Top Items:
Joan Vennochi / Boston Globe:
Kerry's sharp eye on the secretary spot — AS EGYPT battles over its future, Senator John Kerry is negotiating his own. — The Bay State's senior senator is running an unofficial campaign to become the next secretary of state. For once, he looks artful, as well as ambitious.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Liberal Values, Sister Toldjah, Swampland and The Gateway Pundit
RELATED:
New York Times:
White House and Egypt Discuss Plan for Mubarak's Exit — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is discussing with Egyptian officials a proposal for President Hosni Mubarak to resign immediately and turn over power to a transitional government headed by Vice President Omar Suleiman …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Hill, EA WorldView, BBC, Reuters, Aljazeera, Danger Room, Guardian, Bloomberg, CNN, Wake up America, Al Jazeera Blogs, The Nation, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Caucus, Raw Story, AOL News, White House Dossier, BlogPost, The Reaction, Wonkette, Salon, al-bab.com, Sky Dancing, Informed Comment, The Daily Dish, Arabist.net, Gawker, Shakesville, AMERICAblog News, NO QUARTER, World Blog, The Maddow Blog, TalkLeft, Weasel Zippers, FrumForum, TPMMuckraker, Outside the Beltway, Gothamist, ThinkProgress, Taylor Marsh, The Politico, The Page, Philly.com, BBC, HotAirPundit and This Just In, more at Mediagazer »
Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
We Are All Egyptians — Inside Tahrir Square on Thursday, I met a carpenter named Mahmood whose left arm was in a sling, whose leg was in a cast and whose head was being bandaged in a small field hospital set up by the democracy movement. This was the seventh time in 24 hours …
Discussion:
Aljazeera, Firedoglake, The Other McCain, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Prairie Weather, The Confluence, Eunomia, Newshoggers.com, Jay Bookman and Daily Kos
New York Times:
Egyptian Government Figures Join Protesters — CAIRO — With signs of fracturing within Egypt's ruling elite, hundreds of thousands of people packed Cairo's central Tahrir Square on Friday, chanting slogans, bowing in prayer and waving Egyptian flags to press a largely peaceful campaign for the removal of President Hosni Mubarak.
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Toward a soft landing in Egypt
Toward a soft landing in Egypt
Discussion:
Power Line, Wonk Room, Betsy's Page, RubinReports, Guardian, PostPartisan and The Daily Dish
Ben Dimiero / Media Matters for America:
Attention Fox Nation: There Is More Than One Version Of The Bible — Conservatives have spent the last several years trying to cast doubt on President Obama's Christianity, often by suggesting he is a secret Muslim or claiming that he is a non-believer pretending to be Christian for political benefit.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Religion Dispatches and Ben Smith's Blog
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Romalley / Fox Nation:
Obama Botches Bible Verse at Prayer Breakfast — President Obama misquoted a familiar Bible verse during a faith-based address at the National Prayer Breakfast. — “Those who wait on the Lord will soar on wings like eagles, and they will run and not be weary, and they will walk and not faint …
Julia A. Seymour / Media Research Center:
Santelli Slams CNBC Panelists for Spinning Jobs Report — CNBC's floor reporter criticizes ‘kool-aid drinkers’ for trying to find good news in the ‘disappointing.’ — Jobs are heading up and down at the same time. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced the morning of Feb. 4 …
Discussion:
Yglesias, FT Alphaville, Instapundit and AMERICAblog News
RELATED:
Shobhana Chandra / Bloomberg:
U.S. Jobless Rate Falls to 9%; Payrolls Rise by Only 36,000
U.S. Jobless Rate Falls to 9%; Payrolls Rise by Only 36,000
Discussion:
Brookings Institute, Rortybomb, New Deal 2.0 and New York Times
Calculated Risk:
January Employment Report: 36,000 Jobs, 9.0% Unemployment Rate
January Employment Report: 36,000 Jobs, 9.0% Unemployment Rate
Discussion:
Free exchange, Hot Air, The Atlantic Online, Firedoglake, Brookings Institute, Daily Kos, Weasel Zippers and Economist's View
Laura Conaway / The Maddow Blog:
Republicans totally, totally focused on jobs
Republicans totally, totally focused on jobs
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and The Politico
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Rand Paul: End ‘welfare’ to Israel — Tea party-backed Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) isn't sure that congressional Republicans have the guts to make the big budget cuts they've promised and, he said, members of the movement are becoming frustrated. — “There's a disconnect between Republicans …
Discussion:
Commentary, Outside the Beltway, alicublog, FrumForum and Ben Smith's Blog
RELATED:
Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:
Rand Paul sole GOP holdout on laser pointer bill — In his first few weeks in office, newly elected Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) could quickly be stealing his colleagues' reputation as “Dr. No.” — Paul, an ophthalmologist, was the sole vote Thursday against an amendment supported by 96 …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Rand Paul: GOP Not ‘Brave Enough’ to Hit Deficit
Rand Paul: GOP Not ‘Brave Enough’ to Hit Deficit
Discussion:
Washington Wire, The Hill, The Plum Line and Raw Story
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama's Approval Ratings More Polarized in Year 2 Than Year 1 — Ranks as fourth-most-polarized year for a president since 1953 — PRINCETON, NJ — President Barack Obama's job approval ratings were even more polarized during his second year in office than during his first …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Moonbattery, Pajamas Media, Hotline On Call, Raw Story, Ballot Box, Cubachi, Conservatives4Palin, Commentary, HillBuzz.org and Instapundit
RELATED:
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Poll reveals striking divide on Obama
Poll reveals striking divide on Obama
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Scared Monkeys
The Politico:
Finger-pointing begins on Egypt — The debate over who “lost” Egypt seems to have begun. — Critics are openly questioning the quality of information and analysis given to President Barack Obama by U.S. intelligence agencies in the days leading up to the dramatic uprising against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Discussion:
UrbanGrounds, Right Wing News and The Gateway Pundit
RELATED:
Chris Bowers / Open Left:
Open Left is closing — I have some sad news. After nearly four years in operation, today will be the final day Open Left publishes new content. — The site will not disappear, and all published content will remain online, but after today we will cease producing new content.
