Top Items:
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:
Bush Campaign Chief and Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman: I'm Gay — Ken Mehlman, President Bush's campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has told family and associates that he is gay. — Mehlman arrived at this conclusion about his identity fairly recently, he said in an interview.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Advocate, The Other McCain, GayPatriot, Think Progress, Washington Post, Guardian, Althouse, The Daily Dish, USA Today, Blue Gal, Outside the Beltway, Felix Salmon, The Awl, Sister Toldjah, Slate, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, TRAIL BLAZERS, The Gist, The Reaction, Wonkette, Speakeasy, AMERICAblog Gay, Don Surber, The Rachel Maddow Show, Mediaite, Above the Law, Joe. My. God., Shakesville, Pam's House Blend, iOwnTheWorld.com, Jeff Mapes on Politics, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CNN, Political Punch, Balloon Juice, Politics Daily, First Draft, American Glob, The Note, Gawker, Political Byline, Roger Ailes and skippy the bush kangaroo
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Michael Luo / New York Times:
Former G.O.P. Leader Says He Is Gay — Ken Mehlman, President George W. Bush's campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, has revealed to family and friends over the last few months that he is gay, he said in an interview Wednesday.
Discussion:
CNN, The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, Pam's House Blend, Political Punch, AMERICAblog Gay, The Politico, GayPatriot and Joe. My. God.
Advocate:
Mehlman Draws Fire, Praise
Mehlman Draws Fire, Praise
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend, AMERICAblog Gay, Mediaite, Ben Smith's Blog and Joe. My. God.
Peter Wehner / Commentary:
On Ken Mehlman — The announcement that former Republican …
On Ken Mehlman — The announcement that former Republican …
Discussion:
GayPatriot, Guardian, The Reaction, The Hill and National Review
Hotline On Call:
Why Democrats Will Keep The House — House Republicans are measuring the drapes in preparation for big gains in the lower chamber, convinced that Minority Leader John Boehner is going to become the next Speaker of the House. On a macro level, that wouldn't be a bad guess …
Discussion:
HorseRaceBlog, Townhall.com, Jeff Mapes on Politics, Taylor Marsh and AmSpecBlog
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The Politico:
Democrats privately fear House prospects worsening — Top Democrats are growing markedly more pessimistic about holding the House, privately conceding that the summertime economic and political recovery they were banking on will not likely materialize by Election Day.
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit, ABCNEWS, Washington Monthly, Wake up America, Scared Monkeys, Commentary, Political Punch, Right Wing News and The Hill
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Dark outlook for Midwestern Dems - AFP drops half-mil in Ariz. - Trumka: Palin ‘like McCarthy’ - Scott Brown raising for Kirk - Crist coy on gov race - Could Murkowski go rogue? — By Alexander Burns (@aburnspolitico, aburns@politico.com) — FIRST IN SCORE - THE SKY DARKENS: House Democrats …
Discussion:
The Fix, Hotline On Call and Gateway Pundit
Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
Miller's lead slims; Murkowski awaits absentees — Joe Miller's lead over U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski slightly narrowed to 1,668 votes with all the election precincts counted Wednesday. A stunned Murkowski said she is not giving up hope until absentee ballots are counted starting next week.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Weigel, Outside the Beltway, Weekly Standard, Taegan Goddard's …, Swing State Project and Daily Kos
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Republican lawyer heads to Alaska for Lisa Murkowski — Alaska attorney Joe Miller leads Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the state's Republican Senate primary. AP photo — Sean Cairncross, the general counsel of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is headed to Alaska at the request …
Discussion:
Hot Air and Conservatives4Palin.com
E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Tuesday's tutorial: a GOP too far right — Republicans are in the midst of an insurrection. Democrats are not. This vast gulf between the situations of the two parties — not some grand revolt against “the establishment” or “incumbents” — explains the year's primary results …
New York Post:
MSNBC's Ed Schultz goes bonkers — MSNBC talk show screamer Ed Schultz had a meltdown in the network's 30 Rock newsroom, shouting at staff, “I'm going to torch this [bleep]ing place.” — The hot-tempered anchor of “The Ed Show” lost it during a phone call in the packed studio and slammed down the phone before exploding.
South Union Street:
Eggs and Issues: Bright's Comments about Pelosi Draw Laughter — U.S. Congressman Bobby Bright was heard having a little fun at U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's expense during his recent participation in the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce's Eggs and Issues.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, The Hill, The Note, Taegan Goddard's …, Weasel Zippers, The Political Carnival, Hotline On Call, TPMDC, Hot Air and msnbc.com
N. R. Kleinfield / New York Times:
Rider Asks if Cabby Is Muslim, Then Stabs Him — It was the first fare of the cabdriver's shift. A young man hailed him at the corner of Second Avenue and East 24th Street, wanting to go to 42nd and Second. It was 6 p.m. on Tuesday; the traffic was dense.
