Top Items:
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
“Tea Party” Protests Appear to Draw At Least 250,000 — This is an update and probably the last one. Those of you who are interested in extending the analysis (there are undoubtedly many events missing, although most of the major ones should now be covered) are encouraged to do so at Wikipedia or elsewhere.
RELATED:
Ross Douthat:
The Tea Parties — They resemble nothing so much as the anti-war protests during Bush's first term. The claim that they don't have an organizing premise strikes me as obviously wrong: They're anti-bailout, anti-stimulus, anti-deficit, and anti- the tax increases that will eventually …
Directorblue / Doug Ross:
Tea Parties, Code Pink and the sickness of the MSM
Tea Parties, Code Pink and the sickness of the MSM
Discussion:
Ace of Spades HQ, Associated Press, Right Wing News, Wizbang, Cold Fury, Power Line and Pajamas Media
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Obama's huge test today: do we believe in secret law? — (updated below - Update II) — Today is the most significant test yet determining the sincerity of Barack Obama's commitment to restore the Constitution, transparency and the rule of law. After seeking and obtaining multiple extensions …
RELATED:
Mark Mazzetti / The Caucus:
Secret Interrogation Memos to Be Released — After a tense internal debate, the Obama administration this afternoon will make public a number of detailed memos describing the harsh interrogation techniques used by the Central Intelligence Agency against al Qaeda suspects in secret overseas prisons.
Brian Knowlton / New York Times:
Obama Unveils High-Speed Rail Plan — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Thursday highlighted his ambition for the development of high-speed passenger rail lines in at least 10 regions, expressing confidence in the future of train travel even as he acknowledged that the American rail network …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
RELATED:
New York Times:
Officials Say U.S. Wiretaps Exceeded Law — WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Daily Dish, White House Watch, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Washington Independent, PERRspectives, Top of the Ticket, Reuters, The Opinionator, TalkLeft, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Raw Story, ATTACKERMAN, MoJo Blog Posts, Prairie Weather, Hullabaloo, MoJo Blog Posts, The Democratic Daily, Swampland, MyDD, Shakesville and AMERICAblog News
RELATED:
New York Times:
Head of Senate Panel Calls for Hearing on Wiretaps — WASHINGTON — The head of the Senate intelligence committee said Thursday that she would hold a hearing to examine the National Security Agency's interception of domestic communications after new reports that recent wiretapping went beyond what Congress has authorized.
George F. Will / Washington Post:
America's Bad Jeans — On any American street, or in any airport or mall, you see the same sad tableau: A 10-year-old boy is walking with his father, whose development was evidently arrested when he was that age, judging by his clothes. Father and son are dressed identically — running shoes, T-shirts.
RELATED:
Fox News:
Napolitano Apologizes for Offending Veterans After DHS Eyes Them for ‘Rightwing Extremism’ — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano apologized to veterans in a FOX News interview after a DHS report labeled returning troops at risk for embracing right-wing extremism. — FOXNews.com
RELATED:
Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Politico's Mike Allen claims that author of DHS report on right-wing extremism couldn't be from ‘real America.’ — On Tuesday, the Washington Times revealed a recent Department of Homeland Security assessment that warned about increased activity by “rightwing extremists.”
Sinfonian / Blast Off!:
DFH blogger speaks at Pensacola Tea Party ... and lives to tell the tale — If you were following my livetweeting today from the Pensacola Tea Party, then you already know: I gave a little speech. Hey, I'm a sucker for Open Mic Night ... what can I say? — Seriously — I didn't realize …
RELATED:
Edwin Mora / CNSNews:
Georgetown Says It Covered Over Name of Jesus to Comply With White House Request — (CNSNews.com) - Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram “IHS”—symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university …
Discussion:
The Swamp, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Lean Left, National Review, Townhall.com, PoliGazette and TigerHawk
RELATED:
Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: HEADING TO MEXICO — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** Heading to Mexico: This morning, President Obama embarks on his third foreign trip as president (the other two were to Canada and Europe). He arrives in Mexico City at 2:10 pm ET …
RELATED:
New York Post:
CNBC SWEATS ‘OBAMA-BASHING’ — THE top suits and some of the on-air talent at CNBC were recently ordered to a top-secret meeting with General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker to discuss whether they've turned into the President Obama-bashing network, Page Six has learned.
RELATED:
Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:
The World's Worst TV Reporter — Via Michelle Malkin and Hot Air. — Ace of Spades offers some important biographical info on CNN's Susan Roesgen. NTTAWWT. — UPDATE: Linked at Memeorandum and Red State, and Vodka Pundit suggests “that vacuous Anderson Cooper guy” is worse than Roesgen.
RELATED:
Paul Haven / Associated Press:
Spanish AG says no torture probe of US officials — MADRID - Spanish prosecutors will recommend against opening an investigation into whether six Bush administration officials sanctioned torture against terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, the country's attorney-general said Thursday.
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, CNN, Hot Air, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Jules Crittenden, Moe Lane and The Raw Story
Mike Madden / Salon:
“On 9/11, I think they hit the wrong building” — A woman participates in a Tax Day rally in Lafayette Park in Washington Wednesday. — WASHINGTON — The gathering in Lafayette Square, in honor both of tax day and of a generalized fury at Barack Obama, his budget, the Federal Reserve …
RELATED:
Josh Orton / MyDD:
Flashback: Hatch Says FISA Critics ‘Wear Tin Foil Hats’ — Here's Senator Hatch, member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, back in June of 2008, laughing off “onerous” oversight provisions for the FISA bill: — Yeah, those crazies sure turned out to be wrong about domestic surveillance!
Brian Stelter / New York Times:
Gotcha TV: Crews Stalk Bill O'Reilly's Targets — When Bill O'Reilly's camera crew ambushed Mike Hoyt at a bus stop in Teaneck, N.J., a few months ago, the on-camera confrontation and the microphone in his face reminded him, oddly enough, of the “60 Minutes” interviewer Mike Wallace.
City Room:
Paterson Unveils Same-Sex Marriage Bill — Gov. David A. Paterson on Thursday announced he would introduce a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, drawing on the soaring oratory of the civil rights movement to call on the Legislature to add New York to the four states that have already authorized such unions.