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Trump Not Running for President: ‘Decision Does Not Come Easily Or Without Regret’ — ABC News' Michael Falcone, Jennifer Wlach, Sara Just and Devin Dwyer report: — After a roller-coaster flirtation with a presidential bid, Donald Trump bowed out of the 2012 contest in true Trump fashion on Monday …
Discussion:
The Caucus, Speakeasy, msnbc.com, The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Donklephant, TPMDC, Crooks and Liars, Wonkette, Runnin' Scared, Balkinization, Taylor Marsh, Jack & Jill Politics, CNN, Salon, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, Verum Serum, Washington Monthly, Politics, The Daily Caller, HotAirPundit, The Gateway Pundit, GOP 12, FrumForum, The Atlantic Wire, The Democratic Daily, Michelle Malkin, Gawker, The Lonely Conservative, Left Coast Rebel and The Page
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What Trump can teach the GOP field — Wealthy businessman Donald Trump's Icarus-like rise and fall in the 2012 presidential race is likely to wind up as no more than a footnote in the story of this election. — But, that doesn't mean the Trump saga — and, it was a saga …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Moderate Voice and Dean's World

Why Trump Wimped Out — Per ABC News, Donald Trump has just put out a statement announcing he will not run for president. At this point, the news is hardly shocking. It's hard to recall anyone in the recent history of American politics who managed to humiliate himself as quickly …
Discussion:
The Reaction, ABCNEWS, Washington Post and Show Tracker


The Donald ducks
Discussion:
The Reality-Based Community, Philly.com, CNN and Daily Kos

FULL TEXT: Donald Trump Releases Statement Saying He Will Not Run for President
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, The Superficial, Don Surber and Mediaite

Donald Trump: I'm fired
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Media Decoder and The Nation

French Shocked by I.M.F. Chief's ‘Perp Walk’ — As our colleagues Steven Erlanger and Katrin Bennhold report, “The arrest in New York of one of France's leading global figures and a possible next president, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, on charges of attempted rape produced an earthquake of shock …
Discussion:
Crooked Timber and Philly.com
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Judge Denies Bail to I.M.F. Chief in Sexual Assault Case — Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the leader of the International Monetary Fund, was ordered on Monday to be held without bail over allegations that he had sexually assaulted a maid in a $3,000-a-night suite at a Midtown hotel.


IMF chief to remain jailed, defense says alleged sex assault ‘not consistent with a forcible encounter’
Discussion:
Law Blog, Above the Law, ProPublica, Gothamist and EconomicPolicyJournal.com

IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn Charged With Rape, Sexual Abuse, Unlawful Imprisonment
Discussion:
RedState, Mediaite, TVNewser, The Gateway Pundit, FrumForum, Capital Tonight, The Other McCain, New York Times and Guardian

Filing Details Alleged Attack By IMF Chief
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Reuters, Pajamas Media, Guardian, Patterico's Pontifications and New York Times

GOP Rep. Ryan swipes at Gingrich: ‘With allies like that, who needs the left?’ — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) took a swipe Monday at Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich after the former House Speaker criticized hiss proposed Medicare reforms. — “With allies like that, who needs the left?”
Discussion:
Mother Jones, TPMDC, Ballot Box, The Politico, The Reaction, Conservatives4Palin, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Healthwatch, Crooks and Liars, theblogprof, CNN, Gawker, The Gateway Pundit, New York Times, Weasel Zippers, Sister Toldjah, Talking Points Memo, Verum Serum, Swampland, The Note, Hot Air, Pirate's Cove, The Daily Caller, Weekly Standard, National Review, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and FrumForum
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Ryan telling GOPers he's unlikely to run — Rep. Paul Ryan is reaching out to potential Senate candidates in Wisconsin, informing them he's unlikely to run for Herb Kohl's seat next year, according to two sources familiar with the conversations. — The House Budget Committee chairman …
Discussion:
National Review, Hot Air and The Raw Story

Ryan Defends Medicare Privatization As Strengthening ‘Welfare For Those Who Need It’
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, DownWithTyranny!, The Monkey Cage, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Salon, Outside the Beltway, Blue Mass Group, Washington Monthly and msnbc.com

