Top Items:
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
TRANSPARENT BIGOTRY.... Following up on an earlier item, at least one high-profile Republican senator announced he doesn't want to see President Obama nominate a gay American for the Supreme Court. … I don't expect much from Thune, but I have to wonder if he realizes how incredibly ridiculous this is.
RELATED:
J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Sessions would consider gay SCOTUS nominee — Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday he could consider a gay nominee for the nation's highest court. — “I'm not inclined to think that's an automatic disqualification,” Sessions said of a gay nominee.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
UPDATED: Steele Condemns Maine Decision, Revealing Split With Snowe and Collins — After the RNC said he wouldn't be issuing a statement on Maine's decision to legalize gay marriage today, RNC Chairman Michael Steele is in fact condemning the decision, a position that puts him at odds …
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Bangor Daily News:
Maine governor signs same-sex marriage bill — AUGUSTA, Maine - Gov. John Baldacci on Wednesday signed a gay marriage bill passed just hours before by the Maine Legislature. — Baldacci made his announcement within an hour of the Maine Senate giving its final approval to LD 1020.
Matt Wickenheiser / pressherald.mainetoday.com:
Baldacci signs same-sex marriage into law
Baldacci signs same-sex marriage into law
Discussion:
The Hill, Ballot Box, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Shakesville, DownWithTyranny! and #gay
Daily Oklahoman:
House bypasses governor's veto to claim Oklahoma's sovereignty — Although Gov. Brad Henry vetoed similar legislation 10 days earlier, House members Monday again approved a resolution claiming Oklahoma's sovereignty. — Unlike House Joint Resolution 1003, House Concurrent Resolution 1028 does not need the governor's approval.
Discussion:
The Mahatma X Files, Hot Air, Liberty Street, DownWithTyranny!, TPMDC, Washington Monthly and HazZzMat
Julia Duin / Washington Times:
Obama to be prayer day no-show — President to sign proclamation, observe privately — President Obama is distancing himself from the National Day of Prayer by nixing a formal early morning service and not attending a large Catholic prayer breakfast the next morning.
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Kristi Keck / CNN:
Obama tones down National Prayer Day observance
Obama tones down National Prayer Day observance
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
National Enquirer:
JOHN EDWARDS' MISTRESS DEMANDS DNA TEST FOR BABY! — John Edwards' furious mistress is demanding he submit to a DNA test, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively! — Rielle Hunter - the longtime secret lover of the disgraced 2-time presidential candidate - wants definitive proof that Edwards …
CNN:
Poll: Don't investigate torture techniques — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A new national poll indicates that most Americans don't want to see an investigation of Bush administration officials who authorized harsh interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists, even though most people think such procedures were forms of torture.
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Pakistan-US Relations Are Upside Down — I think the headline “U.S. Presses Visiting Pakistani Leader on Taliban Threat” pretty much sums up what's gone wrong in the US-Pakistan relationship. The Pakistani Taliban are waging a war whose aim is to overthrow the government of Pakistan.
Discussion:
BAGnewsNotes
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Ali Frick / Think Progress:
Ed Gillespie: There wasn't a single woman of comparable ‘temperament and intellect’ to Alito. — On “The Situation Room” this afternoon, former Bush counselor Ed Gillespie said that “it would be wrong” if President Obama looks at only women for potential Supreme Court nominees …
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
IS CONGRESS TURNING TOWARDS SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM? — Steny Hoyer, it seems, is making some noises about Social Security reform. Good luck with that, I guess. The interesting nugget in the article, however, is that “House and Senate leaders have resisted the idea of naming a special commission …
Discussion:
MoJo Blog Posts
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Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Lawmakers Seeking Consensus On Social Security Overhaul
Lawmakers Seeking Consensus On Social Security Overhaul
Discussion:
The Note
Shailagh Murray / Washington Post:
Obama Offers D.C. Voucher Program Extension for Existing Students — President Obama will seek to extend the controversial D.C. school voucher program until all 1,716 participants have graduated from high school, although no new students will be accepted, according to an administration official …
Hotline On Call:
A Granite State Home Base For Romney? — Former MA Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who is writing a book on the direction of the country and has signed on to be one of the national spokesmen for the upstart National Council for a New America, which aims to revive the GOP, appears to be taking a third step …
The Politico:
Meltdown: Specter stands alone — Arlen Specter infuriated Senate Republicans when he bolted from their party last week. Now he's alienated just about everybody in the Senate Democratic caucus, too. — Since declaring himself a Democrat last Tuesday, Specter has defied Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid …
Discussion:
Blue Crab Boulevard, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Real Clear Politics, The Swamp, Politics Daily, Commentary, NO QUARTER and CNN
Andy McCarthy / The Corner:
The Torture Follies — Just When You Thought It Couldn't Get Worse ... As K-Lo notes, I have an article (posted on the homepage this afternoon) which recounts how the Obama administration is urging the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to adopt the same interpretation of federal torture law …
Wall Street Journal:
Stress Tests Separate Strong From Weak — The Federal Reserve directed at least seven of the nation's biggest banks to bolster their capital levels by $65 billion while effectively blessing the stability of six others, marking for the first time a bold line between some of the nation's stronger and weaker banks.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The New Republic, Calculated Risk, naked capitalism, Clusterstock, MoJo Blog Posts and Zero Hedge
Jennifer Parker / George's Bottom Line:
Did Elizabeth Edwards Know When She Said This? — Elizabeth Edwards' admission that she knew about her husband's affair “days after” his presidential announcement back in 2006 puts this interview I had with the two of them in a new light. — It came just two days after Edwards announced his presidential bid.
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket
Wall Street Journal:
Obama's Global Tax Raid — President Obama revealed Monday that he's half a supply-sider. If only someone could explain to him the other half. We have a tax code, the President said, “that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York.”
Telegraph:
Radical preacher Abu Izzadeen freed from jail early — Abu Izzadeen, a radical Muslim preacher who was jailed after footage was uncovered of him calling for the beheading of any Muslim in the British army, has been freed early from jail. — Izzadeen, 34, whose real name is Trevor Brooks …
Discussion:
Jihad Watch
Mother Jones:
A Cheney Cover-Up? — Someone in the White House tried to deep-six Philip Zelikow's anti-torture memo. Welcome to the latest Bush-era whodunit. — Post Comment — Who in the George W. Bush White House tried to shred a memo challenging the use of torture?
Ryan Powers / Think Progress:
Limbaugh Responds To Powell: He Needs To ‘Close The Loop And Become A Democrat’ — On Monday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said that he believed the Republican party is in “deep trouble,” “getting smaller,” and being led by polarizing figures like Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) and Rush Limbaugh.