Top Items:


Judge strikes down Prop. 8, allows gay marriage in California [Updated] — A federal judge in San Francisco decided today that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry, striking down Proposition 8, the voter approved ballot measure that banned same-sex unions.
Discussion:
Hit & Run, NO QUARTER, Prop 8 Trial Tracker, Firedoglake, Mercury News, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, The Confluence, Emptywheel, Truthdig, NewsReal Blog, The Mahablog, The Agonist, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Washington Independent, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Pensito Review, Swampland and Law Blog
RELATED:


Court Rejects Same-Sex Marriage Ban in California — SAN FRANCISCO — Saying that it unfairly targets gay men and women, a federal judge in San Francisco struck down California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday, handing supporters of such unions a temporary victory …

Fed Judge Finds Calif. Prop. 8 Unconstitutional — A federal lawsuit was filed in May 2009 challenging Proposition 8, the California referendum which amended the state constitution to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Prop. 8 previously was upheld by the California Supreme Court.
Discussion:
Newt.org, protein wisdom, Dump Michele Bachmann, alicublog, Pajamas Media, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin and The Other McCain

Prop. 8 Overturned: The Facts, Not the Law, Matter — Here's what you need to know about Judge Vaughn Walker's decision invalidating California's Proposition 8, a referendum passed by voters that banned same-sex marriage. The decision itself will be appealed, and Walker's reasoning …
Discussion:
Poliglot, National Review, Salon, Guardian and The Daily Dish

Judge Hands Victory to Proposition 8 Opponents, Gay-Marriage Ban Overturned — U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled on Wednesday that the California's Proposition 8 ballot initiative denying marriage rights to same-sex couples was unconstitutional, in a case that will almost certainly go all the way to the Supreme Court.

Today's Proposition 8 Decision — Conservatives have long said that the day would come when liberal judges declare the Constitution unconstitutional. That happened today, when a gay federal judge in San Francisco, relying on the opinions of mostly-gay “expert” witnesses …
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money

Only A Temporary Victory For Gay Marriage
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy and The Atlantic Online

Open thread: Federal judge's ruling on Proposition 8 coming soon …
Discussion:
GayPatriot, L.A. NOW, Instapundit and ACS Blog

Reagan-Appointed Judge Strikes Down Gay Marriage Ban
Discussion:
National Review, The Foundry, CNN and Will Wilkinson


Judge overturns Calif. gay marriage ban
Discussion:
DaTechguy's Blog, In Good Faith, Vox Popoli, Don Surber and The Volokh Conspiracy

OVERTURNED: Judge Rules California Prop. 8 Unconstitutional
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, AMERICAblog News, Confederate Yankee, Ben Smith's Blog and Big Brass Blog

Prop 8 Decision Day FAQ
Discussion:
The Bilerico Project, Open Left, Feministing, Prop 8 Trial Tracker and Pam's House Blend

Rauf's Radicals — The leader of the “Ground Zero mosque” project in New York, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, is commonly portrayed as a moderate and a sincere believer in interfaith dialogue. Typical is a profile in Time that described Rauf and his wife as “the kind of Muslim leaders right-wing …
RELATED:

Jewish group won't fight ground zero mosque, leader says
Discussion:
Salon

Ground Zero Mosque: Are We Digging a Hole in the Soul of America?
Discussion:
In Good Faith


Bike agenda spins cities toward U.N. control, Maes warns — Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is warning voters that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's policies, particularly his efforts to boost bike riding, are “converting Denver into a United Nations community.”
Discussion:
Think Progress, MyDD, Daily Kos, Matthew Yglesias, Mediaite, Don Surber, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Wonkette, Little Green Footballs, Grist, TPMDC, msnbc.com, The Spot, Washington Monthly, Green, pandagon.net, Outside the Beltway, Climate Progress, GOOD, Swampland and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »


CNN Poll: Quarter doubt Obama was born in U.S. — President Obama's birth certificate (left) has been certified authentic by the Republican governor of Hawaii. His birth announcement (right) appeared in print in 1961. (PHOTO CREDIT: State of Hawaii) — Washington (CNN) …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Politics Daily, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly and The Hill
RELATED:

41% of GOP: Obama foreign-born
Discussion:
Brendan Nyhan and The Moderate Voice

Google and Verizon in Talks on Selling Internet Priority — WASHINGTON — Google and Verizon, two leading players in Internet service and content, are nearing an agreement that could allow Verizon to speed some online content to Internet users more quickly if the content's creators are willing to pay for the privilege.
RELATED:

