Top Items:
Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Jeb Bush On Sarah Palin: If She Only Had A Brain... (VIDEO) — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has some advice for Sarah Palin: You'd be a great, if you only had a brain. — In a recent interview with Newsmax, Bush was asked whether he thought Palin was a viable candidate for president.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
‘Charisma’ — Jonathan Martin and Jim VandeHei wrote earlier …
‘Charisma’ — Jonathan Martin and Jim VandeHei wrote earlier …
Discussion:
Indecision Forever
Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
Obama's health reform gamble raises questions of judgment — On health-care reform, the strategy of President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders is psychologically understandable — as well as delusional. — It is easy to imagine the internal dialogue: “Well, they voted for me, overwhelmingly.
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Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Conrad: Reform “dead” unless House passes Senate bill first — If congressional Democrats decide to pass fixes to the Senate health care bill through reconciliation, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) is one of the most important people to bring on board with the plan.
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Conrad: Health Care ‘Dead’ Unless House Passes Senate Bill First — The Senate Democrats' top budget guy told reporters today that the Senate can't pass a reconciliation package tweaking a comprehensive health care bill unless the House passes the Senate bill first.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Daily Kos, TalkLeft, The Moderate Voice, AmSpecBlog and The Reality-Based Community
Ben Pershing / Washington Post:
Senate passes $15 billion jobs bill on bipartisan vote — The Senate easily passed a $15 billion jobs bill on Wednesday morning amid hope that the measure could provide a blueprint for other items on President Obama's agenda. — The measure passed 70 to 28, with 13 Republicans joining 57 Democrats in support of the package.
Discussion:
The Politico, The Hill, Cato @ Liberty, Think Progress, Washington Monthly, Wonk Room, The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air and SpeakEasy
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Top Palin aide resigns — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's senior adviser and spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton has resigned, POLITICO has learned. — Stapleton has been a Palin confidant since December 2006 and one of the governor's most trusted aides since she was vaulted onto …
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Senior Palin aide Meghan Stapleton resigns, re-shapes inner circle
Senior Palin aide Meghan Stapleton resigns, re-shapes inner circle
Discussion:
GOP 12
Buford T Justice / Breitbart.tv:
OBAMA & DEMS IN ‘05: 51 VOTE ‘NUCLEAR OPTION’ IS ‘ARROGANT’ POWER GRAB AGAINST THE FOUNDERS’ INTENT — Biden: “I pray God when the Democrats take back control we don't make the kind of naked power grab you are doing.”
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Ben Dimiero / Media Matters for America:
“Nuclear Option” stupidity comes full circle — Want to see a neat trick? — As we've documented extensively over the past year, conservatives have waged an ongoing campaign to re-brand the process of reconciliation as the “nuclear option.” Feel free to read any of the hundred or so examples …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:
Miss Beverly Hills tries to one-up Carrie Prejean, says it's divine law that gays be put to death. — Last year, Miss California Carrie Prejean endeared herself to the right wing when she answered a question about same-sex marriage by saying that she believes marriage “should be between a man and a woman.”
Discussion:
Lean Left
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Hollie McKay / Fox News:
Miss Beverly Hills Lauren Ashley Opposes Same Sex Marriage
Miss Beverly Hills Lauren Ashley Opposes Same Sex Marriage
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, TMZ.com, The Bilerico Project, Towleroad News #gay and Feministing
Mike Allen / The Politico:
Exclusive: W.H. privately plots 2012 campaign run — President Barack Obama's top advisers are quietly laying the groundwork for the 2012 reelection campaign, which is likely to be run out of Chicago and managed by White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina, according to Democrats familiar with the discussions.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, Hot Air, New York Times, Outside The Beltway, CentristNet, Swampland, Wall Street Journal, Jules Crittenden, National Review Online, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hill, JammieWearingFool, The Page, Politics Daily, PoliBlog, Hotline On Call, The Lonely Conservative, Left Coast Rebel, msnbc.com and Pundit & Pundette
Erik Wemple / City Desk:
Breaking: Could “The Party” Be Over? — Update 2:28: Newsroom rumors are running fierce right now. But it's tough to nail any sort of confirmation on where the column stands. Will keep pounding. — Update 1:45: Have made several calls to the very top crust of Post newsroom management.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
TEA Party folds when economy revives — The “TEA Party,” that anti-tax, anti big-government movement of people intent on turning out incumbents this year, will “disappear” as the economy improves. — So says Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor of California whom some in his own party view as a RINO.
