Top Items:
TMZ.com:
Paul Ryan — THE TOPLESS PHOTO — THE TOPLESS PHOTO — EXCLUSIVE — Here it is ... the very first photo of Paul Ryan's mysterious athletic physique ... REVEALED!!! — TMZ has (finally) obtained a photo of Mitt Romney's running mate — sans shirt — taken roughly 6 years ago ... right before Ryan got hooked on the P90X workout.
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Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:
Mitt Romney's Whiteboard Blues — ANALYSIS: Everything you need to know about how this week went for Mitt Romney can be summed up in one word: whiteboard. — There he was in Greer, S.C., with a black dry-erase marker in hand scrawling out on a wood-framed whiteboard how — in his view …
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, ABCNEWS and Wake up America
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Romney's present, Ryan's future
Romney's present, Ryan's future
Discussion:
Washington Wire, p m carpenter's commentary, AEIdeas, Politico and Betsy's Page
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Morning Plum: Romney and Ryan muddy the Medicare waters
The Morning Plum: Romney and Ryan muddy the Medicare waters
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, 2012 Decoded, ABCNEWS, Brad DeLong, Washington Wire, Influence Alley and CNN
John Avlon / The Daily Beast:
The Lies of Medi-Scare — Team Romney and the GOP …
The Lies of Medi-Scare — Team Romney and the GOP …
Discussion:
p m carpenter's commentary, Business Insider, ABCNEWS, ABCNEWS and First Read
Steve Benen / Associated Press:
Missing the Medicare forest for the trees
Missing the Medicare forest for the trees
Discussion:
The New Republic and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Hateful speech on hate groups — Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay rights organization, posted an alert on its blog Tuesday: “Paul Ryan Speaking at Hate Group's Annual Conference.” — The “hate group” that the Republicans' vice presidential candidate would be addressing?
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Christian Newswire:
LivePrayer to File $100 Million Lawsuit Against Southern Poverty Law Center — Contact: Rev. William Keller, LivePrayer.com, 727-420-7005 — Bill Keller, the world's leading Internet Evangelist and the founder of LivePrayer.com, with over 2.4 million subscribers worldwide reading …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Monthly, Joe. My. God., NOM Blog and National Review
Brian Tashman / rightwingwatch.org:
Tony Perkins says there is a ‘Clear Link’ between the FRC Shooting and Obama Administration Policies
Tony Perkins says there is a ‘Clear Link’ between the FRC Shooting and Obama Administration Policies
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and BuzzFeed
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Romney advisers confirm it: We're running a ‘just trust me’ campaign — I noted here yesterday that Mitt Romney is running a “just trust me” campaign, in which his lack of specificity and transparency extends far beyond just his tax returns, to his bundlers and to large swaths of his policy proposals.
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Steven Hayward / Power Line:
The Charts That Doom Obama — News out this afternoon is that Obama is looking into opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a means to relieve pressure at the gas pump. Someone at the White House woke up and realized that the welcome springtime fall in gasoline prices has reversed course …
Discussion:
Sober Look
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Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
Anti-Obama Navy SEAL leader: I'm a Birther — President Barack Obama is a socialist, was raised by communists, and wasn't born in the United States, according to the former Navy SEAL who founded the group Special Operations Speaks (SOS), which aims to portray Obama as anti-military in this election season.
Discussion:
Politico, ThinkProgress, PoliticusUSA, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, U.S., Joe. My. God., Los Angeles Times and USA Today
BBC:
Pussy Riot members jailed for two years for hooliganism — Judge Marina Syrova: “These three plus others... plotted together to undermine civil order, motivated by religious hatred” — Three members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been jailed for two years after staging an anti-Vladimir Putin protest in a Moscow cathedral.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, BuzzFeed, The Confluence, The Daily Caller, Guardian, The Raw Story, Shakesville, Instapundit and Joe. My. God., more at Mediagazer »
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Guardian:
Pussy Riot release new single Putin Lights Up the Fires - video
Pussy Riot release new single Putin Lights Up the Fires - video
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The PJ Tatler, Rolling Stone and New York Times
David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Russian Punk Band Is Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Anti-Putin Stunt
Russian Punk Band Is Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Anti-Putin Stunt
Discussion:
IHT Rendezvous, Via Meadia, Hit & Run, Media Decoder, Washington Free Beacon, Emerging Europe Real Time, News Desk, The Lede and Althouse
Benjy Sarlin / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Paul Ryan Slams Obama For Not Saving Auto Plant That Closed Under Bush — Paul Ryan slammed President Obama on Thursday for failing to rescue an auto factory in his Wisconsin district — one that closed in 2008, under President George W. Bush.
