Top Items:
The Politico:
Hoyer knew of Massa allegations — First-term Rep. Eric Massa announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection, saying his doctors have told him that he can't continue to “run at 100 miles an hour.” — But several House aides told POLITICO that the House ethics committee has been informed …
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Commentary, Roll Call, The Note, New York Times, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Mediaite, The Daily Politics, The Hill, The Fix, RHRealityCheck.org, RedState, Raw Story, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online, Gawker, Gateway Pundit, TPMDC, Hotline On Call, Politics Daily, The Jawa Report, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, AmSpecBlog, Politics Nation, The Eye and Advocate
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Elizabeth Benjamin / The Daily Politics:
Dem Source: Massa Won't Run (Updatedx2)
Dem Source: Massa Won't Run (Updatedx2)
Discussion:
Commentary, Hotline On Call, Swing State Project, Glenn Thrush's Blog, TPMDC, Firedoglake and Political Punch
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Exclusive: RNC document mocks donors, plays on ‘fear’ — The Republican National Committee plans to raise money this election cycle through an aggressive campaign capitalizing on “fear” of President Barack Obama and a promise to “save the country from trending toward socialism.”
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Chris Frates / The Politico:
Harkin: Reconciliation is a go — Sen. Tom Harkin told POLITICO that Senate Democratic leaders have decided to go the reconciliation route. The House, he said, will first pass the Senate bill after Senate leaders demonstrate to House leaders that they have the votes to pass reconciliation in the Senate.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Open Left, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, RedState, Ezra Klein, Liberal Values, The Hill, The New Republic and AmSpecBlog
Mike Levine / Liveshots:
Exclusive: Unknown DOJ Lawyers Identified — A day after a conservative group released a video condemning the Justice Department for refusing to identify seven lawyers who previously represented or advocated for terror suspects, Fox News has uncovered the identities of the seven lawyers.
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Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
The New McCarthyism — How a smearing of Justice Department lawyers as “terrorist sympathizers” traveled from the conservative media to the United States Senate. — The “Gitmo Nine” aren't terrorists. They weren't captured fighting for the Taliban. They've made no attempts to kill Americans.
Tom Watson / My Dirty Life & Times:
A Death in the Blogging Family — The great Jon Swift has died. That's the “blogging” angle to a personal tragedy. In reality, the voice of Jon Swift - the hilarious faux conservative blogger whose talent and passion were evident in every post - belonged to Al Weisel …
Discussion:
Shakesville, Rumproast, TRICKSTER!, Diary of a Heretic, The Impolitic, skippy the bush kangaroo, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Reaction, The Democratic Daily, Mock, Paper, Scissors, Blue Gal, Althouse, Sadly, No!, Crooks and Liars, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Mad Kane's Political Madness, Alas, a blog, blue girl, The Moderate Voice and Newshoggers.com
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James Wolcott / Vanity Fair:
Life Is Unfair, Death Even More So (Updated) — Comes the terrible, saddening news that Al Weisel, who blogged under the name Jon Swift (an homage to the author of A Modest Proposal and the tip-off that Swiftian irony was his gambit, though newcomers to his site often missed the joke*) …
Discussion:
The Reaction
The Huffington Post:
Palin Does Stand-Up On Leno's “Tonight Show” (VIDEO) — AP / Huffington Post — What's Your Reaction: — BURBANK, Calif. — Sarah Palin says she's going to play Tina Fey in an upcoming Las Vegas show. — Just kidding. — The former Republican vice presidential nominee turned …
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Associated Press:
Palin working on book about virtues and strengths — NEW YORK (AP) — Sarah Palin is ready for the next chapter of her publishing career. — Publisher HarperCollins announced Wednesday that the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate is working on a “celebration of American virtues and strengths.”
John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Obama Now Selling Judgeships for Health Care Votes? — Obama names brother of undecided House Dem to Appeals Court. — Tonight, Barack Obama will host ten House Democrats who voted against the health care bill in November at the White House; he's obviously trying to persuade them to switch their votes to yes.
