Top Items:
James Fallows / The Atlantic Online:
‘Have You No Sense of Decency?’ The Wm. Cronon Story — BEIJING, China. I don't mean to keep butting in and have just a minute to type this out, but I think it's important to direct attention to a new abuse of power underway in Wisconsin. — William Cronon (right), whom I know very slightly …
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Paul Krugman:
Academic Intimidation — Regular readers may recall my praise for William Cronon's Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West, a great book that had a big influence on my work in economic geography. Cronon has inspired many other people; Josh Marshall was deeply influenced by his environmental history of New England.
Discussion:
Crooked Timber
New York Times:
Allies Are Split on Goal and Exit Strategy in Libya — WASHINGTON — Having largely succeeded in stopping a rout of Libya's rebels, the inchoate coalition attacking Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's forces remains divided over the ultimate goal — and exit strategy — of what officials acknowledged Thursday …
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Josh Rogin / The Cable:
Why Obama's Libya war coalition is the smallest in decades
Why Obama's Libya war coalition is the smallest in decades
Discussion:
Reuters, Mudville Gazette, Big Government, Eunomia, Hot Air and Outside the Beltway
The Hill:
Obama briefs lawmakers on Libya, says mission is going well
Obama briefs lawmakers on Libya, says mission is going well
Discussion:
The Politico, The Note, CNN, Firedoglake and Foreign Policy
Charles Krauthammer / Orange County Register:
The professor's war … President Obama is proud of how he put together …
The professor's war … President Obama is proud of how he put together …
Discussion:
Power Line, Pajamas Media, protein wisdom, Fausta's Blog, Betsy's Page, Nice Deb and Pundit & Pundette
Timothy Egan / Opinionator:
In Defense of ‘Dithering’ — Five years ago a young politician …
In Defense of ‘Dithering’ — Five years ago a young politician …
Discussion:
Opinion L.A. and Front Row Washington
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Huckabee Has Slight Edge, Palin Down, in GOP '12 Preferences — Romney, Palin would tie if Huckabee does not run — PRINCETON, NJ — Mike Huckabee tops a large list of potential GOP presidential candidates in current support for the party's 2012 nomination, with 19% of Republicans saying they are most likely to back him.
Discussion:
Hot Air, USA Today, TPMDC, The Moderate Voice, CNN, Ballot Box, Yglesias, Fox News and HotAirPundit
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Sam Roecker / Iowa Democratic Party:
Grassley on the GOP Field: “Only two or three of them are qualified to be president”
Grassley on the GOP Field: “Only two or three of them are qualified to be president”
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hill, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Beast
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Romney's path: Victory by ‘slog’
Romney's path: Victory by ‘slog’
Discussion:
Hot Air, msnbc.com, The New Republic, Swampland and Ben Smith's Blog
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
Does Pawlenty Have a Sharia Problem? — Pawlenty's effort to expand Muslim homeownership could hurt him in the GOP primary. — Abid Lakhani wanted to buy a home. — Unfortunately, as an observant Muslim, his options were limited. Many Muslims hold that the paying or charging of interest …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Sky Dancing, Weasel Zippers, Swampland, Yglesias and No More Mister Nice Blog
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Pawlenty shut down Islam-friendly mortgage program — Adam Serwer wrote today about a Minnesota program that offered mortgages compliant with Islamic law, structured to avoid interest payments. The program was a response to then-Governor Tim Pawlenty's push to increase minority home-ownership …
JSOnline:
Collective bargaining bill published despite restraining order — By Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel — Madison - A controversial bill limiting collective bargaining for public workers has been officially published despite a temporary restraining order barring its publication.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and FREEDOM EDEN
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David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Wisconsin: Anti-Union Bill Published Despite Restraining Order — Wisconsin's Capitol Dome in Madison (photo: WxMom) — When I first read about this, I actually dismissed it. There was no way that the laws of the state of Wisconsin would be so consistently abrogated in this fashion, I thought.
Gloria Galloway / Globe and Mail:
Harper government falls in historic Commons showdown — The second minority government of Stephen Harper has fallen. — Early Friday afternoon, 156 opposition MPs - all of the Liberals, New Democrats and Bloquistes present in the House of Commons - rose to support a motion of no-confidence.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
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Reuters:
Canadian government falls, election set for May
Canadian government falls, election set for May
Discussion:
Yglesias, Globe and Mail, FP Passport and Gawker
Jeremy W. Peters / Media Decoder:
Bob Herbert to Leave The Times — Bob Herbert, a columnist for The New York Times Op-Ed page, is leaving the paper after nearly 20 years. — Mr. Herbert's resignation was announced in a memo to Times staff members on Friday. His last column will appear in the paper on Saturday.
