Top Items:
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
An Early Military Victory for Obama — It was one of the earliest tests of the new American president — a small military operation off the coast of a Third World nation. But as President Bill Clinton found out in October 1993, even minor failures can have long-lasting consequences.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Washington Independent, Daily Kos, Associated Press, CNN, US News, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, Los Angeles Times, Caleb's blog, UPI, Right Wing Nut House, NO QUARTER, Slate, Salon, CBS News, Political Machine, White House Watch, American Thinker, Harry's Place, Reuters and No More Mister Nice Blog
RELATED:
Felix Gillette / New York Observer:
MSNBC Developing a Weekend Politics Show for NBC News Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd — Get ready for more of the “Goateed Guru.” — According to multiple network sources, MSNBC is in the process of developing a weekend political show to be moderated by Chuck Todd …
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
White House Mum On Legislation That Would Nix Bush “State Secrets Privilege” — The White House is declining to say whether the Obama administration will support legislation introduced by Senate Democrats that would roll back the use of the “state secrets privilege,” one of Bush's most controversial legal tools.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Politics Channel
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
White House Announces Easing of Cuba Restrictions — WASHINGTON — The White House announced on Monday that it is abandoning longstanding restrictions on family travel, remittances and gifts to Cuba, and is also taking steps to open up telecommunications with the island …
Johanna Neuman / Top of the Ticket:Michelle Obama promotes physical activity at White House Easter Egg Roll
Discussion:
Political Machine
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:Obama Lifts Some Restrictions on Cuba
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, The Washington Independent, Salon and ATTACKERMAN
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:An emerging progressive consensus on Obama's executive power and secrecy abuses
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Tea Parties Forever — This is a column about Republicans — and I'm not sure I should even be writing it. — Today's G.O.P. is, after all, very much a minority party. It retains some limited ability to obstruct the Democrats, but has no ability to make or even significantly shape policy.
RELATED:
Meghan McCain / Blogs and Stories:
Memo to the GOP: Go Gay — Blogs and Stories — Republican resistance to gay marriage goes against conservative values—and our own self-interest. — This week, I will be speaking at the Log Cabin Republicans' national convention in support of the gay community and its role in the future of the Republican Party.
Glenn H. Reynolds / New York Post:TEA PARTIES: REAL GRASSROOTS
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Impolitic, American Power, Wizbang, The Rhetorican, GayPatriot and TaxProf Blog
Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:Corporate Lobbyists Raising Money For Tea Parties
Discussion:
Jack & Jill Politics
Helen Kennedy / NY Daily News:
President Obama vows to battle Somali pirates — President Obama cheered Sunday's spectacular maritime rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips Monday and promised to root out the pirates infesting African shipping lanes. — “I want to be very clear that we are resolved to halt the rise of …
Discussion:
Pajamas Media
RELATED:
Jeff Bliss / Bloomberg:U.S. Military Considers Attacks on Somali Pirates' Land Bases
Discussion:
Fox News, FP Passport, Reuters, The Raw Story, Times of London, Newshoggers.com, UN Dispatch and Think Progress
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
A Reticent Justice Opens Up to a Group of Students — Justice Clarence Thomas has not asked a question from the Supreme Court bench since Feb. 22, 2006. He speaks only to announce his majority opinions, reading summaries in a gruff monotone. Glimpses of Justice Thomas in less formal settings are rare.
Discussion:
American Prospect, TalkLeft, Washington Monthly, Law Blog, ACSBlog, Hullabaloo and MoJo Blog Posts
Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard's Blog:
The battle over the absentee ballots — Just like in the Minnesota Senate recount, the special election in New York's Twentieth District looks like it will be determined by disputed absentee ballots. — Both campaigns have already challenged the legality of around 600 absentee ballots …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
RELATED:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Parsing the Polls: Dick Cheney, Joe Biden and America's Safety — Expect new poll numbers out of CNN this afternoon to draw a huge amount of attention. — Why? — Because they provide strong empirical evidence that suggests most Americans do not agree with former vice president Dick Cheney's contention …
RELATED:
Natasha Korecki / Chicago Sun Times:
The Jackson $5 million? — The Sun-Times has learned that 2 members of Chicago's Indian community sent word to Blagojevich's camp that Jesse Jackson Jr. would raise $5 million in exchange for Obama's Senate seat — Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's camp was told last year that U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. …
Hugh Hewit / www.washingtonexaminer.com:
Trillions for pork but nothing for the Raptors? — Has the world really changed that much since 1990? — When the Air Force first announced its planned procurement of the F-22 Raptors, the intended acquisition was for 750 of the fighters. The Soviet Union was the enemy then, and soon thereafter the Soviet Union fell apart.
