Top Items:
Michelle Malkin:
Video: CWA union thug strikes young female FreedomWorks activist; Updated — 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.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Boston Globe, UNCOVERAGE.net, Doug Ross, RedState, Right Wing News, theblogprof, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, The Sundries Shack, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Human Events, Mofo Politics, Moe Lane, The Other McCain, Wall Street Journal, Weasel Zippers, AmSpecBlog, POWIP, JammieWearingFool, Sister Toldjah, No Runny Eggs, The Daley Gator, American Power, protein wisdom, Da Techguy's Blog, Pajamas Media and Instapundit
RELATED:
Kyle Cheney / Boston Herald:
Capuano ‘bloody’ comment becomes flashpoint in union flap — U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano expressed regret Wednesday for his choice of words at a Tuesday rally to support Wisconsin workers, after national and local Republicans pounced on him for “over-the-top and inflammatory rhetoric.”
Discussion:
Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers and AmSpecBlog
Tabitha Hale / RedState:
Union Thuggery Descends On FreedomWorks — Today, union thugs descended on the FreedomWorks office. It was the middle of the day, and there was some excitement outside as all the buses pulled up and people started to fill the courtyard. We decided to go out and show our support for freedom.
Discussion:
Wonkette, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, Scared Monkeys and Moe Lane
Michael Hastings / Rolling Stone:
Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy-Ops on U.S. Senators — The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in “psychological operations” to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war, Rolling Stone has learned …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Parker Spitzer, The Raw Story, Politics and Outside the Beltway
RELATED:
Mark Joyella / Mediaite:
Could Get Ugly: Rolling Stone Says Army Deployed ‘PsyOps’ To Influence Senators
Could Get Ugly: Rolling Stone Says Army Deployed ‘PsyOps’ To Influence Senators
Discussion:
msnbc.com and New York Magazine
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Neither Party Has Edge on Federal Budget Dealings — Americans favor compromise over budget shutdown by 2-to-1 margin — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans are closely divided over whether the Republicans in Congress (42%) or President Obama and the Democrats (39%) are doing the better job …
Discussion:
The Hill, CNN and Top of the Ticket
RELATED:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Liberals to stage Tea Party-like revolts against GOP spending cuts — Democratic strategists believe their Tea Party moment has arrived. — Working with labor unions and liberal groups, they are using the Presidents Day congressional recess to organize a public backlash against billions of dollars in cuts to federal programs.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Prairie Weather
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Republicans Want Cuts In Interim Spending Bill
Republicans Want Cuts In Interim Spending Bill
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Washington Monthly, USA Today, The Hill, Wonk Room and Guardian
Jonathon M. Seidl / The Blaze:
VAN'S GRAND PLAN TO SPAN THE LAND: A UNION PROTEST AT EVERY STATE CAPITOL
VAN'S GRAND PLAN TO SPAN THE LAND: A UNION PROTEST AT EVERY STATE CAPITOL
Discussion:
New Zeal, RedState, JSOnline, The Jawa Report and Colorlines
Guardian:
WikiLeaks founder must face Swedish rape allegations — WikiLeaks founder handed verdict at Belmarsh magistrates court — Follow reactions to the ruling on our live blog — The WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is to be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault.
Discussion:
The Hill and AOL News, more at Techmeme »
RELATED:
BBC:
Wikileaks' Julian Assange to be extradited to Sweden
Wikileaks' Julian Assange to be extradited to Sweden
Discussion:
Politics Daily, The Independent, Outside the Beltway, Guardian and Politics
Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:
London Court Grants Swedish Request to Extradite Assange
London Court Grants Swedish Request to Extradite Assange
Discussion:
Guardian, Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine, Gawker, Wonkette and Prairie Weather
Karla Adam / Washington Post:
Assange must be extradited, judge rules
Assange must be extradited, judge rules
Discussion:
The BLT and DISSENTING JUSTICE
Ezra Klein:
Andy Stern: ‘It may not end beautifully in Wisconsin.’ — Last year, Andy Stern retired as the president of SEIU, the service employees union that he'd built into a 2.2 million member heavyweight. During his tenure, Stern was known — and sometimes reviled — for his efforts to reform organized labor …
RELATED:
Jonathan Weisman / Wall Street Journal:
Obama Sits Out State Fights
Obama Sits Out State Fights
Discussion:
USA Today, Washington Times, The Note and The Politico
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Go to Wisconsin to support labor, liberal leader urges Obama
Go to Wisconsin to support labor, liberal leader urges Obama
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Chris Frates / The Politico:
Lobbyists: White House sends meetings off-site to hide them — Caught between their boss's anti-lobbyist rhetoric and the reality of governing, President Barack Obama's aides often steer meetings with lobbyists to a complex just off the White House grounds - and several of the lobbyists involved …
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, The Foundry, RedState and Pajamas Media
Aurelius / Pundit Press:
Go Figure: Obama White House Can't Spell “Libya” — Well, I may now know why President Obama took so long to talk about the revolts in Libya: his advisors and press people simply cannot spell the country's name. I mean, it's five whole letters! No one can figure that out:
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, JammieWearingFool, Outside the Beltway and Weasel Zippers
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Pushes Mortgage Deal — Obama Proposal Seeks Multibillion-Dollar Settlement of Loan-Servicing Cases — The Obama administration is trying to push through a settlement over mortgage-servicing breakdowns that could force America's largest banks to pay for reductions in loan principal worth billions of dollars.
