Top Items:
Ben Evans / Associated Press:
GOP leaders let demagogues set tone, lawmaker says — WASHINGTON - Too many Republican leaders are acquiescing to a poisonous “demagoguery” that threatens the party's long-term credibility, says a veteran GOP House member who was defeated in South Carolina's primary last month.
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Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Bachmann Agrees With Radio Host's Description Of Berwick As ‘Chairman Of The Obamacare Death Panel’ — As ThinkProgress noted earlier today, Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC) denounced the “demagoguery” that has taken hold of the conservative movement and the Republican Party.
Manu Raju / The Politico:
Ginsburg: Roe will hold — ASPEN, Colo. — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg declared Thursday that abortions would continue to be available to women regardless of the legal challenges now being waged by opponents of Roe v. Wade. “Over a generation of young women have grown up …
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Mark Penn / The Huffington Post:
Poll Shows People Support Checks and Balances, But Want More Limits on Supreme Court Justices — Despite their support of checks and balances and desire for minimal changes in the Constitution, the American public favors a series of populist changes in our system of government …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
John Fund / Wall Street Journal:
The Obama-Pelosi Lame Duck Strategy — Union ‘card-check,’ cap and trade, and so much more. — Democratic House members are so worried about the fall elections they're leaving Washington on July 30, a full week earlier than normal—and they won't return until mid-September.
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Sen. Corker is calling on Democratic leaders to pledge that they …
Sen. Corker is calling on Democratic leaders to pledge that they …
Discussion:
Emptywheel
David Weigel / Slate:
Bouncers for the Tea Party … - The Brilliant, Courageous Ruling in Favor of Same-Sex Marriage- The One Animal That Can Thrive Amid an Oil Spill- Troy Patterson: I Love Wonder Woman's Vampy Revamp- The Kids Are All Right: The Best Drama of the Year.
Discussion:
Hit & Run
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Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2010: West Virginia Senate Special Election — West Virginia Senate: Manchin (D) 53%, Capito (R) 39% — A special Senate election this November to replace the late Robert Byrd is still awaiting the green light from West Virginia's attorney general, but popular Democratic Governor Joe Manchin …
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Jim Geraghty / National Review:
55 Percent of Likely Voters Find ‘Socialist’ an Accurate Label of Obama? — The latest poll by Democracy Corps, the firm of James Carville and Stan Greenberg, has Republicans leading on the generic ballot among likely voters, 48 percent to 42 percent. — Deep in the poll, they ask, “Now …
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Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Headless bodies and other immigration tall tales in Arizona — Jan Brewer has lost her head. — The Arizona governor, seemingly determined to repel every last tourist dollar from her pariah state, has sounded a new alarm about border violence. “Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies …
Jeffrey Lord / AmSpecBlog:
Obeying President Obama's dictum that it's always educational to check in with what the other side is saying, I checked in with MSNBC's Countdown the other night. — Sure enough, there was Keith Olbermann himself barking up I will admit, interesting leftist views on issues A, B …
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
The selective modesty of Barack Obama — Remember NASA? It once represented to the world the apogee of American scientific and technological achievement. Here is President Obama's vision of NASA's mission, as explained by administrator Charles Bolden: “One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children …
Discussion:
National Review, No More Mister Nice Blog, Moonbattery, Wonkette, Power Line and Washington Examiner
Claire Heininger / NorthJersey.com:
Christie looks to privatize motor vehicle inspections, other services — New Jersey would close its centralized car inspection lanes and motorists would pay for their own emissions tests under a sweeping set of recommendations set to be released by the Christie administration today. — Buy this photo
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Yes, The Government Creates Jobs — As I was saying to a friend last night, one of the most frustrating things about the Obama administration is the tendency of its leaders and communicators to project a message that's absolutely demoralizing to progressive political activists.
Discussion:
The Washington Independent, The Atlantic Online, Grist, The Plum Line, AmSpecBlog and Open Left
People's Daily Online:
Monkeys trained as battlefield killers in Afghanistan — Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents are training monkeys to use weapons to attack American troops, according to a recent report by a British-based media agency. — Reporters from the media agency spotted and took photos of a few …
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com
Chicago Tribune:
Family Says Nephew of Justice Clarence Thomas Was Beaten, Tazed at West Jeff Hospital — Meg Gatto - meg@abc26.com / Joe Rawley - joe@abc26.com — MARRERO — Family members of Derek Thomas, nephew of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, are alleging that the younger Thomas …
Raw Story:
White House declines comment; — Political implications could be enormous — The gay rights law group that convinced a federal district court judge Thursday to strike down a federal ban on gay marriage has told the New York Times they “fully expect” the Justice Department to appeal the decision …
Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Emmer In Damage Control Mode: Meeting Waiters After Claiming They Made $100K In Tips — Minnesota state Rep. Tom Emmer, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor, appears to be going into damage control mode in the wake of his proposal to lower the minimum wage for waiters by crediting …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Eschaton and Shot in the Dark
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Raising the Retirement Age — Via Ezra Klein, Here's a chart from Larry Mishel that's pretty astonishing. It shows that since 1972 the life expectency of men with low incomes has increased by two years while life expectency for men with high incomes has increased by more than six years.
David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Arizona immigration law unlikely to survive federal lawsuit — Legal experts cite the longstanding principle that the federal government has exclusive control over immigration. — Immigrant rights supporters protest outside the Major League Baseball headquarters in New York City …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh
Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
Battle brews over nominee for ambassador to Turkey — A behind-the-scenes clash is playing out over President Obama's nominee to be the next U.S. ambassador to Turkey, a key Middle East post at a time of tense relations between Washington and an increasingly independent-minded Ankara.
Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Late senator's offices contain a lifetime of work that must be sorted and preserved — Robert C. Byrd was known for many things — his mastery of Senate rules, his oratorical skills, his ability to quote long passages of poetry from memory. At one time, he was apparently also considered quite the looker.
Discussion:
Wonkette
Ed O'Keefe / Federal Eye:
Corrected 11:03: An earlier version of this item incorrectly quoted Gen. James Mattis. — President Obama's pick to lead military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and the Middle East is an experienced ground combat commander, but also earned a stern rebuke in 2005 for controversial comments about combat operations.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Weasel Zippers, The Powers That Be, CBS News and Think Progress
Randy Barnett / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Do the States Have the Power of Nullification? — In a recently published book, Nullification, author Tom Woods maintains that states have a power to nullify laws that exceed the powers of Congress to enact. This claim has a long history, some of it distinguished-as in the case …