Top Items:
Tim Mak / The Politico:
Mark Halperin apologizes for Obama gaffe — Mark Halperin, editor-at-large for Time, called President Obama “a dick” on Wednesday on a popular MSNBC morning show and then quickly apologized. — “I thought he was a dick yesterday,” Halperin, who also is a senior political analyst for MSNBC …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, FishbowlDC, Hot Air, Mediaite, Daily Kos, New York Magazine and Runnin' Scared
Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
How you know the negotiations have truly failed — (SHAWN THEW VIA BLOOMBERG) The best advice I've gotten for assessing the debt-ceiling negotiations was to “watch for the day when the White House goes public.” As long as the Obama administration was refusing to attack Republicans publicly …
Discussion:
The Talking Dog and A plain blog about politics
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Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:
Obama: It's Kids Versus Corporate Jets on Debt-Ceiling Talks — President Obama speaks during a press conference in the East Room of the White House on June 29, 2011. — Kids versus corporate jets. — If President Obama's news conference accomplished anything on Wednesday afternoon …
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.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Daily Kos and Politics
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, CNN and New York Magazine
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Jeff Jacoby / Townhall.com:
Townhall Columnists Jeff Jacoby
Townhall Columnists Jeff Jacoby
Discussion:
Firedoglake and New York Times
Walter Olson / Wall Street Journal:
An Amen for Albany — New York lawmakers drafted appropriate …
An Amen for Albany — New York lawmakers drafted appropriate …
Discussion:
FrumForum and Overlawyered
Abby Goodnough / New York Times:
Rhode Island Lawmakers Approve Civil Unions
Rhode Island Lawmakers Approve Civil Unions
Discussion:
This Just In, New York Magazine, Pam's House Blend, The Volokh Conspiracy and FrumForum
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Obama Moves Near ‘Greater Equality’ on Gay Marriage
Obama Moves Near ‘Greater Equality’ on Gay Marriage
Discussion:
The Politico and The Page
Alex DiPrato / WPRI-TV:
RI Senate OKs civil unions bill
RI Senate OKs civil unions bill
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and ThinkProgress
ThinkProgress:
Bachmann's Husband Calls Homosexuals ‘Barbarians’ Who ‘Need To Be Educated’ And ‘Disciplined’ — When trying to figure out where presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) gets her stringent, anti-gay views, you only have to look as far as her husband.
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay, TPMDC, Slog, The Raw Story, The Politico, The Washington Independent, Gawker, Balloon Juice and The American Independent
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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:
Jihad Watch and AmSpecBlog
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, MyFox Phoenix, The Daily Pulp, The Snitch and The Blotter
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, Gawker, Mediaite, Runnin' Scared, Hot Air and NewsMax.com
Mj Lee / The Politico:
Obama says his 12-year-old is 13 — Malia Obama has a few days to go before her 13th birthday on July 4. — AP Photo — President Obama, who has expressed his fears about his daughter Malia becoming a teenager next month, is apparently dreading her birthday so much that for a brief moment on Wednesday …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Hot Air
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, New York Magazine, Gawker and The Last Tradition
Michael O'Brien / Ballot Box:
Obama, Romney to go head-to-head in Pennsylvania Thursday — Both 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 this afternoon at a factory in Allentown …
Discussion:
CNN, Philly.com, msnbc.com, Fox News and The Page
CNN:
Republicans reject president's call to include tax revenues in debt deal — (CNN)-Republican congressional leaders Wednesday rejected President Barack Obama's call to include tax revenues as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling. — Obama said at a White House press conference Wednesday …
Discussion:
The Politico, The Note, Man Are We Screwed, Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice and The Hill
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Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
U.S. drone targets two leaders of Somali group allied with al-Qaeda, official says — A U.S. drone aircraft fired on two leaders of a militant Somali organization tied to al-Qaeda, apparently wounding them, a senior U.S. military official familiar with the operation said Wednesday.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather 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 …
BBC:
Serwotka and Maude clash over strikes — Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude and the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) union Mark Serwotka have clashed over strikes taking place across the country. — Speaking to Evan Davis, Mr Serwotka said that the strikes …
Discussion:
Guardian, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and Biased BBC
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
Neil Reynolds / Globe and Mail:
With its oil treasure, Israel gets a shield from tyranny — OTTAWA— From Wednesday's Globe and Mail — The London-based World Energy Council says Israel's Shfela Basin, a half-hour drive south of Jerusalem, holds 250 billion barrels of recoverable shale oil, possibly making the energy-vulnerable country …
Lachlan Markay / The Heritage Foundation:
Obama Blasts Private Jet Tax Breaks Created by His Own Stimulus — The chief economic culprit of President Obama's Wednesday press conference was undoubtedly “corporate jets.” He mentioned them on at least six occasions, each time offering their owners as an example of a group that should be paying more in taxes.
Jeff Bercovici / Mixed Media:
Birthers Sue Esquire Over Parody, Seeking More than $200 Million — Joseph Farah and Jerome Corsi have some pretty interesting beliefs. They believe there's no proof Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. * They also believe Hearst Corp. and a writer it employs ought to pay them hundreds …
Discussion:
tpmmuckraker …, Firedoglake, The Raw Story, Man Are We Screwed and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »
Edwin Mora / CNSNews:
U.S. Designates Israel as Country That Tends ‘To Promote, Produce, or Protect’ Terrorists; Also Calls Israel Anti-Terror Partner — (CNSNews.com) - In an implicit admission that Israel is so threatened by terrorism that it is not only surrounded by countries and territories that produce terrorists …
Discussion:
YID With LID, Atlas Shrugs and Weasel Zippers
Phil Reese / Washington Blade:
HRC store vandalized; radical queer group claims responsibility — WASHINGTON — The Dupont Circle Human Rights Campaign store was vandalized last night by a group claiming to be paying homage to the Stonewall Riots. — Damage to the HRC store in Dupont Circle was minimal. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay and The Raw Story
Dan Eggen / Washington Post:
Stephen Colbert set to testify to FEC on forming his own super PAC — The Federal Election Commission does serious issues. It does complex debates over mind-numbing campaign laws. It does not do funny. — But now the agency finds itself the target of a very public joke by television comedian …
Discussion:
In the Arena