Top Items:
Tim Mak / The Politico:
Mark Halperin suspended over Obama remark on Morning Joe (video) — MSNBC senior political analyst Mark Halperin was suspended on Thursday by the cable network after he called President Obama “a dick” on a popular morning show and then quickly apologized. — “I thought he was a dick yesterday …
Discussion:
Althouse, Firedoglake, CNN, Booman Tribune, Hot Air, Hotline On Call, Ben Smith's Blog, RedState, Outside the Beltway, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, FishbowlDC, NewsBusters.org blogs, Scared Monkeys, Pajamas Media, The New Republic, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, Ricochet Conversation Feed, Hold Fast, New York Magazine and Runnin' Scared, more at Mediagazer »
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Mark Halperin and the Quote of the Day — It's hard not to love that “liberal” media. — On MSNBC's “Morning Joe,” the three-hour program co-hosted by a conservative Republican former congressman, Time magazine's Mark Halperin was asked for his assessment of President Obama's White House press conference.
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News and Balloon Juice
msnbc.com:
MSNBC suspends Mark Halperin for Obama comments — Statement from MSNBC: — Mark Halperin's comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the President, The White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air.
Discussion:
The Note, Publius Forum, Washington Post and National Review
Colby Hall / Mediaite:
MSNBC Suspends Mark Halperin For Calling President Obama A ‘Dick’ On Morning Joe — In the event that anyone think that Morning Joe is becoming formulaic and predictable, I present the following clip. While discussing President Obama's press briefing yesterday (in which he showed a feisty …
Discussion:
Politics, NewsBusters.org blogs, PolitickerNY and Gothamist
Jeff Jacoby / Boston Globe:
Marriage cannot be redefined — SAME-SEX wedlock became lawful in New York last week after the state legislature passed a bill recognizing “otherwise- valid marriages without regard to whether the parties are of the same or different sex.’†™ …
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normblog
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Kirk Semple / New York Times:
U.S. Drops Deportation Proceedings Against Immigrant in Same-Sex Marriage — In a decision that could have far-reaching effects on immigration cases involving same-sex couples, federal officials have canceled the deportation of a Venezuelan man in New Jersey who is married to an American man, the couple's lawyer said Wednesday.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Runnin' Scared, Towleroad News #gay, CNN, New York Magazine and Joe. My. God.
Walter Olson / Wall Street Journal:
An Amen for Albany — New York lawmakers drafted appropriate …
An Amen for Albany — New York lawmakers drafted appropriate …
Discussion:
Cato @ Liberty, FrumForum and Overlawyered
Jim Geraghty / National Review:
Obama: Still Getting the Hang of Answering Questions — Has Obama ever given a bravura performance at a press conference? No wonder he goes three months or so without doing them. — Today he mentioned a tax break for corporate jets six times. He didn't mention that he signed legislation preserving …
Discussion:
Betsy's Page, americanthinker.com, Washington Post and Hot Air
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CNN:
Bachmann reveals ‘devastating’ miscarriage — Rock Hill, South Carolina (CNN) - Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann revealed to a town hall audience Wednesday that she once suffered a “devastating” miscarriage. — Bachmann, a congresswoman from Minnesota …
Discussion:
The Note, National Review and TPMDC
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Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Stephen Colbert's running PAC shtick creates sticky mess — Advocates of reducing the power of money in politics thought they had found a champion in the unlikely person of Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert, whose ongoing shtick about forming a political action committee brought more attention …
Discussion:
WDBJ-TV, NationalJournal.com, ThinkProgress and Hit & Run
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Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Stephen Colbert set to testify to FEC on forming his own super PAC
Stephen Colbert set to testify to FEC on forming his own super PAC
Discussion:
Politics and In the Arena
Mark Landler / New York Times:
In Deficit Plan, Taxes Must Rise, President Warns — WASHINGTON — President Obama pressured Republicans on Wednesday to accept higher taxes as part of any plan to pare down the federal deficit, bluntly telling lawmakers that they “need to do their job” and strike a deal before the United States risks defaulting on its debt.
