Top Items:
Raymond Hernandez / New York Times:
Weiner Tells Friends He Will Step Down — WASHINGTON — Representative Anthony D. Weiner has told friends that he plans to resign his seat after coming under growing pressure from his Democratic colleagues to leave the House in the wake of revelations of his lewd online exchanges with women, said a person told of Mr. Weiner's plans.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, Guardian, Washington Post, Little Green Footballs, Outside the Beltway, Don Surber, The Jawa Report, Wake up America, Shakesville, The Moderate Voice, Runnin' Scared, The Other McCain, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Hollywood Life, Talking Points Memo, Fox Nation, The Gateway Pundit, Indecision Forever, Gothamist, Gawker, Above the Law, Ben Smith's Blog, Fausta's Blog, News Desk, Althouse, Capital Tonight, Capitol Confidential, The Maddow Blog, Ricochet Conversation Feed, Lawyers, Guns & Money and FrumForum
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Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Anthony Weiner to resign — Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) will resign from his seat in Congress, heeding calls from President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and dozens of other congressional Democrats, sources confirm to POLITICO.
Dana Bash / CNN:
Weiner to resign after ‘sexting’ scandal, source says — Washington (CNN) — Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York will heed calls from across the political spectrum and resign over a “sexting” scandal that he lied about before admitting his involvement, a Democratic source with knowledge of the congressman's plans said Thursday.
Discussion:
The 1600 Report, Moe Lane, Roland S. Martin Blog and Hollywood Life
Rachel Rose Hartman / Yahoo! News:
Rep. Anthony Weiner stepping down — Rep. Anthony Weiner plans to announce at a 2 p.m. press conference in Brooklyn, N.Y. Thursday that he has made the decision to resign from Congress amid a growing scandal over his lewd online communications. — News broke this morning that the New York Democrat …
Discussion:
Washington Post, AmSpecBlog, Patterico's Pontifications, Dependable Renegade and The Awl
Publius / Big Government:
Rep. Weiner to Resign
Rep. Weiner to Resign
Discussion:
his vorpal sword, Breitbart.tv, The Huffington Post, New York Times and NewsBusters.org blogs
First Read / msnbc.com:
Rep. Weiner plans to resign Thursday
Rep. Weiner plans to resign Thursday
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and The Daily Caller
James Risen / New York Times:
Ex-Spy Alleges Bush White House Sought to Discredit Critic — WASHINGTON — A former senior C.I.A. official says that officials in the Bush White House sought damaging personal information on a prominent American critic of the Iraq war in order to discredit him.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Outside the Beltway, The Raw Story, The Washington Note, Emptywheel, Crooks and Liars, Danger Room, AMERICAblog News, Oliver Willis, The Washington Independent, Mondoweiss, Gawker, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Agonist, Balloon Juice and Daniel W. Drezner
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Juan / Informed Comment:
Ret'd. CIA Official Alleges Bush White House Used Agency to “Get” Cole — Eminent National Security correspondent at the New York Times James Risen has been told by a retired former official of the Central Intelligence Agency that the Bush White House repeatedly asked the CIA to spy …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and The Daily Dish
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
CIA vet: Bush White House targeted blogging critic — It's sometimes easy to forget, but for eight years, the Bush White House offered a remarkable combination of corruption, incompetence, mismanagement, and moral “flexibility.” Serious scandals — the kind that would rock …
Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Romney: 'I'm Also Unemployed' — TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney sat at the head of the table at a coffee shop here on Thursday, listening to a group of unemployed Floridians explain the challenges of looking for work. When they finished, he weighed in with a predicament of his own.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, GOP 12, Shakesville and Dependable Renegade
RELATED:
Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Pawlenty Bets That His Debate Performance Fades
Pawlenty Bets That His Debate Performance Fades
Discussion:
msnbc.com, The Politico, The Blotter and The Maddow Blog
Niall Stanage / Ballot Box:
‘Wimp factor’ could pose threat to some 2012 GOP contenders
‘Wimp factor’ could pose threat to some 2012 GOP contenders
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Swampland, The Politico, Booman Tribune and Prairie Weather
E.J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
After GOP debate, feeling nostalgic for George W. Bush
After GOP debate, feeling nostalgic for George W. Bush
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune and JammieWearingFool
Julie Bosman / Media Decoder:
Bachmann Said To Have Deal For Memoir — Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has made a deal to publish her memoir, selling a book to Sentinel, a conservative imprint at Penguin Group USA, two people familiar with the negotiations said on Thursday.
Discussion:
Ballot Box, USA Today, Mediaite, GOP 12, TPMDC and The Politico
BBC:
Ayman al-Zawahiri appointed as al-Qaeda leader — Zawahiri warned a week ago that Bin Laden would continue to “terrify” the US from beyond the grave — Al-Qaeda has appointed Ayman al-Zawahiri as leader following the death of Osama Bin Laden, the organisation's general command says in a statement.
