Top Items:
Murphy / The Beast:
Koch Whore — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker answers his master's call — “David Koch”: We'll back you any way we can. What we were thinking about the crowd was, uh, was planting some troublemakers. — Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: You know, well, the only problem with that—because we thought about that...
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, Washington Post, Blogging Blue, Salon, Pharyngula, Wonkette, AOL News, Saint Petersblog, Balloon Juice, No More Mister Nice Blog, Ballot Box, The Atlantic Online, The New Republic, host.madison.com, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, Sky Dancing, The Raw Story and Little Green Footballs
RELATED:
Ezra Klein:
What a prank call proves about Wisconsin — Gonzo journalist Ian Murphy noticed one of Wisconsin's Senate Democrats complaining that Gov. Scott Walker was impossible to reach on the phone. So Murphy came up with a prank call: He posed as right-wing financier David Koch and called Walker's receptionist.
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Political Carnival, Yglesias and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Adam Weinstein / Mother Jones:
Did Scott Walker Get Crank-Call Pwned? (AUDIO) — Is that really Scott Walker? A New York-based alt-news editor says he got through to the embattled Wisconsin governor on the phone Tuesday by posing as right-wing financier David Koch...then had a far-ranging 20-minute conversation about the collective bargaining protests.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Governor Walker's office confirms prank Koch call — The Internet is burning up with the news that Governor Scott Walker may have been pranked by a caller claiming to be David Koch, and a spokesman for the Governor, Cullen Werwie, emails a statement confirming the call is legit:
Discussion:
Althouse, Daily Kos, Mediaite and Hullabaloo
The Huffington Post:
Top Six Revelations in the Call Between Fake David Koch and Governor Scott Walker … The call made by a Buffalo blogger pretending to be billionaire right-wing activist David Koch to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is quickly making an impact on the news cycle. (You can listen to the call on YouTube: Part 1 |
Discussion:
campaignmoney.org, msnbc.com, Tucson Citizen, Verum Serum, JSOnline and The Blaze
David Weigel / Slate:
Did Scott Walker Reveal His Crisis-Ending Ruse to a Prank Caller?
Did Scott Walker Reveal His Crisis-Ending Ruse to a Prank Caller?
Discussion:
Associated Press, Big Journalism, AmSpecBlog, CNN, Nice Deb, The Hill and Salon
ABCNEWS:
Wis. Gov. Duped by Impostor Reporter
Wis. Gov. Duped by Impostor Reporter
Discussion:
The Politico, The Hill, ThinkProgress, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Note
Michelle Malkin:
The Howard Stern-ing of the Wisconsin showdown
The Howard Stern-ing of the Wisconsin showdown
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Spocko's Brain, GayPatriot, BizTimes Daily, AOL News and WFRV-TV
Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
Walker On ‘Koch’ Phone Call: ‘I Take Phone Calls All The Time’
Walker On ‘Koch’ Phone Call: ‘I Take Phone Calls All The Time’
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, The Political Carnival and Hullabaloo
JSOnline:
Milwaukee County — Caller posing as major GOP contributor dupes Walker
Milwaukee County — Caller posing as major GOP contributor dupes Walker
Discussion:
Guardian, Poynter, The Huffington Post, The Nation and Mediaite
Eric Lach / TPMMuckraker:
Walker's Office Confirms Governor Fell For ‘Koch’ Prank Call (AUDIO)
Walker's Office Confirms Governor Fell For ‘Koch’ Prank Call (AUDIO)
Discussion:
The Caucus and TPMDC
The United States Department of Justice:
Statement of the Attorney General on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act — WASHINGTON - The Attorney General made the following statement today about the Department's course of action in two lawsuits, Pedersen v. OPM and Windsor v. United States, challenging Section 3 of the Defense …
Discussion:
American Prospect, The Moderate Voice, The Volokh Conspiracy, TPMDC, The Plum Line, ThinkProgress, msnbc.com, PostPartisan, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Maryland Politics, The Bilerico Project, The Political Carnival, Salon, AMERICAblog Gay, The Huffington Post, Wonk Room, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, ACS Blog, New York Magazine, PointOfLaw Forum, Jay Bookman, Sky Dancing, The Right Sphere, Pam's House Blend, Wonkette, Mother Jones, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online and AOL News
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Marc Ambinder / NationalJournal.com:
Obama Won't Go to Court Over Defense of Marriage Act — An opponent of California's Prop 8 holds an American flag and gay pride flag during a demonstration outside of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 6, 2010 in San Francisco. — President Obama believes that the Defense …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Box Turtle Bulletin, National Review, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Salon and Emptywheel
Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:
The Executive Power Grab in the Decision Not to Defend DOMA — I can understand the intense political pressure on the Obama Administration not to defend DOMA. Presumably Obama and pretty much every significant lawyer in the Obama Administration opposes DOMA, whether or not they can take that position on the record.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online
The United States Department of Justice:
Letter from the Attorney General to Congress on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act
Letter from the Attorney General to Congress on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Breaking: Obama to abandon DOMA defense
Breaking: Obama to abandon DOMA defense
Discussion:
Political Punch, National Review, The Bilerico Project, Breitbart.tv, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and theblogprof
Michelle Malkin:
Video: CWA union thug strikes young female FreedomWorks activist — This is Tabitha Hale, a young conservative activist/original Tea Party organizer/blogger who works for Washington, D.C.-based FreedomWorks. I know her from her great grass-roots work with Smart Girl Politics when the Tea Party movement was just emerging.
