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2:20 PM ET, February 19, 2009

memeorandum

 Top Items: 
Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Steele: GOP needs ‘hip-hop’ makeover  —  NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW:  —  Newly elected Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele plans an “off the hook” public relations offensive to attract younger voters, especially blacks and Hispanics, by applying the party's principles to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”
RELATED:
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
I'M ONLY BEING REAL WHEN I SAY, NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR THEIR GRANDFATHER RAP.  —  Via Steve Benen, Michael Steele, the Republican Party's new black friend, continues the new black friendness in earnest: … Yesterday Gwen Ifill said that the Republican Party wasn't “so caught up with the idea …
CNN:
RNC chair plans ‘off the hook’ campaign, tells critics to ‘stuff it’  —  (CNN) — Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele says his party is going to launch an “off the hook” public relations campaign that will update the GOP's image by translating it to “urban-suburban hip-hop settings.”
Discussion: Political Machine
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
STEELE VOWS TO GO ‘BEYOND CUTTING-EDGE’.... The more RNC Chairman …
Discussion: TBogg
CNN:
Spokesman for embattled Sen. Burris resigns  —  (CNN) — A spokesman for Illinois Sen. Roland Burris resigned Thursday in the wake of new disclosures about requests that Burris raise money for disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich while seeking a U.S. Senate appointment.
RELATED:
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Budget to kick off health care rewrite  —  At the end of the day last Wednesday, Obama aides and a handful of Senators hashed out the details of a $787 billion spending package in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office.  —  Larry Summers, the architect of the plan, was no longer in the room …
RELATED:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY SUMMIT.... Whenever President Obama or anyone associated with his administration utters the phrase “entitlement reform,” it generates an audible gasp.  The fear, of course, is that the White House might buy into conservative rhetoric about weakening Social Security.
Discussion: Firedoglake, Unfogged and Eschaton
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Hedge Fund Billionaire Pete Peterson Key Speaker At Obama …
Byron York / www.dcexaminer.com:
The RAT hiding deep inside the stimulus bill  —  The far-reaching — and potentially dangerous — provision that no one knows about.  —  You've heard a lot about the astonishing spending in the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, signed into law this week by President Barack Obama.
Joe Stephens / Washington Post:
Valenti's Sexuality Was Topic For FBI  —  Under Pressure, LBJ Let Hoover's Agents Investigate Top Aide  —  When Beltway insider Jack Valenti died two years ago at age 85, he was playing the role of intermediary between Washington and Hollywood as the theatrical, snowy-haired president of the Motion Picture Association of America.
CQ Politics:
Firm with Murtha Ties Got Earmarks From Nearly One-Fourth of House  —  More than 100 House members secured earmarks in a major spending bill for clients of a single lobbying firm — The PMA Group — known for its close ties to John P. Murtha , the congressman in charge of Pentagon appropriations.
Sacramento Bee:
Budget plan goes to Schwarzenegger after Legislature's OK  —  The deal is done.  —  The California Legislature voted early today to approve a massive budget package of tax increases, spending cuts and borrowing to close a $40 billion deficit after granting major concessions to one holdout Republican senator.
RELATED:
Los Angeles Times:
California Legislature finally approves new budget
Jim Treacher / Mother, May I Sleep with Treacher?:
TOP 10 REASONS PRESIDENT BARACK H. OBAMA IS NOTHING LIKE TRAVIS THE CHIMP  —  10. Travis understood TurboTax  —  9. Obama somewhat less likely to attack Biden  —  8. Travis never lied  —  7. Obama's smile not quite as genuine  —  6. Travis could get through entire day without teleprompter
Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
How Low Will Newspapers' Ad Revenues Go?  —  When Arthur Sulzberger Jr. refused to talk to his own reporter about the financial condition of the New York Times Co., it was the latest sign of an industry in deep trouble.  —  After all, the Times is not only the nation's top-selling metropolitan daily …
Discussion: The Other McCain
Jeremy Page / Times of London:
Google Earth reveals secret history of US base in Pakistan  —  The US was secretly flying unmanned drones from the Shamsi airbase in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan as early as 2006, according to an image of the base from Google Earth.  —  The image — that is no longer …
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
Betting on Bipartisanship  —  As far as most of Washington is concerned, Barack Obama's big talk about bipartisanship is kaput.  One month into his presidency, many pundits and political analysts have told him to drop it.  Get real, they say.  It bought you next to nothing on the stimulus bill.
Erik Wemple / Washington City Paper:
WaPo Working with Roger Black  —  The Washington Post is undergoing a remarkable shrinking act, with some sections folding and others taking on more complicated identities.  Making it all happen will require some tweaks to the paper's design.  The paper's Web site, washingtonpost.com …
Michelle Malkin:
Gimme, gimme, gimme: More scenes from the anti-Obama entitlement backlash  —  So, a CNBC host is calling for a new “tea party” to protest Barack Obama's out-of-control spendulus/entitlement culture?  We've been doing it all week.  Seattle, Denver, Mesa.  Kansas this weekend.  And more outbreaks to come.
Discussion: CBS News and Atlas Shrugs
Charles Mahtesian / The Politico:
GOP governors clash over cash  —  While Barack Obama's stimulus package faced nearly unanimous Republican congressional opposition, it also exposed an unmistakable fault line among the 22 GOP governors, several of whom took high-profile positions in support of the $787 billion plan.
Discussion: The Swamp and The Moderate Voice
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Washington Post runs George Will's newest column without issuing a correction for his last one.»  —  On Sunday, the Washington Post printed a climate change denial column by George Will that contained several demonstrable falsehoods.  Despite the loud chorus of critics pointing …
Discussion: Washington Monthly and TalkLeft
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
“Humane Alternatives”  —  Reading the pseudo-world-weary way in which some on the right in America still defend the use of torture, however euphemistically rephrased, always takes me back to Orwell.  Some want to define “actual” torture in ways that mean that freezing someone to near-death …
Discussion: Salon
Gideon Levy / Haaretz:
Netanyahu, put your money where your mouth is  —  Why isn't Benjamin Netanyahu setting up a right-wing government?  Why isn't he carrying out the voters' will to position the right wing in power?  Why isn't he taking the opportunity that fell into his hands to form a government in tune with his doctrine?
Discussion: The Huffington Post and MyDD
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Drowning by Fire Hose  —  “Suppose my neighbor's home catches fire, and I have a length of garden hose. . . . I don't say to him . . . ‘Neighbor, my garden hose cost me $15 . . .’ ”  —  “When the town is burning, you don't check party labels.  Everybody needs to grab a hose.”
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The Face of Shrillness  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III)  —  This Fox News interview with Virg Bernero — the Mayor of highly unionized Lansing, Michigan and himself the son of a retired GM worker — is, for several reasons, really worth watching (h/t Brainwrap).
New York Post:
BRING BACK O'BYRNE  —  Gov. David Paterson came to office al most one year ago under most trying circumstances.  He's had hardly a day of peace since - and many of his troubles can fairly be blamed on no one other than himself.  —  But not all of them.  —  Paterson had nothing …
Discussion: The Politico and Spin Cycle
Tony Messenger / Political Fix:
Sarah Steelman still on fence on running for U.S. Senate  —  JEFFERSON CITY — Former state treasurer and gubernatorial candidate Sarah Steelman is still deciding whether to run for Senate and face U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt in what would surely be a divisive Republican primary.
Ben Evans / Associated Press:
Democrats strike different tone on Katrina  —  Featured Topics: - Barack Obama - Presidential Transition  —  WASHINGTON - The economic stimulus signed by President Barack Obama will spread billions of dollars across the country to spruce up aging roads and bridges.
Discussion: JammieWearingFool
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Is the Administration Winging It?  —  Obama's reputation for competence is at risk.  —  Team Obama demonstrated remarkable discipline during the presidential campaign.  From raising an unprecedented amount of money to milking every advantage from the Internet to grabbing lots of delegates …
Discussion: Flopping Aces and marbury
Nicole Gatz / Daily Nebraskan:
Santorum speech excites crowd  —  Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum visited the auditorium of the Nebraska Union on Tuesday to present his idea that Americans do not truly understand why the United States is at war.  —  Santorum is passing through the University of Nebraska-Lincoln …
Discussion: Think Progress
Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro  —  *** Nowhere to go but up: One thing was absolutely clear about the home-foreclosure plan President Obama unveiled yesterday: It was received MUCH better than Geithner's rollout of Phase II of the bank rescue plan.
 
