Top Items:
New York Times:
Mubarak Refuses to Step Down — CAIRO — President Hosni Mubarak told the Egyptian people Thursday that he would delegate more authority to his vice president, Omar Suleiman, but that he would not resign his post, contradicting earlier reports that he would step aside and surprising hundreds …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, FP Passport, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blog, News Desk, Hit & Run, Tablet Magazine, NO QUARTER, Prairie Weather, Little Green Footballs, Mother Jones, Daily Kos and The Democratic Daily
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msnbc.com:
Mubarak: I'll delegate ‘some’ powers to VP — Reports that he might step down create confusion about who is ruling nation — Below: — on msnbc.com -
Washington Post:
Mubarak to address nation amid reports he will cede power — CAIRO - President Hosni Mubarak appears poised to cede power after 17 days of massive citizen demonstrations, with the Egyptian military saying the longtime leader would meet protesters' demands and CIA director Leon M. Panetta saying Mubarak …
Discussion:
Aljazeera, The Moderate Voice, Truthdig, Taylor Marsh, Politics Daily, YID With LID, BlogPost, Sky Dancing, PostPartisan, AOL News and Atlas Shrugs
BBC:
Egypt protests: Hosni Mubarak ‘may be stepping down’
Egypt protests: Hosni Mubarak ‘may be stepping down’
Discussion:
Parker Spitzer, Guardian, New York Times, rubber hose, AOL News, POWIP, News Hounds and Babalú Blog
James Rosen / Fox News:
Egyptian Official: Mubarak to Step Down, Transfer Authority to Armed Forces
Egyptian Official: Mubarak to Step Down, Transfer Authority to Armed Forces
Discussion:
Raw Story, USA Today, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hot Air, Washington Post and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Erick Erickson / RedState:
This is Too Much For Me — I have, for me, shown an amazing amount of restraint in keeping my mouth shut on an issue about which I can stay silent no longer — GOProud and CPAC. — RedState's parent company, Eagle Publishing, Inc., is a long time sponsor of CPAC.
Discussion:
Maggie's Notebook, Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, GayPatriot, AmSpecBlog, Balloon Juice, The Other McCain and Commentary
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Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Trump Will Speak at CPAC — Donald Trump is telling friends and advisers that he is seriously considering jumping into the Republican presidential race in 2012. To make his point, he has accepted an invitation to appear with other potential candidates at a gathering of conservative activists in Washington.
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Palin: No ‘problem’ with gay group at CPAC — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) said Wednesday evening she has no objection to the participation of gay Republicans at this weekend's gathering of conservatives in Washington. — Palin said she didn't see anything wrong with the participation of GOProud …
Discussion:
CNN, Outside the Beltway, Pirate's Cove and Pam's House Blend
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Trump: Ron Paul has ‘zero chance’ of being elected president
Trump: Ron Paul has ‘zero chance’ of being elected president
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
Will Rahn / The Daily Caller:
Rumored presidential candidate Donald Trump will make a surprise visit …
Rumored presidential candidate Donald Trump will make a surprise visit …
Discussion:
CBS News, UNCOVERAGE.net, Michelle Malkin and Hot Air
Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:
GOP gay-rights group brings Donald Trump to conservative gathering
GOP gay-rights group brings Donald Trump to conservative gathering
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and The Note
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Gabrielle Giffords was planning possible Senate run before shooting — Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt last month, had given indications to her closest circle of political advisers prior to the shooting that if Sen. Jon Kyl (R) retired that she would make the race.
Discussion:
The Page
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Jon Kyl announces retirement — Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) photo by Linda Davidson for The Washington Post — Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (R) announced his retirement at a press conference in Phoenix Thursday morning. — “I will not seek reelection the United States Senate but will retire from public service in January 2013,” Kyl said.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Online NewsHour, The Daily Caller and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
Ballot Box:
Sen. Kyl announces retirement; Dems see chance to win seat
Sen. Kyl announces retirement; Dems see chance to win seat
Discussion:
The Politico, The Daily Caller and Reuters
Trish Turner / Fox News:
Arizona Senator Jon Kyl to Retire
Arizona Senator Jon Kyl to Retire
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway and Maggie's Notebook
Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
FOX NEWS INSIDER: “Stuff Is Just Made Up” — Asked what most viewers and observers of Fox News would be surprised to learn about the controversial cable channel, a former insider from the world of Rupert Murdoch was quick with a response: “I don't think people would believe it's as concocted as it is; that stuff is just made up.”
Discussion:
Prairie Weather and Mother Jones
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
‘STUFF IS JUST MADE UP’.... We generally don't hear much in the way of criticism of Fox News from the Republican network's own employees. That's largely due to the non-disclosure agreements staffers are forced to sign, and I've long assumed it has something to do with a self-selected sample …
Josh Gerstein / The Politico:
DNI Clapper: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood ‘largely secular’ — During a House Intelligence Committee hearing Thursday, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper called Egypt's branch of the Muslim Brotherhood movement “largely secular.” — In response to questioning from Rep. Sue Myrick …
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John Podhoretz / Commentary:
Time for a New Director of National Intelligence — As I write, the world waits and watches for the astonishing moment when Hosni Mubarak announces he will step down from the presidency of Egypt. Now begins the critical time of testing for Egypt, for democracy, for reason, for Israel, and for the United States.
