Top Items:
Washington Post:
McDonnell's Confederate History Month proclamation irks civil rights leaders — RICHMOND — Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a controversy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tuesday …
Discussion:
The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, Not Larry Sabato, The Plum Line, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Little Green Footballs, The Nation, Balkinization, MLive.com, Below The Beltway, TPM LiveWire, Mediaite, The Caucus, Harry's Place, PoliBlog, NPR Topics, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, DownWithTyranny!, This Just In, Obsidian Wings, Achenblog, Guardian, Outside The Beltway, Washington Monthly, The Note, Virginia Politics Blog, Riehl World View, Hit & Run, AMERICAblog News, Feministing, Wonkette, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reality-Based Community and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Proud Of Being Ignorant — A lot of you have e-mailed me to note that Virginia governor Bob McDonnell has decided to honor those who fought to preserve, and extend, white supremacy. I don't really have much to say. The GOP is, effectively, the party of willfully unlettered Utopians.
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
McDonnell Says Slavery Wasn't a “Significant” Part of Confederate Virginia; Virginia Secessionists Disagree — Bob McDonnell explains why his proclamation about the glories of a short-lived herrenvolk republic founded on the principle of chattel slavery didn't mention the word “slavery.”
CNN:
Reporter's notebook: What really happens at Tea Party rallies — (CNN) — When it comes to the Tea Party movement, the stereotypes don't tell the whole story. — Here's what you often see in the coverage of Tea Party rallies: offensive posters blasting President Obama and Democratic leaders …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, iOwnTheWorld.com, American Power, JammieWearingFool, Wake up America, The Daily Caller and Riehl World View
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David Weigel / Right Now:
CNN salutes the ‘colorful smiles’ of the tea parties
CNN salutes the ‘colorful smiles’ of the tea parties
Discussion:
Accuracy in Media
Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
FIRST THOUGHTS: THE GOP'S VOID — The GOP's leadership void... The hits keep on coming for Steele, though the RNC reported raising $11.4 million in March... But that is less than the $13 million-plus the DNC is reporting... Is Bart Stupak going to call it quits?... Obama heads to Prague this evening …
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Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Former RNC official: Steele struck a deal with Michigan GOP to increase fundraising numbers, possibly to circumvent federal funding limits — Into the RNC coffers, and back out again. — The Republican National Committee at the end of last year struck a deal with the Michigan Republican Party …
Discussion:
TPMDC, New York Times, Hot Air, Liberty Pundits dot net, The Note, TPM LiveWire and MyDD
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
On the edge: Clues to Steele's future
On the edge: Clues to Steele's future
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Post, Swampland, Ben Smith's Blog, Riehl World View, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Guardian, The Daily Beast and The Page
Byron York / Beltway Confidential:
Fear and loathing in the RNC
Fear and loathing in the RNC
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
Scott Shane / New York Times:
U.S. Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks …
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Fox News:
Obama Bans Islam, Jihad From National Security Strategy Document — The change is a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventative war.
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen
Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen
Discussion:
The Corner on National …, The Washington Independent, Reason, Mediaite, Vox Popoli, Gawker, Hot Air, Left in the West, Newshoggers.com, Emptywheel and FrumForum
Margaret Talev / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Health care overhaul spawns mass confusion for public — WASHINGTON — Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them. — Questions reflecting confusion …
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Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
For the wealthy, less in taxes is not always more — You thought only conservatives got mad about taxes? — Tea partiers, eat your hearts out: A group of liberals got together Tuesday and proved that they, too, can have a tax rebellion. But theirs is a little bit different: They want to pay more taxes.
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Obama weighs new peace plan for the Middle East — Despite recent turbulence in U.S. relations with Israel, President Obama is “seriously considering” proposing an American peace plan to resolve the Palestinian conflict, according to two top administration officials.
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Clifford J. Levy / New York Times:
Opposition Claims Control in Kyrgyzstan — MOSCOW — Large-scale protests appeared to overthrow the government of Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday and its president fled before an outbreak of mayhem and violence in the capital of Bishkek and elsewhere in the country, an important Amerian ally in Central Asia.
