Top Items:
Daily Mail:
WTF?!?! — Sounds dead boring to me! — I don't believe that man could think of such a thing. Religion is not for the rational man. — Where the hell does it say you can do that in the Quran! Why would you want to!!! The other laws are the usual sexist bull you get in Muslim countries …
Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:
After Previously Praising Her, Paul Ryan Now Disses Ayn Rand: ‘I Reject Her Philosophy’ — Rep. Paul Ryan and his on-again, off-again political inspiration, Ayn Rand — In 2005, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) heaped praise on Ayn Rand, a 20th-century libertarian novelist best known for her philosophy …
Discussion:
TBogg and CANNONFIRE
RELATED:
Robert Costa / National Review:
Ryan Shrugged — 'You know you've arrived in politics when you have an urban legend about you, and this one is mine," chuckles Representative Paul Ryan, the Budget Committee chairman, as we discuss his purported obsession with author and philosopher Ayn Rand.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Crooks and Liars and The Raw Story
Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Biden: Romney ‘totally out of touch’ — Vice President Joe Biden assailed Mitt Romney as “fundamentally wrong” and “totally out of touch” on foreign policy in a campaign speech Thursday — contrasting that to a record of President Barack Obama's tough but right choices.
Discussion:
Power Line
RELATED:
Charlie Spiering / Campaign 2012:
Biden: ‘The president has a big stick’
Biden: ‘The president has a big stick’
Discussion:
New York Magazine and Towleroad News #gay
Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
Biden: Obama has ‘big stick,’ Romney doesn't
Biden: Obama has ‘big stick,’ Romney doesn't
Discussion:
2012.talkingpointsmemo.com and Daily Kos
Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Biden: ‘I Promise You, the President Has a Big Stick’
Holly Bailey / ABCNEWS:
Biden: Romney's Foreign Policy is ‘Totally Out of Touch’
Biden: Romney's Foreign Policy is ‘Totally Out of Touch’
Discussion:
Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and Yahoo! News
KIRO-TV:
EXCLUSIVE: New Secret Service scandal centers on strippers, prostitutes in El Salvador — U.S. Secret Service agents brag they routinely use third-world prostitutes while conducting out-of-country security detail for Presidential visits — Sponsored Links — SEATTLE —
Classical Values:
Zimmerman Raised With Black Children, Is Black — The Narrative just took a bullet to the chest. — Perhaps inevitably, the story starts with, yes, a dog: … The policeman suggested he buy a gun. Do the police tell a lot of people they consider irresponsible and dangerous to buy guns?
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Booman Tribune, Fox News, protein wisdom, Taylor Marsh and Transterrestrial Musings
RELATED:
John Sexton / BREITBART.COM:
SECOND FIRING IN FALSE ZIMMERMAN 911 EDIT — There has been a second firing at NBC over the misleading edit of George Zimmerman's 911 call. A report published yesterday afternoon by the Miami Herald identifies reporter/producer Jeff Burnside as the individual responsible for the edits …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, The Other McCain, Wake up America, Datechguy's Blog, Ed Driscoll, Reuters, American Spectator and Poynter
David Catanese / Politico:
Dick Lugar trails by 5, poll says — Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar has fallen behind state Treasurer Richard Mourdock by five points, according to a new poll released Thursday. — The survey, taken Tuesday and Wednesday by Wenzel Strategies on behalf of Citizens United, places Mourdock at 44 percent and Lugar at 39 percent.
Discussion:
Power Line, Sky Dancing, Weekly Standard and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
RELATED:
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Mourdock claims lead over Lugar in Indiana poll by Citizens United
Mourdock claims lead over Lugar in Indiana poll by Citizens United
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and PoliPundit.com
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
I Was Wrong About Dick Cheney . . . . . . and other lessons I learned from vetting vice-presidential candidates. — We've entered the silly season when vast numbers of words will be expended on who Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate should be. Since the actual announcement …
Discussion:
Politico, Guardian and New York Magazine
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Dem lawmaker: Speaker Boehner ‘feeling the heat’ on student loans — Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Thursday dismissed House Speaker John Boehner as “a little sensitive” on the topic of student loans following Boehner's criticism of President Obama for campaigning on the subject.
RELATED:
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
GOP Proposes Cuts In Health Prevention To Keep Student Loan Interest Rates From Doubling
GOP Proposes Cuts In Health Prevention To Keep Student Loan Interest Rates From Doubling
Discussion:
The Hill, Democrats, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and NPR
Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Crossroads ad attacks Obama's ‘celebrity’ presidency — A new ad released Thursday by the conservative super-PAC American Crossroads seeks to use President Obama's “cool” status against him, appealing to the youth vote by asking how America's “biggest celebrity” has helped them find jobs.
