memeorandum: Herman Cain: Muslim comments ‘misconstrued’ (Juana Summers/The Politico)

3:45 PM ET, May 24, 2011

Top Items:

An Anti-Israel President — The president's peace proposal is a formula for war. — Say what you will about President Obama's approach to Israel—or of his relationship with American Jews—he sure has mastered the concept of chutzpah. — On Thursday at the State Department …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Facebook, The Right Scoop, CNN, Michelle Malkin, Balloon Juice, The Lonely Conservative, Wake up America, theblogprof, Sense of Events, Wonk Room, Outside the Beltway, Israel Matzav, Betsy's Page, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Confederate Yankee and The Daily Dish

Josh Gerstein / The Politico:

Harry Reid rebukes Barack Obama's Israel speech — The most powerful Democrat in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), on Monday night publicly rejected President Barack Obama's decision to use a recent speech to lay out aspects of a potential peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

Discussion: The Hill, National Review, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Dish, USA Today, Weasel Zippers, Ben Smith's Blog, Pajamas Media, Israpundit, RealClearPolitics Video Log, FrumForum and Washington Post

The Note:

Israeli Prime Minister Gets 29 Standing Ovations in Congress, Sends Message to White House* — ABC's Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) reports: — *UPDATE: President Obama got 25 standing ovations from Congress during his 2011 State of the Union address. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu got 29 today.

Discussion: Mediaite and Mondoweiss

Haaretz:
Heckler yells ‘stop Israeli war crimes’ during Netanyahu's speech to Congress

Discussion: MOVEOVERAIPAC, The Gateway Pundit, National Review and HotAirPundit

Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
Benjamin Netanyahu wows Congress

Discussion: YID With LID

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Jewish GOP official blasts DWS

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Associated Press:
Netanyahu: Israel open to “painful compromises”

Discussion: Truthdig

Aaron David Miller / The Politico:
Obama's undue pressure on Israel?

Discussion: AmSpecBlog

Brian Knowlton / New York Times:
Netanyahu Repeats Stiff Criteria for Peace

Discussion: New York Magazine, Gawker and FrumForum

Maen Rashid Areikat / The Politico:
A Palestinian perspective — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu …

Discussion: Right Wing News

Algemeiner.com:
Full Text of Netanyahu Speech to AIPAC

Discussion: Power Line and Wake up America

Dan Amira / New York Magazine:

President Obama Has No Idea What Year It Is — This is how President Obama signed the guestbook at Westminster Abbey earlier today, where he got a tour from the Very Reverend Dr. John Hall and laid a wreath on the Grave of the Unknown Warrior. … It was really nice until he got the date wrong by three years.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Political Punch, The Blaze, Hot Air and The Right Sphere

Telegraph:
Barack Obama lays memorial wreath at Westminster Abbey

Discussion: JammieWearingFool

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL — King: Giuliani ‘very close’ to joining GOP presidential race — Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose presidential campaign fizzled in 2008, is leaning toward another race for the White House, according to a close associate. New York Republican Rep. Peter King …

Discussion: The Politico, WMUR, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shakesville, Mother Jones, Hot Air, The Note, Outside the Beltway, Gawker, Weasel Zippers, New York Magazine, Betsy's Page, The Raw Story, GOP 12, Pundit Press, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Iowa Caucuses and Washington Post

Rich Lowry / National Review:

The Republican Field: Is This It? — How's this for an impressive Republican lineup? — A likable former governor and TV personality; a two-term governor with an unmatched fiscal record; another former governor with the best education-reform credentials in the country; a rising star in the House …

Discussion: blogs.telegraph.co.uk, pandagon.net, Ben Smith's Blog and Taegan Goddard's …

Marc Ambinder / NationalJournal.com:
What Obama's Political Team Thinks of the Republican Field

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
For Republican Hopefuls, the Bush Primary Is Well Under Way

Discussion: Daily Kos

Jonathan Strong / The Daily Caller:

What a top aide to Sarah Palin really thinks about Mitt Romney, Bristol Palin, Erick Erickson and more — A series of messages forwarded to The Daily Caller show a top aide to former Alaska Gov. and possible presidential candidate Sarah Palin mocking top political figures and even her boss's own daughter, Bristol Palin.

Discussion: RedState, The Note, Salon, Riehl World View, Hot Air, The Politico, GOP 12 and Moe Lane

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Don't talk to strangers, Palin edition — There's no more dangerous place for a political staffer than the anonymous wilds of online comments sections. And while much of Sarah Palin's political infrastructure grew up online at Conservatives4Palin, one of her top aides, Rebecca Mansour …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, The Other McCain, Conservatives4Palin, FrumForum, The Daily Caller, Riehl World View and The Note

David Brooks / New York Times:

Britain Is Working — In 1920, Winston Churchill's mother held a dinner for M. Paul Cambon to celebrate the end of his 20 years as the French ambassador to Britain. One of the guests asked Cambon what he had seen in his two decades in London. — “I have witnessed an English revolution …

Discussion: Yglesias, Los Angeles Times, The Enterprise Blog, The New Republic, Marbury, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Guardian, Washington Post and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

David Brooks' political dream — David Brooks flew to London so now he's an expert on British politics, and in his New York Times column this morning, he explains why “the British political system is basically functional while the American system is not.” Here's the crux of what makes their system so admirable in his eyes:

Discussion: Eschaton and blogs.telegraph.co.uk

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

Cantor demands spending-cut ransom for Missouri aid — The scenes out of Joplin, Missouri, are just horrific. The death toll from the deadliest single U.S. twister in generations stands at least 116 people, and rescue workers continue a frantic search for survivors.

