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:
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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, NPR, ProfessorBainbridge.com, msnbc.com, Law Blog, NewsHounds blog, FIRST DRAFT and Mashable!
David Willey / BBC:
Pope Benedict XVI
Discussion:
CNN, Twitchy, The Anchoress, The Daily Beast, Telegraph, Guardian, The Week, NBCNews.com, Reuters, Klavan On The Culture, The Moderate Voice, his vorpal sword, Babalú Blog, The PJ Tatler, The Independent, Da Tech Guy's Blog, Hot Air, Red Alert Politics, The Other McCain and Scared Monkeys
Max Fisher / WorldViews:
The bizarre stories of the four other popes to have resigned in the last 1,000 years
Discussion:
Guardian, The Fix, Washington Post, Poynter, Hit & Run and FIRST DRAFT
Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
Biden praises Pope Benedict's integrity, jokes he won't run to succeed him
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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.
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, CNN, msnbc.com, Wired, Wonkblog, Truthdig, Hot Air, Newser, The Moderate Voice, Washington Examiner, NO QUARTER USA NET, Mediaite, The Impolitic, AMERICAblog, The Week, Guardian, The Raw Story, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, alan.com, NPR, Washington Free Beacon, BuzzFeed, emptywheel, Gawker, The Daily Caller and Jammie Wearing Fools
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
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Jackie Kucinich / USA Today:
Lawmakers look to pack State of Union with gun victims
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Los Angeles Times, Roll Call, Business Insider and The National Memo
Kevin Grandia / Firedoglake:
New Study Finds Koch Bros. Tried to Start Tea Party Movement in 2002 — Were David Koch (and his brother Charles) planning to astroturf the Tea Party even earlier than formerly suspected? — Shattering the public perception that the Tea Party is a spontaneous popular citizens movement …
Discussion:
Mock, Paper, Scissors and DeSmogBlog
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Brendan DeMelle / DeSmogBlog:
Study Confirms Tea Party Was Created by Big Tobacco and Billionaires
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs and The Raw Story
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Justice Ginsburg: The Senate Is ‘Destroying The United States’ Reputation... As A Beacon of Democracy' — Two years ago, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lamented that if she were nominated today to her current job on the Supreme Court, her “ACLU connection would probably disqualify” her from being confirmed.
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:
Washington Monthly, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Caller and Booman Tribune
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, alan.com, Associated Press, NBCNews.com, Los Angeles Times, American Prospect, USA Today, New York Times, Shakesville, The Plum Line, Hot Air, First Read, The Huffington Post, msnbc.com and The Hill
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Charlie Spiering / Washington Examiner:
Biden: We're counting on ‘legitimate media’ for successful gun control effort … During a press conference on gun safety in Philadelphia, Vice President Joe Biden said that any reports that suggest that he was trying to take weapons away from gun owners was a “bunch of malarkey.”
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Mediaite and The PJ Tatler
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Justin Sink / The Hill:
Biden says gun lobby's depiction of Obama plan ‘a bunch of malarkey’
Discussion:
Chicago Tribune, Washington Examiner, CNN, Hot Air, Politico and Weasel Zippers
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
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
New Winger Conspiracy Theory Takes Flight — In the wake of news that Sen. Lindsey Graham is threatening to block the nominations of Hagel and Brennan, there's a whole new conspiracy theory bubbling up on the right. From ground zero of Obama era conspiracy theories comes the conspiracy theory …
Discussion:
Salon, The Atlantic Online, Wonkette and The Reaction
New York Times:
Quietly Killing a Consumer Watchdog — If you'd like to know why Republicans are trying to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, take a look at three things the agency has already accomplished in its first 18 months: — ¶ It called a halt to predatory practices by mortgage lenders …
Discussion:
Hillman Foundation blogs, Prairie Weather, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Daily Kos
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:
Washington Monthly, American Prospect, Mother Jones and No More Mister Nice Blog
Ben Terris / NationalJournal.com:
The Curse of the State of the Union Aisle Seat — Lawmakers wait for hours to get one of these coveted seats, but at what cost? — Some members wait for hours just for a chance to be in this picture. (Richard A. Bloom/Photo illustration) — It was supposed to be one of the best seats in the House.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, The Atlantic Online and TheBlaze.com
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:
Outside the Beltway, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Mock, Paper, Scissors and Balloon Juice
Kate Sheppard / Mother Jones:
“We're Not Going to Be Pushed Around by the Antis” — Julie Burkhart is working to bring abortion care back to Wichita. — Wichita, Kansas, has been without a local abortion provider since an anti-abortion extremist murdered Dr. George Tiller in his church in May 2009.
Ethan Bronner / New York Times:
A Call for Drastic Changes in Educating New Lawyers — DALLAS — Faced with profound and seemingly irreversible shifts, the legal profession is contemplating radical changes to its educational system, including cutting the curriculum, requiring far more on-the-ground training and licensing technicians who are not full lawyers.
Discussion:
Via Meadia and Above the Law
Donovan Slack / Politico:
W.H.: We have a spending problem — White House press secretary Jay Carney said Monday that Washington does have a spending problem and the main driver of that problem is health-care costs. — The remarks followed a statement by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Sunday that …
Discussion:
The National Memo, Hot Air, Weekly Standard, AEIdeas and Weasel Zippers
Teju Cole / Page-Turner:
A Reader's War — “Thanks to literature, to the consciousness it shapes, the desires and longings it inspires...civilization is now less cruel than when storytellers began to humanize life with their fables.” This defense, made by Mario Vargas Llosa when he received the Nobel Prize …
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