Top Items:
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
The Newt Gingrich campaign implosion — Newt Gingrich's top staff quit en masse Thursday, throwing into question whether his already troubled presidential campaign can continue. — Two sources close to the situation confirmed that campaign manager Rob Johnson, strategists Sam Dawson and Dave Carney …
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Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Gingrich presidential campaign implodes — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign imploded Thursday afternoon with his entire senior staff resigning en masse, according to multiple sources familiar with the moves. — “When the campaign and the candidate disagree on the path …
Discussion:
GOP 12, Democratic Strategist, Politics, Trail Blazers Blog, Towleroad News #gay, Dependable Renegade, AmSpecBlog and FrumForum
Jennifer Jacobs / Iowa Caucuses:
Gingrich's entire paid Iowa campaign team resigns — Newt Gingrich's entire team of paid Iowa campaign staff, as well as his national spokesman and senior aides in New Hampshire and South Carolina, have resigned en masse, a staffer told The Des Moines Register.
Associated Press:
Gingrich aides resign; campaign in question — WASHINGTON (AP)— Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich's campaign manager, senior strategists and key aides in early delegate-selection states all resigned on Thursday, a mass exodus that leaves his hopes of winning the Republican nomination in tatters.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars, Michelle Malkin, Guardian, REPUBLICAN REDEFINED, Weasel Zippers and Sky Dancing
Sabato's Crystal Ball:
Gop 2012 Update: The Big Tease — Larry J. Sabato and Kyle Kondik, U. Va. Center for Politics — Rarely if ever has one of the two major parties been so confounded by dissatisfaction with its presidential field and the refusal by the base's and establishment's preferred choices to run.
Discussion:
Sense of Events
Jgalloway / Political Insider:
His staff resigns en masse, but Newt Gingrich says campaign ‘begins anew Sunday’ — Newt Gingrich's Republican presidential run was supposed to reach back to his Georgia roots, with a campaign run out of Buckhead. — He has never stepped foot in his Atlanta office - and now may never do so.
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, Weigel and iOwnTheWorld.com
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Newt's staff joins the literati's minions — Shortly after disgraced former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) launched his farcical presidential campaign, the candidate said reporters just didn't understand his genius. Gingrich boasted that presidential campaigns as extraordinary as his are only seen …
Discussion:
MyFox Atlanta
New York Post:
Weiner says he has no plans to resign following sexting scandal — A defiant Rep. Anthony Weiner said today that he's not resigning. — In an exclusive interview with The Post, Weiner, 46, said the sexting scandal that has plagued him for the past week is not reason enough to give up his House seat.
Discussion:
Room Eight, Ben Smith's Blog, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, Politics, Gothamist, Mediaite, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, TPMDC, Pajamas Media, National Review and Fox Nation
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Patterico's Pontifications:
Evidence That Weiner Was Talking Dirty to Underage Girls? Part 2 — Here at patterico.com we have been covering the Weiner scandal from Day 1. In covering that story, we soon realized that one of the most disturbing aspects of the story was the possibility that Congressman Weiner had engaged in communications with underaged girls.
Discussion:
Verum Serum, The Raw Story and National Review
Raymond Hernandez / New York Times:
House Democrats Step Up Calls for Weiner to Quit
House Democrats Step Up Calls for Weiner to Quit
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, Roll Call and Washington Post
Emily Goodin / The Hill:
Lawmaker tweeting falls in week after Rep. Weiner's troubles
Lawmaker tweeting falls in week after Rep. Weiner's troubles
Discussion:
Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, newsfeed.time.com and Gawker
Bloomberg:
Obama Team Eyes Payroll Tax Break for Employers — President Barack Obama's advisers have discussed seeking a temporary cut in the payroll taxes businesses pay on wages as they debate ways to spur hiring amid signs that the recovery is slowing, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Free exchange:
Feeling confident?
Feeling confident?
Discussion:
Rortybomb, Hullabaloo, Paul Krugman, FrumForum, Grasping Reality …, Hot Air and Firedoglake
First Read / msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: Five reasons to take Bachmann seriously
First Thoughts: Five reasons to take Bachmann seriously
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Ballot Box, Pajamas Media, Democratic Strategist, Swampland and Associated Press
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
It's not just what gets cut, it's when
It's not just what gets cut, it's when
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, New York Times and Balloon Juice
E. J. Montini / Arizona Republic:
Gabrielle Giffords' staffer talks about congresswoman's health — Pia Carusone knew the day would come when the questions about her boss, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, would become more indelicate. — After answering some of those questions, Carusone, Giffords' chief of staff, told me …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Politico, News Desk, Taegan Goddard's … and Los Angeles Times
Derek Willis / The Caucus:
Help Us Review the Sarah Palin E-Mail Records — On Friday, the State of Alaska will release more than 24,000 of Sarah Palin's e-mails covering much of her tenure as governor of Alaska. Times reporters will be in Juneau, the state capital, to begin the process of reviewing the e-mails …
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Alec Baldwin / The Huffington Post:
Anthony Weiner Is a Modern Human Being — My friend Morgan Rank owned an art gallery in East Hampton several years ago. He moved to Italy, living in the quiet countryside there for nearly a decade. We had lost touch and then, at an art event in New York, someone approached me and said, “Morgan is back.”
