memeorandum: Phyllis Diller Dead — Legendary Comic Dies at 95 (TMZ.com)

9:40 PM ET, August 20, 2012

Top Items:

Reports: Akin Advisers Make Preparations For Withdrawal Tomorrow — Missouri Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin's advisers are making preparations to withdraw from the race Tuesday, GOP operative Richard Grenell and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson report.

Discussion: Donklephant and Daily Kos

Robert Costa / National Review:

Romney: Akin's ‘Inexcusable’ Comment — In a phone interview this morning, Mitt Romney told National Review Online that Representative Todd Akin's recent comment on rape is “inexcusable.” — “Congressman's Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong,” Romney said.

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Crossroads pulls out of Missouri after Akin comments — The conservative outside-spending powerhouse Crossroads GPS is pulling its ads from the Missouri Senate race, three sources confirmed to POLITICO. — The group had originally booked a new round of ads to start Wednesday but began canceling them earlier today.

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, The Fix, Ballot Box, Talking Points Memo, Election 2012, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, Hotline On Call, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The New Civil Rights Movement and AEIdeas

National Review:

Step Aside, Todd Akin — Representative Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for Senator from Missouri, became nationally notorious yesterday for saying something stupid. In the course of explaining why he believes abortion should be illegal even when pregnancies result from rape …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Politico, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Althouse, American Power and Todd Akin for U.S. Senate 2012

Tony Perkins / CNN:

Leading social conservatives rally to Akin's defense — Tampa, Florida (CNN) - While much of the Republican universe spent Monday condemning Missouri Senate hopeful Todd Akin for his comments about “legitimate rape” and abortion, one of the nation's most prominent conservative organizations rallied to his defense.

Discussion: Politico, ABCNEWS, Erick's blog, Daily Kos, Pirate's Cove, The New Republic, The Maddow Blog, The Hinterland Gazette, Little Green Footballs, The Moderate Voice, Poynter and The Reality-Based Community, more at Mediagazer »

Michelle Malkin:

The Todd Akin mess — Ugh. — Over the weekend, GOP Rep. Todd Akin — the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Missouri — said some really, really stupid things. (Twitchy has comprehensive coverage. Click here and keep scrolling.) — There's no sugar-coating or whitewashing this.

Discussion: Power Line, Politico, Hot Air, American Power, The Other McCain, Datechguy's Blog, Washington Examiner, Wake up America, Conservatives4Palin, Twitchy and Election 2012

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Family Research Council head defends Akin — From POLITICO's James Hohmann in Tampa: … The officials at SBA List have also reportedly defended Akin, setting up a dynamic in which the party's conservative base is protecting the staunchly pro-life candidate.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Midwest Democracy, Stinque, CNN, Talking Points Memo and rightwingwatch.org

BuzzFeed:

Mitt Romney Said In 2007 He Would Be “Delighted” To Sign A Bill Banning All Abortions Nationally — The Romney campaign released a statement criticizing Missouri Republican Senate nominee Todd Akin: “Gov. Romney and Congressman Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a Romney-Ryan administration …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Atlantic Wire, Truthdig, Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS, The Maddow Blog, The Caucus and The Hinterland Gazette

Chris Christie / CNN:

Christie says ‘I was right’ about Romney's VP pick — (CNN) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was rumored to be a potential V.P. pick for Mitt Romney, gave new details Monday on the moment he learned his name would not appear on the ballot as Romney's running mate.

Discussion: Politico

Washington Post:

Todd Akin rape comments prompt GOP to pull campaign funding, calls to exit race — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and the entire GOP national political apparatus launched a swift and relentless crusade against one of their own Monday, seeking to drive Rep. Todd Akin …

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, 2012 Decoded, News Desk, The Mahablog and The Daily Dish

BuzzFeed:
Republican Source: Akin Moving To Withdraw [UPDATED]

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and The Daily Caller

Kaili Joy Gray / Daily Kos:
Todd Akin clarifies he's on the same page as Paul Ryan on ‘forcible rape’

Discussion: The Hill, Firedoglake, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Taylor Marsh, Talking Points Memo and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Rosalind S. Helderman / Election 2012:
Jim Talent won't replace Akin

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, Washington Examiner and Conservatives4Palin

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Hannity to Akin: You know you could cost us the Senate, right?

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, BuzzFeed and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, more at Mediagazer »

Noah Bierman / Boston Globe:
Scott Brown calls on Akin to drop out of Missouri Senate race

Discussion: CNN, The Reaction, First Read, Politico, Midwest Democracy, Politicker, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, WPRI.com Blogs, New York Magazine, The PJ Tatler, Outside the Beltway, FiveThirtyEight, National Review, Washington Examiner and The Gateway Pundit

Pema Levy / Talking Points Memo:
'God's Little Shield': A Short History Of The False No-Pregnancy-From-Rape Theory

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Taking Note, Los Angeles Times, Guardian, Advocate, thenation.com/blogs/164578 and Shakesville

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:
Todd Akin: 'I've Not Yet Begun To Fight'

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Hot Air, Show Me Progress, Stinque, American Prospect, Shakesville, Firedoglake and ECHIDNE of the snakes

RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Hannity Urges Akin To Consider Dropping Out In Interview With Him

Discussion: American Power, Ballot Box, The Gateway Pundit and Twitchy

BuzzFeed:
House Republican Hijinks Embarrass The Ticket

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Sarah Kliff / Associated Press:
Rep. Todd Akin is wrong about rape and pregnancy, but he's not alone

