memeorandum: John Thune faces tough choice on 2012 (Reuters)

8:40 AM ET, February 3, 2011

Top Items:

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:

Senate rejects healthcare repeal — The Senate on Wednesday voted down a repeal of President Obama's healthcare law in a 47-51 party-line vote. — The vote came two weeks to the day the Republican House voted 245-189 to repeal the law, and just days after a federal judge ruled Obama's …

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, The Reaction, Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain, The Democratic Daily, protein wisdom and UNCOVERAGE.net

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP plans ‘unrelenting’ repeal effort, even after Senate defeat — Senate Republicans have vowed a sustained, unrelenting push to repeal President Obama's healthcare reform law, despite falling short in their first effort Wednesday. — Republicans say they are not content to wait idly until …

Discussion: FrumForum

The Onion:

Republicans Vote To Repeal Obama-Backed Bill That Would Destroy Asteroid Headed For Earth — House Republicans say the bill, which was passed to stop the giant asteroid from hitting Earth, is ‘big government at its worst.’ — WASHINGTON—In a strong rebuke of President Obama and his domestic agenda …

Discussion: Indecision Forever

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
SEIU fights healthcare repeal after obtaining waivers from law

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Michelle Malkin, USA Today and The Gateway Pundit

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:
Senate Votes Down Health Care Repeal Measure

Discussion: Hot Air, Don Surber and FrumForum

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
Senate votes to repeal healthcare law's ‘1099’ tax reporting language

Discussion: Pajamas Media

Jennifer Haberkorn / The Politico:
Senate repeals part of health care law

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Note, Liberal Values, CNN and HillBuzz.org

George Soros / Washington Post:

Why Obama has to get Egypt right — Revolutions usually start with enthusiasm and end in tears. In the case of the Middle East, the tears could be avoided if President Obama stands firmly by the values that got him elected. Although American power and influence in the world have declined …

Discussion: National Review, Elder of Ziyon, RubinReports, Israel Matzav, PostPartisan, Ben Smith's Blog, New York Times and My Right Word

Meredith Shiner / The Politico:

McCain has rare 1-on-1 with Obama — With a “rapidly deteriorating” situation in Egypt, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had a rare one-on-one meeting at the White House with 2008 campaign rival Barack Obama to discuss policy in the Middle East and several other domestic issues.

Discussion: CNN, Weasel Zippers and Babylon & Beyond

Robert Springborg / Foreign Policy:

Game over: The chance for democracy in Egypt is lost — While much of American media has termed the events unfolding in Egypt today as “clashes between pro-government and opposition groups,” this is not in fact what's happening on the street. The so-called “pro-government” …

Discussion: CNN, Marc Lynch, TigerHawk, The Other McCain, Newshoggers.com, Eunomia and Guardian

New York Times:
Sudden Split Recasts U.S. Foreign Policy

Discussion: The Hill, Mondoweiss and American Power

Michael A. Memoli / Los Angeles Times:
President Obama meets with John McCain at White House

Discussion: FrumForum

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:
How the White House Approached Egyptian Turmoil

Discussion: National Review, Maggie's Notebook, NationalJournal.com, Atlas Shrugs and The Jawa Report

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:
President Obama ‘Very Concerned’ About Mubarak Delaying Transfer Of Power

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, BBC, Hot Air, The Note, The Daily Dish and EA WorldView, more at Mediagazer »

Al Jazeera Blogs:

Live blog Feb 3 - Egypt protests — on February 2nd, 2011. — From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez. Live Blog: Jan28 - Jan29 - Jan30 - Jan31 - Feb1 - Feb2 - Feb3

Discussion: Guardian, Telegraph, CBS News, Raw Story, Informed Comment, The Daily Dish, Scripting News, The Huffington Post, AOL News, naked capitalism and European Tribune

New York Times:
Protesters Clash Again on Cairo's Streets

Discussion: FP Passport, AOL News, Guardian, Mish's Global Economic … and FrumForum

Christiane Amanpour / ABCNEWS:
Egypt Protests Turn Violent

Discussion: New York Times, Telegraph, Taylor Marsh, Tom Watson, TVNewser, The Politico, AOL News, Doug Ross, The Jawa Report, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Hot Air, Booman Tribune and Wall Street Journal

Michael Martinez / CNN:
As protestors clash, Egyptian military's idleness raises questions

Discussion: Big Peace, Eunomia and The Daily Dish

Carla Marinucci / SFGate:
Code Pink's Medea Benjamin reports from Cairo's Tahrir Square …

Discussion: Big Peace, JammieWearingFool and Pajamas Media

Graeme Wood / The Atlantic Online:
The Battle in Cairo's Tahrir Square

Discussion: Democracy Now, Hullabaloo, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air, The Other McCain, The Daily Dish, Right Wing Nut House, Prairie Weather, Firedoglake and Guardian

