Top Items:
Adam Smith / St. Petersburg Times:
Protesters drown out Tampa health care summit — TAMPA - Bitter divisions over reforming America's health care system exploded Thursday night in Tampa amid cat calls, jeering and shoving at a town hall meeting. — “Tyranny! Tyranny! Tyranny!” dozens of people shouted as U.S …
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Fist Fight(s?) at Tampa Townhall — The early reports are sketchy. But apparently a mob of teabaggers began to riot after some were not able to get into a townhall meeting in Tampa. — “As the building filled to capacity, angry protesters stuck outside began to scream, yell, and chant,” reports local TV channel 10 in Tampa.
Discussion:
The Impolitic
William March / TBO News Breaking:
Protests, passions roiling town hall meeting on health care — What was supposed to be a town hall forum on President Barack Obama's health care reform plan this evening turned instead into a shouting match, complete with shoving and scuffles. — The forum featured Tampa legislators U.S …
Gateway Pundit:
SHOCK VIDEO— DEMS SNEAK UNION THUGS INTO CARNAHAN TOWN HALL— 1,000 Tea Party Taxpayers Locked Out! — Over 1,000 St. Louis Tea Party Taxpayers showed up at the Russ Carnahan town hall meeting in South St. Louis tonight. — They were Locked Out! — But... The Carnahan staff was sneaking …
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Leah Thorsen / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Six people, including P-D reporter, arrested at Carnahan meeting — UPDATE: St. Louis County police say six people were arrested. Two of those were arrested on suspicion of assault, one of resisting arrest and three on suspicion of committing peace disturbances. Carnahan was gone when the ruckus started.
John Lyon / Arkansas News:
Lincoln retracts description of health care protests as ‘un-American’ — LITTLE ROCK — Efforts to disrupt town hall meetings on health care reform are un-American, U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., said today, though she later issued a statement retracting the remark.
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Sotomayor Confirmed by Senate, 68-31 — WASHINGTON — Voting largely along party lines, the Senate on Thursday confirmed Judge Sonia Sotomayor as the 111th justice of the Supreme Court. She will be the first Hispanic and the third woman to serve on the court.
Discussion:
Washington Post, US Senator Orrin Hatch, Room for Debate, The Reaction, Political Byline, Obsidian Wings, The Politico, The Nation, New York Times, Democratic Strategist, The Confluence, Wonkette, Reason, the talking dog, Indecision Forever, Shakesville, Little Green Links, BlueOregon, Corrente, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Truthdig, Donklephant, Feministe and St. Louis Beacon
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Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Hispanic Votes Not Swaying GOP on Sotomayor
Hispanic Votes Not Swaying GOP on Sotomayor
Discussion:
Zandar Versus The Stupid
Washington Times:
White House: ‘War on terrorism’ is over — ‘Jihadists’ and ‘global war’ no longer acceptable terms — It's official. The U.S. is no longer engaged in a “war on terrorism.” Neither is it fighting “jihadists” or in a “global war.” — President Obama's top homeland security …
Discussion:
CNN, RealClearWorld, Jules Crittenden, Pajamas Media, Atlas Shrugs, The Jawa Report, Jihad Watch and Shot in the Dark
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Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
WH to Dems: Punch back twice as hard
WH to Dems: Punch back twice as hard
Discussion:
Hot Air, Pajamas Media, Ben Smith's Blog, The Jawa Report, GayPatriot, Columbian and The Reaction
The Huffington Post:
Anti-Obama Protester Compares President To Nazi In Swastika Sign — In championing the protests being staged at Democratic town halls, the Republican Party faces the obvious danger of becoming defined by the crazier elements of the crowd. So it's hard to imagine GOP higher-ups feeling …
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David Weigel / The Washington Independent:
‘Punkin’ the Birthers: Priceless' — It's looking more and more like the forged “Kenyan birth certificate” released by Orly Taitz on Sunday was a prank by a supporter of President Obama. Politijab points to an anonymous blogger at FearlessBlogging, who has uploaded four photos of the original forgery and a mocking declaration:
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Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
The Health Care Generation Gap — It's certainly interesting that older Americans are disproportionately likely to be hostile to Barack Obama's plans for health care reform and also the case that most older Americans already benefit from a Canadian-style program of universal Medicare.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
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Pat Saperstein / Variety:
Director John Hughes dies at 59 — ‘Breakfast Club’ helmer died of a heart attack — John Hughes, who captured the zeitgeist of 1980s teen life as writer-director of “The Breakfast Club” and “Sixteen Candles” and produced and scripted family hits such as “Home Alone,” died Thursday of a heart attack in Manhattan while taking a walk.
