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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, The Caucus, Salon, Ballot Box, Pharyngula, host.madison.com, Wonkette, AOL News, No More Mister Nice Blog, Saint Petersblog, Balloon Juice, The Moderate Voice, The New Republic, The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, Sky Dancing, The Raw Story, Little Green Footballs and blue cheddar
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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:
The Political Carnival, Yglesias and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

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.

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:
Daily Kos, Althouse, Mediaite, Hullabaloo and Crooks and Liars

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, Verum Serum, JSOnline, The Blaze and Booman Tribune

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


The Howard Stern-ing of the Wisconsin showdown
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Spocko's Brain, GayPatriot, BizTimes Daily and WFRV-TV

Milwaukee County — Caller posing as major GOP contributor dupes Walker
Discussion:
Poynter, The Huffington Post, The Nation, Mediaite and Salon

Wis. Gov. Duped by Impostor Reporter
Discussion:
The Politico, The Hill, ThinkProgress, The Note and No More Mister Nice Blog

Walker On ‘Koch’ Phone Call: ‘I Take Phone Calls All The Time’
Discussion:
TPMMuckraker, Ezra Klein and Hullabaloo

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, TPMDC, ThinkProgress, The Plum Line, msnbc.com, The Volokh Conspiracy, PostPartisan, Salon, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Bilerico Project, The Political Carnival, AMERICAblog Gay, Balkinization, Maryland Politics, The Huffington Post, Jay Bookman, Pam's House Blend, Wonk Room, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, ACS Blog, New York Magazine, PointOfLaw Forum, Mother Jones, Sky Dancing, The Right Sphere, Wonkette, Hit & Run, Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online, Ben Smith's Blog, Crooks and Liars, Booman Tribune and AOL News
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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:
Box Turtle Bulletin, Salon, National Review, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Emptywheel and Indecision Forever

U.S., in Shift, Sees Marriage Act as Violation of Gay Rights
Discussion:
Poliglot, Runnin' Scared, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, TPMMuckraker, Outside the Beltway and White House Dossier

Breaking: Obama to abandon DOMA defense
Discussion:
National Review, The Bilerico Project, Breitbart.tv, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and theblogprof

Letter from the Attorney General to Congress on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act

The Executive Power Grab in the Decision Not to Defend DOMA
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online


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.


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 …
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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
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Indiana kills ‘right-to-work’ bill
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The American Independent

Indiana Senate won't resurrect right-to-work bill
Discussion:
National Review, Ben Smith's Blog, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, GOP 12 and The Political Carnival


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, The Moderate Voice and AFL-CIO NOW BLOG
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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:
CNN, Weasel Zippers, msnbc.com and New York Magazine
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Obama breaks silence on Libya, condemns ‘outrageous’ violence
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The Note

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


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


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


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
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How the GOP Can Win the Budget Battle
Discussion:
Liberty Pundits Blog and The New Republic

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%) …

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, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Greenroom, JONATHAN TURLEY, HazZzMat, msnbc.com and Sweetness & Light

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

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

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:
The Political Carnival, Taegan Goddard's … and New York Magazine


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