Discussion:
Donklephant and Ben Smith's Blog
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Justice Scalia, Not Kennedy, Eyed As Key Vote In Support Of Health Care … WASHINGTON — Observers of the legal drama surrounding President Obama's health care reform legislation have reached two broad conclusions: that it will ultimately be ruled on by the Supreme Court, and that Justice Anthony Kennedy will be the deciding vote.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, The New Republic, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and FrumForum
RELATED:
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Obama Administration Scores Legal Victory On Health Care
Obama Administration Scores Legal Victory On Health Care
Discussion:
ACS Blog, Raw Story, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos
New York Observer:
Elizabeth Spiers Taking Over As Editor In Chief of The New York Observer — Elizabeth Spiers is taking over as Editor-in-Chief of The Observer today, overseeing both the print and digital content. — “I am very excited to be working with Elizabeth to further build on the great progress we have made over the past few years.
Discussion:
Runnin' Scared, Mediaite, Media Decoder, The Wire and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
A Graphical Overview of the 2012 Republican Field — There is almost exactly one year to go until the Iowa caucuses, which are tentatively scheduled to take place on Feb. 6, 2012. No mainstream Republican candidate has yet declared for the presidency, but that is sure to change soon …
Reuters:
Special report: Jamie Dimon wants some R-E-S-P-E-C-T — Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co, answers a question during an interview in his office in New York December 22, 2010. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson — NEW YORK (Reuters) - What's eating Jamie Dimon?
Discussion:
Yglesias
RELATED:
Aaron David Miller / Washington Post:
Why Israel fears a free Egypt — Having dealt with the Israelis for the better part of 40 years, I have learned never to dismiss or trivialize their foundational fears. As both former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and current premier Binyamin Netanyahu reminded me on different occasions …
Discussion:
Simply Left BehindThe …
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Bruce Siceloff / Raleigh News & Observer:
Citizen activist grates on state over traffic signals — RALEIGH — David N. Cox says he was merely exercising his right to petition the government, but a state Department of Transportation official has raised allegations that Cox committed a misdemeanor: practicing engineering without a license.
Discussion:
Right Wing News, Yglesias and Instapundit
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
The Bad Faith of Mandate Critics, Part 2 — Read part 1 of this argument here. — The conservative legal brief against the Affordable Care Act rests heavily on a simple proposition. Government can't make us obtain private insurance because, as the argument goes, that would be forcing us to buy a private product.
Wall Street Journal:
ObamaCare's Repeal Has Begun — This week's Senate vote to scrap an IRS reporting requirement is the start of a piece by piece approach. — Mark this date: On Feb. 2, 2011, a Democratic Senate killed the first piece of the health-care law it passed less than a year ago.
Discussion:
Betsy's Page and The New Republic
John Sexton / Hot Air:
Report: Political Correctness Prevented FBI, DoD from Stopping Maj. Hasan — Today the Senate Homeland Security Committee released an independent report on the Ft. Hood shootings. The 91 page report is titled A Ticking Time Bomb: Counterterrorism Lessons from the US Government's Failure to Prevent the Fort Hood Attack.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Houston Chronicle, The Daily Caller, Five Feet of Fury, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and The Note
ABCNEWS:
Senators Issue Lobbyist ‘Call to Arms’ — The Senate Appropriations Labor, Health & Human Services subcommittee organized a meeting last month for lobbyists so they combine efforts to bring money into the committee.
Discussion:
Hot Air, National Review, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller