memeorandum: Al Gore calls B.S. on corporate polluters (Troy Hooper/The Colorado Independent)

10:55 PM ET, August 6, 2011

Top Items:

Josh Boak / The Politico:

S&P warns of a second downgrade — One day after lowering the nation's platinum triple-A credit rating, Standard & Poor's analysts warned Saturday that the U.S. government could face a second downgrade if the economy continues to struggle and the government fails to make the cuts outlined in the debt ceiling agreement.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Jamie Klatell / The Hill:

White House: S&P downgrade is why Obama ‘pushed for grand bargain’ — The White House reacted to the Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating by calling for more bipartisan compromise to “put our nation on a stronger fiscal footing.” — But the administration didn't miss the chance to say, in essence, “I told you so.”

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Liberal Values, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, CNN, americanthinker.com and Michelle Malkin

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

S&P credit rating analysis values spending cuts more than tax revenue — Standard & Poor's laments the possibility cuts to entitlement programs won't materialize and the decreasing likelihood of new tax revenues. — The decision by Standard & Poor's to downgrade the U.S. credit rating to …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and PoliticusUSA

Edmund L. Andrews / NationalJournal.com:

Why S&P's Downgrade is No Joke — The real impact of S&P's downgrade is political, not economic. — It's tempting to dismiss Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. long-term Treasury bonds as no big deal in the real world. It's also tempting to describe it as a broad criticism …

Xinhua News Agency:

After historic downgrade, U.S. must address its chronic debt problems — The days when the debt-ridden Uncle Sam could leisurely squander unlimited overseas borrowing appeared to be numbered as its triple A-credit rating was slashed by Standard & Poor's (S&P) for the first time on Friday.

Discussion: BBC, Samizdata.net, Guardian and Shakesville

Reuters:
China tells U.S. “good old days” of borrowing are over

Discussion: Sydney Morning Herald, MacroScope, Questions and Observations, The Moderate Voice, americanthinker.com, The Gateway Pundit, The Political Carnival and The Lonely Conservative

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Standard & Poor's has been wrong before. But they're right now.

Discussion: The Impolitic, Bankrupting America, NO QUARTER, The Moderate Voice, Robert Reich, The Reality-Based Community, Washington Monthly, Bark Bark Woof Woof, The Mahablog, Balloon Juice and The Politico

John Bellows / U.S. Department of the Treasury:
Just the Facts: S&P's $2 Trillion Mistake

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Felix Salmon and Politics

David Barboza / New York Times:
China Tells U.S. It Must ‘Cure Its Addiction to Debt’

Discussion: Corrente, Outside the Beltway, Balkinization, ThinkProgress, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and China Digital Times

Kevinliptak / CNN:
TRENDING: GOP candidates slam Obama after downgrade

Discussion: zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml, CBS News, The Politico, Outside the Beltway, Firedoglake, Towleroad News #gay, AMERICAN FUTURE and The Hill

Wall Street Journal:
S&P Strips U.S. of Top Credit Rating

Discussion: Guardian, The Greenroom, Fortune, naked capitalism, Swampland, Corrente, Firedoglake, New York Times and CNNMoney.com

CNN:
Questions abound after agency downgrades U.S. credit rating

Discussion: Poynter and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Associated Press:

Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan Kills Members of SEAL Team 6 — WASHINGTON — The Associated Press has learned that more than 20 Navy SEALs from the unit that killed Osama bin Laden were among those lost in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. — The operators from SEAL Team Six were flown …

Discussion: Power Line, Doug Ross, Wizbang, Weasel Zippers, The Moderate Voice, Telegraph, Runnin' Scared, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Moonbattery and Fox News Insider

New York Times:

Copter Downed by Taliban Fire; Elite U.S. Unit Among Dead — KABUL, Afghanistan — In the deadliest day for American forces in the nearly decade-long war in Afghanistan, insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter on Saturday, killing 30 Americans, including some Navy Seal commandos …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Atlas Shrugs, BBC, Patterico's Pontifications, Liberty Street, Associated Press, Iowa Caucuses, Hot Air, Towleroad News #gay, The Gateway Pundit, emptywheel, Truthdig, The Moderate Voice, New York Magazine, Gothamist, Politics, americanthinker.com and The Agonist

