memeorandum: The First Adult — AWOL (Robert Samuelson/Real Clear Politics)

8:55 AM ET, April 26, 2011

Top Items:

STATEMENT OF GOV. BARBOUR — “I will not be a candidate for president next year. This has been a difficult, personal decision, and I am very grateful to my family for their total support of my going forward, had that been what I decided. — “Hundreds of people have encouraged me to run …

The Politico:

Why Haley Barbour pulled the plug — Haley Barbour had his presidential announcement plan lined up: A May 2 launch, followed by a fly-around to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada and Florida, before winding up in in Jackson on Saturday the 7th for a big home-state fundraising bash.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Andy Barr / The Politico:
Mike Huckabee leads in South Carolina polls

Discussion: The Page and CNN

Andy Barr / The Politico:
Haley Barbour bows out of 2012

Discussion: CNN, MyDD, The Moderate Voice, RedState, The New Republic, Outside the Beltway, The Iowa Republican, The Democratic Daily and AmSpecBlog

Charles Ommanney / Newsweek:
‘Fat Redneck’ for President

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, CNN, Oliver Willis, Balloon Juice and The Daily Dish

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Gov. Haley's advice to GOP presidential hopefuls: Change your message

Discussion: The Reaction, Cubachi, Liberty Pundits Blog, CNN and Firedoglake

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

TRENDING: Trump claims Obama birth certificate ‘missing’ — Washington (CNN) - Real estate mogul Donald Trump's latest claim about President Obama's birth certificate is that it's missing. — “Well I've been told very recently, Anderson, that the birth certificate is missing,” Trump told CNN's Anderson Cooper Monday.

Discussion: Sky Dancing, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

Donald Trump: How did Barack Obama get into Ivies? — ‘How does a bad student go to Columbia and then to Harvard?’ Trump asked. AP Photo — Donald Trump is upping the ante against President Barack Obama's legitimacy, raising questions on Monday night about how the president was admitted to two Ivy League schools.

Discussion: The Page

Susan Page / USA Today:
Poll: What kind of president would Donald Trump make?

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and The Hill

John / Power Line:

The Left Politicizes the Practice of Law — One of the saddest stories in the news today is King & Spalding's withdrawal, after only a week, from its representation of the U.S. House of Representatives in connection with the Defense of Marriage Act. — In February, Barack Obama's Department …

Discussion: American Power, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and National Review

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Law Firm Won't Defend Marriage Act — WASHINGTON — The law firm hired by Republicans in the House of Representatives to defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act withdrew Monday amid pressure from gay-rights groups. The decision prompted the resignation of a prominent partner …

Discussion: Lawfare, Prairie Weather, rubber hose and The Caucus

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
DOMA defense in turmoil

Discussion: RedState, Lawfare, Poliglot and The Huffington Post

Sandhya Somashekhar / Washington Post:
Firm defending Defense of Marriage Act withdraws from case

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, USA Today, The Daily Dish and Pajamas Media

Cameron Joseph / NationalJournal.com:

Ron Paul Launches Presidential Campaign — Rep. Ron Paul's long-held advocacy of smaller government and less taxes has made him a tea party hero. — Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, whose outspoken libertarian views and folksy style made him a cult hero during two previous presidential campaigns …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Iowa Republican, Weasel Zippers, Don Surber, Vox Popoli and Donklephant

David Weigel / Slate:
Ron Paul Will Launch Presidential Exploratory Committee Tomorrow

Discussion: Wonkette, Des Moines Register, Booman Tribune, The Raw Story, Gawker, Balloon Juice and Mock, Paper, Scissors

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Ron Paul to announce 2012 committee

Discussion: Public Policy Polling, CNN, The Politico, Hot Air and GOP 12

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:

Boehner: Oil Companies Share Blame for Gas Prices, Open to Cutting Subsidies — At a time of skyrocketing gas prices and near-record profits for oil companies, House Speaker John Boehner made a major concession today: Congress should consider cutting multi-billion dollar subsidies to oil companies.

