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Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
The media's giftgate — I know, my head hurts, too, reading the ‘coverage.’ (I'm waiting for some reporter to combine the gift ‘story’ with a detailed description of what Michelle Obama was wearing when she gave the Queen of England the gift.) — Aside from the fact that key facts …
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Valentine Low / Times of London:
Queen and Michelle Obama - the story behind a touching moment — G20: live blog | Analysis: summit brinkmanship| Interactive map and G20 background | How G20 works | Blog: who's missing from the family photo? Video: The Queen meets her 11th President
Howard Chua-Eoan / Time:
The Queen and Mrs. Obama: Did the First Lady Break Protocol? — Michelle Obama with Queen Elizabeth II during an audience at Buckingham Palace — The rules are set in stone and so the eagerly watching British media sputtered when the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama …
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Michelle Obama's Favorable Rating Eclipses Her Husband's — Both president and first lady are quite popular — USA - Favorability - Government and Politics - Presidential Ratings - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans have very positive impressions …
Ariel Leve / Times of London:
Protocol is abandoned as Michelle Obama cosies up to Queen
Protocol is abandoned as Michelle Obama cosies up to Queen
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Swamp, On Deadline, Fox News, Power Line, Washington Post and Jules Crittenden
Clarice Feldman / American Thinker:
Obama bows down to Saudi King (updated) — I am quite certain that this is not the protocol, and is most unbecoming a President of the United States. — Update: See Miss Manners on the protocol. Americans do not bow to foreign monarchs because that act signified the monarch's power over his subjects.
Discussion:
Flopping Aces, Whiskey Fire, The Powers That Be, Fausta's Blog, No Sheeples Here!, Jihad Watch, Moonbattery and Commentary
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Michelle Malkin:
Video: Obama's deep bow to the Saudi king — I have expressed my disgust many times over the years with the Bush administration's kowtowing to Saudi Arabia. That notorious image of Bush holding hands with Saudi royalty in 2005 and doing sword dances with Wahabbists in 2008 sparked outrage on both the left and the right.
Quinnipiac University:
Dodd Falls Way Behind As Approval Drops To Lowest Ever, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Are Angry At AIG Bonuses And Blame Dodd — Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a possible Republican challenger, 50 - 34 percent in the 2010 Senate race …
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Michelle Levi / CBS News:
Dodd Polls 16 Points Behind Possible Republican Challenger For 2010
Dodd Polls 16 Points Behind Possible Republican Challenger For 2010
Discussion:
Truthdig
Fox News:
The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S. — While 90 percent of the guns traced to the U.S. actually originated in the United States, the percent traced to the U.S. is only about 17 percent of the total number of guns reaching Mexico. — FOXNews.com
Peter Hamby / CNN:
Gingrich warns of third party in 2012 — (CNN) — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is warning of a third party mutiny in 2012 if Republicans don't figure out a way to shape up. — “If the Republicans can't break out of being the right wing party of big government, then I think you would …
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Cantor: Feds ‘overreacting’ to crisis — GOP Whip Eric Cantor thinks his party can retake the House in next year's midterm elections — and accused Democrats like Rahm Emanuel of “overreacting” to the economic crisis by embarking on a federal spending spree.
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Blue Texan / Firedoglake:
Eric Cantor Predicts GOP House Takeover in 2010
Eric Cantor Predicts GOP House Takeover in 2010
Discussion:
Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!
Megan McArdle:
Department of awful statistics — Every time you find yourself saying that there must be some causal relationship between two strongly correlated variables, you should go back and look at this graph: — As Atlantic Business contributor Derek Lowe, from whom I stole that graph, notes,
Discussion:
The Strata-Sphere
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Presidents and Growth — Pretty much whichever way you slice …
Presidents and Growth — Pretty much whichever way you slice …
Discussion:
Liberty Street
Media Matters for America:
April Fools: Ann Coulter falls for fake Obama NASCAR story … In her April 1 column, Ann Coulter fell for a fake April Fools' Day article by Car and Driver magazine that claimed that President Obama has ordered General Motors and Chrysler to cease their participation in NASCAR because it is an “unnecessary expenditure.”
