memeorandum: Senate recount trial: Now it's up to the judges (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

5:40 PM ET, March 14, 2009

Top Items:

Obama Sharpens His Reminders That He Inherited Fiscal ‘Mess’ From Bush — President Points to ‘Inherited’ Economy — In his inaugural address, President Obama proclaimed “an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, PoliGazette, American Power, Liberal Values, Taylor Marsh, Moe Lane, MyDD, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, TIME.com, Macsmind and Balloon Juice

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

THE BLAME GAME.... The Washington Post has an odd front-page piece today, rebuking President Obama for reminding audiences that the problems he inherited are, well, problems he inherited. … The problem, if I'm reading the article right, isn't that the president is saying anything untrue.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Newshoggers.com

Clay Shirky:

Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable — Back in 1993, the Knight-Ridder newspaper chain began investigating piracy of Dave Barry's popular column, which was published by the Miami Herald and syndicated widely. In the course of tracking down the sources of unlicensed distribution …

Discussion: The RBC, BuzzMachine, Boing Boing, Portfolio, The Impolitic, The Huffington Post and Scott Rosenberg's Wordyard

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Salazar's Wolf Decision Upsets Administration Allies — Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's decision to stick with a controversial Bush administration move that took gray wolves off the endangered species list in most of the northern Rockies reflects the independent streak that has defined his career.

Discussion: Commentary, Don Surber and Conservatives4Palin.com

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

Minutiae? In This White House, Call It News — WASHINGTON — It's been another busy few days for the Obama administration, which the news media has faithfully cataloged. — The Politico broke the story that the president's aides sang “Happy Birthday” to the assistant press secretary …

Discussion: TalkLeft and Michael Calderone's Blog

Stacy St. Clair / Chicago Tribune:

Michelle Obama comic book to be released in April — Michelle Obama comic book (Bluewater Productions) (March 13, 2009) — She's not faster than a speeding bullet or more powerful than a locomotive. — Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Hardly.

Discussion: TIME.com, Sweetness & Light and The Moderate Voice

Scott Johnson / Comicbook.com Blog: President Barack Obama Punches Osama Bin Laden And Carries Gun In Comic Books

CNSNews:

Obama Signs Law Banning Federal Embryo Research Two Days After Signing Executive Order to OK It — (CNSNews.com) - On Wednesday, only two days after he lifted President Bush's executive order banning federal funding of stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos …

Discussion: Lean Left, The Strata-Sphere, Stop The ACLU, PoliGazette, Hot Air, GINA COBB, Liberal Values and Don Surber

David Nowak / Associated Press:

Report: Cuba, Venezuela could host Russian bombers — MOSCOW - A Russian Air Force chief said Saturday that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has offered an island as a temporary base for strategic Russian bombers, the Interfax news agency reported. — The chief of staff of Russia's long range aviation …

Discussion: Hot Air, AMERICAN DIGEST, Fausta's Blog, The Atlanticist, Stop The ACLU and ThreatsWatch

Agence France Presse:
Russia weighs Cuba, Venezuela bases: report

Discussion: Townhall.com

Bob Cusack / The Hill:

Speaker Pelosi: I am not partisan — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is denying Republican claims that she is partisan, saying she has been open to GOP ideas. — In an interview with Charlie Rose on Friday, Pelosi was asked what is the most unfair and misleading impression of her.

Discussion: Sweetness & Light and Hot Air

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:

The re-education of David Brooks — P.J. Gladnick at Newsbusters has the story of how the White House dispatched a team of four operatives to persuade David Brooks to back off his threat to lead an army of moderates to oppose the Obama agenda. Gladnick observes: … Indeed.

Discussion: Liberal Values, Pajamas Media, PoliGazette, Donklephant and New York Times

John / Power Line:

PICASSO INTERPRETS BARACK — As channeled by Michael Ramirez; click to enlarge: — Whereas some of us less artistic types thought he just has a hard time keeping his story straight!

Discussion: Investor's Business Daily

Thom Shanker / New York Times:

Pentagon Rethinking Old Doctrine on 2 Wars — WASHINGTON — The protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are forcing the Obama administration to rethink what for more than two decades has been a central premise of American strategy: that the nation need only prepare to fight two major wars at a time.