memeorandum: Axelrod Cancels on Bill Maher - For Now (Jake Tapper/ABCNEWS)

3:10 PM ET, March 14, 2012

Top Items:

Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs — TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity.

Robert Reich:

The Difference Between Private and Public Morality — Republicans have morality upside down. Santorum, Gingrich, and even Romney are barnstorming across the land condemning gay marriage, abortion, out-of-wedlock births, access to contraception, and the wall separating church and state.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Economist's View

Nelson D. Schwartz / New York Times:
A Public Exit From Goldman Sachs Hits at a Wounded Wall Street

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Huffington Post, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, DealBook, Guardian, Ezra Klein, Truthdig and The BLT

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:

Santorum-Gingrich Ticket Floated By Gingrich Adviser … 2012 Election , Mitt Romney , Newt Gingrich 2012 , Rick Santorum , Elections 2012 , Newt Gingrich , Ron Paul , Video , Election 2012 Blog , Ron Paul 2012 , Mitt Romney 2012 , Rick Santorum 2012 , Santorum , Politics News

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Mother Jones, Indecision Forever, Washington Monthly, Business Insider, Washington Post, Power Line, The Moderate Voice, National Review and GOP 12

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Santorum Wins Alabama and Mississippi Primaries — BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Rick Santorum captured twin victories in the Alabama and Mississippi primaries on Tuesday, overcoming the financial advantages of Mitt Romney and the regional allegiances of Newt Gingrich to amplify his argument …

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Obama up in NC, primary hinges on Newt — North Carolina provides a great example of the spoiler role Newt Gingrich is now playing in the Republican Presidential race. With Gingrich in the field a split conservative vote allows Mitt Romney to lead in the state with 31% to 27% for Rick Santorum, 24% for Gingrich, and 8% for Ron Paul.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway and Guardian

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Will Newt Gingrich drop out? — If Newt Gingrich drops out of the GOP primary after losing in Alabama and Mississippi yesterday, it could enable Rick Santorum to unite conservatives against Mitt Romney. Though Romney is still the favorite for the nomination, it's conceivable that a head …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Business Insider, The Maddow Blog, GOP 12 and The American Conservative

Erick Erickson / RedState:
Not Closing the Deal — “In five years of campaigning …

Discussion: GOP 12 and The Daily Caller

Mj Lee / Politico:
Mitt's team: Count the delegates

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CNN, Associated Press and The Hill

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Mitt Romney Said He Was Going to Win Alabama

Discussion: The War Room …, Slate, The Maddow Blog, BuzzFeed, Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos

msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: The race goes on

Discussion: Politico, 2012 Decoded, The Daily Dish and The Moderate Voice

David Espo / Associated Press:
The South's turn: Romney, Santorum, Gingrich vie

Discussion: National Review, CANNONFIRE, The Gateway Pundit and The Lonely Conservative

Keach Hagey / Politico:

David Axelrod bails on Bill Maher — David Axelrod will not be appearing as a guest on “Real Time with Bill Maher,” despite reports last week that he was scheduled to do the show in the next few weeks. — “He's not scheduled to go on at this time,” said Ben LaBolt, the press secretary for President Obama's reelection campaign.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Scared Monkeys, JustOneMinute, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler, Mediaite, Hotline On Call, Washington Post, Jammie Wearing Fools, Taylor Marsh, 2012 Decoded, Washington Free Beacon and Shot in the Dark

Frances Martel / Mediaite:

Jon Stewart Tells Fox News To ‘Shut The F*ck Up’ About Bill Maher's Offensive Rants — Jon Stewart began his show continuing the news narrative before it was rudely interrupted by another election night: “radio shock-blob Rush Limbaugh” saying something offensive on his radio show.

Discussion: Gothamist, The Gateway Pundit and The Raw Story

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
Axelrod Cancels on Bill Maher - For Now

Discussion: TalkLeft and Althouse

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Bloomberg:

Republicans Losing on Birth Control as 77% in Poll Spurn Debate — Americans overwhelmingly regard the debate over President Barack Obama's policy on employer-provided contraceptive coverage as a matter of women's health, not religious freedom, rejecting Republicans' rationale for opposing the rule.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Politico, Reuters, Ballot Box, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Thania A. Betancourt / ASU News:

Senate judiciary committee endorses controversial contraceptive bill — The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-2 Monday to endorse a controversial bill that would allow Arizona employers the right to deny health insurance coverage for contraceptives based on religious objections.

