Top Items:
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:
Cubachi, Media Decoder, New York Times, msnbc.com, The Note, Taylor Marsh, The Caucus, USA Today, Washington Monthly, The Hill, Right Wing Watch, Swampland, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, CNN, Liberty Pundits Blog, Political Insider, Taegan Goddard's …, Connecting.the.Dots, Joe. My. God., National Review and Riehl World View, more at Mediagazer »
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Reid Wilson / Hotline On Call:
Former Louisiana Governor To Announce White House Bid — Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer (R) will announce Thursday he will explore a bid for president, according to a top Republican source. — Roemer is already scheduled to head to Waukee, Iowa, for a forum hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition on Monday.
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Reuters, The Daily Caller, The Page and The Caucus
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:
CNN, GOP 12, New York Magazine, Gawker and Outside the Beltway
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Fox News suspends Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum — Fox News has suspended contributors Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum effective immediately until they decide whether to run for president. — Anchor Bret Baier announced on air late Wednesday morning that the network “has suspended …
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama strong in Virginia
Obama strong in Virginia
Discussion:
GOP 12, Donklephant and The Daily Dish
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, FrumForum and The Caucus
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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 …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Hot Air, American Power and naked capitalism
Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
NBC/WSJ poll: 62% against stripping public employees' bargaining rights
NBC/WSJ poll: 62% against stripping public employees' bargaining rights
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Quinnipiac University and Daily Kos
Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:
WSJ/NBC Poll: Hands Off Medicare, Social Security
WSJ/NBC Poll: Hands Off Medicare, Social Security
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
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.
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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:
The Daily Caller
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
Alito's Empathy. — Earlier today, the Supreme Court ruled …
Alito's Empathy. — Earlier today, the Supreme Court ruled …
Discussion:
Washington Post, A plain blog about politics, The Raw Story and New York Magazine
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:
Salon, Ben Smith's Blog and Colorlines
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Kyle / Right Wing Watch:
Huckabee And Fischer Agree That Obama's Childhood Instilled “Fundamentally Anti-American Ideas” In Him
Huckabee And Fischer Agree That Obama's Childhood Instilled “Fundamentally Anti-American Ideas” In Him
Joe Klein / Swampland:
Huck Fink — As Jay Newton-Small and Amy Sullivan reported yesterday …
Huck Fink — As Jay Newton-Small and Amy Sullivan reported yesterday …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Mark Kleiman / The Reality-Based Community:
Mike Huckabee and the Balinese Mau Mau
Mike Huckabee and the Balinese Mau Mau
Discussion:
Yglesias, Huck PAC, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Fact Checker and Grasping Reality …
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:
The Huffington Post, AMERICAblog News, Firedoglake, Hot Air, Daily Kos, The Maddow Blog, Weasel Zippers and FrumForum
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Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
BREAKING: Wisconsin Voters Launch Recall Campaign Against Eight GOP State Senators — Last month, ThinkProgress reported that Wisconsin law allows any elected official who has served at least one year of their current term to be recalled from office. Today, a group of Wisconsin voters took …
Discussion:
The Political Carnival and AMERICAblog News
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, Hotline On Call, Hot Air, The Political Carnival and Taegan Goddard's …
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ABCNEWS:
Gunman Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ Kills 2 US Airmen in Germany — 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.
Discussion:
Guardian, Gates of Vienna, Atlas Shrugs, iOwnTheWorld.com, Jihad Watch, The Lonely Conservative, Wizbang, theblogprof and American Power
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Jonathan Strong / The Daily Caller:
Congressional bosses from Hell: Sheila Jackson Lee — A lot of politicians give nicknames to their aides. George W. Bush famously referred to his attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez, as “Fredo.” Mitch Daniels, then head of the Office of Management and Budget, was known as “The Blade.”
Discussion:
YID With LID, AOL News, The Lonely Conservative, Wonkette, Weasel Zippers, Moe Lane, Michelle Malkin, Betsy's Page and The Other McCain
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, TPMDC, Washington Monthly and The UpTake
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:
Cubachi, The Hill, Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, Riehl World View, Weasel Zippers, UrbanGrounds, Liberty Pundits Blog and Fire Andrea Mitchell!
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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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Conceding defeat this time, Senate Dems pledge to win next round — Senate Democrats conceded Tuesday that House Republicans won round one of the budget fight, but they are vowing a bigger battle later this month. — Anticipating that showdown, Senate Democratic leaders are scrambling …
Discussion:
2chambers, CNN, Don Surber, Right Turn, Firedoglake, Right Wing News, Daily Kos, Heritage Action for America, Online NewsHour, ThinkProgress, Wonkette and FrumForum
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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:
Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media and Moonbattery
Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
Lt. Gen. John Kelly, who lost son to war, says U.S. largely unaware of sacrifice — Before he addressed the crowd that had assembled in the St. Louis Hyatt Regency ballroom last November, Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly had one request. “Please don't mention my son,” he asked the Marine Corps officer introducing him.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, ABCNEWS, Achenblog, democracyarsenal.org, PostPartisan, The Enterprise Blog, National Review and Pajamas Media
Ruth Marcus / Washington Post:
Obama's 'Where's Waldo?' presidency — For a man who won office talking about change we can believe in, Barack Obama can be a strangely passive president. There are a startling number of occasions in which the president has been missing in action - unwilling, reluctant or late to weigh in on the issue of the moment.
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:
TalkLeft, BBC, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Guardian, USA Today, AOL News and Truthdig, more at Techmeme »
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 …
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Waste, Fraud, and Sen. Coburn — I'll get back to highlighting a few of the results from the GAO's report on streamlining government later today, but first I want to highlight this nugget from Reuters columnist James Pethokoukis: … Let's settle down a bit here.
Discussion:
James Pethokoukis, A plain blog about politics, Ezra Klein and U.S. Government …
New York Times:
Petraeus Apologizes for Deaths of 9 Afghan Boys — 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, The Daily Dish, The Nation, News Desk and New Atlanticist
Digby / Hullabaloo:
They Know Their Audience — ... isn't that bright. — What's wrong with this picture? — If you guessed the snowless ground and palm trees in Wisconsin you win a big prize. Your sanity. — h/t to @JoshuaHolland — .
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, pandagon.net, The Mahablog and Weigel
Abe Sauer / The Awl:
In Madison: Scott Walker Packed His Budget Address With Ringers — Wisconsin governor Scott Walker's budget address was delivered beneath a dead and stuffed eagle. His address made commitments to a better educated Wisconsin, even while offering almost guaranteed decreased funding of the state's schools.
Discussion:
Isthmus, WISC-TV, Focal Point, Shakesville, Firedoglake, Boing Boing and Hullabaloo