Discussion:
The Hill, Washington Monthly, Capital Tonight, The Confluence, Jihad Watch, JustOneMinute and Jewish World Review
RELATED:
Damien Cave / New York Times:
Far From Ground Zero, Obscure Pastor Is Ignored No Longer — GAINESVILLE, Fla. — If building an Islamic center near ground zero amounts to the epitome of Muslim insensitivity, as critics of the project have claimed, what should the world make of Terry Jones, the evangelical pastor here who plans …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Sweetness & Light, ACS Blog, Guardian, Gawker, The Lede and The Awl
The Politico:
Party-less Charlie Crist faces harsh reality — WEST MIAMI, Fla. — First, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was supposed to be the Republican nominee for Senate. Then he seemed on track to be the de facto Democratic candidate. Now, following Rep. Kendrick Meek's victory in Tuesday's Democratic primary …
Discussion:
NRSC and Taegan Goddard's …
Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:
Union leader will blast Sarah Palin, calling her rhetoric ‘poisonous’ — In a speech Thursday, a prominent labor official will blast former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) for recent anti-union rhetoric. — AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, in a speech from Anchorage, Alaska …
Discussion:
The Politico, Weasel Zippers and Riehl World View
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Amy Gardner / Washington Post:
Glenn Beck rally will be a measure of the tea party's strength — When Fox News and talk radio host Glenn Beck comes to Washington this weekend to headline a rally intended to “restore honor” to America, he will test the strength - and potentially expose the weaknesses …
Paul Bedard / US News:
Tea Party Group Hit With Death Threats — One of Washington's principal supporters of the Tea Party movement, former GOP Majority Leader Dick Armey's FreedomWorks, has been receiving death threats and profanity-laced phone calls as it gets involved in the fall elections.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Right Wing News, Sister Toldjah, Weasel Zippers and Instapundit
RELATED:
Kate Zernike / New York Times:
Shaping Tea Party Passion Into Campaign Force
Shaping Tea Party Passion Into Campaign Force
Discussion:
Brilliant at Breakfast, The Mahablog and Prairie Weather
Jason Pinter / The Huffington Post:
Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Weiner Speak Out On Franzen Feud: HuffPost Exclusive — What's Your Reaction: — With the publication of Jonathan Franzen's fourth novel, Freedom, which was extensively covered in the New York Times while Franzen himself appeared on the cover of TIME magazine …
Discussion:
Politics Daily and Gawker
Stephen Prothero / CNN:
New York's Bloomberg: We are all Muslims — Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of “God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World,” is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor. — By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Firedoglake and Gateway Pundit
Timothy Egan / Opinionator:
Building a Nation of Know-Nothings — Having shed much of his dignity, core convictions and reputation for straight talk, Senator John McCain won his primary on Tuesday against the flat-earth wing of his party. Now McCain can go search for his lost character, which was last on display late in his 2008 campaign for president.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Harry's Place, Crooks and Liars and Washington Post
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
LA GOPer: November A Choice Between An Atheist Society And A Christian Nation — Appearing before the Republican Women of Bossier with Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) cast the November elections as a choice between godlessness and Christianity. He also called bipartisanship impossible.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Wonkette, Shakesville and Brilliant at Breakfast
Ted Mann / The Day newspaper:
Dead wrestler's father blasts McMahon, WWE — ‘Lance Cade’ saga underscores issue of wrestling empire — Harley McNaught was planning to stay silent and grieve. Then he saw what Linda McMahon said about his dead son. — McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment …
Discussion:
Ballot Box, The Atlantic Online and msnbc.com
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Wire:
Embattled Democrat Joins Call for Treasury Secretary Geithner To Go — First it was House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, making his pitch to the electorate to be made House speaker in part by calling for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to be fired. — Now embattled Democrats are getting into the act.
Discussion:
The Hill
New York Times:
Key Karzai Aide in Corruption Inquiry Is Linked to C.I.A. — KABUL, Afghanistan — The aide to President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan at the center of a politically sensitive corruption investigation is being paid by the Central Intelligence Agency, according to Afghan and American officials.
Frederic J. Frommer / Associated Press:
FACT CHECK: Stimulus assessments overly optimistic — WASHINGTON - The Obama administration claimed this week that $100 billion invested in innovative technologies under the economic stimulus law is “transforming the American economy” by putting the nation on track for technological breakthroughs …
Discussion:
Time, Hot Air, Beltway Confidential and Riehl World View
Todd Starnes:
Is “Happy Birthday” Song Insensitive? — A ban on singing “Happy Birthday” lasted all of four days at Chesterfield Elementary School in Missouri after angry parents bombarded the school with complaints. — “Singing is not permitted due to the sensitivity of all student beliefs,” …
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit, Peter Daou and theblogprof
Michael Weiss / Weekly Standard:
Will Obama Try to Save Iranian Shiva Nazar Ahari? — Iranian authorities first arrested Shiva Nazar Ahari in 2001, when she was seventeen. Her ‘crime’ was attending a candlelight vigil in Tehran that commemorated the victims of 9/11. Since then, she's taught Iranian homeless children and Afghan refugees' children.
Discussion:
Commentary