Discussion:
New York Times, Daily Kos, The Daily Beast, Wonkette, The Maddow Blog, USA Today, Talking Points Memo and Washington Post
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David Shepardson / detroitnews.com:
Ryan criticizes Obama on '08 GM plant closure from before he took office
Ryan criticizes Obama on '08 GM plant closure from before he took office
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland and New York Magazine
Matt Rhoades / Barack Obama:
Letter from Jim Messina to Matt Rhoades — Dear Matt: — I am writing to ask again that the Governor release multiple years of tax returns, but also to make an offer that should address his concerns about the additional disclosures. Governor Romney apparently fears that the more he offers …
Discussion:
CNN, National Review, USA Today, NY Daily News, New York Times, Democracy in America, Weasel Zippers, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Wake up America, CANNONFIRE, The Daily Dish, The Reality-Based Community, Firedoglake, Hot Air, Washington Wire, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Outside the Beltway, Politico, Taegan Goddard's …, Booman Tribune, GOP 12, Swampland and The Caucus
Politico:
Obama's soft-media strategy — Forget Chris Matthews — he'll take Nancy O'Dell. — President Barack Obama has been taking a lot of questions in the two months since his last press conference or national news interview. He's just been doing them with ESPN, Entertainment Tonight …
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Amie Parnes / The Hill:
White House piles on Obama call for Romney to release tax forms
White House piles on Obama call for Romney to release tax forms
Discussion:
CNN and Algemeiner.com
BuzzFeed:
Ohio Elections Chief Suspends Democrats From County Board — After a Wednesday order that his office says bans weekend early voting hours, the Ohio Secretary of State, a Republican, responds to rebellion from one county's Democratic members. A confrontation as the election approaches.
Discussion:
Election Law Blog, Dayton, Ohio … and The Columbus Dispatch
Craig Gilbert / JSOnline:
Ryan releases tax returns for last two years — By Craig Gilbert of the Journal Sentinel — Paul Ryan and his wife Janna paid an effective tax rate of 15.9% in 2010 and 20% in 2011, according to tax returns provided by the Romney-Ryan campaign to the Journal Sentinel Friday.
Discussion:
The Hill, Daily Kos and First Read
Washington Examiner:
Hillary rejected VP slot to ready her own 2016 run … Popular in Politics — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was pressed by her husband and a top Obama aide to consider replacing Vice President Joe Biden just a couple of weeks ago, claims the author of the New York Times bestseller “The Amateur.”
Discussion:
CNN, Weekly Standard, Wonkette, Power Line, New York Magazine, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Monthly and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS
Doug Stanglin / USA Today:
Colorado U. to segregate dorms for students with gun permits — The University of Colorado will segregate dorms for students who have valid permits to carry concealed weapons, The Denver Post reports. — The newspaper says student housing contracts at CU-Boulder and CU-Colorado Springs …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Mediaite, U.S. News and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
BuzzFeed:
President Obama Only Answers Ridiculous Questions — 8 questions President Barack Obama has actually answered in recent days. He's ducked the White House press corps for eight weeks. “I just flirted with the President of the United States of America,” the radio host says.
Discussion:
Power Line and Washington Free Beacon
Jeff Mason / Reuters:
Exclusive: White House studying potential oil reserve release — (Reuters) - The White House is “dusting off old plans” for a potential release of oil reserves to dampen prices and prevent high energy costs from undermining sanctions against Iran, a source with knowledge of the situation said on Thursday.
Discussion:
Business Insider, Firedoglake, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, americanthinker.com, 24/7 Wall St. and The Hill
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Clifford Krauss / New York Times:
U.S. Reliance on Saudi Oil Heads Back Up
U.S. Reliance on Saudi Oil Heads Back Up
Discussion:
Hot Air, Via Meadia, Cold Fury and USA Today
Ryan J. Reilly / tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMMuckraker — Federal Court Rules Florida's Shortening Of Early Voting Discriminates Against Blacks — A panel of federal judges ruled late Thursday that a Florida law that limits the number of early voting days cannot be implemented in several counties because it would have an adverse impact on minority turnout.
Discussion:
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Firedoglake, ThinkProgress and Talking Points Memo
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