Discussion: Boston Globe, Emptywheel, Mediaite, Associated Press, The Politico and Oliver Willis

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:

Cantor Says Congress Won't Pay For Missouri Disaster Relief Unless Spending Is Cut Elsewhere — Firefighters and rescue workers who arrived in Joplin, MO, found that the deadly tornado that hit the state Sunday had left a “barren, smoky wasteland” in its path.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Washington Times, WALV-TV, AmeriCares News …, Comments from Left Field, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and CNN

Russell Berman / The Hill:
House GOP to hold ‘clean’ vote to raise $14.3T debt ceiling

Discussion: National Review and FrumForum

Richard Eden / Telegraph:

Cannes 2011: Peter Fonda encourages his grandchildren to take up arms against President Barack Obama — Peter Fonda, the star of Easy Rider, says he is training his grandchildren to use rifles for a conflict with President Barack Obama. — Lars von Trier, who was banned from Cannes for praising Hitler …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Moderate Voice, Five Feet of Fury, Confederate Yankee, Maggie's Notebook, Pajamas Media and Moe Lane

Tanya Somanader / ThinkProgress:

Kansas Lawmaker Says Women Should Plan Ahead For Rape: ‘I Have A Spare Tire’ — The anti-choice tidal wave stemming from the 2010 elections has produced nearly 1,000 anti-choice bills this year alone. When Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) took office last year, he called on the state legislature to create …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Jezebel, Religion Dispatches, Shakesville and Oliver Willis

Peter Rugg / Plog:
Kansas Rep. Pete DeGraaf: Being impregnated during a rape is just like getting a flat tire

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, The Other McCain, Feministing and Balloon Juice

Richard A. Oppel Jr / New York Times:

Steady Decline in Major Crime Baffles Experts — The number of violent crimes in the United States dropped significantly last year, to what appeared to be the lowest rate in nearly 40 years, a development that was considered puzzling partly because it ran counter to the prevailing expectation …

Discussion: Yglesias, The Atlantic Online, Marginal Revolution, New York Magazine, Patterico's Pontifications, Chicago Boyz, Modeled Behavior, The Daily Dish, The Awl and Mother Jones

Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:

5 things to watch in the NY-26 vote — Tuesday's special election for a western New York congressional seat is positioned to become the first political measuring stick of the national debate over the Republican plan to rewrite Medicare. Democrat Kathy Hochul is narrowly leading the race …

Discussion: CNN, Outside the Beltway, Hotline On Call, Taegan Goddard's …, The Mahablog and FiveThirtyEight

Sean J. Miller / Ballot Box:
All eyes on New York's special

Discussion: The Politico, Roll Call, The Moderate Voice, CNN, Taylor Marsh, FrumForum and The Hill

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Gingrich taps former conservative Dem senator as campaign co-chairman — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) named a former conservative Democratic senator as a co-chairman of his 2012 presidential campaign. — Gingrich named former Georgia Sen. Zell Miller (D) and Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue …

Discussion: The Note, TPMDC and GOP 12

New York Post:

Strauss-Kahn's pals bid to pay off woman's kin — By ORON DAN in Tel Aviv and LAURA ITALIANO and BOB FREDERICKS in NY — Friends of alleged hotel sex fiend Dominique Strauss-Kahn secretly contacted the accusing maid's impoverished family, offering them money to make the case go away since …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Hit & Run, New York Times, The Raw Story, Pundit & Pundette, City Room, Law Blog, Connecting.the.Dots, Fox News, JammieWearingFool, Hot Air, Gawker and Telegraph, more at Mediagazer »

Karoli / Crooks and Liars:

GOP Rep. Rob Woodall On Medicare: Suck it up and take care of yourself — At least he's honest. At a town hall meeting, Rep. Rob Woodall lectured a constituent about Medicare, saying she should simply take care of herself. … Because it's just so easy, don't you know? Think about what this guy is really saying.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post and Ben Smith's Blog

myfoxny.com:

Teens Riot In Manhattan Businesses — MYFOXNY.COM - It's like a flash mob gone bad. Security footage from a Manhattan Dunkin' Donuts shows a group of youths climbing on counters, throwing chairs and throwing tables in a violent attack on workers. — It happened at the Dunkin' Donuts on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village.

Discussion: The Daley Gator, UrbanGrounds, alicublog, The Gateway Pundit and Pat Dollard

Richard Wolf / USA Today:

Obama, Cameron liken ‘Arab spring’ to Cold War — President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron kick off two days of diplomacy this morning by pledging to work against repressive regimes in the Middle East — by force if necessary. — In a sternly worded column in The Times of London …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, AMERICAN DIGEST, Pajamas Media, Reuters and White House Dossier

Juana Summers / The Politico:

Herman Cain: Muslim comments ‘misconstrued’ — Herman Cain wants to correct the record: He would consider a Muslim for his cabinet or as a federal judge if he's elected president. — Cain's clarification comes two months after he initially said he wouldn't have any Muslim appointees …