Discussion:
Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!, TMZ.com, Political Byline, Gawker, The Reaction, NPR Blogs, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Newsweek Blogs and TIME.com
Moe Lane / Moe_Lane's blog:
Behold those scary, scary swastika-bearing astroturfers. — (Brief summary for those lacking video: Dallas AARP meeting went wrong for organizers when participants refused to sit down, shut up, and applaud Democratic talking points. Organizers then left; meeting continued.)
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The Huffington Post:
Unions To Take On Conservative Groups Health Care Town Halls
Unions To Take On Conservative Groups Health Care Town Halls
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, QandO, Washington Post, TPMDC, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Erick's blog, Macsmind, The Plum Line, The Caucus, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Burnt Orange Report, On Deadline, Blue Crab Boulevard, Gathering of Eagles: NY, Achenblog, Gateway Pundit, Wonk Room, Atlas Shrugs, The Page, Washington Monthly, Maggie's Farm, Neptunus Lex, msnbc.com, Sister Toldjah, American Power, Boston Globe and Weasel Zippers
Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
Republicans Propagating Falsehoods in Attacks on Health-Care Reform — As a columnist who regularly dishes out sharp criticism, I try not to question the motives of people with whom I don't agree. Today, I'm going to step over that line. — The recent attacks by Republican leaders …
Dana Loesch / thedanashow.wordpress.com:
Meet the Mob — You've heard a lot about this crazy, scary, vicious mob on some shadowy GOP payroll. By the way the DNC, Rachel Maddow, and President Obama talk, you'd think it was a motley crue of Hell's Angels. — Let me introduce you to the mob: — I am the mob. My kids are the mob.
Discussion:
St. Louis Tea Party
Rachel Slajda / Talking Points Memo:
CNN Anchor Rips Into Health Care CEO Who's Funding Anti-Reform Effort — A CNN anchor today tore down Rick Scott, the founder of an organization that's been funding anti-health care reform protests and the former CEO of a hospital company that, as Sanchez pointed out, paid $1.7 billion …
ABCNEWS:
U.S. Official: ‘Strong Indications’ Pakistani Taliban Leader Baitullah Mehsud is Dead — U.S., Pakistani Officials Awaiting DNA Tests for “100 Percent” Confirmation — “There is strong indication” that Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a CIA drone strike that targeted …
Business Week:
The Health Insurers Have Already Won — How UnitedHealth and rival carriers, maneuvering behind the scenes in Washington, shaped health-care reform for their own benefit — As the health reform fight shifts this month from a vacationing Washington to congressional districts and local airwaves around …
Philip Kennicott / Washington Post:
Obama as The Joker: Racial Fear's Ugly Face — ‘Political’ Poster Turns On Violent Symbolism — Between Jack Nicholson's 1989 portrayal of the Joker in “Batman” and Heath Ledger's 2008 characterization in “The Dark Knight,” something sinister happened to the villain's iconic makeup.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Macsmind, Political Byline, AmSpecBlog, Media Research Center, James Fallows, Don Surber, Jules Crittenden, Big Hollywood, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Huffington Post, Neptunus Lex, RedState, LewRockwell.com Blog, Guardian, Moonbattery, Reason, No More Mister Nice Blog, Little Green Links and Wonkette