Top Items:
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, Reuters, The Moderate Voice, EA WorldView, The Nation, Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Reaction, Danger Room, White House Dossier, Guardian, Wonkette, Aljazeera, The Caucus, AOL News, al-bab.com, BlogPost, Arabist.net, Gawker, Raw Story, The Daily Dish, TalkLeft, Weasel Zippers, Sky Dancing, ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway, AMERICAblog News, NO QUARTER, TPMMuckraker, The Maddow Blog, FrumForum, Taylor Marsh, The Politico, World Blog, Gothamist, BBC, The Page, Salon, Philly.com, HotAirPundit, This Just In, CNN and ABCNEWS, more at Mediagazer »
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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 and Sister Toldjah
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:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Eunomia, The Daily Dish, Jay Bookman, Prairie Weather, The Confluence, Newshoggers.com, The Other McCain and Daily Kos
BBC:
‘Day of departure’ rally in Egypt — The BBC's Jim Muir in Tahrir Square: “The sense of imminent attack has eased and people are relaxing” — Tens of thousands of Egyptians are taking part in a “day of departure” to try to oust President Hosni Mubarak. — There is an increased army presence …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, CNN, Informed Comment, EA WorldView, Shakesville, Firedoglake, Guardian, AMERICAblog News, The Page, Reuters and Washington Post
New York Times:
Egyptian Government Figures Join Protesters
Egyptian Government Figures Join Protesters
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog, AOL News and FrumForum
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
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Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Rand Paul: GOP Not ‘Brave Enough’ to Hit Deficit
Rand Paul: GOP Not ‘Brave Enough’ to Hit Deficit
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Raw Story, The Hill and The Plum Line
Steve Gutow / The Politico:
Abandoning allies and consciences
Christopher S. Rugaber / Associated Press:
Unemployment falls to 9.0 pct., only 36K new jobs — Economy adds 36K jobs in January, unemployment rate falls to 9 pct., lowest since April 2009 — Companies: — Related Quotes — SymbolPriceChange — BAC — 14.43 — WASHINGTON (AP) — The unemployment rate dropped sharply …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Scared Monkeys, Instapundit, The Gateway Pundit and Don Surber
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Don Lee / Los Angeles Times:
Unemployment falls to 9% but job growth remains sluggish
Unemployment falls to 9% but job growth remains sluggish
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Motoko Rich / New York Times:
Weather a Factor in Slow U.S. Job Growth
Weather a Factor in Slow U.S. Job Growth
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, Calculated Risk, Economix, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, TalkLeft, FT Alphaville, Hot Air and The Awl
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, Pajamas Media, Raw Story, Ballot Box, Conservatives4Palin, Hotline On Call, Commentary and Instapundit
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Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Poll reveals striking divide on Obama
Poll reveals striking divide on Obama
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys and Weasel Zippers
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:
Ben Smith's Blog and Donklephant
Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
Gabrielle Giffords's husband Mark Kelly will command final shuttle flight — Mark Kelly, husband of wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, will fly the space shuttle Endeavour's final mission in April, according to a source familiar with the decision. — Kelly and NASA are expected to make an announcement at a press conference Friday.
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Kevin Bohn / CNN:
Source: Giffords' husband on shuttle
Source: Giffords' husband on shuttle
Discussion:
Parker Spitzer and Outside the Beltway
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Obama Administration Scores Legal Victory On Health Care … WASHINGTON — The Obama administration won a victory Thursday in the winding legal debate surrounding the president's signature health care law, as a federal judge in Mississippi threw out a suit challenging the constitutionality of the bill.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Raw Story and Daily Kos
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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:
Yglesias, Right Wing News and Instapundit
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:
The Gateway Pundit and Right Wing News
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.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Enterprise Blog, A plain blog about politics and AmSpecBlog
Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:
New Jersey Gov. Christie Vetoes Planned Parenthood Funding Bill — Following the release of a video that has received nationwide attention showing Planned Parenthood staff at a New Jersey abortion center helping alleged sexual traffickers cover up their crimes with abortions and STD testing …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, RedState, NewsBusters.org blogs and The Blast
RELATED:
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Christie won't rule out running — in 2016
Christie won't rule out running — in 2016
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, The Daily Caller and The Note
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:
The New Republic and Betsy's Page
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:
Five Feet of Fury and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
J. Andrew Curliss / Raleigh News & Observer:
Perdue hires defense lawyers — Gov. Bev Perdue has hired two of the state's most prominent criminal defense lawyers as scrutiny of her 2008 campaign activity continues. — Raleigh lawyers Joseph B. Cheshire V and Wade Smith are both assisting Perdue, whose office declined to comment.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and Hotline On Call
Elie Mystal / Above the Law:
Dan Snyder, Owner of a Team Named After an Ethnic Slur, Sues Over Perceived Anti-Semitism — This is rich. The owner of the Washington Redskins, Dan Snyder, has sued the Washington City Paper for a column he claims defamed him and used anti-Semitic imagery.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, No More Mister Nice Blog, Suburban Guerrilla, Gawker, The Atlantic Online and Mediaite
Johann Hari / The Nation:
How to Build a Progressive Tea Party — This article appeared in the February 21, 2011 edition of The Nation. — Recommended by 2 — Imagine a parallel universe where the Great Crash of 2008 was followed by a Tea Party of a very different kind. Enraged citizens gather in every city …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Report rips U.S. envoy who resigned — An Obama bundler picked for a choice ambassadorship brought the U.S. embassy she led to “a state of dysfunction” in a year on the job, a State Department probe has found. — Cynthia Stroum, who last month left her post as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online
ProPublica:
Dems: Obama Broke Pledge to Force Banks to Help Homeowners — Before he took office, President Obama repeatedly promised voters and Democrats in Congress that he'd fight for changes to bankruptcy laws to help homeowners—a tough approach that would force banks to modify mortgages.
Discussion:
TalkLeft