Discussion:
FishbowlDC, The Daily Caller, Shakesville and New York Magazine
Darren Samuelsohn / The Politico:
Mitt Romney: No apologies on climate change stance — Mitt Romney won't be doing any apology tours on climate change. — The early GOP presidential front-runner has broken with his party's conservative ranks to declare global warming a real threat to the planet that merits some sort of action to curb heat-trapping emissions.
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Darren Samuelsohn / The Politico:
Rick Santorum: Climate change is ‘junk science’
Rick Santorum: Climate change is ‘junk science’
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
Ta-Nehisi Coates / New York Times:
You Left Out the Part About ... Last weekend, like seemingly half the country, I took my son to see “X-Men: First Class,” the latest, and best, big-screen incarnation of the popular comic book franchise. — My son and I represent two generations of X-fans.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and The Maddow Blog
Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Ex-NSA manager has reportedly twice rejected plea bargains in Espionage Act case — Thomas A. Drake, the former National Security Agency manager who is facing trial on Espionage Act charges in what appears to be a greatly weakened government case, has refused twice to accept the government's offers …
Discussion:
Emptywheel, News Desk and Secrecy News
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Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:
Case against ex-NSA manager accused of mishandling classified files narrows
Case against ex-NSA manager accused of mishandling classified files narrows
Discussion:
News Desk, The BLT and Emptywheel
Larry P. Vellequette / Toledo Blade:
Noted during Obama visit, Chet's restaurant to close — Facebook Twitter Reddit Digg E-mail Print Rss — A small north Toledo eatery whose origins date back to 1923 will close Sunday, just days after being feted in a speech to Chrysler workers by President Obama.
Discussion:
CBS News and JammieWearingFool
Jaya Narain / Daily Mail:
The ultimate NHS indignity: Body of hospital patient left to die in corridor is ignored for hours... before staff simply drag him away — ‘He went to them for help and they left him out in the corridor to die’, says Peter Thompson's daughter — Nurses casually stepped over a patient as he lay dying on a hospital floor.
Discussion:
Moonbattery and International Liberty
Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:
Paul Ryan Calls For The U.S. To Default On Its Obligations — House Republicans have been playing games with the nation's debt ceiling for months, threatening to not raise it — and thus invite all of the adverse economic consequences that would follow — unless they receive various concessions …
Discussion:
marketplace.publicradio.org, The Hill, Daily Kos and Washington Monthly
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Sarah Palin film to get nationwide release — After debuts in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina later this month, the pro-Sarah Palin film “The Undefeated” is headed for nationwide release. — But first it will need to be scaled back: the current version contains so much profanity …
Discussion:
Conservatives4Palin
Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
David Axelrod Tells Tim Pawlenty What He Can Google … WASHINGTON — The assumption that President Barack Obama's reelection campaign will be felled by poor economic news is partially premised on the idea that the Republican alternative can offer something both fundamentally different and alluring.
Peggy Gargis / Reuters:
Alabama governor signs nation's toughest immigration law — (Reuters) - Republican Governor Robert Bentley on Thursday signed into law a crackdown on illegal immigration in Alabama that both supporters and critics consider the toughest in the nation. — Under the new measure …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Don Surber, Little Green Footballs and Shakesville
Joanna Molloy / NY Daily News:
Leona Helmsley's pampered Maltese ‘Trouble,’ one of the world's richest dogs, dies at age 12 — Leona Helmsley's pampered pooch “Trouble,” who inherited $12 million from the real estate mogul, has died at the age of 12. — That's 84 in dog years. — Like many Americans …
Discussion:
New York Times, newsfeed.time.com, City Room, Gothamist, Gawker, New York Magazine and Althouse
Justin Wolfers / Freakonomics:
We're Halfway to a Lost Decade — Our current slump began a lot earlier than you think. Which means that we're half way to a lost decade. — Many people date the financial crisis as beginning when Lehman collapsed in September 2008. But the economy was already in recession.
Discussion:
National Review, Free exchange, Felix Salmon, EconLog and Economist's View
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Chris Christie draft stirs in South Carolina — Multiple South Carolina state representatives plan on holding a news conference next week to urge New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to enter the presidential race. — Republican state Rep. Kris Crawford told POLITICO the goal was to entice …