Adam Weinstein / Mother Jones:
Indiana Official: “Use Live Ammunition” Against Wisconsin Protesters — A conservative deputy AG let his emotions get out of hand. It wasn't the first time. — Post Comment — On Saturday night, when Mother Jones staffers tweeted a report that riot police might soon sweep demonstrators …
RELATED:
Zaid Jilani / ThinkProgress:
Fox Reverses Results Of Gallup Poll To Claim Americans Oppose Union Collective Bargaining Rights — Yesterday, USA Today and Gallup released a new poll that found that a whopping 61 percent of Americans oppose efforts like those of Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) to strip public sector unions of collective bargaining rights.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice and AFL-CIO NOW BLOG
RELATED:
Mary Beth Schneider / Indianapolis Star:
Indiana Senate leader says right-to-work bill is dead — Daniels clarifies statements on pending legislation — Gov. Mitch Daniels this morning toughened his words about House Democrats who have fled the state is protest of Republican legislative proposals.
Discussion:
AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, theblogprof, USA Today, The Daily Caller, Ben Smith's Blog and Washington Monthly
RELATED:
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Indiana kills ‘right-to-work’ bill
Indiana kills ‘right-to-work’ bill
Discussion:
The American Independent
ABCNEWS:
Obama Condemns Violence in Libya But Doesn't Mention Moammar Gadhafi — Violence in Libya Escalates as Nations Move to Evacuate Their Citizens — President Obama said the bloodshed in Libya was “outrageous and unacceptable,” but he declined to directly censure Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi …
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, Weasel Zippers, msnbc.com and New York Magazine
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Andy Barr / The Politico:
Santorum hits left on Crusades — Rick Santorum launched into a scathing attack on the left, charging during an appearance in South Carolina that the history of the Crusades has been corrupted by “the American left who hates Christendom.” — “The idea that the Crusades and the fight …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Booman Tribune
John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Video: The Daily Show Tortures a Camel in Madison — Madison, Wisc. — No joke: The Daily Show brought a camel to the protests in Madison the other day, presumably to help make fun of the Cairo/Madison comparisons. As this video shows, the gag didn't turn out so well:
Discussion:
JSOnline, iOwnTheWorld.com and Breitbart.tv
Emily Schultheis / The Politico:
Newt Gingrich confronted over affair — PHILADELPHIA — Newt Gingrich's speech at the University of Pennsylvania Tuesday night quickly took a turn for the dramatic when the first student to question him brought up his admitted extra-marital affair and accused him of being “hypocritical” for espousing moral values.
Discussion:
CNN, nancynall.com, Right Turn, Outside the Beltway, Salon, The Other McCain, Firedoglake and Wonk Room
Rashid Ameer / The Express Tribune:
Honour crime: Woman killed for refusing to divorce husband — A 21-year-old girl was murdered in Khanewal on Monday allegedly by her brother because she had refused to give in to her family's demand to divorce her husband. — Ismat Parveen, a resident of Kot Muhammad Hussain …
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Huckabee, Palin, Romney Tie for Lead in GOP '12 Preferences — Huckabee's support up six points since September — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans and Republican-leaning independents have no clear favorite for the party's 2012 presidential nominee at this point, with Mike Huckabee (18%) …
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
All Your Thoughts Are Belong To U.S. — That seems to be the import of the ruling by federal Judge Gladys Kessler in upholding the Obamacare mandate in a suit brought by a group of private plaintiffs in Mead v. Holder (pg. 45, emphasis mine): … Our thoughts are now actions.
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, Hot Air, Common Sense Political Thought and The BLT
Terry Jeffrey / Townhall.com:
Do Wisconsin's Public Schools Deserve to Survive? — With the entire nation watching, Wisconsinites are now debating whether the state's public school teachers ought to be required to pay 5.8 percent of their wages to support their own retirement plans and 12.6 percent of their own health-insurance premiums …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Media Matters for America and Balloon Juice
The Blaze:
CLUELESS IN WISCONSIN: SOCIALISTS MARCH BY LIBERALS RIDICULING BECK FOR POINTING OUT SOCIALISTS ARE INVOLVED — DREWDER — What these people need to understand is that all the protests in the world cannot change hard economic facts. — Report Post » — Log in to Reply — REFLECTIONOGRAPHY
The Note:
Goldman Sachs: House Spending Cuts Will Hurt Economic Growth — ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: — A confidential new report prepared by Goldman Sachs for its clients says spending cuts passed by the House of Representatives last week would be a drag on the economy, cutting economic growth by about two percent of GDP.
Discussion:
Firedoglake and The Political Carnival
Linda Borg / Providence Journal:
PROVIDENCE — The school district plans to send out dismissal notices to every one of its 1,926 teachers, an unprecedented move that has union leaders up in arms. — In a letter sent to all teachers Tuesday, Supt. Tom Brady wrote that the Providence School Board on Thursday will vote …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, AOL News, The Greenroom, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, JONATHAN TURLEY, msnbc.com, HazZzMat and Sweetness & Light
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Palin will travel to India next month — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) will make her first overseas trip of 2011 next month, when she travels to India to deliver a speech at a high-profile policy conference. — Palin will speak on March 19 at the India Today Conclave in the capital city of New Delhi …
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, Cubachi and GOP 12
Jonathan Allen / The Politico:
Republicans float $2 billion a week in cuts — House Republicans plan to pass a two-week stopgap spending bill next week that would keep the government running past March 4 at reduced levels, GOP aides told POLITICO Wednesday. — The measure comes on the heels of last week's seven-month appropriation bill …
Discussion:
CNN, Cubachi, The Hill and National Review
Sarah Palin / Facebook:
Iron Dogs Roarin' — It's no secret I'm cheering for Team #11 in this year's Iron Dog race! Todd and his racing partner Eric Quam are doing very well and helping lead the pack as they'll soon be near the 1000-mile half-way point in Nome. They've been breaking trail through three feet of new snow!
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Wonkette, The Daily Dish, Big Government and AOL News