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:
Hot Air, Althouse, RedState, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, FishbowlDC, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Booman Tribune, New York Magazine and Runnin' Scared
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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.
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, Zandar Versus The Stupid and A plain blog about politics
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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:
The Hill, ABCNEWS, ThePeoplesView.net, Washington Post, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Politico, Daily Kos and Politics
The Hill:
Defense cuts appear likely as pressure grows on debt deal
Defense cuts appear likely as pressure grows on debt deal
Discussion:
Washington Post and AMERICAblog News
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Obama press conference - false choices and demagoguery
Obama press conference - false choices and demagoguery
Discussion:
Viking Pundit
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.
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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
Jeff Jacoby / Townhall.com:
Townhall Columnists Jeff Jacoby
Townhall Columnists Jeff Jacoby
Discussion:
Firedoglake and New York Times
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
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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msnbc.com:
Defense minister says Americans have been asked to vacate remote site
Defense minister says Americans have been asked to vacate remote site
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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
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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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
Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
Fed hands banks a win with debit card rule — Banks might have lost the broader war over debit-card fees, but they scored a small victory Wednesday when the Federal Reserve proposed a fee less severe than originally intended. — The central bank's decision brought to a close a long and contentious lobbying battle on Capitol Hill.
Discussion:
The Nation and The Huffington Post
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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
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
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
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
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
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, Philly.com, msnbc.com, Fox News and The Page
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 …
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 …
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, Lawfare and FrumForum
Dina Temple-Raston / NPR:
FBI Invited Controversial Church To Talk To Agents … The Westboro Baptist Church is infamous for picketing soldiers' funerals with signs like “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” and “God Hates the USA.” — Yet the FBI recently invited leaders of the fundamentalist church to the Quantico Marine base …
Discussion:
Towleroad News #gay, Good As You, Gawker and New York Magazine
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.