Top Items:
Maureen O'Connor / Gawker:
Married GOP Congressman Sent Sexy Pictures to Craigslist Babe — Rep. Christopher Lee is a married Republican congressman serving the 26th District of New York. But when he trolls Craigslist's “Women Seeking Men” forum, he's Christopher Lee, “divorced” “lobbyist” and “fit fun classy guy.”
Discussion:
New York Times, TalkLeft, USA Today, The Politico, Washington Monthly, Pam's House Blend, msnbc.com, Politics, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite, AMERICAblog News, AOL News, Raw Story, Wonkette, Taegan Goddard's …, Hotline On Call, The Atlantic Online, Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, Open Congress, The Other McCain, The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, National Review and This Just In
RELATED:
ABCNEWS:
Congressman Chris Lee Resigns After Shirtless Photo Posted on Internet — New York Republican Reportedly Sent Revealing Photos to a Woman He Met on Craigslist — Rep. Chris Lee, R-N.Y., resigned from Congress after a report emerged that he had sent flirtatious e-mails …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune, UrbanGrounds, Firedoglake, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller
Fox News:
N.Y. Rep Declines Comment on Claim He Sent Shirtless Photo to Woman on Craigslist — Rep. Christopher Lee is declining to comment on a report claiming the married Republican congressman sent a shirtless photo of himself to a woman on Craigslist. — Lee, asked by Fox News …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Towleroad News #gay, TPMDC and Gawker
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
New York Rep. Chris Lee resigns from the House — New York Rep. Chris Lee has resigned his seat. Photo by Derek Gee/Washington Post — Rep. Chris Lee (R-N.Y.) resigned from the House Wednesday evening effective immediately, an announcement that came just hours after a Web site reported …
Discussion:
OpenSecrets.org, msnbc.com, Weigel, Wonkette and Daily Kos
Chris Lee / Congressman Chris Lee:
Statement from Congressman Chris Lee (NY-26) — “It has been a tremendous honor to serve the people of Western New York. I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all.
Annie Groer / Politics Daily:
What started last month with an anonymous woman's Craigslist …
What started last month with an anonymous woman's Craigslist …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, AOL News and Gawker
Raymond Hernandez / City Room:
New York Congressman Resigns Over Shirtless Photo
New York Congressman Resigns Over Shirtless Photo
Discussion:
Gawker, Media Decoder and Swampland, more at Mediagazer »
The Politico:
Growing pains: House GOP stumbles — It usually takes a lot longer for the party in charge to start with the finger-pointing, the failed votes and the backpedaling on campaign promises. — But the House Republican majority has already had two failed floor votes, is experiencing a backlash …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, CNN, The Hill, Daily Kos, The Caucus, Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blog, Washington Monthly and Washington Post
RELATED:
appropriations.house.gov:
CR Spending Cuts to Go Deep
CR Spending Cuts to Go Deep
Discussion:
Bloomberg, The Hill, Associated Press, RHRealityCheck.org, USA Today, The Politico, Politics Daily and CNN
CNN:
House Republican leaders poised to give in to conservative demands …
House Republican leaders poised to give in to conservative demands …
Discussion:
National Review and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Hoyer And Boehner Agree Retirement Age Should Be ‘On The Table’
Hoyer And Boehner Agree Retirement Age Should Be ‘On The Table’
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Yglesias, Firedoglake and Daily Kos
David Rogers / The Politico:
GOP cuts deep as right revolts
GOP cuts deep as right revolts
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Instapundit and The Hill
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Webb won't seek reelection — Virginia Democratic Senator Jim Webb plans to announce today that he won't seek reelection, the Senator confirmed Wednesday. — Webb appeared likely to face a rematch with former Senator George Allen, whom he beat in a bruising 2006 contest.
Discussion:
National Review, CNN, The Washington Note, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, AmSpecBlog, Politics and JOSHUAPUNDIT
RELATED:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Jim Webb's retirement (and what it means)
Jim Webb's retirement (and what it means)
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Towleroad News #gay and The Maddow Blog
Ben Pershing / Virginia Politics Blog:
Sen. James Webb won't run for reelection in 2012
Sen. James Webb won't run for reelection in 2012
Discussion:
Weigel, Guardian, Wonkette, Weasel Zippers, The Page, AMERICAblog News and Gawker
Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
House Democrats say Justice Thomas should recuse himself in health-care case — Seventy-four House Democrats have signed a letter to Clarence Thomas asking the Supreme Court justice to recuse himself from any deliberations on the constitutionality of the national health care overhaul …
RELATED:
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Democrats: Justice Thomas should recuse himself in healthcare reform case — A group of 73 House Democrats on Wednesday demanded U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recuse himself from any case examining the constitutionality of healthcare reform. — Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) …
Discussion:
Doug Ross, The Politico, The Note, The Atlantic Online, Hot Air and The Mahablog
Marc Ambinder / NationalJournal.com:
EXCLUSIVE: White House to Cut Energy Assistance for the Poor — Budget proposal would cut billions from aid program. — President Obama's proposed 2012 budget will cut several billion dollars from the government's energy assistance fund for poor people, officials briefed on the subject told National Journal.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Economist's View, Taylor Marsh, Oliver Willis and Daily Kos
New York Post:
AOL stock sheds $315M — HuffPo price tag — You pay for what you get. — Arianna Huffington and Ken Lerer, co-founders of the Huffington Post, are said to be walking away with a combined $80 million to $100 million from an original $2 million per person investment — but so far AOL stockholders aren't seeing that kind of return.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »
RELATED:
Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:
‘Forcible Rape’ Language Remains In Bill To Restrict Abortion Funding … WASHINGTON — After significant public blowback, House Republicans last week promised to drop a controversial provision in their high-priority No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act that would redefine rape.
Discussion:
Online NewsHour, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Sky Dancing, Brilliant at Breakfast and Daily Kos
RELATED:
Myglesias / Yglesias:
The Wages of Disengagement — Senator Barbara Boxer is outraged …
The Wages of Disengagement — Senator Barbara Boxer is outraged …
Discussion:
New York Times, Ann Friedman, Washington Monthly and Eschaton
Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
White House, State Department move to end Egypt confusion — The White House is moving to stamp out reports that top officials — including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — are sending conflicting signals about how best to resolve the crisis in Egypt.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
RELATED:
Michelle Malkin / Townhall.com:
Who's Policing Amtrak Joe Biden's Rail Boondoggles?
Who's Policing Amtrak Joe Biden's Rail Boondoggles?
Discussion:
Moonbattery and The Foundry
Emptywheel:
Security Firms Pitching Bank of America on WikiLeaks Response Proposed Targeting Glenn Greenwald — On Saturday, private security firm HBGary Federal bragged to the FT that it had discovered who key members of the hacking group Anonymous are. In response, Anonymous hacked HB Gary Federal …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo, Booman Tribune and Balloon Juice
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Santorum's Twe-eating his Palin words — Rick Santorum is quickly backpedaling from his critical remarks over Sarah Palin's decision to blow off CPAC, going after POLITICO for spotlighting his attack. — “This article is garbage,” Santorum tweeted this morning, linking to the POLITICO story.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, NewsBusters.org blogs, Mediaite, The Reaction, Hot Air, Wonkette, TPMDC, Talking Points Memo, GOP 12, National Review and CNN
Marybeth Hicks / Townhall.com:
Barbarism the New National Norm? — Civility is making the headlines lately, but if you dig a bit deeper, barbarism is the real story. — To wit: Last month, MSNBC.com carried this story from Reno, NV: “Six girls arrested for Facebook ‘Attack a Teacher Day’ invite.”
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Mike / Rortybomb:
Monetary Policy Hearing Today, or: Ron Paul Versus the Kochtopus. — Ron Paul is holding one of his first monetary policy hearings today, and he hasn't sold out. Ron Paul is from the school of libertarians that hates D.C. libertarians, which is weird since Ron Paul is one of the most well-known libertarians …
Discussion:
Washington Post, LewRockwell.com Blog, Paul Krugman, Raw Story and RedState
RELATED:
Myglesias / Yglesias:
The Strange Case of Pro-Confederate Monetary Policy
The Strange Case of Pro-Confederate Monetary Policy
Discussion:
LewRockwell.com Blog
Amanda Covarrubias / L.A. NOW:
100 UC Irvine faculty members ask district attorney to drop charges against Muslim students — A group of 100 faculty members at UC Irvine signed a letter asking the Orange County district attorney to drop criminal charges against 11 Muslim students who disrupted a speech by the Israeli ambassador to the United States.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Jihad Watch and The Gateway Pundit
CNN:
Aide: Giffords can speak — (CNN) — U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, recovering from a gunshot wound to the head sustained January 8, is regaining part of her ability to speak, her spokesman said Wednesday. — C.J. Karamargin would not divulge what Giffords has said, other than saying she asked for toast.
Discussion:
The Politico, Gawker and Pajamas Media
Barry Meier / New York Times:
Malpractice Bill Raises Issues About a Lawsuit — The lawmaker and retired obstetrician sponsoring a Congressional bill to sharply cut medical malpractice awards was involved in a $500,000 settlement of a malpractice lawsuit. The action was brought by a pregnant woman who charged …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, CitizenVox and Mother Jones
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
At CPAC, the race for second place as Paul goes all out — The Conservative Political Action Conference's annual straw poll typically indicates three things: Whom CPAC's segment of the conservative base prefers for president; who bought tickets for their supporters; and whether Ron Paul is really trying.
Discussion:
Wonkette and American Power
George Zornick / ThinkProgress:
Texas Tea Party Leader On Obama: He ‘Might Be Muslim’ — On MSNBC this evening, Chris Matthews hosted two representatives of the Tea Party to analyze its influence in Washington: FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe and Phillip Dennis of the Texas Tea Party. Matthews asked Dennis …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Rachel Weiner / The Fix:
How a Palin nomination could expand Obama's playing field — A series of state polls released over the last few weeks suggest that if Republicans nominate former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in 2012 it could hand President Obama a considerable electoral vote margin next November.