Discussion:
Politics and National Review
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Democrats Can't Filibuster ObamaCare Repeal — The GOP needs 51 Senate votes, and a new president, to get it done. — Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin likes to taunt his Republican colleagues, arguing that ObamaCare can't be repealed because 60 votes are required to end debate in the Senate on any measure.
Discussion:
TPMDC, The New Republic, The Hill, Wonk Room, The Politico, Hot Air, Ezra Klein, Taegan Goddard's …, Daily Kos, National Review and The Fix
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Palin calls potential rival ‘Neanderthal’ … (CNN) - Sarah Palin is mixing it up with potential rival Rick Santorum, suggesting the former Pennsylvania senator and presidential hopeful is a “knuckle-dragging Neanderthal.” — The eyebrow-raising slap came in response to Santorum's recent comments …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, AOL News, The Politico and Salon
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Christian Heinze / GOP 12:
Santorum: I've watched every episode of Palin's reality show
Santorum: I've watched every episode of Palin's reality show
Discussion:
Politics and The Other McCain
Colby Hall / Mediaite:
Did Sarah Palin Just Call Rick Santorum A Knuckle Dragging Neanderthal?
Did Sarah Palin Just Call Rick Santorum A Knuckle Dragging Neanderthal?
Discussion:
Politics Daily, The Politico, sisu, Pennsylvania Ave., Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Right Scoop and TPMDC
David Leonhardt / Economix:
Inflation, in One Picture — On Capitol Hill, members of Congress are grilling Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, about his attempts to lift economic growth by reducing long-term interest rates — the Fed's so-called QE2 program, or quantitative easing.
Discussion:
Yglesias, Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, Grasping Reality …, AmSpecBlog, The Daily Caller and The Baseline Scenario
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Jonathan Strong / The Daily Caller:
Freshmen to GOP leadership: We were serious about ‘read the bill’ — Republican leadership stumbled this week with two bills going down in defeat on the House floor, a highly unusual occurrence in a chamber where the majority rules nearly absolutely and leadership rarely calls votes without knowing in advance they will win.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Don Surber and Instapundit
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Humberto Sanchez / NationalJournal.com:
Under Fire From Right, House GOP Proposes $100 Billion in Cuts — Appropriators scrap original plan for $74 billion in cuts to soothe tea party members. — House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers. R-KY, scrapped his original plan for spending cuts today and vowed to cut $100 billion instead.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Daily Kos and Swampland
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:
House Republicans Battle Turmoil in Their Ranks
House Republicans Battle Turmoil in Their Ranks
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, DownWithTyranny!, Wall Street Journal, Politics Daily, Hit & Run, Washington Post, Bloomberg, ThinkProgress, Yglesias, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, Left Coast Rebel, The Impolitic, AOL News, Politics, Hullabaloo, Balloon Juice, Prairie Weather, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Page, Gawker and NationalJournal.com, more at Mediagazer »
Myglesias / Yglesias:
License To Beg — Montgomery County's not run by neoliberal sellouts, that's for sure. They're true friends of the working man: … This business about where the beggars stand is a microcosm of one of the most prominent conceptual problems here. If the issue is people violating traffic laws …
Discussion:
Gazette.net Maryland … and Eschaton
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Bill Burton for Congress? — White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton has been approached by some party insiders about the possibility of running in the likely special election to replace former New York Rep. Chris Lee (R) and is weighing the possibility of a bid, according to several sources familiar with his thinking.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Maggie's Notebook, OpenSecrets.org and Weigel
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Bob McCarthy / Buffalo News:
Successors to Lee are quick to emerge
Successors to Lee are quick to emerge
Discussion:
The Nation, Online NewsHour, AOL News, The Note and Politics Daily
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
House Republican on health law repeal: Time for GOP to “put up or shut up” — In another sign that the politics of repeal are far from a slam dunk for many Republicans, a House GOPer went way off the national Republican Party's message on the health law, dismissing the House vote for repeal as merely …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Citizen and TPMDC
David S. Bernstein / thephoenix.com:
Mitt Rewrites Himself — A new Apology — When Mitt Romney's second book, No Apology, came out a year ago, it looked like he was moving away from the far-right demagoguery of his 2008 bid for the presidency, and toward a more moderate centrism for the 2012 election cycle.
Discussion:
Wonkette, Grasping Reality …, Salon, The Fix, Mediaite, Washington Monthly, Ezra Klein, Hot Air and Oliver Willis
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
GOP lawmaker makes birther joke at CPAC — A Republican lawmaker made a subtle “birther” jab at President Obama during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). — Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), a freshman member of Congress who was born in Puerto Rico …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers