Top Items:
Wall Street Journal:
Poll Finds Support Lacking for Entitlement Reductions — WASHINGTON— Less than a quarter of Americans support making significant cuts to Social Security or Medicare to tackle the country's mounting deficit, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, illustrating the challenge facing lawmakers …
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Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
WSJ/NBC Poll: Strong Support for Bargaining Rights — Americans strongly oppose efforts to strip unionized government workers of their rights to collectively bargain, even as they want public employees to contribute more money to their retirement and health-care benefits, the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Ben Smith's Blog, Hot Air, The New Republic, Weekly Standard, Riehl World View, The Daily Dish, FrumForum and The Caucus
Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
NBC/WSJ poll: 62% against stripping public employees' bargaining rights
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Daily Kos and Quinnipiac University
Justin Elliott / Salon:
Sarah Palin's bizarre view of the First Amendment — Sarah Palin, who has more than once invoked the First Amendment when she or her allies faced criticism, today denounced the Supreme Court's 8-1 ruling allowing the Westboro Baptist Church to protest outside soldiers' funerals with signs reading ""God Hates Fags" and the like.
Discussion:
Weigel
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justices Rule for Protesters at Military Funerals — WASHINGTON — The First Amendment protects hateful protests at military funerals, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in an 8-1 decision. — “Speech is powerful,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the majority.
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
Alito's Empathy. — Earlier today, the Supreme Court ruled that the homophobic Westboro Baptist Church has the First Amendment right to protest military funerals. With their boisterous antics and obscene signs, the Westboro protests offered the kind of free speech case that exemplifies the term “textbook.”
Discussion:
Washington Post, A plain blog about politics, The Raw Story and New York Magazine
Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:
Westboro Baptist Church to ‘Quadruple’ Funeral Protests After Ruling
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Runnin' Scared, CNN, The Daily Caller and HotAirPundit
Adam Serwer / The Plum Line:
No, it's not okay to traffic in pure fiction about Obama's heritage — Ben Smith writes that my criticism of Mike Huckabee is unfair: … Right, but Huckabee didn't “look at his personal education.” Huckabee created an entirely fictional one. It's one thing to tie Obama's politics …
Discussion:
Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Salon and Ben Smith's Blog
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Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Buddy Roemer sees glimmer of White House hope — The GOP's white-bread presidential primary is about to get a dash of Tabasco. — Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer will announce Thursday in Baton Rouge that he is forming an exploratory committee, he told POLITICO.
Discussion:
Salon, Weigel, CNN, New York Magazine, Gawker and Outside the Beltway
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Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:
Fox News pulls Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum off the air because of their interest in running for president — Fox News suspends the contracts of political contributors Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum because both have demonstrated that they are seriously considering running for president.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Cubachi, Media Decoder, New York Times, The Caucus, Taylor Marsh, Right Wing Watch, USA Today, The Note, Liberty Pundits Blog, Washington Monthly, The Hill, Swampland, The Moderate Voice, Taegan Goddard's …, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Political Insider, Joe. My. God., National Review, Riehl World View and Connecting.the.Dots, more at Mediagazer »
Reid Wilson / Hotline On Call:
Former Louisiana Governor To Announce White House Bid
Discussion:
Reuters, The Lonely Conservative, Politics Daily, The Daily Caller, The Page and The Caucus
Derrick DePledge / Honolulu Star-Advertiser:
AKAKA WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2012 — U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka announced today that he will not run for re-election in 2012. — Akaka, 86, has served in the Senate since 1990. He previously served 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. — “After months of thinking …
Discussion:
Roll Call, The Political Carnival and National Review
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Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Oh my: Sen. Daniel Akaka won't run for reelection in 2012
Discussion:
Fire Andrea Mitchell!
David Catanese / The Politico:
Akaka retiring — Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka announced late Wednesday …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Hotline On Call and Joe. My. God.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Breaking: Wisconsin Dems throw their weight behind drive to recall GOP Senators — The Wisconsin Democratic Party has decided to throw its weight behind a nascent grassroots drive to recall a number of GOP state senators, a move that will considerably increase the pressure on them to break …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Firedoglake, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Daily Kos and The Maddow Blog
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Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: Wisconsin Voters Launch Recall Campaign Against Eight GOP State Senators
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Wisconsin Democrats Launch Recall Effort Against GOP Senators
Discussion:
FrumForum and AMERICAblog News
ABCNEWS:
U.S. Troops Attacked at Frankfurt Airport — Obama Says U.S. Will Spare No Efforts in Investigating Killings — A gunman shouting “Allahu Akbar” opened fire on a bus carrying U.S. airmen in Frankfurt, Germany, killing two and wounding two others before his gun jammed and he was subdued, officials said.
