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:
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Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
MSNBC's suspension of Mark Halperin is way over the top — MSNBC just announced that they have “indefintely” suspended Mark Halperin for claiming that Obama was “kind of a dick” at his presser yesterday. Here's MSNBC's statement: — I'm sorry, but this is crazy.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Man Are We Screwed, FishbowlDC, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, FP Passport, The Reid Report, Outside the Beltway, Eschaton and Wonkette
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:
Balloon Juice, GOOD, AMERICAblog News and American Power
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:
The Wire, PolitickerNY, Politics and Gothamist
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:
Washington Wire, Washington Post, Mediaite, Publius Forum, Guardian, Towleroad News #gay, The Note, Fox News and National Review
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Mark Halperin called Obama “a dick” and now he says “I can't explain why I did it.”
Alex Pareene / Salon:
Mark Halperin comes up with great excuse to fire Mark Halperin
Mark Halperin comes up with great excuse to fire Mark Halperin
Discussion:
TVNewser, FishbowlDC and The New Republic
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Halperin: Obama was a ... Update: MSNBC suspends Halperin “indefinitely”
Halperin: Obama was a ... Update: MSNBC suspends Halperin “indefinitely”
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, RedState, The Other McCain and Pajamas Media
Hans Nichols / Bloomberg:
Geithner Said to Consider Leaving Treasury After Debt Debate — Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has signaled to White House officials that he's considering leaving the administration after President Barack Obama reaches an agreement with Congress to raise the national debt limit …
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Alister Bull / Reuters:
White House snubs McConnell invitation to Obama
White House snubs McConnell invitation to Obama
Discussion:
Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and Washington Post
Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Wonkbook: The two parties have just begun to fight
Wonkbook: The two parties have just begun to fight
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, ThinkProgress and Corrente
The Hill:
White House rejects McConnell invitation for Obama to meet Senate GOP
White House rejects McConnell invitation for Obama to meet Senate GOP
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, FrumForum, msnbc.com and The Hill
Cristina Marcos / Ballot Box:
FEC rules in favor of Stephen Colbert — The Federal Election Commission ruled Thursday that comedian Stephen Colbert could form his eponymous political action committee with a media exemption. — “I am sorry to say, we won,” Colbert declared to supporters outside the FEC building after the commissioners issued their advisory.
Discussion:
Reuters, Washington Post, The Politico and The Caucus
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Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
Stephen Colbert's running PAC shtick creates sticky mess
Stephen Colbert's running PAC shtick creates sticky mess
Discussion:
CNN, NationalJournal.com, The Note, WDBJ-TV, Washington Post, Politics, ThinkProgress, Prairie Weather and Hit & Run
Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Against the constitutional option, cont'd — Jonathan Chait and David Dayen both think that the breakdown of debt-ceiling negotiations strengthens the case for the Obama administration to attempt the “constitutional option,” in which they simply declare the debt limit unconstitutional and hope the Supreme Court agrees.
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Jon Walker / Firedoglake:
Social Security Benefits Cuts Are in the Mix in Debt Ceiling Negotiations
Social Security Benefits Cuts Are in the Mix in Debt Ceiling Negotiations
Discussion:
The Politico and CNN
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Responding to Ezra Klein on the Constitutional Option
Responding to Ezra Klein on the Constitutional Option
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Hullabaloo and The Talking Dog
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
How health care rulings are covered — Regular readers may recall an item from February, in which I compared coverage of health care court rulings from several major media outlets. Given yesterday's developments, it's time to revisit the subject. — To briefly review …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The New Republic, AMERICAblog News and Daily Kos
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Randy Barnett / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Eight Things to Know About Yesterday's Sixth Circuit Decision
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
The Radicalism Of Judge James Graham's Anti-Health Care Opinion
The Radicalism Of Judge James Graham's Anti-Health Care Opinion
Discussion:
Hit & Run, NPR and Grasping Reality …
Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
New law could free 12K drug users — On the heels of a law signed last year by President Barack Obama limiting sentences for crack cocaine offenses, thousands of prisoners for crimes related to the drug will be eligible for early release, the U.S. Sentencing Commission ruled Thursday.
Discussion:
FrumForum
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Shani O. Hilton / Colorlines:
Justice Revisited! Crack Sentencing Reform Applies to Old Convictions
Justice Revisited! Crack Sentencing Reform Applies to Old Convictions
Discussion:
TalkLeft and Feministing
Jessica Gresko / Associated Press:
Crack offenders eligible for early release
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:
Gothamist, Feministing, Runnin' Scared, In the Arena, Towleroad News #gay, CNN, New York Magazine, ThinkProgress and Joe. My. God.
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Jeff Jacoby / Boston Globe:
Marriage cannot be redefined
Marriage cannot be redefined
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and normblog
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 …
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msnbc.com, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite and Gawker
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.
Discussion:
CNN, Taylor Marsh and Pajamas Media
Maggie Gallagher / Wall Street Journal:
New York's GOP Lets Down the Base — Voters don't like politicians who flip flop—especially under pressure from Democrats. — New York was a big win for gay-marriage advocates, no question. It was a big win precisely because it was not inevitable: The New York Republican Party decided to abandon its base to make this happen.
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Mike Murphy / Swampland:
How Michele Bachmann's Surge Reshuffles the GOP Presidential Race
How Michele Bachmann's Surge Reshuffles the GOP Presidential Race
Discussion:
The New Republic, Ricochet Conversation Feed and Democracy in America
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
The missing facts in President Obama's news conference — (Carolyn Kaster/AP) “The tax cuts I'm proposing we get rid of are tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, tax breaks for oil companies and hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners.” — A feisty President Obama met …
Discussion:
James Pethokoukis, TaxProf Blog, Publius Forum, American Spectator, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, Washington Wire and Fox Nation
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Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Under the new Wisconsin budget repair, one school district goes from a $400,000 deficit to a $1.5 million surplus. — The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports: … Let's stop and think of all the protesters who carried signs asserting that their opposition to Scott Walker was for the children.
Discussion:
JSOnline, Betsy's Page, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Anchoress
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Mark Oppenheimer / New York Times:
Married, With Infidelities — Last month, when the New York congressman Anthony Weiner finally admitted that he had lied, that his Twitter account had not been hacked, that he in fact had sent a picture of his thinly clad undercarriage to a stranger in Seattle, I asked my wife of six years …
Discussion:
Althouse
John Cook / Gawker:
Roger Ailes' Secret Nixon-Era Blueprint for Fox News — Republican media strategist Roger Ailes launched Fox News Channel in 1996, ostensibly as a “fair and balanced” counterpoint to what he regarded as the liberal establishment media. But according to a remarkable document buried deep within …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Taegan Goddard's … and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »
Jan Norman / Orange County Register:
Amazon ends deal with 25,000 California websites — Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law California's tax on Internet sales through affiliate advertising which will immediately cut small-business website revenue 20% to 30%, experts say. — The bill, AB 28X, takes effect immediately.
Paul Bedard / US News:
Harvard: July 4th Parades Are Right-Wing — Democratic political candidates can skip this weekend's July 4th parades. A new Harvard University study finds that July 4th parades energize only Republicans, turn kids into Republicans, and help to boost the GOP turnout of adults on Election Day.
Discussion:
Betsy's Page, Weasel Zippers and The Powers That Be
Thomas Burr / Salt Lake Tribune:
In Utah, Huntsman's son hits Romney rally — • Will Huntsman, son of presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, attended a rally on Friday for rival White House hopeful Mitt Romney and posed for a photo with the former Massachusetts governor. — In a photo obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune …
Discussion:
CNN, New York Magazine and Ballot Box