New York Times:

In Book, Rumsfeld Recalls Bush's Early Iraq Focus — WASHINGTON — Just 15 days after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush invited his defense secretary, Donald H. Rumsfeld, to meet with him alone in the Oval Office. According to Mr. Rumsfeld's new memoir …

Discussion: The Politico

Bradley Graham / Washington Post:
Rumsfeld remains largely unapologetic in memoir

Discussion: Guardian, FrumForum and Philly.com

The Politico:
Donald Rumsfeld writes of Iraq war origins

Discussion: The Page

Reuters:

John Thune faces tough choice on 2012 — South Dakota Sen. John Thune just landed two plum posts in the Senate — seats on the influential Finance and Budget committees — that crystallize the decision he now faces: Stay in the Senate to climb the leadership ladder, or jump into the 2012 presidential contest.

Discussion: CNN, GOP 12, The New Republic, Hot Air and The Page

Anthony Shadid / New York Times:

Arab World Faces Its Uncertain Future — CAIRO — The future of the Arab world, perched between revolt and the contempt of a crumbling order, was fought in the streets of downtown Cairo on Wednesday. — Tens of thousands of protesters who have reimagined the very notion of citizenship …

Discussion: Prairie Weather, Time and Marbury

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Fox Takes 50 Minute Break From Regular Programming To Run News Corp Infomercial — As Americans and the world are gripped by the ongoing crisis in Egypt, news organizations have devoted wall-to-wall coverage to the protests — that is, except for Fox News, which interrupted its news programing …

Discussion: TVNewser, Media Matters for America and Left Coast Rebel, more at Mediagazer »

Matt Schneider / Mediaite:
Murdoch On Rumors Of Hiring Olbermann: 'We Don't Believe In Firing People Twice'

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs and TVNewser

Michael Turk / CRAFT:

How Super Is Our Debt? — One problem political organizations often face is a wealth of complex information and the challenge of presenting that information in an easily digestible format. Our goal, as a firm, is to help clients identify new and compelling ways to make a point.

The Politico:

Florida to Barack Obama: Keep your health care reform cash — No thanks. That's what the state of Florida is saying to the Obama administration, declining a $1 million grant to implement the health law. — The move follows this week's federal court decision declaring the law unconstitutional.

Discussion: The Note, Daily Kos, The Hill, Weasel Zippers and FrumForum

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Senator seeks expedited Supreme Court review of health care law

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

Time For Obama To Cut Mubarak Loose — One thing I think is overwhelmingly clear from the events today in Egypt: the American alliance with Hosni Mubarak is over. The alliance was justifiable on strategic grounds. Mubarak was a dictator, but he retained just enough of a mask of legitimacy …

Discussion: Nicholas D. Kristof, The Moderate Voice and Jay Bookman

Lindsay Powers / Hollywood Reporter:
Anderson Cooper Attacked by Mob in Egypt

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Boing Boing, Moonbattery, This Just In, The Huffington Post, Elder of Ziyon, TVNewser, The Daily Caller, iOwnTheWorld.com and CNN

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Democrats reach for the shiny object — Look At the Shiny Object — Yesterday Debbie Wasserman-Shultz came out swinging against the latest GOP assault on women, calling the new requirement that only those who are the victims of “forcible” rape be entitled to government funded abortion, “violence against women” and she's right.

Discussion: The Crawdad Hole, Daily Kos, Open Left and Firedoglake

Erika Niedowski / The Hill:

Rep. Giffords's husband to speak at prayer breakfast — The husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) will speak Thursday morning at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. — Giffords's office said Mark Kelly, a Navy captain and NASA astronaut, will deliver the closing prayer …

Discussion: USA Today and FrumForum

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Rick Santorum's appeal to the GOP base — In 1994, when Rick Santorum was a second-term Pennsylvania congressman seeking a U.S. Senate seat, a columnist asked him how he was going to win. “Guns,” he replied serenely. Pennsylvania's legions of deer hunters do not use assault weapons …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and Daily Kos

Dan Zak / Washington Post:

Crashing the party: Republican strategist turned gay rights activist ponders a White House run — ON ROUTE 202, N.H. — The candidate can't find his lane. The road is a crunchy carpet of snow. The candidate drifts too far to the right. The rumble strip rattles his car. The candidate drifts too far to the left.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Towleroad News #gay

Telegraph:

WikiLeaks: US and China in military standoff over space missiles — The United States threatened to take military action against China during a secret “star wars” arms race within the past few years, according to leaked documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph.

Discussion: Raw Story