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Washington Post, This Just In, ThinkProgress, The Atlantic Online, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, rightwingwatch.org, The Lede, Physicians For Life, Guardian, Daily Kos, The New Civil Rights Movement, Hullabaloo, CNN, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Dish

BuzzFeed:
Todd Akin Says He Won't Drop Out

Discussion: The Raw Story

WMUR:
Romney calls Akin's comments on rape indefensible

Discussion: USA Today and Hullabaloo

New York Times: Republicans Press Todd Akin to Quit Race

James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:

As a Harvard Alum, I Apologize — Yes, I know, you could imagine many sentences that would follow that headline. But here is what I have in mind right now: A tenured professor of history at my undergraduate alma mater has written a cover story for Daily Beast/Newsweek that is so careless …

Discussion: Liberal Values, 2012 Decoded, The Reality-Based Community, New York Magazine, The Daily Beast, No More Mister Nice Blog, Balloon Juice, Noahpinion and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Niall Ferguson's ridiculous defense — Niall Ferguson's selective edit of the CBO report on Obama's Affordable Care Act. — Niall Ferguson, author of this week's Newsweek cover story calling for Obama's ousting, has returned fire on Paul Krugman — albeit in a ridiculous, misleading …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Atlantic Online, News Desk, NewsBusters.org blogs, Mediaite and The Maddow Blog

Matthew O'Brien / The Atlantic Online:
A Full Fact-Check of Niall Ferguson's Very Bad Argument Against Obama

Discussion: A plain blog about politics

Niall Ferguson / The Daily Beast:
Newsweek Cover Rebuttal: Paul Krugman Is Wrong

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Firedoglake, Business Insider, The Glittering Eye, Paul Krugman, The Daily Dish, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, Wake up America, Conservatives4Palin, Instapundit, Hot Air and Crooks and Liars

J. Bradford DeLong / Brad DeLong:
More Lies from Niall Ferguson: Fire-His-Ass-Now Department

Discussion: Economist's View and NewsBusters.org blogs

TMZ.com:

Phyllis Diller Dead — Legendary Comic Dies at 95 — Dead at 95 — EXCLUSIVE DETAILS — Comedian Phyllis Diller — who paved the way for today's female comics — died this morning, TMZ has learned. — Sources close to Diller tell us the comedian died in her sleep at her L.A. home, surrounded by family.

Discussion: BuzzFeed and Towleroad News #gay

Michelangelo Signorile / The Huffington Post:

An Open Letter to Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council: Let's Talk About Hate … FRC SPLC , FRC Tony Perkins , FRC Hate Group , FRC Shooting , Family Research Council , Family Research Council Southern Poverty Law Center , Family Research Council Tony Perkins , Family Research Council Hate Group …

Discussion: GLAAD, The Daily Dish and Joe. My. God.

BuzzFeed:
Family Research Council Backs Akin

Discussion: ThinkProgress and The New Civil Rights Movement

Glenn Thrush / Politico:

POLITICO e-book: Obama campaign roiled by conflict — President Barack Obama's campaign team, celebrated four years ago for its exceptional cohesion and eyes-on-the-prize strategic focus, has been shadowed this time by a succession of political disagreements and personal rivalries that haunted the effort at the outset.

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com, News Desk, Business Insider, Algemeiner.com, The Lonely Conservative, Althouse, The Glittering Eye, Hot Air, Marbury, Weasel Zippers, Belmont Club, Election 2012, Jammie Wearing Fools, Washington Examiner, Right Wing News and Weekly Standard

Mackenzie Weinger / Reuters:

Study: Red states more charitable — Red states give more money to charity than blue states, according to a new study on Monday. — The eight states with residents who gave the highest share of their income to charity supported Sen. John McCain in 2008, while the seven states …

Discussion: The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 24Ahead, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler

Rosie.com:

my heart attack — while walking in a parking lot in nyack — “can u help me? she asked again — as i walked toward her — “oh u r rosie odonnell” — yes i am — the ghost of christmas future — me - if i did not wake — there r no accidents i thought — as i braced myself and lifted her

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and New York Magazine

Alexis Levinson / The Daily Caller:

Shock poll: Obama could lose Illinois — President Barack Obama could lose his home state of Illinois in November, a new poll shows. — A poll conducted by Illinois-based pollster and political strategist Michael McKeon found Obama leading Republican Mitt Romney by 49 percent to 37 percent in Cook County, the home of Chicago.

Discussion: RedState, Hot Air and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Obama to media: Romney's whole campaign is based on lies — In a surprise appearance before reporters at the White House just now, Obama made a striking, if perhaps long overdue, charge: He pushed back on GOP claims he's running a dirty campaign by arguing that Romney's entire campaign is based on flat out lies.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Political Carnival

New York Times:

In Congress's Paralysis, a Mightier Supreme Court — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court does not always have the last word. Sure, its interpretation of the Constitution is the one that counts, and only a constitutional amendment can change things after the justices have acted in a constitutional case.

BuzzFeed:

Exclusive: GOP Platform Draft Strongly Defends “Traditional Concept Of Marriage” — Attacks Obama administration for failing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act. An olive branch, but no policy, for gay Republicans. — Image by SCOTT AUDETTE / Reuters

Discussion: Daily Kos, Advocate and Election 2012