Discussion:
The Page, National Review and Truthdig
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David Jolly / New York Times:
Bin Laden's No. 2, Zawahri, Takes Control of Al Qaeda
Bin Laden's No. 2, Zawahri, Takes Control of Al Qaeda
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, TalkLeft, Washington Post, Reuters and Lawfare
Investor's Business Daily:
Return Of The Dreaded Misery Index — Economy: As if the picture weren't bleak enough, here's one more data point to worry about — the Misery Index is on the rise. — Conceived by economist Arthur Okun in the early 1970s, the Misery Index simply adds together the inflation and unemployment rates …
Discussion:
americanthinker.com
Sajid Farooq / NBC Bay Area:
San Francisco Mulls Goldfish Ban — First kittens, then puppies and hamsters and now goldfish? — San Francisco's Animal Control and Welfare Commission is recommending that the City ban the sale of goldfish, tropical fish and guppies in its borders, according to Matier and Ross.
Discussion:
JONATHAN TURLEY and Don Surber
Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
Our Lefty Military — As we search for paths out of America's economic crisis, many suggest business as a paradigm for cutting costs. According to my back-of-the-envelope math, top C.E.O.'s earn as much as $1 a second around the clock, partly by cutting medical benefits for employees.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, National Review, Verum Serum, normblog and LewRockwell.com Blog
Rasmussen Reports:
Romney, Bachmann, Cain Lead The Pack Among GOP Primary Voters — Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney continues to lead the race for the Republican nomination, but Michele Bachmann has surged into second place following her Monday night entry into the campaign.
Discussion:
GOP 12, No More Mister Nice Blog, Public Policy Polling, Hot Air, Mediaite, Fox News and HotAirPundit
Feifei Sun / The Page:
The Big Questions: Why Bachmann? — Mark Halperin's Big Questions in the new issue of TIME on the rise of the Gentlelady from Minnesota. — Why has Michele Bachmann suddenly become the It candidate? — With her impressive New Hampshire debate performance, Bachmann has gone …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and Shakesville
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Obama's unauthorized war on Libya costs $9,421,000 a day: Are you getting your money's worth? — The Obama administration is spending almost $9.5 million every single day to blow things up in Libya because the president has determined that is in the country's national interest, this country's national interest, not Libya's.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, CNSNews, Political Punch, Wake up America, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers and White House Dossier
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Bob Cusack / The Hill:
Criticizing Obama, Kucinich credits Bush for asking Congress to go to war
Criticizing Obama, Kucinich credits Bush for asking Congress to go to war
Discussion:
FrumForum
Jgalloway / Political Insider:
Your morning jolt: Atlanta office left $13,000 in drawer, says Newt Gingrich — GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich this morning pushed back against his former staff, accusing his Atlanta office of neglecting $13,000 in checks to his campaign. — Gingrich may want to be careful.
Discussion:
GOP 12, FrumForum and Washington Wire
Follow Us!:
Exclusive: Jimmy Henchman Associate Admits to Role in Robbery/Shooting of Tupac; Apologizes To Pac & B.I.G.'s Mothers — (AllHipHop News) A man has admitted to being involved in the attack on rap star Tupac Shakur in 1994, inside Manhattan's Quad Studios in November of 1994 …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Hollywood Life, Paste Magazine, PopEater, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, Rolling Stone, The Informer, Gawker and Gothamist
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
U.S. Satisfaction Dips to 20% in June — Economy continues to be named nation's top problem — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans' satisfaction with the way things are going in the country fell to 20% in early June from 26% at the start of May. Seventy-eight percent of Americans are now dissatisfied …
Discussion:
Mock, Paper, Scissors, National Review and MyDD
David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Some Republican freshmen in Congress hold major debt, disclosure forms show — Members of the firebrand class of Republican freshmen on Capitol Hill — elected on a pledge to attack the U.S. debt problem — have, in some cases, accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in personal debt …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs
The Hill:
GOP skirmishes complicate Boehner's plan on debt-ceiling deal — A series of policy battles that have broken out among House Republicans poses a significant challenge to Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) effort to unify his troops on a bill raising the nation's debt ceiling.
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Czechs withdraw from US missile-defense plans — Count the Czech Republic out of any American missile-defense system in Europe. The Czechs formally withdrew from the missile-defense partnership with the US, prompting one lawmaker in Prague to complain that “the current administration doesn't take the Czech Republic seriously.”
Discussion:
Associated Press and Transterrestrial Musings
Linda Greenhouse / Opinionator:
Activists by Invitation — No one loves an activist judge. We know this because members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are forever denouncing “judicial activism” and warning of its hidden dangers. Last summer, when Sen. Orrin Hatch, Republican of Utah, became the first member …
Investor's Business Daily:
Beatable, And He Knows It — Politics: The president jokes about unemployment and says ATM machines kill jobs. Mean-while, one of his top aides says 2012 voters should avoid “affixing blame.” Sounds to us like someone who knows he's in trouble. — The Republican National Committee …
Discussion:
Political Punch and RedState