Discussion: The Politico, The Lonely Conservative, Hot Air, The Hill, Washington Wire, TPMDC, Wake up America and The Page

Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
House Speaker John Boehner to President Obama: ‘Come on! Time to Grow Up’ About Deficit and Taxes

Discussion: The Hill and Pajamas Media

Jake Sherman / The Politico:
John Boehner: No promises on debt limit vote

Discussion: Washington Monthly, USA Today and Washington Post

David Corn / Mother Jones:

White House to Franklin Graham: You're “Preposterous” — After the evangelist (and son of legendary Billy Graham) played the birther card on ABC, Jay Carney curtly notes that he abused Easter Sunday. — Post Comment — The day after Easter, the Obama White House took a shot …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Bcook / Fox Nation:
WH Fails to Release Easter Proclamation

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, Obama Foodorama, Fox News, The Gateway Pundit, Salon, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, The Jawa Report, Little Green Footballs, The Lonely Conservative and rubber hose

Richard Wolf / USA Today:
Obama spokesman fires back at Franklin Graham

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
White House smacks Rev. Franklin Graham for ‘birther’ talk

Discussion: RealClearPolitics Video Log, The Gateway Pundit and Politics

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:

Allen West: Liberal Women Are ‘Neutering American Men’ — Last week, Tea Party favorite Rep. Allen West (R-FL) addressed his base at a Women Impacting Nation (WIN) meeting in Boca Raton, FL. WIN's mission is to “educate and equip women with knowledge of God's truth” and …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Mahablog and Weasel Zippers

Hadley Freeman / Guardian:

Rachel Maddow: 'I'm definitely not an autocutie' — The top US news anchor on why she prefers jokes to anger and why she is proud to be gay — It's 10.05pm on a rainy Tuesday night in the MSNBC studio in the now famous New York address, 30 Rock, and Rachel Maddow - one of the highest profile news anchors …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Mediaite, Gawker and JammieWearingFool, more at Mediagazer »

Sara Jerome / The Hill:

House Republicans question Google, Apple on consumer privacy — House Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee raised concerns about consumer privacy policies at major technology companies in the aftermath of reports that smart phones collect, store, and sometimes even transmit data about users' whereabouts.

Telegraph:

WikiLeaks: Guantánamo Bay terrorists radicalised in London to attack Western targets — At least 35 terrorists incarcerated at Guantánamo Bay were sent to fight against the West after being indoctrinated by extremist preachers in Britain, secret files obtained by The Daily Telegraph disclose.

Discussion: EU Referendum, Newshoggers.com, The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers, Guardian and The Gateway Pundit

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

DCCC chairman: Targeting Republicans on Ryan plan will win back seniors and independents — House Democrats' campaign chief said the targeting of Republicans who voted for the Paul Ryan budget plan will help his party win back two key constituencies it lost in 2010: seniors and independents.

Discussion: Ballot Box and JammieWearingFool

Brian / Right Wing Watch:

Robertson: Left Backs Abortion Rights To Make Straight Women More Like Lesbians — Pat Robertson has figured out why President Obama supports the funding of Planned Parenthood and believes in a woman's right to choose: because progressives want women to have abortions as a way to achieve equality for lesbians.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Sky Dancing

Holly Watt / Telegraph:

Wikileaks: British aid budget funded key aide to al-Qaeda — An Afghan politician identified as a key aide to al-Qaeda terrorists was funded by the British aid budget, according to documents released by WikiLeaks. — Mullan Haji Rohullah, who was subsequently transported to Guantánamo …

Discussion: Jihad Watch

Publius / Big Government:

Union Official, Professor Teach How-to College Course in Violent Union Tactics — If you are wondering why some folks are starting to question whether a college education is worth the cost, the video below goes a long way towards explaining it. Recently, the University of Missouri-St. Louis …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, RedState, The Lonely Conservative, Weigel, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Sister Toldjah, Pajamas Media and Big Journalism

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Obama campaign manager: 2008 model won't be enough to win second term — President Obama's campaign manager stressed Monday that Democrats couldn't rely on their 2008 game plan to win a second term for Obama in 2012. — Jim Messina, Obama's former deputy chief of staff-turned-campaign manager …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Libya hurting Obama...even though many don't know where it is — Barack Obama's approval numbers have been hitting record lows in our polls and others of late and one of the things that's really hurting him right now is Libya- even though barely half of voters in the country actually know where it is.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, rubber hose and Mudville Gazette

n+1:

Bad Education — Image: Plans for a new athletic center at Ithaca College. From msidesign.com. — The Project On Student Debt estimates that the average college senior in 2009 graduated with $24,000 in outstanding loans. Last August, student loans surpassed credit cards …

Discussion: Questions and Observations and Yglesias