Discussion:
Think Progress, Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times and USA Today
Pew Research Center:
Public Knows Basic Facts About Financial Crisis — More Know Unemployment Rate than Dow Average — The latest Pew Research Center News IQ survey finds the American public reasonably well-informed about a number of basic facts pertaining to the current economic situation.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Politics Channel, Washington Monthly, Swampland, MoJo Blog Posts and The Campaign Spot
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
The President Is ‘Keeping Score’ — Chicago politics has moved into the White House. — “Don't think we're not keeping score, brother.” That's what President Barack Obama said to Rep. Peter DeFazio in a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus last week, according to the Associated Press.
Discussion:
Think Progress, MSNBC, Wake up America, PoliGazette, Gateway Pundit, Washington Monthly, RedState and Commentary
Ali Frick / Think Progress:
Glenn Beck: I was wrong. We're not marching to socialism, we're marching toward fascism. — For almost a year, Glenn Beck has been warning with increasing panic that America is headed toward socialism. Tonight, he issued a correction: “They” are not marching the United States toward socialism, Beck explained, but actually fascism:
Discussion:
PoliBlog, BuzzFlash.org, The Huffington Post, Matthew Yglesias, MoJo Blog Posts and AMERICAblog News
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Dana Goldstein / American Prospect:
WHO'S MISSING FROM THE G-20 PHOTO OP? — The male spouses, that's who. Check out this photograph of the G-20 spouses. Conspicuously absent are Néstor Kirchner, the former president of Argentina and husband of that nation's current leader, Cristina Kirchner, as well as Joachim Sauer …
Ta-Nehisi Coates:
Nihilism And Gay Marriage — Sometimes you can't say it better than the people who are going through it. From Andrew, who I will quote at length: … That last point about paranoia is key, and it really defines, not just anti-Semitism, but bigotry itself.
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Bricka Bracka Firecracker, Sis Boom Bah! — The century-old Russell Senate Office Building, a palace of marble and granite where lawmakers have examined everything from the Titanic to Watergate, is not ordinarily a spot for political rallies. But these are not ordinary times.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Note and Cato @ Liberty
Chicago Breaking News:
Sources: Blagojevich indictment today — The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago says that later today it is announcing developments in a “significant criminal matter.” Sources familiar with the situation said the announcement is expected to be the indictment of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and others on corruption charges.
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room
Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:
With charges dropped against Stevens, Alaska GOP now calling on Begich to resign. — Yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder said that he was asking a judge to drop all charges against former Alaska senator Ted Stevens because of prosecutorial misconduct by Justice Department lawyers.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, TPMMuckraker, Michael Barone, AMERICAblog News and PoliticalBase.com Blog
Charlotte Dennett / Consortiumnews.com:
Leahy Bails on ‘Truth Commission’ Plan — In this guest essay, investigative journalist and former candidate for Vermont attorney general, Charlotte Dennett, describes a meeting with Sen. Patrick Leahy in which he acknowledges the failure of his plan for a “truth commission”:
James Hamilton / Econbrowser:
Causes of the Oil Shock of 2007-08 — I will be presenting my latest research paper, “Causes and Consequences of the Oil Shock of 2007-08”, at a conference today at the Brookings Institution. Here I review some results from that paper about what caused oil prices to rise so spectacularly …
Discussion:
TigerHawk
Andrew J. Bacevich / Los Angeles Times:
How do we save NATO? We quit — The alliance has lost its sense of purpose. The way to get it back is for the U.S. to withdraw and let Europe be responsible for its own defense. — When he visits Strasbourg, France, this week to participate in festivities marking NATO's 60th anniversary …
Associated Press:
New Accounting Rules for Mortgage-Backed Securities — WASHINGTON (AP) — The board that sets United States accounting standards is giving companies more leeway when valuing assets, a potential lift to battered banks' balance sheets. — The independent Financial Accounting Standards Board voted …
Eric Bolling / Fox News:
White House Corrects Conference Call Number After Directing Reporters to Sex Line — In a press release, the White House accidentally listed a phone sex number for journalists seeking an “on-the-record briefing call with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and National Security Advisor Jim Jones to discuss the NATO summit.”
Mark Blumenthal / Pollster.com:
Robert Groves Nominated to Head Census — In the survey world, this is very big news (from AP via The Page): … It is something of an understatement to describe Robert Groves as “an expert in survey methodology.” He is one of our nations' most respected survey methodologists and arguably …
Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
Democrats reject Palin pick for Senate seat — GRUSSENDORF: Party plans to give slate of 3 new names to governor. — scockerham@adn.com — JUNEAU — The Alaska Senate Democrats on Wednesday rejected Gov. Sarah Palin's appointment of legislative aide Tim Grussendorf to the state Senate.