Discussion:
Laura Rozen's Blog, Eunomia, Newsweek Blogs, Outside The Beltway, New Atlanticist, The Agonist, NPR Topics, The Lede, Truthdig and Hit & Run
Dick Morris / The Hill:
GOP will win House, Senate — Stanley Greenberg and James Carville claim that the Republican Party has peaked too soon. — Stanley Greenberg and James Carville claim that the Republican Party has peaked too soon. Incredibly, Greenberg says that “when we look back on this, we're going to say Massachusetts is when 1994 happened.”
FIRE:
New Duke Policy Renders Students Unwitting Rapists; Removes Protections for Those Accused of Sexual Misconduct — Duke University has instituted a new “sexual misconduct” policy that can render a student guilty of non-consensual sex simply because he or she is considered “powerful” on campus.
Jennifer Swift / The Hill:
Murdoch: Palin not on Fox as journalist — Sarah Palin's role on Fox News is as a commentator, not a journalist, according to media mogul and Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch. — Murdoch also said ratings leap whenever the former Alaska governor is on, and “we're not adverse to high ratings.”
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David Leonhardt / New York Times:
Economic Scene: To Cut Health Costs, U.S. Needs to Learn to Say No — How can we learn to say no? — The federal government is now starting to build the institutions that will try to reduce the soaring growth of health care costs. There will be a group to compare the effectiveness …
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Rasmussen Reports:
55% Say Media Bias Bigger Problem in Politics Than Big Contributions — Voters agree that big money talks in politics but apparently not as loudly as big media. — Fifty-five percent (55%) of U.S. voters continue to think that media bias is a bigger problem in politics today …
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Specter claims Reid deal for Judiciary chair — Sen. Arlen Specter says he has an agreement with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to become the next chairman of the Judiciary Committee, but three senior Democrats are blocking the deal. — Specter (D-Pa.) has worked diligently behind …
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Parties Even in Congressional Midterm Preferences — Rise in voter enthusiasm after passage of healthcare has since steadied — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup Daily tracking for the week ending April 4 finds the two major parties tied at 46% in the congressional voting preferences of registered voters nationally.
Nina Totenberg / NPR:
Supreme Court May Soon Lack Protestant Justices — text sizeAAA — With U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens talking openly about retirement, attention has focused on the “who” — as in who is on President Obama's short list of potential nominees.
Discussion:
The Confluence, SCOTUSblog, Bench Memos …, msnbc.com, Slate, The Huffington Post and The Atlantic Online
Pascal Fletcher / Reuters:
Florida says challenge to healthcare reform widens — (Reuters) - Five more states are joining a Florida-led group of states in a lawsuit challenging President Barack Obama's overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, Florida's attorney general said on Wednesday.
David Boaz / Reason:
Up from Slavery — There's no such thing as a golden age of lost liberty — For many libertarians, “the road to serfdom” is not just the title of a great book but also the window through which they see the world. We're losing our freedom, year after year, they think.
Discussion:
Below The Beltway, LewRockwell.com Blog, alicublog, Cato @ Liberty, Dean's World and Hit & Run
Peter Whoriskey / Washington Post:
General Motors posts $4.3B loss — General Motors posted a $4.3 billion loss for the second half of 2009 but could be profitable this year, the company announced Wednesday. — “As the results for 2009 show, there is still significant work to be done,” said Chris Liddell, vice chairman and chief financial officer.
Russell Berman / E2-Wire:
House liberals shift climate change tactics, will not draw ‘lines in the sand’ — Liberal House Democrats are shifting their political tactics on climate change after failing to secure a public option in the new healthcare reform law. — The move comes in the wake of liberals having to walk …
James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
‘Riot Is the Voice of the Unheard’ — Tea-party foe Maxine Waters once made excuses for real political violence. — “The Tea Party emerges as not only outrageous, but they have turned up the volume in ways that even Code Pink have not been able to do,” Rep. Maxine Waters said the other day on MSNBC.
Ali Akbar Dareini / Associated Press:
Iran ridicules Obama's “cowboy” nuclear strategy — TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's hard-line president on Wednesday ridiculed President Barack Obama's new nuclear strategy, which turns the U.S. focus away from the Cold War threats and instead aims to stop the spread of atomic weapons to rogue states or terrorists.