Scott Brown: ‘Thank God’ Paul Ryan Laid Down Medicare Privatizing Budget (VIDEO)
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Hill, The Democratic Daily, Blue Mass Group, Wonk Room, Balloon Juice and Talking Points Memo

In for Nasty Weather — Maybe it's because tenured professors are so disproportionately white male baby boomers that classic rock seems like a natural way to capture the sense that tenured faculty existence is vanishing. — First, summon the image of a tweed-clad, gray-haired professor exiting …

Romney: One-day money haul brings in over $10 million — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) announced a one-day haul of over $10 million to support his presidential campaign. — Romney's team said the former governor had brought in $10.25 million in a daylong event …
Discussion:
The Note, The Politico and Wonkette
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In effort to let money show his might, Team Romney raises $10.25 million in a single day
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Daily Caller and Pundit Press


Obama's Post-Bin Laden Bounce Disappears In Gallup Poll — The bump President Obama received after the killing of Osama bin Laden more than two weeks ago in Pakistan has vanished completely, according to the latest Gallup Tracking poll released Monday. — At National Journal:
Discussion:
Runnin' Scared, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications and HotAirPundit
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Why do one-in-five American voters now believe Osama bin Laden is still alive?
Discussion:
The TrogloPundit, The Daily Caller and Right Wing News

Tea Party Express backs Jane Corwin in 26th District — GREECE — Members of the national Tea Party Express visited the Rochester area this morning to publicly throw their support behind Republican Assemblywoman Jane Corwin's bid for Congress and to excoriate her opponent Jack Davis for co-opting the “Tea Party” moniker as his own.
Discussion:
Ballot Box and The Lonely Conservative
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New York 26: Move to Toss-Up/Tilt Democratic
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative


OOPS! Historic ‘Spending Cut’ Bill Increased Spending By $3 Billion — Republicans stormed Capitol Hill in January vowing to slash discretionary spending by $100 billion right off the bat. In their pledge to America, they promised that, “[w]ith common-sense exceptions for seniors …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, AMERICAblog News and Talking Points Memo

Stephen Hawking: 'There is no heaven; it's a fairy story' — In an exclusive interview with the Guardian, the cosmologist shares his thoughts on death, M-theory, human purpose and our chance existence — A belief that heaven or an afterlife awaits us is a “fairy story” for people afraid of death, Stephen Hawking has said.
Discussion:
newsfeed.time.com, Boing Boing, Outside the Beltway, Althouse, The Huffington Post, theblogprof and TMZ.com, more at Mediagazer »


Dems' thuggery knows no bounds — Orrin Hatch, the senior senator from Utah, didn't mince words the other day on Hugh Hewitt's national radio show. The Democrats, he said, “play politics very, very tough, they play it well, and they don't give a damn about what's right and what's wrong.”
Discussion:
National Review

New York Investigates Banks' Role in Fiscal Crisis — Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, has requested information and documents in recent weeks from three major Wall Street banks about their mortgage securities operations during the credit boom, indicating the existence …
Discussion:
naked capitalism

Exclusive: Private letter from CIA chief undercuts claim torture was key to killing Bin Laden — CIA chief Leon Panetta has written a private letter to Senator John McCain that offers the most detailed answer yet to questions about the relationship between torture and Osama Bin Laden's death …


Irony Meter Explodes As Jewish Voice For Peace et al. Stage Al-Nakba Day Protest Against The Museum of Tolerance — Sunday was Al-Nakba ("The Catastrophe") Day, and it's not just Arabs who are upset. Al-Nakba Day commemorates the defeat of the Arab armies in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence …
Discussion:
THE ASTUTE BLOGGER

Justices Allow Search if Police Hear Evidence Being Destroyed — WASHINGTON — The police do not need a warrant to enter a home if they smell burning marijuana, knock loudly, announce themselves and hear what they think is the sound of evidence being destroyed, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday in an 8-to-1 decision.
Discussion:
LewRockwell.com Blog, The Agitator and Prairie Weather