Discussion: Addicting Info, Feministing, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider and Firedoglake

Erin Gloria Ryan / Jezebel:
Law Will Allow Employers to Fire Women for Using Whore Pills [Pill Baby Pill]

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Crooks and Liars, The Mahablog and Balloon Juice

Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs:

REJECTED! What the NY Times WON'T Run: Counter-Jihad Facts What the NY Times Will Run: Anti-Catholic Smear Ads — Did you see the virulently anti-Catholic ad that ran in the New York Times last week? That ad inspired AFDI/SIOA, in cooperation with SION (Stop Islamization of Nations) …

Discussion: National Review, Cold Fury, Vox Popoli, iOwnTheWorld.com, Jihad Watch and Israel Matzav

Neil Munro / The Daily Caller:
Times nixes anti-Islam ad, runs anti-Catholic ad

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Atlas Shrugs and The Catholic League

Tim Mak / Politico:

‘Game Change’ authors: Hillary Clinton in '16 — “Game Change” co-authors Mark Halperin and John Heilemann both predicted Wednesday that there was a high probability that Hillary Clinton would run for president in 2016. — “What are the odds this morning that Hillary Clinton runs for president in 2016? …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Don't Tread on Us — Hillary Clinton has fought for women's rights around the world.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

President Obama Gives UK Prime Minister Cameron a Custom-Made 100% Made in America Grill — President and First Lady Obama gifted UK Prime Minister and Mrs. Cameron a one-of-a-kind Braten 1000 Series Grill hand made by Engelbrecht Grills and Cookers of Paxton, Ill.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The 1600 Report, Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Obama gives Cameron a Braten 1000 Series grill to celebrate visit

Discussion: Politico

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:

Panetta Visits Afghanistan in Aftermath of Massacre — CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta landed here Wednesday morning on an unannounced and tense trip, the first by a senior member of the Obama administration since an American soldier reportedly killed 16 Afghan civilians, mostly children and women.

Discussion: Politico, Associated Press, msnbc.com, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, The Page and LewRockwell.com Blog

Muhammad Lila / ABCNEWS:
Security Scare During Defense Secretary's Afghan Visit

Discussion: Bloomberg

Washington Examiner:

Thursday is ‘Poolmageddon’ for trial lawyers — President Obama's Department of Justice — led by Attorney General Eric Holder — has found a new way to make the Americans with Disabilities Act pay off for Democratic trial lawyer campaign donors. — Since the ADA first became law in 1990 …

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Camp Of The Saints, Hot Air, Campaign 2012 and PointOfLaw Forum

Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:

House Republican Leaders Plan To Renege On Debt Ceiling Deal — Last week, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) signaled during an interview with Fox Business that he was open to reneging on the budget deal the GOP crafted with Democrats last year during the debacle over raising the nation's debt ceiling.

Discussion: Reuters and Hullabaloo

Alexander Burns / Reuters:

How much do voters know? — Voters are appalled at President Barack Obama's handling of gas prices, even though virtually every policy expert in both parties says there's little a president can do to affect the day-to-day price of fuel in a global market. — Americans are disgusted …

Discussion: The Impolitic, NewsBusters.org blogs, Campaign 2012, American Power, Don Surber and Politico

Montgomery Advertiser:

Roy Moore: ‘The people have spoken’ — Roy Moore said about 2 a.m. Wednesday that even though he had not been declared the winner of the Republican primary for chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court that he expected to win without a runoff. — “Statistically, there is just no way we're …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Associated Press and The Daily Caller

Dylan Byers / Politico:

NBC pulls Ron Paul's last embed — A couple weeks back I noted that Ron Paul, the lonely delegate hunter, had only one full-time, embedded reporter on his trail: Anthony Terrell of NBC News. Other reporters have provided some coverage of the candidate, but for the last few weeks Terrell was the only proverbial boy on the bus.

Discussion: Business Insider and Taylor Marsh

Pew Research Center:

Romney Leads GOP Contest, Trails in Matchup with Obama — Gas Prices Offset Good News about Jobs — OVERVIEW — Mitt Romney has retaken a significant lead nationally in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, even as he has fallen further behind Barack Obama in a general election matchup.

Discussion: American Prospect and ThinkProgress

Wynton Hall / BREITBART.COM:

EXCLUSIVE: CHRIS ROCK ATTACKS CONSERVATIVE AUTHOR OVER TEA PARTY QUESTION — The New York Times bestselling author of the explosive new book, Hollywood Hypocrites: The Devastating Truth About Obama's Biggest Backers, Jason Mattera, had his crew's camera snatched and hurled by comedian Chris Rock …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and Michelle Malkin

Justin Gillis / New York Times:

Rising Sea Levels Seen as Threat to Coastal U.S. — About 3.7 million Americans live within a few feet of high tide and risk being hit by more frequent coastal flooding in coming decades because of the sea level rise caused by global warming, according to new research.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, NewsBusters.org blogs, msnbc.com, Jammie Wearing Fools and The PJ Tatler