Top Items:
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 …
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Mark Joyella / Mediaite:
Could Get Ugly: Rolling Stone Says Army Deployed ‘PsyOps’ To Influence Senators — In a story breaking overnight that's sure to explode on cable news through the day, a report in Rolling Stone suggests the U.S. Army deployed a a specialized “psychological operations” team to target Senators …
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, Examiner, Townhall.com, Common Sense Political Thought, Boston Globe, RedState, Right Wing News, UNCOVERAGE.net, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, Doug Ross, NewsReal Blog, theblogprof, Hot Air, Big Journalism, The Sundries Shack, Mofo Politics, Human Events, The Gateway Pundit, Moe Lane, Cold Fury, The Other McCain, AmSpecBlog, Wall Street Journal, POWIP, Weasel Zippers, JammieWearingFool, protein wisdom, Sister Toldjah, No Runny Eggs, American Power, The Daley Gator, Da Techguy's Blog, Pajamas Media, Instapundit and New Hampshire Journal
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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, Moe Lane and UNCOVERAGE.net
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:
Maggie's Notebook, Right Wing News, Weasel Zippers, AmSpecBlog, theblogprof and The Gateway Pundit
Henry Chu / Los Angeles Times:
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange loses round in extradition fight — A British judge approves Swedish prosecutors' request to extradite Julian Assange in a sexual-assault case. His lawyers say they will appeal, and the WikiLeaks founder condemns the decision as ‘a rubber-stamping process.’
Discussion:
Blogcritics and Scared Monkeys
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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, Politics and Guardian
Ravi Somaiya / New York Times:
London Court Grants Swedish Request to Extradite Assange
London Court Grants Swedish Request to Extradite Assange
Discussion:
Guardian, CNN, Runnin' Scared, Gawker, New York Magazine, Wonkette and Prairie Weather
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 …
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Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:
Democrats just don't understand the new populism
Democrats just don't understand the new populism
Discussion:
Grim's Hall and Betsy's Page
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
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:
Fox Nation, Weasel Zippers, protein wisdom, Prairie Weather, Wake up America and POWIP
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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
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, The Foundry, Weasel Zippers, Pundit Press, RedState and Pajamas Media
The Fix:
For Walker, cause and celebrity don't necessarily mean cause celebre — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, less than two months into his first term as the state's chief executive, may already be the most well-known governor in the country. — But even as the protests over the Republican's budget cuts rage …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Utah Policy and Ballot Box
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Kasie Hunt / The Politico:
Spotted, Huntsman flees China rally
Spotted, Huntsman flees China rally
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and FrumForum
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:
Felix Salmon, naked capitalism, Emptywheel, Mish's Global Economic …, Sweetness & Light, UNCOVERAGE.net, The Page and Calculated Risk
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
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
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Republicans Want Cuts In Interim Spending Bill
Republicans Want Cuts In Interim Spending Bill
Discussion:
Yglesias, Politics Daily, USA Today, Washington Monthly, The Hill, Wonk Room and Guardian
KOLD-TV:
Lubbock man arrested: weapon of mass destruction charge — LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - FBI agents arrested a Lubbock man on charges of Attempted Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction. The full text of an official statement is copied below. — WASHINGTON - Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 20 …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
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, Sky Dancing, Yahoo! News, TBogg, ABCNEWS, Nice Deb, The Democratic Daily, Hot Air and Michelle Malkin
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
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
Matt Bai / New York Times:
How Chris Christie Did His Homework — Like a stand-up comedian working out-of-the-way clubs, Chris Christie travels the townships and boroughs of New Jersey, places like Hackettstown and Raritan and Scotch Plains, sharpening his riffs about the state's public employees …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online and The Page
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, The New Republic and Daily Kos
Inside Higher Ed:
Roadblocks for ROTC? — When the federal government repealed the Pentagon's “don't ask, don't tell” policy last year, it seemed to remove the chief obstacle keeping the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program from returning to many elite universities. But the debate on ROTC's return …
Discussion:
RedState
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:
Alas, a Blog, The League of Ordinary …, Flopping Aces, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, alicublog, Balkinization, New York Times, TPMMuckraker, The Atlantic Online, The Foundry, JustOneMinute, The United States Department …, PointOfLaw Forum, The Moderate Voice, JONATHAN TURLEY, Runnin' Scared, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, National Review and Hit & Run