Google, Verizon Said to Strike Deal on Web Traffic Rules
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and CNET News, more at Techmeme »


Feds admit storing checkpoint body scan images — For the last few years, federal agencies have defended body scanning by insisting that all images will be discarded as soon as they're viewed. The Transportation Security Administration claimed last summer, for instance, that “scanned images cannot be stored or recorded.”
Discussion:
KRLD-AM, Hot Air, Liberty Pundits Blog, msnbc.com, The Consumerist, Law Librarian Blog, Concurring Opinions and Shakesville, more at Techmeme »

Angle: “What's happening (in America)..is a violation of the 1st Commandment,” entitlements “make government our God.” — That's what Sharron Angle, the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, said in an April 21 interview with TruNews Christian Radio's Rick Wiles.


Senate Vote Clears Way for $26 Billion in Aid to States — WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday cleared the way to provide $10 billion to states and local school districts to prevent teacher layoffs and an additional $16 billion in federal aid to cash-strapped states, and the Speaker …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Wall Street Journal, Capitol Alert, Economist's View, MyDD and The Democratic Daily

Sheriff Taylor's health pitch sparks cardiac arrest — WASHINGTON — Was it not enough for President Obama to saddle future Americans with billions of dollars in new health benefits and entitlements that they simply cannot afford? — He also had to go and corrupt one of America's most beloved figures of the last half-century.
Discussion:
theblogprof, Weasel Zippers and BizzyBlog
RELATED:

Prop C passes overwhelmingly
Discussion:
GayPatriot, The Atlantic Online, Beltway Confidential, Democratic Strategist, Washington Monthly, fox4kc.com, Ruby Slippers, Associated Press, Politics Daily, Wonk Room, Flopping Aces, DailyFinance, The Mahablog, Wake up America, Gateway Pundit, Liberty Pundits Blog, Freedom's Lighthouse, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Betsy's Page, Taylor Marsh, Left Coast Rebel, Wall Street Journal, Think Progress, Cato @ Liberty, International Liberty, Scared Monkeys and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog


Keyes Hits Graham For Politicizing The 14th Amendment: This ‘Is Not Something That One Should Play With Lightly’ — In recent days, several leading Republicans have launched a movement to review or revoke parts of the 14th amendment, which guarantees birthright citizenship.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Wonk Room, Hullabaloo and Crooks and Liars
RELATED:

Why We Should Welcome McConnell's Demand for Hearings on Rescinding 14th Amendment
Discussion:
The Plum Line and The Washington Independent

Ugly Populism — I'd like to associate myself with everything Alan Jacobs just wrote in his post on the mosque and community center being built near Ground Zero. Newt Gingrich is a politician I would've considered supporting in a bid for the presidency. His behavior during this episode has cost him any chance at my vote.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, Riehl World View, Wall Street Journal and The Daily Dish


Updated. Must Watch: The Broken Window Fallacy — This brilliant video is a simple illustration on the fallacy of claiming that calamities stir economic growth. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize - winning economist, says the attacks of 9/11 and World War II brought great economic benefits to the nation.
Discussion:
The Blast, Sister Toldjah and Riehl World View


JOINING THE RESISTANCE? — I have more than once in my time woken up feeling like death. But nothing prepared me for the early morning last June when I came to consciousness feeling as if I were actually shackled to my own corpse. The whole cave of my chest and thorax seemed to have been hollowed …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, The Anchoress, Hot Air, DaTechguy's Blog, Hit & Run, Althouse and New York Magazine

U.S. To Train 3,000 Offshore IT Workers — $22 million, federally-backed program aims to help outsourcers in South Asia become more fluent in areas like Java programming—and the English language. — Despite President Obama's pledge to retain more hi-tech jobs in the U.S. …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Silicon Alley Insider, LewRockwell.com Blog and Doug Ross


Why I Was Angry — LAST week I got angry on the floor of the House. In this age of cable and YouTube, millions of people evidently saw the one-minute-plus clip. But there has been relatively little focus on why the substantive debate that sparked it matters.
Discussion:
Indecision Forever, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story and The Political Carnival


The Tea Party's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Night — Moderates rule a series of high-profile primaries. — Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt, along with his wife, Vicki, concedes to Jerry Moran during a watch party for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Beltway Confidential and The Moderate Voice


This year's election may mirror Democrats' setback of 1966 — President Lyndon B. Johnson signs an executive order in January of 1968. — Everybody, even White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, agrees that Republicans are going to pick up seats in the House and Senate elections this year.
Discussion:
Liberty Central