Top Items:
Jim Tankersley / Los Angeles Times:
‘Top kill’ effort succeeds in blocking oil leak, Coast Guard admiral says — Thad Allen, who is coordinating the government response, says the well still has low pressure, but cement will be used to cap the well permanently as soon as the pressure hits zero.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, Matthew Yglesias, WWL, Townhall.com, Instapundit, Left Coast Rebel, Hot Air, Raw Story, ProPublica, newsfeed.time.com, Another Black Conservative, Mediaite, Weekly Standard, The Consumerist, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Taylor Marsh, TPM LiveWire, Guardian, Weasel Zippers, Washington Monthly, The Oil Drum, Gawker, The Political Carnival, Corrente, Sense of Events, Questions and Observations and MyFox Philadelphia
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USA Today:
Is oil spill becoming Obama's Katrina? — The hurricane that drowned New Orleans and cast George W. Bush as out of touch swept across the Gulf Coast nearly five years ago. Now, as oil laps ashore in the very same region, local officials are asking: Is there another government-Gulf Coast disconnect?
CNN:
Coast Guard admiral: ‘Top kill’ working
Coast Guard admiral: ‘Top kill’ working
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, This Just In, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Shakesville and msnbc.com
Heather / Crooks and Liars:
Sarah Palin Gets a New Neighbor — Keith Olbermann talks to the Washington Post's Dave Weigel who apparently isn't too popular with the right wingers for defending journalist Joe McGinniss who has moved in next door to Sarah Palin while working on an unauthorized biography of the ex-half-term-Governor.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
A dang fence — The Palins are to Joe McGinniss what John McCain is to Mexico. — Or something like that. — Post Comment — Pages — No, the McGinniss is to Palin what McCain is to Mexico. In other news.... Todd worked for BP for 18yrs who is palling around with foreign oil cartels …
Political Punch:
Justice Scalia Praises Elena Kagan's Lack of Judicial Experience — ABC News' Teddy Davis reports: — Obama Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has been criticized by some Republican senators for lacking judicial experience. But Justice Antonin Scalia, the High Court's most outspoken conservative …
Discussion:
Think Progress, The Volokh Conspiracy, Federal Eye, New York Magazine, Washington Post and DISSENTING JUSTICE
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Suzan Clarke / ABCNEWS:
O'Connor Warns Kagan on ‘Dreadful’ Hearings — O'Connor Cautioned Kagan on ‘Dreadful’ Nomination Process — The first woman ever to sit on the nation's highest court has gotten behind Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, but warned her of the “dreadful, unpleasant” nomination process.
Discussion:
Politics Daily
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:
US money supply plunges at 1930s pace as Obama eyes fresh stimulus — The M3 money supply in the United States is contracting at an accelerating rate that now matches the average decline seen from 1929 to 1933, despite near zero interest rates and the biggest fiscal blitz in history.
Donna Miles / American Forces Press Service:
Mullen: Proposed Legislation Retains Prerogative — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday that he's comfortable with proposed legislation that seeks to repeal the law that bans gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military because it includes “very clear language” …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Hill, Pam's House Blend, Jules Crittenden, Wonk Room, Towleroad News #gay, Joe. My. God., AMERICAblog Gay and NO QUARTER
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Ian Urbina / New York Times:
BP Used Riskier Method to Seal Oil Well Before Blast — WASHINGTON — Several days before the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP officials chose, partly for financial reasons, to use a type of casing for the well that the company knew was the riskier of two options, according to a BP document.
Roger Alford / Associated Press:
Rand Paul faces possible challenge, staff shake-up — FRANKFORT, Ky. — A week after a come-from-behind victory over the GOP's establishment candidate in a Kentucky Senate primary, Rand Paul is facing a possible challenge by the Libertarian Party and is shaking up his staff after comments …
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David Einhorn / New York Times:
Easy Money, Hard Truths — ARE you worried that we are passing our debt on to future generations? Well, you need not worry. — Before this recession it appeared that absent action, the government's long-term commitments would become a problem in a few decades.
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Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
An early look at Obama's National Security Strategy — In unveiling his first formal National Security Strategy Thursday, U.S. President Barack Obama called for “a strategy of national renewal and global leadership,” emphasizing U.S. economic strength as the foundation of American power …
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Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2010: Wisconsin Senate — Wisconsin Senate: Feingold 46%, Johnson 44% — Businessman Ron Johnson, endorsed at last weekend's state Republican Convention, is now running virtually even against incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold in Wisconsin's race for the U.S. Senate.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Ballot Box, Weekly Standard, Beltway Confidential, TPMDC, Weasel Zippers, Don Surber and Liberty Pundits Blog
FITSNews:
Witnesses, Evidence Mounting Against Haley — For a campaign employee she claims to have barely known, S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley certainly paid plenty of late night visits to our founding editor's town house in early 2007. — In fact, multiple witnesses are coming forward …
Discussion:
www2.wspa.com, Yahoo! News, Charleston City Paper, Washington Wire, Hot Air, TPMMuckraker, The Daily Caller and The Swamp
Scott / Power Line:
A thug too far, part 5 — When Nina Easton found a mob of union thugs demonstrating at her neighbor's Chevy Chase house last week, she used her professional skills to ascertain what all the fuss was about. She filed an illuminating report. The mainstream media have avoided the story.
Political Punch:
The Presidential Planner — This morning, President Obama will meet with the NCAA men's basketball Ccampion Duke Blue Devils at the White House to honor their 2009-2010 championship season in the Rose Garden. — Keeping up the sports theme, the president and the vice president will take a photo …
Isaac Wood / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
May House Update — GOP Gains Likely, Majority Uncertain — Like many beleaguered sports fans, as the calendar turned to 2010, Republicans across the country were conjuring up the same thought: “This is the year!” After disastrous House elections in 2006 and 2008, Republicans dropped …
Mythili Rao / CNN:
Ads on NYC buses target those wanting to leave Islam — New York (CNN) — “Fatwa on your head?” a new series of provocative ads on New York City buses asks. “Is your community or family threatening you? Leaving Islam?” — The ads, sponsored by an organization called Stop the Islamization of America …
The Hill:
MMS director resigns amid criticism — The head of the Minerals and Management Services (MMS) has resigned. — MMS, which is charged with monitoring and regulating offshore drilling, has come under intense criticism since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico.
Jana Winter / Fox News:
Feds Issue Terror Watch for the Texas/Mexico Border — The Department of Homeland Security is alerting Texas authorities to be on the lookout for a suspected member of the Somalia-based Al Shabaab terrorist group who might be attempting to travel to the U.S. through Mexico, a security expert who has seen the memo tells FOXNews.com.
Discussion:
All Headline News, protein wisdom, American Power, JammieWearingFool, The Jawa Report, Gateway Pundit and YID With LID
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Yes, the Gulf Spill Is Obama's Katrina — Where was the White House plan, and why has it been so slow to make decisions? — As President Obama prepares to return to the Gulf Coast Friday, he is receiving increasing criticism for his handling of the oil spill.
Discussion:
Think Progress, National Review, The Corner on National …, Beltway Confidential, JammieWearingFool, Instapundit and ABCNEWS
Nick Anderson / Washington Post:
100,000 teachers nationwide face layoffs — Senior congressional Democrats and the Obama administration scrambled Wednesday to line up support for $23 billion in federal aid to avert an estimated 100,000 or more school layoffs in a brutal year for education budgets coast to coast.
Discussion:
The Politico
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
About that boycott of Arizona over its new illegal immigrant law? 82% of Americans say, Nah! — Despite President Obama's claim that he sees no congressional appetite to address immigration reform this midterm election year, there's more convincing evidence this week that Americans want it.