Top Items:
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
The Marriage Ideal — Here are some commonplace arguments against gay marriage: Marriage is an ancient institution that has always been defined as the union of one man and one woman, and we meddle with that definition at our peril. Lifelong heterosexual monogamy is natural; gay relationships are not.
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Marriage and the role of the state — Ross Douthat uses his New York Times column today to put what he undoubtedly considers to be the most intellectual and humane face on the case against marriage equality. Without pointing to any concrete or empirical evidence, Douthat insists …
Discussion:
National Review and GayPatriot
Steve Chapman / Reason:
Overreaching on Gay Marriage
Overreaching on Gay Marriage
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Hit & Run and Balloon Juice
Shannyn Moore / The Huffington Post:
Palin's Homer Moment: Celebrity Sarah Confronted by Citizen (WATCH) — I'm really proud of my home town. When I say, “I'm just a girl from Homer” on my blog, radio or television show, I like to think it's not so much self-deprecation as it is a friendly warning.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Mediaite, Political Byline, SHANNYN MOORE, Gawker and Brilliant at Breakfast
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Dan Amira / New York Magazine:
Did Sarah Palin Roll Her Eyes at Teaching? — Sarah Palin was up in Homer, Alaska, recently, fishing with her Discovery Channel crew in tow, when she was met with an unpleasant protest: a giant banner reading “Worst Governor Ever,” unfurled nearby by local Kathleen Gustafson.
Discussion:
Ballot Box and Towleroad News #gay
Michael P. Fleischer / Wall Street Journal:
Why I'm Not Hiring — When you add it all up, it costs $74,000 to put $44,000 in Sally's pocket and to give her $12,000 in benefits. — With unemployment just under 10% and companies sitting on their cash, you would think that sooner or later job growth would take off. I think it's going to be later—much later.
Discussion:
Betsy's Page, Outside the Beltway, Sister Toldjah, ProfessorBainbridge.com, AmSpecBlog and CARPE DIEM
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Logan Penza / The Moderate Voice:
Why They're Not Hiring — It's those Evil, Greedy Corporations. — That's the simple explanation most of the talking heads have for the continuing high unemployment numbers. Those Evil, Greedy Corporations horde their money and refuse to hire anyone. When they do hire someone …
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
America Goes Dark — The lights are going out all over America — literally. Colorado Springs has made headlines with its desperate attempt to save money by turning off a third of its streetlights, but similar things are either happening or being contemplated across the nation, from Philadelphia to Fresno.
David Frum / CNN:
Frum: Bristol-Levi more significant that Prop 8 ruling — Editor's note: David Frum writes a weekly column for CNN.com. A special assistant to President George W. Bush in 2001-02, he is the author of six books, including “Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again,” and is the editor of FrumForum.
Discussion:
Box Turtle Bulletin
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Nelson Lund / San Francisco Chronicle:
Prop. 8 judge makes strange charge
Prop. 8 judge makes strange charge
Discussion:
The League of Ordinary …, National Review and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
The tea party's growing money problem — Some leading tea party activists are concerned their efforts are undermined by a shortage of cash. AP — Some leading tea party activists are concerned that their efforts to reshape American politics, starting with the 2010 elections …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Think Progress, Hot Air, Political Byline and FrumForum
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Mark Whitehouse / Wall Street Journal:
Some Companies Struggle to Fill Jobs — In Bloomington, Ill., machine shop Mechanical Devices can't find the workers it needs to handle a sharp jump in business. Job fairs run by airline Emirates attract fewer applicants in the U.S. than in other countries.
Discussion:
Salon, The Atlantic Online, Crooks and Liars, The Glittering Eye, Outside the Beltway and Clusterstock
RELATED:
GQ:
GQ Exclusive: Rand Paul's Kooky College Days (Hint: There's a Secret Society Involved) — When the Lexington Herald-Leader reported last week that Rand Paul was, in effect, a college dropout, it looked like the 2010 midterms might feature yet another fabulist.
