Top Items:
Rachel Donadio / New York Times:
Frail Pope Breaks Tradition and Resigns — VATICAN CITY — Citing advanced years and infirmity, but showing characteristic tough-mindedness and unpredictability, Pope Benedict XVI shocked Roman Catholics on Monday by saying that he would resign on Feb. 28, becoming the first pope to do so in six centuries.
Discussion:
alan.com, Reuters, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, Telegraph, Guardian, protein wisdom, News Desk, The Week, Hot Air, Business Insider, American Spectator, Advocate, Politico, Taylor Marsh, Quartz, No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside the Beltway, americanthinker.com, Achenblog, NPR, The Moderate Voice, Mock, Paper, Scissors, Mother Jones, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Confluence, Shakesville, The Spectacle Blog and Lawyers, Guns & Money
RELATED:
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
What Did Pope Benedict Do, Anyway? — Pope Benedict XVI, who took office in 2005, announced on Monday that he will resign on Feb. 28, the first pope to leave the papacy since Pope Gregory XII in 1415. The 85-year-old pontiff is in poor health and has been advised by doctors “not to take any more transatlantic trips.”
Discussion:
NBCNews.com, en.radiovaticana.va, NPR, msnbc.com, NewsHounds blog, ProfessorBainbridge.com, Law Blog and FIRST DRAFT
David Willey / BBC:
Pope Benedict XVI — Born in Germany in 1927, joined Hitler Youth during WWII and was conscripted as an anti-aircraft gunner but deserted — As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger spent 24 years in charge of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - once known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition
Max Fisher / WorldViews:
The bizarre stories of the four other popes to have resigned in the last 1,000 years
The bizarre stories of the four other popes to have resigned in the last 1,000 years
Discussion:
Washington Post, Guardian, The Fix, Poynter, Hit & Run and FIRST DRAFT
John Stanton / BuzzFeed:
Catholic Left Looks For An Opening With A New Pope
ncronline.org:
Can a pope resign? — Yes, a pope can resign — up to 10 popes …
Can a pope resign? — Yes, a pope can resign — up to 10 popes …
Discussion:
NPR, The Dish and Firedoglake
Duck of Minerva:
What Political Science Says About Papal Elections
What Political Science Says About Papal Elections
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Spectator, The Dish, Daniel W. Drezner, National Review and Blazing Cat Fur
USA Today:
Pope Benedict XVI to resign
Pope Benedict XVI to resign
Discussion:
The Reaction, The Awl, The Agonist and The Latest Word
Phil Bronstein / Esquire:
The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed — For the first time, the Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden tells his story — speaking not just about the raid and the three shots that changed history, but about the personal aftermath for himself and his family.
Glenn Thrush / Politico:
Obama's State of the Union: Aggressive — President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech will be less a presidential olive branch than a congressional cattle prod. — Emboldened by electoral victory and convinced the GOP is unwilling to cut deals, Obama plans to use his big prime …
Discussion:
CNN, NBCNews.com, Shakesville, USA Today, American Prospect, The Plum Line, First Read, Angry Bear, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, msnbc.com and The Hill
RELATED:
Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:
Obama weighing executive actions on housing, gays and other issues
Obama weighing executive actions on housing, gays and other issues
Discussion:
Firedoglake, BREITBART.COM, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler and Prairie Weather
Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Sen. Inhofe threatens filibuster to block Hagel — Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) on Sunday threatened to filibuster former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.)'s nomination for Defense secretary, if necessary to prevent his confirmation. — “I want a 60-vote margin and you don't have to filibuster to get that …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Maddow Blog, americanthinker.com, The Right Scoop, Israel Matzav and Mock, Paper, Scissors
RELATED:
Tim Mak / Politico:
GOP threatens walkout on Chuck Hagel vote
GOP threatens walkout on Chuck Hagel vote
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, Washington Monthly, The Week, Taylor Marsh and Lawfare
Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
Armed Services panel to vote Tuesday on Hagel confirmation
Armed Services panel to vote Tuesday on Hagel confirmation
Discussion:
CBS News and National Review
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Biden says gun lobby's depiction of Obama plan ‘a bunch of malarkey’ — Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that those who suggested the Obama Administration was trying to take away guns from law-abiding citizens as part of the gun control measures proposed last month were spinning “a bunch of malarkey.”
Discussion:
CNN
RELATED:
Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
Biden in Philly: 'I'm coming' to talk about gun control effort
Biden in Philly: 'I'm coming' to talk about gun control effort
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Christi Parsons / Los Angeles Times:
Hadiya Pendleton's parents to attend State of the Union address
Hadiya Pendleton's parents to attend State of the Union address
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and The Hill
Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:
Obama Prepares To Screw His Base — Young people reelected the president. Now they get to pay disproportionately for ObamaCare. — President Obama talks with college students while waiting for an order of fries at OMG Burgers in Coral Gables, Florida last September. — Image by C.W. Griffin/Miami Herald/MCT
Discussion:
Wonkblog, The Mahablog, FreedomWorks blogs, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, BizzyBlog, Taylor Marsh, Right Wing News and Balloon Juice
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Don't Believe the Hype — Let's just say it: Marco Rubio is the Wes Clark of 2013. Only with many fewer accomplishments. — It pains me to say this because I'm an admirer of Gen. Wesley Clark. I think he would have made a good president. He was an extremely accomplished career military officer.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Daily Caller, Booman Tribune and The Raw Story
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
New Rove Group Could Backfire on G.O.P. — The strategist Karl Rove and his allies last week announced the formation of Conservative Victory Project, a new “super PAC” designed to lend support to what they see as more electable candidates in Republican Senate primaries.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Prairie Weather
Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Ted Nugent to be guest at State of the Union — While other members of Congress are hosting gun-control advocates for Tuesday's State of the Union address, Rep. Steve Stockman has given one of his visitor's gallery tickets to Ted Nugent, the conservative gun-rights supporter.
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and The Right Scoop
Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:
Virginia Cuts State Employees' Hours To Avoid Providing Obamacare Coverage — As part of his state's new budget, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) and his administration are trying to force potentially tens of thousands of public sector employees in the state to work fewer hours so that the government …
Discussion:
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Outside the Beltway, Mock, Paper, Scissors and Balloon Juice
Wall Street Journal:
The Absentee Commander in Chief — The Defense secretary told the president that Americans in Benghazi were under attack. Then: nothing. — We've both had the honor to work in the White House. We've seen presidents, vice presidents, chiefs of staff and national security advisers during moments of international crisis.
Discussion:
Althouse, americanthinker.com and msnbc.com
Neil Irwin / Washington Post:
Is Congress really going to miss its free lunch on infrastructure? — Since the election, there have been hints that we could be entering a period with some actual productive, bipartisan dealmaking, most explicitly on immigration reform. But the Republican reaction to Obama's expected proposals …
Discussion:
American Prospect, No More Mister Nice Blog and Mother Jones