Discussion:
Wonk Room, Sweetness & Light, Emptywheel, naked capitalism, Mish's Global Economic …, UNCOVERAGE.net, The Page and Calculated Risk
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.
RELATED:
The United States Department of Justice:
Statement of the Attorney General on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act
Statement of the Attorney General on Litigation Involving the Defense of Marriage Act
Discussion:
The Mahablog, American Spectator, AMERICAblog Gay, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Atlantic Online, Associated Press, The Bilerico Project, Breitbart.tv, The Plum Line, Balkinization, Salon, PointOfLaw Forum, American Prospect, The Daily Caller, CBS News, The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, Emptywheel, Wonk Room, The Daily Dish, New York Times, ThinkProgress, TPMDC, JONATHAN TURLEY, ACS Blog, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Sky Dancing, Wonkette, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Blog of Rights, Daily Kos, National Review, New York Magazine, AMERICAblog News, Jay Bookman, The Right Sphere, NationalJournal.com, msnbc.com, Hit & Run, PostPartisan, Christianity Today, AOL News, Crooks and Liars, Hot Air and Mother Jones
John / Power Line:
The Left's War on the Kochs — The most extraordinary story in the news these days is the all-out assault that the Left is mounting against Charles and David Koch and their company, Koch Enterprises. A day doesn't go buy—hardly an hour goes by—without some new attack being launched against these two lonely libertarians.
Discussion:
GayPatriot, The Caucus, The Other McCain, Booman Tribune, Yahoo! News, Sky Dancing, TBogg, Nice Deb, The Democratic Daily, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin and Weekly Standard
Teddy Schleifer / The Daily Princetonian:
Daniels '71: Into the spotlight — After Mitch Daniels '71 was arrested, indicted and convicted on charges of drug use as an undergraduate in May 1970, he said that he thought his aspiring political career was doomed. “Any goal I might have had for competing for public office were shot,” …
Discussion:
CNN and The Politico
Reuters:
Obama breaks silence, condemns Libya crackdown — (Reuters) - President Barack Obama condemned the “outrageous” crackdown by Libyan security forces on protesters and said Washington would work with international partners to hold Muammar Gaddafi's government accountable.
RELATED:
Nick Bunkley / New York Times:
G.M. Reports an Annual Profit, Its First Since 2004 — DETROIT — General Motors, which nearly collapsed from the weight of its debts two years ago before reorganizing in a government-sponsored bankruptcy, said Thursday that it earned $4.7 billion in 2010, the most in more than a decade.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and The New Republic
Reid Wilson / NationalJournal.com:
McCain's Shift Makes Him Senate's Most Conservative — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., along with seven of his colleagues, voted most often on the conservative side. — The politician who once best exemplified the idea of a “maverick” independent has shifted so far to the right that he is now tied …
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Caucus and New York Magazine
Matt Schneider / Mediaite:
Fox's Shep Smith: Pretending Wisconsin Is About A Fiscal Crisis Is “Malarkey” — Shepard Smith's conversation today with commentator Juan Williams would likely surprise loyal viewers of both Fox News and MSNBC. Shep's repeated assertion that there is no longer a budget crisis in Wisconsin …
Discussion:
protein wisdom
Gail Collins / New York Times:
Revenge of the Pomeranians — Right now concerned citizens are probably asking themselves: What will happen if the federal government shuts down? — Also, why is the federal government in danger of shutting down? Whom can I blame for this? Does it have anything to do with what's going on in Wisconsin?
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Prairie Weather
New York Times:
Qaddafi Massing Forces in Tripoli as Rebellion Spreads — BAIDA, Libya — Forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi were reported to be striking back in several cites surrounding Tripoli on Thursday, as rebellion crept closer to the capital and defections of military officers multiplied.
Discussion:
FP Passport and FrumForum
Marin Cogan / The Politico:
Town hall ‘rage’ over spending — ORLANDO, Fla.—The two town halls couldn't have been any more different — one a blue-jeans-and-ball-cap affair, rowdy and filled-to-capacity near an impoverished urban strip — the other a smaller confab of polo-shirt-and-Bermuda-shorts clad seniors in a sleek conference room outside Orlando.
Discussion:
The Note
El Marco / Looking at the Left:
Racism and Incivility Aimed at Tea Party in Denver — Union Thugs and Teachers Lash Out at Taxpayers — White House political arm, Organizing for America, teamed up with Service Employees International Union (SEIU), for their latest astroturfing effort in Denver.
Discussion:
Moonbattery, The Gateway Pundit, Red White Blue News, Atlas Shrugs and Mediaite