James Surowiecki / New Yorker:
SOAK THE VERY, VERY RICH — The fight on Capitol Hill over whether to extend the Bush tax cuts is about many things: deficit reduction, economic stimulus, supply-side ideology. But at its core is a simple question: who counts as rich? The Obama Administration's answer is that you're rich …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, FiveThirtyEight, JustOneMinute, Clusterstock and Democratic Strategist
The Politico:
Rep. Maxine Waters charged with three violations — The House ethics committee released its formal charges against Rep. Maxine Waters Monday. AP — The House ethics committee released its formal charges against Rep. Maxine Waters Monday, accusing her of three counts of violating the letter …
WFAA-TV:
White won't meet Obama on Texas visit; Perry will — GRAND PRAIRIE — Bill White is standing by his decision not to appear with President Obama during a visit to Texas on Monday, but his Republican opponent will. — The Democratic gubernatorial nominee attended a healthy family fair in Grand Prairie on Saturday.
Discussion:
Riehl World View
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Ross Ramsey / The Texas Tribune:
Democrats Duck an Unpopular President
Democrats Duck an Unpopular President
Discussion:
Dallas Morning News, The Atlantic Online and Weasel Zippers
NY Daily News:
Republican Party starts to kill its own: S.C. Rep. Bob Inglis ousted for not hating Obama enough — There are landmarks all over our city named after LaGuardia and Javits and Rockefeller, names out of the city's great Republican past, when the party was one of intelligence, not fear-mongering and hate.
Discussion:
About.com Conservative …, The Impolitic, Don Surber and JammieWearingFool
The Hill:
DNC chief: Candidates running from Obama are making a mistake — Democrats running in tough reelection races this fall are wrong to keep their distance from President Obama, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tim Kaine said Monday. — In an interview with The Hill …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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Janet Hook / Los Angeles Times:
Democratic candidates all but ignore their legislative successes
Democratic candidates all but ignore their legislative successes
Discussion:
The Swamp, Liberty Pundits Blog and Weekly Standard
Washington Examiner:
Time to admit Obamanomics has failed — It's no coincidence that Christina Romer, chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, announced her retirement the day before Friday's brutal unemployment report. With 131,000 more jobs lost in July, and downward revisions of 97,000 …
Discussion:
New York Times
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Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Avg. Midterm Seat Loss 36 for Presidents Below 50% Approval — Presidents above 50% lose average of 14 House seats in midterm elections — PRINCETON, NJ — Presidents who retain majority job approval from Americans at the time of midterm elections are much less likely …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Politics Daily, Hot Air and YID With LID
Quinnipiac University:
Dem Gov Primary Too Close To Call As Malloy Closes, Quinnipiac University Connecticut Poll Finds; McMahon Up 22 Points In GOP Senate Primary — The Democratic primary for governor in Connecticut is going down to the wire with businessman Ned Lamont at 45 percent and former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Fix, Ballot Box, My Left Nutmeg, Daily Kos, Weekly Standard, Taegan Goddard's … and TPMDC
J. Christian Adams / Washington Examiner:
Justice Department's Civil Rights Division is out of control — Two unpleasant topics of conversation most of us avoid are the epidemic of HIV/AIDS among prison inmates and a variety of sometimes violent events resulting in transmission of the disease. Some states long ago implemented policies …
Discussion:
Moe_Lane's blog, International Liberty and The Daily Caller
Ginger Thompson / New York Times:
Early Struggles of Soldier Charged in Leak Case — CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — He spent part of his childhood with his father in the arid plains of central Oklahoma, where classmates made fun of him for being a geek. He spent another part with his mother in a small, remote corner of southwest Wales …
Discussion:
The Confluence, New York Magazine, Towleroad News #gay, Truth Wins Out, ATTACKERMAN and FrumForum
Agence France Presse:
Taliban execute pregnant woman in Afghanistan — HERAT, Afghanistan — The Taliban publicly flogged and then executed a pregnant Afghan widow by firing three shots into her head for alleged adultery, police said on Monday. — Bibi Sanubar, 35, was kept in captivity for three days …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Weasel Zippers and The Jawa Report