Discussion:
Runnin' Scared, Poynter, Shakesville and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »
CNN:
Energized Muslim Brotherhood in Libya eyes a prize — (CNN) — Dr. Abdulmonem Hresha knows first hand how Moammar Gadhafi's regime works. He says the seeds of his opposition were sown when he was age 10. — He and classmates were taken to witness the public execution of a political opponent of Gadhafi.
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Wall Street Journal:
The Speech Obama Hasn't Given
The Speech Obama Hasn't Given
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Pajamas Media, Don Surber and Betsy's Page
Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:
Woops, Newt Did It Again: Trying To Defend Libya Flip-Flop, Gingrich Reverses Himself On Air Power — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went on Fox News last night to “attempt[] to clarify [his] stance on Libya,” as Fox itself put it, but only ran into more trouble.
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Benjy Sarlin / TPMDC:
Newt Gingrich's Libya Shift, Issue by Issue
Newt Gingrich's Libya Shift, Issue by Issue
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Daily Dish, Slate and A plain blog about politics
Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
CBO: Taxing mileage a ‘practical option’ for revenue enhancement — The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) this week released a report that said taxing people based on how many miles they drive is a possible option for raising new revenues and that these taxes could be used to offset the costs …
Adam C. Smith / St. Petersburg Times:
Connie Mack will NOT run for U.S. Senate — U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV won't run for U.S. Senate. — “I've got two small children and it's hard enough to get to spend a lot of good quality time now. I have a wife. They are all very important to me and at the end of the day family has to be number one …
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Post, Swing State Project, The Caucus, Ballot Box, Crowley Political Report, CNN, Post on Politics, Hotline On Call and TPMDC
Sarah Palin / Facebook:
Lamestream Media: Reload or White Flag? — “Let's keep pivoting around media bias, and not get distracted with the vulgar personal shots. Call out lies and set the record straight, but always keep the ball moving. No one ever won a game only playing defense.”
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Michigan Drastically Cutting Unemployment Insurance And Fox's Stuart Varney is Simply Giddy Over Real ‘Austerity’ — Michigan voted to extend unemployment initially, but has now become the first state to cut the number of weeks a person can have unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 20 starting in 2012.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, MLive.com and Detroit Free Press
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
QUOTE OF THE DAY.... On Fox News this morning, Bill Hemmer, after some gratuitous shots at President Obama, asked Sen. John McCain about U.S. policy in Libya, most notably who would replace Gadhafi if McCain gets his wish about regime change. … McCain then changed the subject, letting viewers know that the rebels have a website.
Washington Post:
Number of black D.C. residents plummets as majority status slips away — Graphic: View how demographics in your neighborhood have changed over time. — The number of African Americans residing in the District plummeted by more than 11 percent during the past decade, with blacks on the verge …
Discussion:
National Review, The Atlantic Online, Yglesias, Weigel and Political Insider
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
The Austerity Delusion — Portugal's government has just fallen in a dispute over austerity proposals. Irish bond yields have topped 10 percent for the first time. And the British government has just marked its economic forecast down and its deficit forecast up. — What do these events have in common?
Discussion:
Clusterstock, Prairie Weather and Sky Dancing
New York Times:
F.B.I. Memorandum — Below is the text of an unsigned, internal F.B.I. memorandum, obtained by The New York Times, that provides guidance to agents about when, in the course of interrogating a terrorism suspect, they should advise the suspect of his so-called Miranda rights to remain silent …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Lawfare, The Volokh Conspiracy, TalkLeft and Wall Street Journal
The Note:
Haley Barbour On Global Warming: ‘We Should Proceed’ As If It ‘Is Actually Happening’ — ABC News' Michael Falcone reports: — CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Potential presidential candidate Haley Barbour appears to be staking out a moderate position on global warming than some of his possible rivals …
Byron Tau / Ben Smith's Blog:
Florida looks to curtail union dues — The latest in the public sector union fight, this time in Florida: — After a largely party-line vote, the Florida House delivered a major blow to public employee unions, approving a bill that would ban automatic dues deduction and require members …
Discussion:
RedState
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Arizona Sheriff Arpaio and Steven Seagal send in the tanks to bust up chickens — America has gone crazy! Well, Arizona certainly leads the way to bizzaro land with the actions of Sheriff Joe Arpaio. And is there such a thing as Action Star Steven Seagal anymore?
Discussion:
Mediaite and The Impolitic