Top Items:
Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:
Obama pick for Justice post withdraws — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's nominee to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has withdrawn her bid for confirmation, after several Republicans objected to her criticism of the Bush administration's terrorist interrogation policies.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Think Progress, ACS Blog, The Volokh Conspiracy and The American Pundit
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Ezra Klein:
Pick a politician for the Supreme Court — My first thought on hearing that Justice Stevens was retiring was that it'd be nice to see him replaced by a legislator with legal training rather than another lawyer. As Matt Yglesias writes, “this is one of these things that pundits …
Discussion:
Riehl World View
The Huffington Post:
Dawn Johnsen, Key Obama Justice Nominee, Withdraws Her Nomination — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Dawn Johnsen, the president's appointment to the Office of Legal Counsel whose nomination has lingered in Congressional limbo for more than a year, has officially withdrawn her candidacy for the post …
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Justice Stevens' retirement and Elena Kagan — Justice John Paul Stevens, who was appointed to the Supreme Court by Gerald Ford in 1975 and then became the leader of its “liberal” wing, told the White House today that he was retiring in the Summer. I had been planning to write …
Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens retiring — WASHINGTON (AP) - Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, the court's oldest member and leader of its liberal bloc, says he is retiring. President Barack Obama now has his second high court opening to fill.
Discussion:
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Daniel Foster / The Corner on National Review Online:
SCOTUS Short-List: from Left to Lefter — By: Daniel Foster — With the news of Associate Justice John Paul Stevens' retirement this summer, both sides in the Senate are rearing for a confirmation fight that, I suspect, could make Robert Bork's look like John Jay's.
Slate:
Who Should Replace Justice Stevens? — An offbeat shortlist. — Justice John Paul Stevens has announced his plans to retire. Let the shortlist parlor game begin. Of course, it already has. The three names that the White House has been bandying about to reporters are Judge Diane Wood …
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Justice Stevens to Retire After 34 Years
Justice Stevens to Retire After 34 Years
Discussion:
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Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Justice John Paul Stevens to retire from court in June
Justice John Paul Stevens to retire from court in June
Discussion:
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Palin defends Karzai, echoes Cheney — Sarah Palin, whose complaints about nuclear policy President Obama brushed off yesterday, delivered an extended attack on Obama's foreign policy that closely followed Liz Cheney's criticism at the same Southern Republican Leadership Conference yesterday.
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Taylor Marsh / The Huffington Post:
Where's the Left's Sarah Palin?
Where's the Left's Sarah Palin?
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny!, Taylor Marsh, Gateway Pundit, Michelle Malkin, Balloon Juice, neo-neocon, TPM LiveWire and Pajamas Media
Jason / Tea Party Patriots Live:
VIDEO: Alan Grayson Interrupts Republican District Meeting — On Thursday, April 8th, 2010, Congressman Alan Grayson, Democrat in Florida's 8th district, interrupted a district meeting of the local Orange County Republican Executive Committee. The meeting was being held at Perkins, a family restaurant.
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David Damron / Orlando Sentinel:
Grayson crashes local GOP meeting, tells Orange mayoral critic “take a walk” — U.S. Rep Alan Grayson, D-Orlando, walked in on an Orange County Republican Executive Committee meeting Thursday night at a Perkins restaurant and got into a confrontation with county mayoral candidate Matthew Falconer …
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Video: Alan Grayson crashes the tea party — A chance encounter from yesterday's meeting of Orange County Republicans via the Tea Party Patriots. What happens when tea partiers meet a man fondly known to us all as Teacups? Magical things, my friends:
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Jindal: ‘It Hurts Our Feelings’ To Be Called The ‘Party of No’ — Today in his speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) complained that characterizations of the GOP as the “Party of No” are hurtful: … Yet in the very next breath …
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David Weigel / Right Now:
A tough crowd for Joseph Cao — NEW ORLEANS — The Southern Republican Leadership Conference is happening inside the district of first-term Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.), who won a supremely safe Democratic seat in a December 2008 runoff against the indicted incumbent, then-Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-La.).
Faiz Shakir / Think Progress:
Gingrich Pledges Government Shutdown If GOP Wins Back House And Senate
Gingrich Pledges Government Shutdown If GOP Wins Back House And Senate
David Weigel / Right Now:
RNC members will meet with Steele to discuss ‘distraction,’ ‘concerns’
RNC members will meet with Steele to discuss ‘distraction,’ ‘concerns’
Discussion:
Hot Air
Roger Hickey / ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*:
URGENT: Stop CNN From Airing Deficit Propaganda — This weekend, CNN is giving four hours of free airtime to the leading propagandist fanning the flames of deficit hysteria, Pete Peterson, along with his lackeys. Bloggers and online activists are joining today to promote this action:
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Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Generic Ballot Points Toward Possible 50+ Seat Loss for Democrats — A couple of weeks ago, we examined the potential upside case for Democrats in November's midterms. If the party were able to limit their losses to about 20 House seats and 3-4 Senate seats, it might not have as deleterious …
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
A “Seditious Rant” — Yes, the right gets nuttier and nuttier. From Liz Cheney's favorite Arab (Pushtun Karzai) to Gingrich's latest attempt to portray a responsible center-left president as some kind of radical socialist, it's a nuthouse. But the nuthouse is not resisted by the establishment.
Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
Republicans expected to line up behind New START — WASHINGTON - Despite near gridlock in the Senate, Republicans were expected to swing behind a new arms control treaty with Russia that President Barack Obama said they will like, even though some are reserving judgment until Obama can assure …
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Tim Reid / Times of London:
George W. Bush ‘knew Guantánamo prisoners were innocent’ — George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq …
The Politico:
Stupak won't seek reelection — Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), who played a central role in the health reform fight as the leader of anti-abortion Democrats, announced that he will not run for reelection Friday afternoon, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.
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Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:
Breaking: Stupak Will Retire
Breaking: Stupak Will Retire
Discussion:
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Jonathan Rauch / National Journal Online:
David Frum, A Buckley For Our Time — FRUM IS ON A MISSION TO PENETRATE FOX WORLD WITH A MESSAGE FROM REALITY. — In October 1965, William F. Buckley made it possible for American conservatives to come in from the wilderness and govern. In his magazine, National Review, he published a 12-page …
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
A New Buckley? — Jon Rauch gushes over David Frum.
A New Buckley? — Jon Rauch gushes over David Frum.
Discussion:
Change of Subject
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
QUOTE OF THE DAY.... I appreciate the role a nuclear arsenal can play in serving as a deterrent against adversaries. But Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota may not appreciate the notion of a proportionate response. … There are obviously a lot of errors of fact and judgment in that quote …