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James Wolcott / Vanity Fair:
The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Salon — Vanity Fair colleague Michael Wolff, though not a licensed clinician or chiropodist, renders what seems to me an inarguable diagnosis of the current conservative condition, i.e., they've gone loco: — Having whipped themselves into dishrag fatigue …
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Catherine Philp / Times of London:
US diplomats add a moat to their expenses at $1bn London embassy — The United States has unveiled plans for its new $1 billion high-security embassy in London — the most expensive it has ever built. — The proposals were met with relief from both the present embassy's Mayfair neighbours …
Rasmussen Reports:
Congressional Performance — 71% Give Congress Poor Rating — Voter unhappiness with Congress has reached the highest level ever recorded by Rasmussen Reports as 71% now say the legislature is doing a poor job. — That's up ten points from the previous high of 61% reached a month ago.
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Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
One Of Obama's Great Achievements May Be Unraveling — Was it only two weeks ago that Joe Biden explained that Iraq was on track to become “one of the great achievements” of the Obama Administration? Now Thomas Ricks, author of “Fiasco” and “The Gamble”, warns us of the fragile stability …
Discussion:
Mudville Gazette
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Thomas E. Ricks / New York Times:
Extending Our Stay in Iraq
Extending Our Stay in Iraq
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, ATTACKERMAN, RealClearWorld, Mudville Gazette, Progressive Fix, Cato @ Liberty and Foreign Policy
CNN:
Poll: Americans place blame for partisanship — Washington (CNN) — Two-thirds of Americans think that the Republicans in Congress are not doing enough to cooperate with President Obama, according to a new national poll. — But a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey, released Wednesday …
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James Hider / Times of London:
Son of Hamas founder spied for Israel for more than a decade — The son of one of Hamas's founding members was a spy in the service of Israel for more than a decade, helping prevent dozens of Islamist suicide bombers from finding their targets, it emerged today.
John Yoo / Wall Street Journal:
My Gift to the Obama Presidency — Though the White House won't want to admit it, Bush lawyers were protecting the executive's power to fight a vigorous war on terror. — Barack Obama may not realize it, but I may have just helped save his presidency. How?
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Commentary, PERRspectives, Gateway Pundit, BLACKFIVE, Main Justice and Raw Story
CNN:
Contractors outnumber full-time workers at DHS; lawmakers ‘astounded’ — Sens. Joseph Lieberman and Susan Collins call the hiring situation at the Department of Homeland Security ‘unacceptable.’. — Washington (CNN) - The Department of Homeland Security has more contractors working …
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Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:
Boehner makes his summit picks, awaiting word whether he can bring a governor — House Minority Leader John Boehner is ready with four fellow Republicans to join his delegation at Blair House on Thursday for the president's health care summit, but first he wants to hear from the White House about whether he can include a governor.
Discussion:
CNN
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Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
Pledge of Allegiance dispute results in Md. teacher having to apologize — The mother of a 13-year-old Montgomery County middle school student is demanding an apology from a teacher who had school police escort the youngster from a classroom for refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance.
Matt Sucherman / The Official Google Blog:
Serious threat to the web in Italy — In late 2006, students at a school in Turin, Italy filmed and then uploaded a video to Google Video that showed them bullying an autistic schoolmate. The video was totally reprehensible and we took it down within hours of being notified by the Italian police.
Discussion:
Guardian, BBC, BuzzMachine, Silicon Alley Insider, Engadget, ReadWriteWeb, Mashable!, NewTeeVee, TechCrunch, Cato @ Liberty and Gawker
Dan Senor / NY Post: Knickerbocker:
Exclusive: Ex-Bush adviser Dan Senor weighing run against Gillibrand as Republican — Dan Senor, the husband of CNN's Campbell Brown and a former Bush administration foreign policy adviser, is eyeing a run as a Republican against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, The Knickerbocker has learned.
Jennifer D. Jordan / Associated Press:
Every Central Falls teacher fired, labor outraged … CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. — The full force of organized labor showed up in Central Falls Tuesday, with several hundred union members rallying in support of the city's teachers and bringing plenty of harsh words for the education officials …
Ezra Klein:
The Fox News/David Brooks tag team — Jon Chait points out an important dynamic here: … To make a related point, this is one of those legislative problems that ending the filibuster won't fix. Neither party is really able to vote for the other party's major initiatives.
Capital Journal:
Is Sarah Palin the 2012 Version of Jesse Jackson in 1988? — Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, is a former White House correspondent with two decades of experience covering Washington government and politics. Click here for Mr. Brown's full bio.
R. H. Potfry / The Nose On Your Face:
Harry Reid Launches New “Vote For Me Or The Wife Gets It” Campaign — Just hours after revealing that unemployed men in Nevada “tend to be abusive” toward their wives and facing the prospect of joblessness himself with an election this fall, Harry Reid has launched a bold new …