Top Items:
Sam Baker / The Hill:
Obama shifts healthcare defense — The Obama administration has shifted its legal arguments as it prepares to defend the president's healthcare law before the Supreme Court. — Written briefs in the landmark case increasingly have focused on a part of the Constitution that didn't get much attention in lower courts.
Discussion:
Right Wing News, Campaign 2012, ABCNEWS and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
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Wall Street Journal:
Washington Elites Queue Up to See Nine Justices on Hot Seat — Supreme Court Arguments on Health Law Trigger Mad Dash for a Few Dozen Spots — WASHINGTON—The hottest ticket of the season isn't for the White House Easter Egg Roll or Opening Day for the Washington Nationals baseball team.
Discussion:
Law Blog, Betsy's Page and Ezra Klein
New York Times:
No Way to Choose a Judge — In a serious setback for justice in Alabama, primary voters chose Roy Moore to be their candidate for chief justice of the State Supreme Court in November. He is now the odds-on favorite to win. You may remember that Mr. Moore lost that job in 2003 …
Discussion:
The Birmingham
Sarah Palin / BREITBART.COM:
BREITBART IS HERE — There is a new street art poster that's being emailed around and will no doubt eventually be spotted on a street corner near you. It's a gritty black and white image of Andrew Breitbart looking both battle-worn and ever vigilant with the caption: “BREITBART IS HERE.”
Discussion:
UrbanGrounds, Politico, his vorpal sword, The Gateway Pundit and Conservatives4Palin
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Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Their Own Alinsky — When at the top of an aggregation site I saw the headline ("Breitbart Is Here") and byline (Sarah Palin), I checked the calendar to make sure it wasn't April Fool's Day. No, that's still two weeks away. But it's almost too rich for description: … OMG.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money
Ryan Devereaux / Guardian:
George Clooney arrested in planned protest at Sudanese embassy — Actor intended to be arrested in Washington, DC demonstration to plea for action against human rights abuses in Sudan — Actor and activist George Clooney has been arrested while protesting in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, DC.
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Gael Fashingbauer Cooper / msnbc.com:
George Clooney arrested, handcuffed, outside Sudan embassy in D.C.
George Clooney arrested, handcuffed, outside Sudan embassy in D.C.
Discussion:
The Democratic Daily, The Raw Story and Washington Post
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Natural Born Drillers — To be a modern Republican in good standing, you have to believe — or pretend to believe — in two miracle cures for whatever ails the economy: more tax cuts for the rich and more drilling for oil. And with prices at the pump on the rise, so is the chant of “Drill, baby, drill.”
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, ThinkProgress, Questions and Observations, Balloon Juice, Prairie Weather, The Huffington Post and Vodkapundit
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Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Obama's oil flimflam — Yes, of course, presidents have no direct control over gas prices. But the American people know something about this president and his disdain for oil. The “fuel of the past,” he contemptuously calls it. To the American worker who doesn't commute by government motorcade …
Discussion:
The Right Sphere, Conservatives4Palin and Betsy's Page
Frank Newport / Gallup:
Romney, Santorum Stir Less Enthusiasm Than McCain Did — Romney generates same level of enthusiasm now as in early 2008 — PRINCETON, NJ — A little more than one-third of Republicans say they would vote “enthusiastically” for either Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum if either candidate were to win their party's nomination for president.
