation after it grew increasingly clear to him that he would not be able to avoid a public review of the sordid allegations surrounding his sex scandal, including the open airing of details …

Discussion: Daily Kos and TPMDC

Eric Lipton / New York Times:
Senate Resignation May Not Halt Release of Evidence

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Firedoglake, Guardian, FiveThirtyEight and Daily Kos

Justin Elliott / Salon:

Trump to Salon: “You will be very surprised” — Donald Trump has written me a personal note promising that he will release information about his net worth — and that he'll even do it earlier than is required by federal election law. — Trump's assistant sent me an email earlier today with the heading …

Discussion: TechCrunch and The Atlantic Online

Justin Fenton / Baltimore Sun:

Video of beating in a Baltimore County McDonald's goes viral — A video of a vicious beating at a Baltimore County McDonald's restaurant went viral Friday, garnering hundreds of thousands of views on various websites and prompting the fast food giant to issue a statement condemning the incident.

Discussion: The Smoking Gun, Pajamas Media, The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Gateway Pundit, JONATHAN TURLEY and UrbanGrounds

People For the American Way:

The ‘Green Dragon’ Slayers: How the Religious Right and the Corporate Right are Joining Forces to Fight Environmental Protection — TABLE OF CONTENTS — Introduction — As Republican officials accelerate their efforts to weaken environmental regulations and attack climate scientists …

Discussion: Hullabaloo and The Reality-Based Community

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

More than half of Democrats believed Bush knew — I've been looking for a good analogue to the willingness of Republicans to believe, or say they believe, that Obama was born abroad, and one relevant number is the share of Democrats willing to believe, as they say, that “Bush knew.”

Discussion: American Power

Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:

Town Hall Citizens Confront Rep. Sean Duffy For Voting To Privatize Medicare And Defend Tax Breaks For Rich — All across America, a Main Street Movement has broken out to defend the middle class against right-wing attacks on labor rights and basic public services.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Lonely Conservative, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit, The Nation and Seeing the Forest

Ronald Brownstein / NationalJournal.com:

Locked and Loaded — Both parties are spoiling for a fight in the 2012 presidential campaign over the size of government. — It's always hazardous to predict the issues that will define the next presidential selection. But leading thinkers in both parties say that events of the past …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The New Republic and msnbc.com