RELATED:
Ari Fleischer / Wall Street Journal:
Everyone Should Pay Income Taxes — It's bad for our democracy to exempt half the country. — If you thought Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme was bad, wait until you hear about the inverted pyramid scheme the federal government is working on. While Mr. Madoff preyed on people who trusted …
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, The Daily Dish, Maggie's Farm, Left in the West, Hot Air, Democratic Strategist, The Agitator and Clusterstock
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
What Would a “Bipartisan” Obama Look Like? (Hint: A Lot Like the One We're Seeing) — Over at RealClarPolitics, Jay Cost takes Obama to task for failing to live up to his promises of bipartisanship. Cost writes: … What Cost accuses Obama of is acting in bad faith — he promised “bipartisanship” and hasn't delivered.
Discussion:
TalkLeft
The Huffington Post:
Fox's Cavuto Claims Network Covered Protests Before Network Was Founded — Fox News' Neil Cavuto has gone on the defensive lately, defending his network's coverage of the coming political fringe tax day Renaissance Faires known as Tea Parties. Naturally, no one in the wide world …
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Americans Most Confident in Obama on Economy — Democratic leaders in Congress fare better than Republican leaders — USA - Congress - Government and Politics - Presidential Ratings - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America — PRINCETON, NJ — Over two-thirds of Americans …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Plum Line, Democracy in America, The Moderate Voice and The Swamp
Joe Klein / Swampland:
Obama and the Pirates — It's better to be lucky than good. It's even better to be lucky and good. One can easily imagine all the different ways the rescue of Captain Phillips might have been screwed up—and the political firestorm that would have resulted.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Steve Coll / New Yorker:
NO NUKES — There is no madness like nuclear madness. That was the conceit of the Cold War's greatest comedy, “Dr. Strangelove,” and it was the conceit of North Korea's recent rocket-launch extravaganza. By testing a missile that might one day be able to reach Alaska …
RELATED:
Jonah Goldberg / The Corner:
Re: Congratulating Obama — Most of the email in response to my earlier post has been positive. Then there are a few like this: Dear Jonah, Below is the DNC/MSM/Hollywood/Academia 8 year, massive, coordinated, and unrelenting war room strategy against Pres Bush and the Republicans: Create doubt.
Senior Data Journalist, NY — 
Manager - Publishing Editorial, Manila — 
Oil Reporter, Singapore — 
Newsperson - State Govt. & Politics, CA — 
Business Reporter, SC — 
State Government Reporter, WA — 
Climate Crisis Columnist — 
Multimedia Journalist, CA — 
Community Engagement Mgr., DC — 
Senior California Politics Reporter, CA — 
Staff Writer - Business, NY — 
Team Editor - Opinion, ON — 
Assistant Correspondent, DC — 
Climate & Weather Reporter, MN — 
Senior Tech Editor, Remote US — 
Lead Business Reporter, TN — 
Managing Editor, WA — 
Private Credit Reporter, NY — 
Trending News Reporter, TX — 
City Correspondent, London — 
Legislative Reporter, CA — 
Reporter, PA — 
Visual Editor, Remote — 
Staff Writer, MI — 
Senior Political Reporter, DC — 
California Playbook Writer, CA — 
National Investigative Reporter, NY — 
Business & Gaming Reporter, NV — 
Coastal Climate Reporter, SC — 
Environment & Energy Reporter, CT — 
Coordinating Editor, OR — 
Editor, Remote US — 
Business Reporter, WA — 
Editor-in-Chief, AZ — 
