Top Items:
Burlington Free Press:
Vt. legalizes gay marriage with veto override — FREE PRESS STAFF REPORT — VIDEO: House vote passes gay mariage bill . — MONTPELIER — Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature's vote. — The Legislature voted Tuesday …
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Washington Post:
D.C. Council Votes to Recognize Other States' Gay Marriages — The D.C. Council voted today to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, on the same day that Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex unions. — Domestic partnerships are already legal in the nation's capital …
Discussion:
New York Times, Burlington Free Press, HRC Back Story, pandagon.net, TalkLeft, Iowa Independent and The Volokh Conspiracy
Dave Gram / Associated Press:
Vermont Legalizes Gay Marriage With Veto Override — MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont on Tuesday became the fourth state to legalize gay marriage _ and the first to do so with a legislature's vote. — The House recorded a dramatic 100-49 vote _ the minimum needed _ to override Gov. Jim Douglas' veto.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Runnin' Scared, Concurring Opinions, Associated Press and AmSpecBlog
Michael Ausiello / EW.com:
‘House’ exclusive: The shocking story behind last night's big death — DEFCON 1 spoiler alert! If you haven't seen last night's House, stop reading now. Everyone else, onward and downward! — Here are the six things you need to know up-front about last night's House:
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Lynn Sweet:
Actor Kal Penn joining Obama administration in Valerie Jarrett's shop. Will work with Asian-American, arts communities — Actor Kal Penn worked as a floor whip during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. (AP Photo) — WASHINGTON—Actor Kal Penn, who stumped around the country …
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Reality hits Obama Express — President Barack Obama, after a lightning-quick start for his agenda on Capitol Hill, is bracing for a much slower pace and big changes in his proposals as early urgency and excitement give way to the more languid rhythms that are the norm for Congress.
Discussion:
The Swamp, The Note, CBS News, Ben Smith's Blog, Patterico's Pontifications and Alex Conant
Kevin Duchschere / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Franken extends lead over Coleman — The Democrat made a net gain today in a count of formerly rejected absentee ballots that pushed his advantage to more than 300 votes in the U.S. Senate race. — Democrat Al Franken today extended his lead over Republican Norm Coleman in the U.S. Senate election …
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Brian Bakst / Associated Press:
Absentees push Franken's Senate lead to 312 — ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Democrat Al Franken's lead in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race has grown to 312 votes now that hundreds of absentee ballots have been added to the counting. — A three-judge panel ruled that the rejected absentee ballots …
Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
With Votes Counted, Franken Now Leads By 312 Votes — Minnesota has just finished counting the 351 previously-rejected ballots approved by the three-judge panel as having been legally cast and rejected in error. The numbers: Al Franken 198, Norm Coleman 111, Other 42.
New York Times:
In Baghdad, Obama Presses Iraqi Leader to Unite Factions — BAGHDAD — President Obama made an unannounced trip Tuesday to Baghdad, punctuating his week-long overseas trip with a stop to talk to American troops and Iraqi leaders. — Addressing hundreds of troops gathered at a military base here …
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John Bresnahan / The Politico:
Stevens judge calls for DOJ probe — An angry federal judge set aside the conviction of former Sen. Ted Stevens on Tuesday, and will pursue criminal contempt charges against the Stevens prosecution team, accusing Department of Justice prosecutors of deliberate and repeated misconduct …
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Ellen Ratner / Fox News:
Judge Dismisses Charges Against Stevens, Orders Contempt Probe
Judge Dismisses Charges Against Stevens, Orders Contempt Probe
Discussion:
Don Surber
David Brooks / New York Times:
The End of Philosophy — Socrates talked. The assumption behind his approach to philosophy, and the approaches of millions of people since, is that moral thinking is mostly a matter of reason and deliberation: Think through moral problems. Find a just principle. Apply it.
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Lieberman-Obama honeymoon stops at missile defense — Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) has tried to mend his relationship with President Obama in recent months but their reconciliation hit a snag Monday over ballistic missile defense. — Lieberman, the self-described independent Democrat …
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The Brickyard:
Trouble at UCSD: We Have To Help These Kids — Anyone who has immersed themselves in political life knows that the toughest and dirtiest battles are not fought at the top of the food chain, but the bottom. The watchful eyes of the media largely keep our elected officials in check …
Andrew Ross Sorkin / New York Times:
‘No-Risk’ Insurance at F.D.I.C. — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was set up 76 years ago with the important but simple job of insuring bank deposits. — Now, because of what could politely be called mission creep, it's elbowing its way into the middle of the financial mess as an enabler of enormous leverage.