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Fiona Roberts / Daily Mail:
To Catch a Predator host who traps sex perverts in TV stings ‘caught cheating on his wife’... by hidden cameras — He's made his name with a controversial show that catches would-be internet sex perverts in televised stings. — But now Chris Hansen has found himself on the receiving end …
Discussion:
Sky Dancing, The Daily Pulp, Mediaite, NewsBusters.org blogs, Proof Positive, New York Magazine, Gawker, PopEater and The Last Tradition
Village Voice:
Real Men Get Their Facts Straight — “It's between 100,000 and 300,000 child sex slaves in the United States today,” Ashton Kutcher told CNN's Piers Morgan on April 18. That, says Kutcher, is how many kids are lost to prostitution in America every single year.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Valley Fever, The Daily Pulp, MyFox Phoenix, The Snitch and The Blotter
Ben Birnbaum / Washington Times:
Clinton: U.S. pursuing ‘limited contacts’ with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood — BUDAPEST, Hungary — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday that the Obama administration was pursuing an approach of “limited contacts” with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood — a policy, she said …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog and FrumForum
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Arshad Mohammed / Reuters:
U.S. shifts to closer contact with Egypt Islamists
U.S. shifts to closer contact with Egypt Islamists
Discussion:
FaithWorld, National Review, Israpundit, Jihad Watch and AmSpecBlog
Josh Kraushaar / NationalJournal.com:
Nerves Show on Team Obama — Recent scrambling by the president's political advisers indicates they're very worried about his reelection chances. — Fretful: President on defense. — It's been a rough June for the White House. Instead of being able to run a campaign taking credit …
Discussion:
americanthinker.com, NewsBusters.org blogs, Hot Air, iOwnTheWorld.com, Politics, Betsy's Page and Swampland
Jennifer Gould Keil / New York Post:
Huma Abedin taking time off from Weiner, job — Anthony Weiner's wife is taking time off from her senior job with the State Department — as well as time off from the randy former representative, The Post has learned. — While Weiner, 46, heads to an “intensive” rehab program to recover …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, msnbc.com and Mediaite
Byron Tau / Ben Smith's Blog:
RNC names Log Cabin director to finance committee — The Republican National Committee has named a prominent gay Republican to its finance committee, marking an important fundraising outreach effort to a constituency long ceded by the party. — R. Clarke Cooper, who also serves …
Discussion:
FrumForum
Scott Baker / Breaking news and opinion on The Blaze:
WOMAN SEATED NEAR BECK AT MOVIE CLAIMS INNOCENCE...BUT WHAT DOES TWITTER TELL US... (WITH UPDATES!) — On Tuesday, Glenn Beck told his radio and TV audiences how he and his family were harassed during an outing to an outdoor movie in New York City's Bryant Park. — You can listen to Glenn describe what happened here.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, New York Magazine, Gawker, Mediaite, Runnin' Scared, Hot Air and NewsMax.com
Josiah Ryan / The Hill:
McConnell calls balanced-budget amendment to floor — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday called down a joint resolution to the Senate floor that would alter the Constitution to require Congress to balance its budget every year. — Amending the Constitution requires …
Mark J. Penn / Time:
The Pessimism Index — Just 10 years into a new century, more than two-thirds of the country sees the past decade as a period of decline for the U.S., according to a new TIME/Aspen Ideas Festival poll that probed Americans on the decade since the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:
Bill Clinton Network Exclusive: Proposes Debt Impasse Deal, but Fears GOP Too Hamstrung by Ideology — Former President Bill Clinton sees a possible way past the bipartisan impasse over raising the debt limit: agree to cut spending AND raise taxes, but do neither until later, after the economy improves.
Marc Lifsher / Los Angeles Times:
California tells online retailers to start collecting sales taxes from customers — Beginning Friday, Amazon.com and other large out-of-state retailers will be required to collect sales taxes on purchases that their California customers make online. — Workers push carts full of merchandise …
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Obama, Romney to go head to head in Pennsylvania Thursday — President Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) are set to do battle Thursday when both visit the southeast Pennsylvania area. — Romney will hold a press conference Thursday afternoon at a factory in Allentown …
Discussion:
CNN, Washington Wire, Philly.com, Fox News and msnbc.com
msnbc.com:
Defense minister says Americans have been asked to vacate remote site — Below: — Facing domestic political pressure, Pakistan's government escalated the war of words with the United States, with its defense minister repeating calls for the U.S. to stop using a remote air base for drone strikes and to vacate the base.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Tim Arango / New York Times:
U.S. Monthly Combat Deaths in Iraq at 3-Year High — BAGHDAD — The American military announced on Thursday that three more American soldiers had been killed this week, as the combat-related deaths for United States forces in Iraq reached a monthly toll not seen since 2008.
Discussion:
Washington Post and FrumForum
Wall Street Journal:
Prescriptions to Revive Recovery — The U.S. economy resembles a patient who survived a heart attack, and tells his doctor: “I took your advice, swallowed the pills and I still don't feel well.” — We were warned the post-recession recovery, now marking its second anniversary, would be painfully slow.
Discussion:
Washington Post and Grasping Reality …