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:
CNN, Firedoglake, TVNewser, Hotline On Call, Hot Air, Media Decoder, Booman Tribune, Michelle Malkin, Ben Smith's Blog, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, RedState, No More Mister Nice Blog, Scared Monkeys, FishbowlDC, NewsBusters.org blogs, Indecision Forever, The New Republic, Outside the Beltway, Pajamas Media, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, Ricochet Conversation Feed, New York Magazine, ImmigrationProf Blog, Daily Kos, Hold Fast, The Other McCain, PoliPundit.com 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:
Washington Post, Crooks and Liars, Balloon Juice, American Power and AMERICAblog News
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 Moderate Voice, Politics, NewsBusters.org blogs, PolitickerNY 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:
The Note, Publius Forum, Washington Post, Towleroad News #gay and National Review
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Mark Halperin called Obama “a dick” and now he says “I can't explain why I did it.”
Mark Halperin called Obama “a dick” and now he says “I can't explain why I did it.”
Discussion:
TalkLeft and FishbowlDC
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.’†™ …
Discussion:
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, CNN, Towleroad News #gay, 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
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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Manu Raju / The Politico:
Senate cancels July 4 recess — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the chamber will cancel its July 4th recess next week, a decision aimed at pressuring negotiators to reach a deal on the looming debt limit. — While the move throws a wrench into long-held plans by senators …
Discussion:
Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine and The Hill
The Note:
Senate's In Session Next Week: Reid Cancels 4th of July Recess — ABC News' Sunlen Miller (@sunlenmiller) reports: — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has officially cancelled next week's 4th of July recess for the Senate to continue the ongoing deficit and debt negotiations.
Discussion:
CNN, The Heritage Foundation, The Politico, Fox News and Daily Kos
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, neo-neocon, Washington Post and Hot Air
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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:
NationalJournal.com, ThinkProgress, WDBJ-TV, Prairie Weather 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
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Politics and In the Arena
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, Mediaite, msnbc.com and Gawker
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:
National Review, TPMDC and The Note
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Obama and 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 southeast Pennsylvania. — Romney will hold a press conference Thursday afternoon at a factory in Allentown, Pa. …
Discussion:
CNN, The Note, Washington Wire, Philly.com, Fox News, The Page and msnbc.com
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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:
The Awl, msnbc.com, Valley Fever, Marginal Revolution, The Daily Pulp, MyFox Phoenix, The Snitch and The Blotter
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 …
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.
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
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.
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
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
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:
Guardian, Global Public Square, Lawfare, The Heritage Foundation, Prairie Weather and FrumForum
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 …
Joel Greenberg / Washington Post:
Second Gaza flotilla boat reported damaged — MARKO DJURICA/REUTERS - A view shows the Stefano Chiarini ship, part of the “Freedom Flotilla II”. Another ship in the flotilla was reportedly sabotaged, organizers said Thursday. — JERUSALEM — Organizers of a flotilla seeking …
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com, +972 Magazine, FrumForum and Mondoweiss
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 …