 
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 More Items: 
Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
In Reversal, Mayor Now Woos Political Parties
Ernesto Londoño / Washington Post:
Iraqi Defends Shoe-Throwing Incident
Discussion: TalkLeft and Gawker
Maria Golovnina / Reuters:
Kyrgyzstan shuts U.S. base, NATO Afghan help sought
 Earlier Items: 
Albany Times Union:
Take a stand, Mr. Tedisco
James Slack / Daily Mail:
Preacher of hate awarded £2,500 after judges rule jailing …
Discussion: Guardian
Russell Storring / CBC News:
Going to war with the Yanks
Discussion: Mudville Gazette
Leo Kolivakis / Pension Pulse:
Age of Deflation?  —  Stocks slid within striking distance …
Discussion: Redhot
 

 
From Mediagazer:

Charlie Warzel / The Atlantic:
The 2024 US election cycle has shown that few seem to agree on who constitutes “the media”, what their role should be, or how much influence they have in 2024

Anna Nicolaou / Financial Times:
A profile of Interscope CEO John Janick, who was promoted to run UMG's US West Coast labels in March 2024, adding to speculation that he will one day be UMG CEO

Variety:
AMC Networks acquires full control of BBC America, after BBC Studios sold its remaining 50.1% interest in the channel to AMC Networks for $42M in cash

 
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