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 …
Discussion:
Commentary, Politics Daily, NY Daily News, Instapundit, The Rachel Maddow Show, Scared Monkeys, Hotline On Call, Wall Street Journal, NPR Blogs, Roll Call, The Note, The Daily Beast, Moonbattery, New York Times, The Daily Politics, Glenn Thrush's Blog, Swing State Project, Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, RHRealityCheck.org, Sister Toldjah, The Jawa Report, Gawker, The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, Raw Story, The Hill, RedState, Politics Nation and TPMDC
RELATED:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
House Democrats approach danger zone with retirements — 1. The political import of New York Democratic Rep. Eric Massa's surprising retirement on Wednesday was largely eclipsed by the controversy surrounding why he decided to depart Congress after a single term. It shouldn't be.
The Note:
Swamp Things: Eerie Memories of '06 Haunt Democrats in '10 — The swamp, it turns out, is still wet. And it's muddy enough to create a muddle. — What if 2010 isn't 1994 or 1982, but 2006? — Congress lurches forward on health care haunted by old memories: If you're not thinking about Tom DeLay …
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.”
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Washington Monthly, Guardian, The Caucus, FrumForum, Indecision Forever, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Beast, Rumproast, Washington Post, The Atlantic Online, Althouse, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air, In The Pink, Mediaite, Associated Press, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Liberal Values, CNN, Newshoggers.com, Raw Story, The Washington Note, Wonkette, AMERICAblog News, Gawker, Daily Kos, Brendan Nyhan, Post on Politics and The Political Carnival
RELATED:
The Politico:
New York gone wild — Once a source of national leaders of both political parties, New York state has descended into a bizarre, riveting spectacle of corruption and political debasement, with its governor facing calls to resign and new charges of accepting illicit perks and lying under oath …
Discussion:
The Awl
Washington Post:
Obama calls for reconciliation to prevent filibuster on health-care reform — President Obama's endorsement Wednesday of a risky legislative maneuver to complete health-care legislation sent Democratic leaders scrambling to settle policy disputes and assemble the votes necessary for passage in the coming weeks.
RELATED:
J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
Gregg talks repealing health reform
Gregg talks repealing health reform
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, National Review, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice and Michelle Malkin
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:
Sadly, No!, Outside The Beltway, Diary of a Heretic, Mock, Paper, Scissors, The Impolitic, TBogg, TRICKSTER!, Blue Gal, Brilliant at Breakfast, American Street, The Democratic Daily, Althouse, Rumproast, Crooks and Liars, Mad Kane's Political Madness, distributorcap NY, The Reaction, skippy the bush kangaroo, Lance Mannion, blue girl, The Moderate Voice and Alas, a blog
RELATED:
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
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Woman charged with killing husband is lobbyist — A 45-year-old woman, charged with ending a domestic dispute by killing her 26-year-old husband of five days, is a registered lobbyist for a group fighting domestic violence. — Arelisha Bridges was ordered held without bond in the Fulton County Jail.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Althouse, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, QandO, Confederate Yankee and JammieWearingFool
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.
RELATED:
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Senator Proposes Deal on Handling of Detainees — WASHINGTON — Senator Lindsey Graham wants to make a deal on detainees with President Obama. If the White House agrees to the bargain, it would be a defining moment for the administration — and could transform how the government deals with terrorism suspects.
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Ultimate Bush Insider Lifts Veil on Presidency — WASHINGTON — Karl Rove, the chief political adviser to President George W. Bush and architect of his two successful campaigns for the White House, says in a new memoir that Mr. Bush probably would not have invaded Iraq had he known there were no unconventional weapons there.
RELATED:
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: … From Time: … From the Financial Times: … From the Guardian:
RELATED:
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.
Lynette Rice / Hollywood Insider:
Exclusive: Sarah Palin shopping Alaska TV docudrama with Mark Burnett — Sarah Palin, TV producer? Multiple sources confirm that Palin and uber-reality show producer Mark Burnett have been making the rounds in Hollywood this week to pitch a TV docudrama about Alaska.
Discussion:
CNN, Top of the Ticket, Wonkette, Ministry of Gossip, Another Black Conservative, Gawker, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, CBS News and EW.com
RELATED:
Leslie Kaufman / New York Times:
Darwin Foes Add Warming to Targets — Critics of the teaching of evolution in the nation's classrooms are gaining ground in some states by linking the issue to global warming, arguing that dissenting views on both scientific subjects should be taught in public schools.
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 …
RELATED:
Sheelah Kolhatkar / Time:
Eliot Spitzer's Mission Impossible — Spitzer has the resources to tackle any challenge — except maybe another campaign — Eliot Spitzer was his usual agitated self. It was a brisk Tuesday evening, and the former governor of New York was bundled in the back of a black sedan …
The Atlantic Online:
Perfect Storm Nearly Killed Health Reform; Another Storm May Save It — It was a perfect storm that nearly killed health care reform in Congress last year — an elongated process, weak leadership from the White House, strong Republican opposition and the election of Scott Brown.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Stupak: 12 previous health bill supporters could flip over abortion — The Senate's healthcare bill would lose 12 Democratic votes in the House, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) said Wednesday. — Stupak, the sponsor of an amendment to the House healthcare bill which barred federal subsidies …
Kaiser Health News:
Full Speech: Obama On Insurance Reform — President Obama presented his new proposal on health reform, Wednesday afternoon. Read his full speech, below. — THE WHITE HOUSE — Office of the Press Secretary — Washington, D.C. — Good afternoon.
RELATED: