Top Items:
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Biden solidifies defense of Israel: 'What's the big deal here?' — Vice President Joe Biden offered the White House's strongest defense yet of Israeli's actions off the coast of Gaza this week in an interview with Charlie Rose airing tonight on PBS. — “I think Israel has an absolute right to deal with its security interest.
Discussion:
republicanwhip.house.gov, Commentary, Pajamas Media, Israel Matzav, The Hill, Haaretz, Hot Air, Power Line, Moonbattery, Taylor Marsh and The Corner on National …
RELATED:
The Politico:
Romanoff: W.H. suggested three jobs — Colorado U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff confirmed Wednesday that Jim Messina, President Barack Obama's deputy chief of staff, had suggested three administration jobs that would be available to him if he dropped his plans to run against U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet …
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, Open Left, Taylor Marsh, Associated Press, Pundit & Pundette, Beltway Confidential and Michelle Malkin
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Colorado Dem: Actually, the White House offered me three jobs to quit the primary — Not only does he name names — as the Denver Post originally reported, it was indeed deputy chief of staff Jim Messina who contacted him about dropping out — but he's actually released Messina's e-mail …
Ethan Bronner / New York Times:
New Israeli Tack Needed on Gaza, U.S. Officials Say — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration considers Israel's blockade of Gaza to be untenable and plans to press for another approach to ensure Israel's security while allowing more supplies into the impoverished Palestinian area, senior American officials said Wednesday.
Discussion:
Think Progress, CNN, Laura Rozen's Blog, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Arabist.net, Ben Smith's Blog and FP Passport
The Politico:
W.H. political team stumbles, bumbles — They toppled Hillary Clinton, crushed John McCain and managed to get the first black man elected president of the United States. — But now a series of recent missteps just keeps getting worse for Barack Obama's political operation …
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, Washington Wire, The Caucus, Washington Post, Hot Air, Top of the Ticket and The Page
Anchorman / The Daily Caller:
Anchor accuses own network of ‘embarrassing’ bias in Israel coverage — What you' re about to read is perfectly true. I came within a butterfly fart of firing this memo off to my boss this morning in a fit of real rage. But my wife, yet again, intervened. — “You've been whining like this for ten years.
Jake Tapper / Political Punch:
Democratic Senate Candidate: White House Floated Possible Jobs If I Chose to Not Run Against Incumbent — Andrew Romanoff, the former speaker of the Colorado house of representatives, issued a statement Wednesday evening claiming that the White House raised the possibility that he might …
Philip Elliott / Associated Press:
AP Sources: Admin talked jobs with Romanoff — WASHINGTON — Administration officials dangled the possibility of a job for former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff last year in hopes he would forgo a challenge to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, administration officials said Wednesday …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Andrew Romanoff details contacts with White House over potential jobs — updated 6:30 a.m. Thursday The White House has just released its first official statement about the contact between former Colorado State House Speaker Andrew Romanoff and deputy White House chief of staff Jim Messina regarding Romanoff's Senate aspirations.
Peter Baker / New York Times:
News Analysis: Oil Leak Crimps White House Agenda — WASHINGTON — President Obama is supposed to leave Washington in 10 days for Indonesia, Australia and Guam, but with oil still gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, some in the White House are wondering whether the weeklong trip should be scrubbed.
Michael Booth / Denver Post:
Romanoff confirms White House job discussions — U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff said publicly for the first time Wednesday that a White House deputy discussed three specific jobs that “might be available” if Romanoff dropped a primary challenge to a fellow Democrat, Sen. Michael Bennet.
Jerusalem Post:
‘We face international hypocrisy’
‘We face international hypocrisy’
Discussion:
Maggie's Farm, Sense of Events, Flopping Aces, New York Times and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Ibnkafka / Ibn Kafka's obiter dicta:
Gaza flotilla: How Israel's ministry of foreign affairs fakes photos of seized weapons — On the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs' Flickr page, the pictures of the so-called weapons seized on the ships taking part in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla provide ample evidence of the deviousness of those darned anti-semitic terrorists.
Robert Behre / postandcourier.com:
Bauer campaign adviser asked to resign — Republican gubernatorial hopeful Andre Bauer said today he has asked for and received the resignation of a political consultant for “inappropriate conduct” but would say little more. — Lt. Gov. Bauer announced that adviser Larry Marchant gave him his resignation at noon today.
Discussion:
Associated Press, New York Times, RedState, The Other McCain, Flopping Aces, AmSpecBlog, Democratic Strategist, FITSNews and Riehl World View
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msnbc.com:
Chile hunts Holloway suspect over Peru killing — Woman slain exactly 5 years after U.S. teen's disappearance in Aruba — LIMA, Peru - Police in Chile are checking hotels for a young Dutchman long suspected in the 2005 disappearance of U.S. teen Natalee Holloway and now believed to be involved in the killing of a woman in Peru.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, The Moderate Voice, The Remmers Report, Fausta's Blog and Riehl World View
RELATED:
Haya El Nasser / USA Today:
Census Bureau makes changes after sex offender hired — The Census Bureau has made some changes to its hiring and security procedures after reports that a convicted sex offender was hired to go door-to-door in New Jersey and an undercover video surfaced showing Census supervisors paying workers for hours they did not work.
RELATED:
Shaughn Adeleye / Big Government:
Undercover Census Fraud Investigation: Louisiana
Undercover Census Fraud Investigation: Louisiana
Discussion:
RedState
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Carville doesn't regret ripping W.H. — James Carville walked into one of his favorite New Orleans eateries, Eleven 79, Tuesday night — and was stunned to find BP CEO Tony Hayward and Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the two men tasked with stopping the Gulf spill, eating dinner together.
Discussion:
CNN
John Leland / New York Times:
Opponents of Abortion Advance Cause at State Level — At least 11 states have passed laws this year regulating or restricting abortion, giving opponents of abortion what partisans on both sides of the issue say is an unusually high number of victories. In four additional states …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
Jana Winter / Fox News:
Los Angeles Students to Be Taught That Arizona Immigration Law Is Un-American — The Los Angeles Unified School District school board wants all public school students in the city to be taught that Arizona's new immigration law is un-American. — The school board president …
Discussion:
Truthdig
Diana Olick / Realty Check with Diana Olick:
Housing Double Dip a Done Deal — Everybody take a nice long look at today's Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors, because it's just about the last positive picture we're going to see for a while. — Yes, the index rose even more than expected …
Kristi Keck / CNN:
Charge to Obama: ‘Go off!’ — President Obama goes one-on-one with Larry King on Thursday night to talk about the oil spill, economic turmoil and war. Don't miss the president on “Larry King Live,” 9 p.m. ET Thursday, only on CNN. — (CNN) — In the weeks since an oil rig exploded …
John Paczkowski / D8 Conference:
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the Privacy Hot Seat at D8 — When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was last on the D stage-at D6 in 2008-the company was still reeling from the privacy backlash over its Beacon advertising system. Months earlier, Zuckerberg had apologized for Facebook's disregard …
William J. Broad / New York Times:
Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says — The chatter began weeks ago as armchair engineers brainstormed for ways to stop the torrent of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico: What about nuking the well? — Decades ago, the Soviet Union reportedly used nuclear blasts …
New York Times:
Data Used to Justify Health Savings Effort Is Sometimes Shaky — In selling the health care overhaul to Congress, the Obama administration cited a once obscure research group at Dartmouth College to claim that it could not only cut billions in wasteful health care spending but make people healthier by doing so.
Victor Davis Hanson / The Corner on National …:
The Times, They Are a-Changing — By: Victor Davis Hanson — At the present rate, Turkey has about as much business in NATO as Greece does in the EU. Both countries seem out of place in their respective organizations; both envy and resent northern Europe and the United States …