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The Caucus:
White House Blocks Testimony on Party Crashers — Updated | 10:22 p.m. The White House on Wednesday invoked the separation of powers to keep Desiree Rogers, President Obama's social secretary, from testifying on Capitol Hill about how a couple of aspiring reality television show celebrities crashed …
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CBS News:
White House: July 2011 Is Locked In for Afghanistan Withdrawal — Posted by Chip Reid During the Senate Armed Services hearing today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was pressed by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. on whether the July 2011 date for beginning to withdrawal troops is “locked in.”
Discussion:
The Politico, The Sundries Shack, Hot Air, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Taegan Goddard's … and USA Today
Josh Rogin / The Cable:
Exclusive: White House aides insisted F-22 be removed from Obama speech venue — When President Obama spoke to troops at Alaska's Elmendorf Air Force Base last month, the unit there parked a shiny new F-22 fighter plane in the hanger. But according to multiple sources …
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
New York State Senate Votes Down Gay Marriage Bill — ALBANY — The State Senate defeated a bill on Wednesday that would legalize same-sex marriage, after an emotional debate that touched on civil rights, family and history. The vote means that the bill, pushed by Gov. David A. Paterson …
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Newsweek Blogs, Joe. My. God., Syracuse Post-Standard, JammieWearingFool, Another Black Conservative, The Awl, Gothamist, The Reaction, Opinion L.A., Think Progress, CNN, Prairie Weather, AmSpecBlog, nysenate.gov/blog, NY Daily News, Hot Air, Towleroad News #gay, The Page, Gawker, Redhot, Lawyers, Guns and Money, msnbc.com, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Indecision Forever, Truthdig, TPM LiveWire, Washington Monthly and Feministe
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Karl Vick / Washington Post:
N.Y. State Senate votes down gay marriage bill by wide margin — NEW YORK — Opponents of gay marriage celebrated a decisive vote in the New York State Senate, where a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage was defeated 38 to 24 on Wednesday. — The unexpectedly wide margin was delivered …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Boxer: Hackers should face criminal probe over ‘Climategate’ — Leaked e-mails allegedly undermining climate change science should be treated as a criminal matter, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said Wednesday afternoon. — Boxer, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee …
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P.J. Gladnick / NewsBusters.org:
Huffington Post Suffers ClimateGate Panic Attack — Your humble correspondent has been checking the Huffington Post Green section every day since the ClimateGate scandal exploded. After all, that Green section is pretty much predicated on the theory that the earth is warming dangerously and that Man is the cause of it.
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Katherine Goldstein / The Huffington Post:
ClimateGate: The 7 Biggest Lies About The Supposed “Global Warming Hoax”
ClimateGate: The 7 Biggest Lies About The Supposed “Global Warming Hoax”
John Ingham / Daily Express:
CLIMATE CHANGE ‘FRAUD’
CLIMATE CHANGE ‘FRAUD’
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, DaTechguy's Blog, JammieWearingFool, Confederate Yankee and EU Referendum
Edmund L. Andrews / New York Times:
Senator Moves to Hold Up Bernanke Confirmation — WASHINGTON — Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont said on Wednesday that he would try to block the Senate from confirming Ben S. Bernanke to a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. — The move is unlikely to derail Mr. Bernanke's reappointment …
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U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders:
RELEASE: SANDERS PUTS HOLD ON BERNANKE — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today placed a hold on the nomination of Ben Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve. — “The American people overwhelmingly voted last year for a change in our national priorities to put the interests …
New York Times:
Afghanistan and Pakistan Rattled by Plan for Drawdown — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — President Obama's timetable for American forces in Afghanistan rattled nerves in that country and in Pakistan on Wednesday, as American diplomats worked to convince the two countries at the center …
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The Huffington Post:
GOP Senator Pens Obstruction Manual For Health Care — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Sen. Judd Gregg, (R-NH) has penned the equivalent of an obstruction manual — a how-to for holding up health care reform — and has distributed the document to his Republican colleagues.
Discussion:
White House.gov Blog Feed, Firedoglake, Ezra Klein, Raw Story, TPMDC and Washington Monthly
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Manu Raju / The Politico:
Franken fallout has GOP fuming — Republican senators feel burned by Al Franken — and not by his old jokes. — The Republicans are steamed at Franken because partisans on the left are using a measure he sponsored to paint them as rapist sympathizers — and because Franken isn't doing much to stop them.
Discussion:
Whiskey Fire, Hot Dish Politics, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos and TPMDC
Lee Davidson / Deseret News:
Utahns growing tired of Bennett — Poll shows most want a change — but rivals trail far behind senator — Two of every three Utahns want to see Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, ousted in his re-election bid next year. — However, all of the challengers seeking to unseat him currently trail far behind …
Erin Carlson / Silicon Alley Insider:
Anderson Cooper's Ratings Plummet — Anderson Cooper is fading in the ratings. — The respected CNN anchor has seen his numbers slip significantly through the past year. His 10 p.m. show, “Anderson Cooper 360,” has declined 62% in total viewers and 70% in adults 25-54 from November 2008, according to Nielsen figures.
Jonathan Liew / Telegraph:
All men watch porn, scientists find — Scientists at the University of Montreal launched a search for men who had never looked at pornography - but couldn't find any. — Researchers were conducting a study comparing the views of men in their 20s who had never been exposed to pornography with regular users.
Evan Newmark / Deal Journal:
Mean Street: The Sham of a Mockery of an Obama Jobs Summit — What is it about Thursday's White House “jobs summit” that rubs me the wrong way? — All presidents engage in these sorts of elaborate PR stunts. Why not just dismiss it as another meaningless piece of Washington political theater?
Discussion:
Betsy's Page
Kos / Daily Kos:
Sens. Feinstein and Durbins attack on citizen journalism — The Senate is currently considering a media shield law, pushed by media outfits that want federal protection for their journalists. — The legislation originally had a broad definition of “journalist”, but that was curtailed thanks …
Michelle Malkin:
Unbelievable update: The crappiest NYTimes column on Obamacare just got crappier; Update: Kristof's disingenuous non-response — Scroll for updates...Kristof non-responds...holes remain... Today, I did something that Pulitzer Prize-winning NYTimes columnist Nick Kristof apparently didn't do …
Discussion:
Media Blog on National …
William Kaempffer / New Haven Register:
New Haven fire board approves long-sought promotions (full coverage) — NEW HAVEN — The Board of Fire Commissioners today approved the promotions of one Hispanic and 13 white firefighters, giving them the advancement they fought for all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Discussion:
Bench Memos …
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Did you hear the one about Washington lecturing Afghans on corruption? — President Obama, who with his latest troop moves has taken ownership of the 8-year-old war in Afghanistan, has based at least part of his ongoing support on the government there erasing corruption as a condition for such expensive American aid.
Vidya Rao / msnbc.com:
‘Family Ties’ mom: ‘I am a lesbian’ — Meredith Baxter says she has been dating women for the past seven years — For seven years, actress Meredith Baxter has been hiding a secret. — Now Baxter, who played the devoted hippie mom constantly butting heads with her conservative kids on “Family Ties,” is making a public admission.
Robin Givhan / Washington Post:
Rogers's unwanted new guest: Scrutiny — Social secretary's managerial style faces criticism in wake of her first state dinner — On the night of the Obamas' first state dinner, White House social secretary Desirée Rogers glided past the rope line of press and photographers at 6:53 p.m. …
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