Discussion:
The Enterprise Blog, Washington Post, The PJ Tatler and Daily Kos
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Mike Flannery / Chicago News and Weather:
Mitt Romney Leads Rick Santorum by Six Points in Exclusive Illinois Poll
Mitt Romney Leads Rick Santorum by Six Points in Exclusive Illinois Poll
Discussion:
Firedoglake, GOP 12, Wall Street Journal and Ballot Box
Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:
Texas Loses Entire Women's Health Program Over Planned Parenthood Law … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Video, Hhs Texas Family Planning Program, Hhs Texas Medicaid, Rick Perry Planned Parenthood, Rick Perry Women's Health Program, Texas Women's Health Program, Texas-Planned-Parenthood, Politics News
Discussion:
NO QUARTER, Wonkette, Shakesville, The Mahablog, Jezebel, LifeNews.com and Daily Kos
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David Morgan / Reuters:
Catholic bishops pressured Komen over Planned Parenthood
Catholic bishops pressured Komen over Planned Parenthood
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Sky Dancing, The Reality-Based Community and Balloon Juice
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
The bin Laden plot to kill President Obama — Before his death, Osama bin Laden boldly commanded his network to organize special cells in Afghanistan and Pakistan to attack the aircraft of President Barack Obama and Gen. David Petraeus. — “The reason for concentrating on them,” …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Telegraph, Weasel Zippers and Clayton Cramer's Blog
Salt Lake Tribune:
Hatch cheered by initial GOP caucus reports — Politics » Many say the U.S. Senate election in Utah will be decided by what happens in these neighborhood meetings. — | The Salt Lake Tribune — About 150 Republicans met in the gymnasium of Washington Elementary Thursday night …
Discussion:
Hot Air and The Daily Caller
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Matt Kibbe / Politico:
Orrin Hatch is no conservative
Orrin Hatch is no conservative
Discussion:
CNN, BuzzFeed and Connecting.the.Dots
Alex Kowalski / Bloomberg:
Consumer Prices in U.S. Rose in February as Gasoline Jumped — U.S. Consumer Prices Rose in February on Gasoline — The cost of living in the U.S. rose in February by the most in 10 months, reflecting a jump in gasoline that failed to spread to other goods and services.
Discussion:
americanthinker.com, Don Surber, Algemeiner.com and The Lonely Conservative
Patrick Marley / JSOnline:
State Sen. Galloway to resign, leaving Senate split — By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel — Madison - State Sen. Pam Galloway, who faces a recall election this summer, plans to resign from the Senate shortly, leaving an even split between Republicans and Democrats.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Erik Wasson / The Hill:
CBO: Obama budget adds $3.5 trillion in deficits through 2022 — President Obama's 2013 budget would add $3.5 trillion to annual deficits through 2022, according to a new estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). — It also would raise the deficit next year by $365 billion, according to the nonpartisan office.
Discussion:
protein wisdom
BuzzFeed:
Please Don't Leak This Email — The Democratic National Committee's war with the Daily Caller isn't about ethics, it's about a changing media landscape. — BuzzFeed's story yesterday on a hostile email exchange between a Daily Caller reporter and the Democratic National Committee produced yet …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Riehl World View and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »
Eric Schmittand William Yardley / New York Times:
Suspect in Afghan Attack ‘Snapped,’ U.S. Official Says — WASHINGTON — The American staff sergeant suspected of killing 16 Afghan villagers had been drinking alcohol — a violation of military rules in combat zones — and suffering from the stress related to his fourth combat tour and tensions …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, emptywheel, msnbc.com, The BLT, americanthinker.com and The PJ Tatler
Sharyl Attkisson / CBS News:
GOP freshmen, big-bucks donors hobnob at resort — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — (CBS News) There are 468 congressional campaigns going on right now. — That means a lot of serious fundraising. — Much of it is behind closed doors, except on a recent weekend at a South Florida resort …
Josh Barro / The Barrometer:
Santorum Promises Broad War on Porn — You had better not be watching what Rick Santorum thinks you're watching. (Image via Wikipedia) — The Daily Caller flags a little-discussed position paper on Rick Santorum's campaign website—his pledge to aggressively prosecute those who produce and distribute pornography.
Associated Press:
Marine killed by Afghan soldier last month, officials say — WASHINGTON - An Afghan soldier shot to death a 22-year-old Marine at an outpost in southwestern Afghanistan last month in a previously undisclosed case of apparent Afghan treachery that marked at least the seventh killing …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, Fox News and Jihad Watch
Dave Levinthal / Politico:
Obama's 2012 campaign is watching you — President Barack Obama wants companies such as Google and Facebook to reform their privacy practices. — But that's not stopping his re-election campaign from tapping the rich data Internet companies hold on millions of potential voters.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Janet Tavakoli / The Huffington Post:
Today's Most Important Finance Story: Lan T. Pham, Ph.D., Told the CBO the Truth About Mortgage “Securities” and Was Fired for It — Every day I read the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the New York Times and Handelsblatt. Then I skim other finance papers online. I also read several finance blogs.
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Matthew Rosenberg / New York Times:
U.S. Rebukes Afghan Jail Over Searches of Female Visitors — KABUL, Afghanistan — Women visiting relatives at a notorious men's prison on the edge of Kabul have in recent weeks been subjected to invasive body-cavity searches at the order of the prison's commandant, who has told guards …