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Matt Negrin / The Politico:
Inquiry promised on airmen attack
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Fox Nation and The Gateway Pundit
Shariah 4 America:
The Islamic Demolition of the Statue of Liberty — One of the founding principles of the Islamic constitution is to ensure that all sovereignty and supremacy belongs solely to God; the Shari'ah is a practical manifestation of this sovereignty and supremacy because it seeks to establish His command in society.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media and Moonbattery
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Jon Bershad / Mediaite:
No, Fox News Did Not Lie With “Wisconsin Palm Tree” Violent Protest Video — The Internet is abuzz this morning with a story that Fox News has “lied” in showing a video of an angry union protester from California while claiming its from Wisconsin. The “Palm Tree lie” (described …
Discussion:
FOK News Channel, The Raw Story, The UpTake, Washington Monthly and TPMDC
msnbc.com:
Manning faces new charges, possible death penalty — ‘Aiding the enemy’ is most serious of 22 new counts filed against private in WikiLeaks case — Below: — WASHINGTON — Following an intensive seven-month investigation, the Army on Wednesday filed 22 additional charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Nation, Threat Level, BBC, USA Today, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Guardian, TalkLeft, The Law Office …, AOL News, Gawker and Truthdig, more at Techmeme »
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Just Balancing The Budget — In Ohio's legislation to curtail public sector union collective bargaining rights - just passed by the Senate - the following passage exists: … So a blanket and total ban on any form of legal protections for gay couples, including any semblance …
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New York Times:
Nine Afghan Boys Collecting Firewood Killed by NATO Helicopters — KABUL, Afghanistan — Nine boys collecting firewood to heat their homes in the eastern Afghanistan mountains were killed by NATO helicopter gunners who mistook them for insurgents, according to a statement on Wednesday by NATO, which apologized for the mistake.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, New York Magazine, The Nation, The Daily Dish, New Atlanticist and News Desk
620WTMJ:
Capitol Chaos: Resolution Passed To Fine ‘Wisconsin 14’ — MADISON - The 14 Wisconsin state Senate Democrats who left the state two weeks ago will now face fines of $100 for each day they miss, if they miss two or more days. — Republicans remaining in the Senate approved the daily fine …
Discussion:
The Hill, Cubachi, Riehl World View, UrbanGrounds, Weasel Zippers, Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, Liberty Pundits Blog and Fire Andrea Mitchell!
iowahawk:
Longhorns 17, Badgers 1 — Please pardon this brief departure from my normal folderol, but every so often a member of the chattering class issues a nugget of stupidity so egregious that no amount of mockery will suffice. Particularly when the issuer of said stupidity holds a Nobel Prize.
Discussion:
ECHIDNE of the snakes, Patterico's Pontifications and Hit & Run
Farhad Manjoo / Slate:
The tedious, annoying complaints of public radio listeners. — On Valentine's Day, NPR's All Things Considered ran a two-and-a-half-minute segment about Justin Bieber fans gone wild. When the teen star lost at the Grammys to Esperanza Spalding, a few of Bieber's aggrieved minions defaced …
Joe Sudbay / AMERICAblog Gay:
Raging question in Annapolis: What happened to Sam Arora's support for marriage? — NOTE FROM JOHN: Please take action via the contact info we post below. This man is on the verge of killing marriage in Maryland. — Last year, when Sam Arora was a candidate for delegate in Maryland, he wanted the endorsement of Equality Maryland.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Paul Ryan: Romneycare ‘Not that Dissimilar to Obamacare’ — Budget chairman and GOP star talks 2012. — This morning at a breakfast meeting sponsored by the American Spectator, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan talked about what he's looking for in a Republican presidential candidate …
Discussion:
The Politico, The Lonely Conservative and FrumForum
Kenneth T. Walsh / US News:
Obama Says Race a Key Component in Tea Party Protests — In a new book, President Obama talks candidly about race and the presidency — Backlash. There were many effects stemming from Obama's presidency, both those that were expected and those that were not.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, JammieWearingFool and The Gateway Pundit
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
Bachmann: Let there be (incandescent) light — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) this week introduced legislation that would eliminate federal light bulb standards passed in 2007 that are expected to have the effect of phasing out some incandescent bulbs in the next few years.
Bibi van der Zee / Guardian:
Climate Camp disbanded — Climate activists decide to end annual camp and focus on tackling broader ecological, social and economic issues — After five years of camps, composting toilets, vegan curry and run-ins with the police, Climate Camp is calling it a day.
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool and Tim Blair
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