Discussion:
CNN, Ballot Box, Weekly Standard and No More Mister Nice Blog
RELATED:
Paul Waldman / American Prospect:
The Cool Kids Versus the Squares, Yet Again
The Cool Kids Versus the Squares, Yet Again
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, AlterNet and Washington Post
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
More Support for Gun Rights, Gay Marriage than in 2008 or 2004 — OVERVIEW — Opinions about a pair of contentious social issues, gun control and gay marriage, have changed substantially since previous presidential campaigns. On gun control, Americans have become more conservative; on gay marriage, they have become more liberal.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Prop 8 Trial Tracker, Towleroad News #gay and Advocate
CNN:
Michelle Obama's White House fantasy — (CNN) - She's known to take discreet trips to Target and Baskin-Robbins, but first lady Michelle Obama said Thursday she'd still like more freedom to get out of the White House. — “Sometimes we can't sneak out often on our own without security …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
RELATED:
Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Andrew Cuomo vs. Hillary Clinton in 2016? — “Welcome to my announcement to run for president of Malta,” Hillary Clinton joked Wednesday night as she took the stage at Lincoln Center, where she was one of 100 luminaries honored by Time magazine. — Surveying the crowd …
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Runnin' Scared, A plain blog about politics, ABCNEWS, Capital New York and Swampland
Chuck Rudd / The Daily Caller:
The sister of a white Mobile, Alabama man who suffered severe head trauma during a beating by approximately 20 black neighbors on Saturday spoke exclusively to The Daily Caller, saying that the incident started after one of her children witnessed some of the eventual assailants stealing an item …
Discussion:
Breaking News …, www2.wkrg.com and www2.wkrg.com
Larry J. Sabato / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
Plan of Attack: Obama, Romney and the Electoral College — The presidential election could very well come down to one state — which one? We offer our thoughts on the Electoral College, plus answer questions on House, Senate and gubernatorial races, in our latest Crystal Ball video:
Discussion:
msnbc.com
David Miliband / New Statesman:
Exclusive: George Galloway's conversion to Islam — Jemima Khan, in an interview with the Bradford MP, reveals the background to his Muslim conversion. — In a wide-ranging interview in this week's issue of the New Statesman, George Galloway MP talks about his spectacular by-election victory …
Discussion:
Telegraph, Guardian, Harry's Place and Jihad Watch
Lisa Hirsch / ETonline.com:
Ann Romney on Recent MS Scare on Campaign Trail — Although her husband Mitt Romney is the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Ann Romney's battle with multiple sclerosis hasn't stopped for the campaign trail. — The mom of five sons has suffered from the debilitating autoimmune disease since …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Ballot Box, The Caucus, CNN and HotAirPundit
Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
2 House Democrats Defeated After Opposing Health Law — WASHINGTON — The defeat of two conservative House Democrats by more liberal opponents in Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary illustrates the strong hold the new health care law still has over committed Democratic voters and foreshadows …
Discussion:
Campaign 2012, republicreport.org, Prairie Weather, Washington Free Beacon and Eschaton
Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:
The Only Reasonable Response Is Alarm — I'm not surprised that Michael Gerson, architect of “compassionate conservatism,” has convinced himself that this generation of Republican leaders is carrying on in his footsteps (via Mike Allen): … The Ryan budget does a lot of things.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo and Lawyers, Guns & Money
BuzzFeed:
Brother Romney: Commitment To Mormon Church “All Encompassing” — The candidate wasn't always so reluctant to talk about his faith. — Romney holding Mormon scriptures in his lap. — Mitt Romney has been reluctant to discuss his Mormon faith on the campaign trail …
Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:
John McCain: ‘War On Women’ Is ‘Imaginary,’ ‘Conjured’ By Democrats … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Video, GOP War On Women, John Mccain Vawa, John Mccain Violence Against Women Act, John Mccain War On Women, Vawa, Vawa Reauthorization, Violence Against Women Act, War On Women, Politics News
Discussion:
The Raw Story and Booman Tribune
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
Vogue's flattering article on Syria's first lady is scrubbed from Web — It may have been the worst-timed, and most tin-eared, magazine article in decades. — “Asma al-Assad is glamorous, young, and very chic — the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies,” writer Joan Juliet Buck began …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »
Eugene Volokh / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Kentucky Employees May Not Be Fired for Lawfully Storing Guns in Their Cars — That's what Kentucky statutes provide, and today the Kentucky Supreme Court applied this rule in Mitchell v. University of Kentucky (Ky. Apr. 26, 2012). There was something of a complication because the defendant …
Discussion:
Clayton Cramer's Blog
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Bankrupting the Vote — It's well known that Republicans all over the country are doing what comes naturally by seeking to restrict the franchise, most notably through voter ID laws that will disproportionately affect poor and minority voters, restrictions on voter registration drives, and cutbacks on “convenience voting.”
Discussion:
Reuters and The Maddow Blog