John / Upturned Earth:
Race and the Drug War — Last Friday, Jonah Goldberg wrote a post at The Corner arguing that there is something “unlibertarian” about opponents of drug prohibition who use claims about the drug war's disproportionate effects on blacks in an attempt to demonstrate its injustice.
Steve Kornacki / Politicker NY:
Who Keeps Inviting the Bush-bots? — Just over four years ago, after George W. Bush was re-elected by the smallest margin for an incumbent since Woodrow Wilson held off Charles Evans Hughes in 1916, a palpable sense somehow took hold in much of the media that Karl Rove's concept of a “permanent Republican majority” had been realized.
Zachary Roth / TPMMuckraker:
Times Editor: Lack Of Disclosure On Merkin Op-Ed Is No Big Deal — Here's another one to add to the growing list of “newspapers acting badly”... Late last month, the New York Times published an op-ed by Daphne Merkin, a contributing writer to the Times Magazine, on the Bernie Madoff mess.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Rudy vs. Obama, Keynes — Rudy Giuliani said Obama got off to a “tough start” and criticized the notion of spending during a recession in an interview with Don Imus this morning. — “The measures that he's taken don't seem to me to be the measures that would be needed to an economy that's …
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
Anita Kumar / Washington Post:
Rejected GOP Chief To Run Again in Va. — Ousted Virginia Republican leader Jeffrey M. Frederick said Monday he will probably run for party chairman again in May, setting up another clash with the GOP's gubernatorial nominee, Robert F. McDonnell, as Republicans struggle to unite for the November election.
Jessica Heslam / Boston Herald:
Boston Globe staffers lash out at union leaders — + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email + Bio — Rank-and-file Boston Globe staffers are rising up against their union leaders, accusing them of keeping members in the dark over last week's stunning ultimatum from the New York Times …
Chris Orr / The New Republic:
Americans More Optimistic; Still Hate GOP — The latest New York Times poll is loaded with good news for the Obama administration and news that would be devastating for the GOP if it were ever able to penetrate the conservative-media echo chamber. While the public is still pretty pessimistic …
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Obama, the ICRC Report and ongoing suppression — (updated below) — Following up on the latest extremist Cheney/Addington/Yoo arguments advanced by the Obama DOJ in order to shield Bush lawbreaking from disclosure and judicial review — an episode I wrote about in detail yesterday …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, Harper's, New York Times, Firedoglake, White House Watch, Stop The ACLU, Washington Post, Newshoggers.com, Hullabaloo, Cup O' Joe and TalkLeft
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Inhofe: Gates' Defense Budget ‘Disarms America’ And ‘Cuts Funding For Our Troops In The Field’ — In a YouTube video that is getting linked around the conservative blogosphere, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) attacked Defense Secretary Robert Gates' 2010 defense budget recommendations …
ABCNEWS:
Pilot of Stolen Cessna Wanted U.S. Fighter Jets to Shoot Him Down — Trooper Said Yavuz Berke, Now in Custody, Wanted U.S. Military to Kill Him — The Canadian man wholed fighter jets on a chase across six states yesterday flew his stolen plane into the U.S. in hopes the military would shoot …
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
NY-20: Absentee Ballot Distribution Appears to Favor Murphy (D) — The New York State Board of Elections has a lot of data (.pdf) out on absentee ballots in the special election in that state's 20th Congressional District, which will be vital in breaking the virtual tie between Scott Murphy and Jim Tedisco.
Discussion:
Albany Times Union, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Scorecard's Blog, TIME.com and the albany project
Ali Frick / Think Progress:
Scarborough Lies About Obama: ‘We Have A President Who Has Never Received A Paycheck’ — This morning on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough ranted about President Obama's economic plans (even though 56 percent of Americans approve). His latest talking point: that Obama “has never received a paycheck” in his entire life:
Discussion:
Washington Monthly