Top Items:
Dennis Kneale / CNBC:
Obama is a Bully: Kneale — Will someone please rein in our relentlessly hectoring President? Barrack Hussein Obama has taken his gift for inspirational oratory—one of the traits that got him elected—and turned it into something darker and more insidious. — Bam is a bully.
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Republican centrists warn Reid's tough tactics could backfire — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has deployed unusually tough tactics to pressure Republicans to back Wall Street reform — a move that could shore up his liberal base, but one that GOP centrists say is counterproductive.
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:
The Democratic Message for 2010 — Here's a sneak peak at the Democratic Party's national election message for 2010, courtesy of a party official. It'll be unveiled officially by DNC chairman Tim Kaine at a Christian Science Monitor luncheon later today. The basic point, quite naturally …
Byron York / Beltway Confidential:
What America is Michael Gerson living in? — In the Washington Post, columnist and former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson pronounces the new Arizona immigration law “understandable — and dreadful.” Gerson says states do not have the authority “to take control of American immigration policy …
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Michael Gerson / Washington Post:
A test of Arizona's political character
A test of Arizona's political character
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Associated Press, Beltway Confidential, Daily Kos, 24Ahead and The Politico
The Politico:
Why reporters are down on Obama — One of the enduring story lines of Barack Obama's presidency, dating back to the earliest days of his candidacy, is that the press loves him. — “Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me,” Obama joked last year at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner.
Anahad O'Connor / New York Times:
Laura Bush Opens Up About Fatal Crash — Laura Bush has finally opened up publicly about the mysterious car accident she had when she was 17, a crash that claimed the life of a high school friend on a dark country road in Midland, Tex. — In her new book, “Spoken from the Heart,” …
Discussion:
CNN, Top of the Ticket, Politics Daily, NPR Topics, Don Surber, Prairie Weather and LewRockwell.com Blog
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Dodd and Shelby to meet on financial bill as it nears the floor — The top two members of the Senate Banking Committee will meet Wednesday afternoon to discuss the financial regulatory bill as many on Capitol Hill anticipate the opening of formal debate on the measure.
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BBC:
Brown apology for ‘bigoted’ jibe — Gordon Brown describes pensioner as a ‘bigoted woman’ — Gordon Brown has apologised after being caught on microphone describing a voter he had just spoken to in Rochdale as a “bigoted woman”. — Sixty-five-year-old Gillian Duffy had challenged …
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Duffy's Reaction To Hearing What Brown Said
Landon Thomas Jr / New York Times:
Spain's Debt Rating Cut, Heightening Concerns Over Europe — The ratings agency Standard & Poor's lowered the debt rating of Spain on Wednesday, its third downgrade of a European country in two days. — The downgrade came one day after the S.& P. cut the ratings of Greek and Portuguese debt …
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Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:
ECB may have to turn to ‘nuclear option’ to prevent Southern European debt collapse
ECB may have to turn to ‘nuclear option’ to prevent Southern European debt collapse
Discussion:
Associated Press, naked capitalism, Bloomberg, Vox Popoli, LewRockwell.com Blog and FT Alphaville
Kimberly Schwandt / Liveshots:
Crist to Run as Independent in FL Sen Race — Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist has decided he will run as an independent in the race to fill the Florida U.S. Senate seat, Crist allies tell Fox News. The official announcement is scheduled for Thursday at 5pm ET in St. Petersburg, Florida.
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Adam Smith / The Buzz:
Charlie Crist's declaration of independence coming in St. Petersburg — So the word is out: Gov. Charlie Crist is telling key financial backers that he's running for the U.S. Senate with no party affiliation. The announcement is scheduled for 5 p.m. in Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg.
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Palin: Obama pushing racial ‘myth’ — Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin on Tuesday night declared that there is “no ability or opportunity” for the new Arizona immigration law to encourage racial profiling, and blamed Barack Obama for “perpetuating this myth.”
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Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
Regulators Approve First Offshore Wind Farm in U.S. — BOSTON — After nine years of regulatory review, the federal government gave the green light Wednesday to the nation's first offshore wind farm, a highly contested project off the coast of Cape Cod. — The approval of the 130-turbine farm gives …
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Jim Vertuno / Associated Press:
Texas gov. shoots, kills ‘wily’ coyote during jog — AUSTIN, Texas — Pistol-packing Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a message for wily coyotes out there: Don't mess with my dog. — Perry told The Associated Press on Tuesday he needed just one shot from the laser-sighted pistol he sometimes carries …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Michelle Malkin, Newsweek Blogs, Weekly Standard, Left Coast Rebel, alicublog, Gateway Pundit, Right Now, Wonkette, The Atlantic Online and GOP 12
Ezra Klein:
Will the Kentucky Derby end the Republican filibuster of FinReg? — Word is that the Democrats might make the Republicans actually filibuster FinReg tonight. That is to say, stand on the floor and talk and talk and talk. And if the Democrats are serious about forcing the Republicans …
Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Supreme Court Rules Mojave Cross Can Stay -ACLU Defeated (Video) — The ACLU went down in defeat today. The Supreme Court ruled that the Mojave Cross can stay. — (Why this had to go so far in the first place is beyond belief.) — Via FOX News: — US Supreme Court rules Mojave cross can stay …
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Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
McCain's numbers plummet — John McCain has had a Charlie Crist like drop in his approval numbers over the last six months, seeing double digit declines in his popularity with Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike. As a result a majority of Arizona voters now disapprove of his job performance.
Washington Post:
Poll finds Americans in an anti-incumbent mood as midterm elections near — Members of Congress face the most anti-incumbent electorate since 1994, with less than a third of all voters saying they are inclined to support their representatives in November, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
ABC News Poll: Ahead of 2010 Midterm Elections, Incumbent Support Its Lowest Since 1994 — More Than Half Say Come November Elections, They'll Look for Someone New — A third of registered voters are inclined to reelect their representatives in Congress, the fewest since …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, The Note, The Strata-Sphere, Washington Post, Hit & Run, American Power, Pollster.com All Content and Gallup
Daily Mail:
'When we understand that slide, we'll have won the war:' US generals given baffling PowerPoint presentation to try to explain Afghanistan mess — Its coloured charts, graphs and bullet-points are supposed to make the most incomprehensible data crystal clear.
Discussion:
Atlas Shrugs
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
George Will On Hispanics — We've seen, repeatedly, that Fred Hiatt thinks it's not a problem if George Will wants to use his Washington Post column to mislead people about facts. But Will's decided to enter a new kind of loathesomeness with this characterization of where one might meet a Hispanic:
Telegraph:
Suntanned women to be arrested under Islamic dress code — Iran has warned suntanned women and girls who looked like “walking mannequins” will be arrested as part of a new drive to enforce the Islamic dress code. — Brig Hossien Sajedinia, Tehran's police chief, said a national crackdown …