CNN:
U.S. official: About two dozen U.S. deaths in Afghan copter crash

Discussion: The Raw Story, Associated Press, Weasel Zippers, Firedoglake, Michelle Malkin, neo-neocon and Runnin' Scared

Solomon Moore / Associated Press:
31 Americans, 7 Afghans killed in helicopter crash

Discussion: Sense of Events, Wizbang, The Jawa Report, Scared Monkeys and Weasel Zippers

Kevin Sieff / Washington Post:
22 Navy SEALs among 30 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan as NATO helicopter is shot down

Discussion: Guardian, LewRockwell.com Blog and Outside the Beltway

Martha Raddatz / ABCNEWS:
31 Americans Killed Including 25 SEALs in Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan

Discussion: The Long War Journal, American Forces Press Service, Online NewsHour and Gawker

GetEQUAL.org:

Protesters Travel From Across Texas to Picket Hate-Based Event — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Michael Diviesti, GetEQUAL Texas State Lead Organizer, (512) 694-3394, michael@getequaltx.org — HOUSTON, TX — On August 6th, Governor Perry spoke at an event inside Reliant Stadium in Houston …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Towleroad News #gay

Kasie Hunt / The Politico:

Perry prays for the U.S. — HOUSTON — Texas Gov. Rick Perry prayed with more than 20,000 worshipers at an all-day Christian gathering here — and while he talked about God, not the Oval Office, he repeatedly hit on the themes that would drive his potential presidential campaign.

Discussion: CNN, Runnin' Scared, The Note, Ballot Box, JammieWearingFool and New York Magazine

Manny Fernandez / New York Times:

Perry Leads Prayer Rally for ‘Nation in Crisis’ — HOUSTON — Standing on a stage surrounded by thousands of fellow Christians on Saturday morning, Gov. Rick Perry called on Jesus to bless and guide the nation's military and political leaders and “those who cannot see the light in the midst of all the darkness.”

Discussion: New York Magazine, Gawker and Towleroad News #gay

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Obama's soft response to Tea Party draws liberal criticism — Liberals are growing frustrated with President Obama's soft response to the Tea Party after fractious negotiations over the debt limit led to the loss of nation's AAA credit rating on Friday. — Republicans and Democrats …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Steven Hayward / Power Line: Civility and Tea Party Freedom Fighters

Kurt Andersen / New York Times:

The Madman Theory — I had breakfast this week with one of Hollywood's most ferocious, self-confident and successful doers of deals. He was still steamed about what an unforgivably lousy negotiator his president had been on the debt ceiling agreement. — One particular Obama move he found appalling above all the rest.

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Standard and Poors versus Mitch McConnell — Putting aside the question of whether we should accord any credibility to Standard and Poors' downgrade, it's hard to see how conservatives can claim S & P's report as a political victory when it says this:

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Daily Kos and Jared Bernstein

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org blogs:

Former Obama Economic Adviser on Downgrade: We're ‘Pretty Darn F—ked’ — Christina Romer, the former chair of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers on Friday offered a rather strong opinion concerning the announcement by Standard & Poor's that the credit rating agency downgraded America's debt to AA+.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart.tv, Weasel Zippers and The Lonely Conservative

Alexander Bolton / Ballot Box:

Mystery Romney supporter reveals himself after calls for investigation — Edward Conrad, a former executive at Bain Capital, has revealed himself as the mystery donor who gave a $1 million corporate contribution to a special political action committee supporting Mitt Romney.

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Mystery Mitt Romney donor comes forward

Discussion: TPMDC, The Raw Story, msnbc.com and Talking Points Memo

Washington Examiner:

Obama won't escape blame for credit downgrade — Standard and Poor's explanation for why it downgraded U.S. debt is written in such a way that it can be seized upon by all ideological stripes. The statement cites the unwillingness of Republicans to raise taxes and of Democrats to agree to entitlement cuts.