J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Gregg talks repealing health reform — A top Republican senator on Wednesday proposed the possibility of repealing any healthcare law that is passed by congressional Democrats using the reconciliation strategy. — Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee …
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Mike Madden / Salon:
Rep. Brian Baird still not sold on healthcare reform
Rep. Brian Baird still not sold on healthcare reform
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Political Punch
John / Power Line:
Off the Track — In general, I'm not a big fan of right track/wrong track polling, even though some say that it is very useful in predicting election results, since the party perceived as being in power bears the brunt of the “wrong track” sentiment. If that's true, this Rasmussen survey …
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National Enquirer:
GRAND JURY TO INDICT EDWARDS — The ultimate fall from grace, a Federal grand jury is about to indict John Edwards, The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively. — In another shocker, close sources say Edwards' estranged wife Elizabeth could help send the former presidential candidate to jail!
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Liberal Values, Scared Monkeys, Truthdig, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hill, Gateway Pundit, Gawker, Don Surber and The Political Carnival
David S. Broder / Washington Post:
The fable of Emanuel the Great — In the space of 10 days, thanks in no small part to my own newspaper, the president of the United States has been portrayed as a weakling and a chronic screw-up who is wrecking his administration despite everything that his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, can do to make things right.
Mark Steyn / The Corner on National Review Online:
Fringe Benefits — By: Mark Steyn — Gee, prosecuting Geert Wilders for “Islamophobia” in a politically rigged show trial seems to be working out just swell for the Dutch establishment. Local election watch from EuroNews: — Attention is also on Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom Party …
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Dr. Melissa Clouthier:
Crazytown Watch: Charles Johnson Conflates Some Fringe Group With Rick Perry — Now why would he do that? A little preventative, cyber guerrilla warfare, I'd say. — Here's the things about moderates, independents, or leftists in moderate name only (LIMNO-hey, it's better than FCINO) …
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Little Green Footballs
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Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
Rove blames himself for administration's response to lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — Former president George W. Bush did not mislead the nation about weapons of mass destruction as a way to “lie us” into war, his former top political aide, Karl Rove, asserts in a new memoir, “Courage and Consequence.”
Mike Madden / Salon:
Key House liberal may vote against healthcare bill — Rep. Raúl Grijalva, co-chairman of a progressive caucus, says he's “leaning toward” opposing the legislation — WASHINGTON — An influential House progressive says he's less likely to vote for the final healthcare reform bill …
Anna Schecter / ABCNEWS:
Dobbs, Beck, Palin, Bachmann Share Blame For Rise in Right-Wing Extremism, Says Activist Group — Southern Poverty Law Center Cites Violent Incidents; Lou Dobbs Calls SPLC Director ‘Paranoid’ — Anti-government sentiments in the U.S. have reached levels so high they could result …
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Think Progress
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McHenry:
Rep. McHenry Announces Legislation to Put President Reagan on the $50 Bill — “Every Generation Needs Its Own Heroes” — Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) announced new legislation today, H.R. 4705, that would redesign the face of the $50 bill to include the likeness of our 40th President, Ronald Reagan.
Discussion:
The Awl, Ezra Klein, The Washington Independent, NewsBusters.org, Politics Daily, NPR Blogs, WataugaWatch and TPM LiveWire
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Dow Jones Newswires:
Fed's Fisher: Too-Big-To-Fail Banks Should Be Dismantled — NEW YORK (Dow Jones)—Large, systemically important “too-big-to-fail” banks should be dismantled and broken up before regulators have to deal with another crisis, Richard Fisher, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said Wednesday.
Washington Post:
Same-sex couples line up as D.C. gay marriage law takes effect — Sitting at a desk in the marriage bureau of the D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday morning, Angelisa Young's eyes filled with so many tears, she eventually buried her face in her fiancee's chest.
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