Top Items:
ThinkProgress:
Scalia: Voting Rights Act Is ‘Perpetuation Of Racial Entitlement’ — WASHINGTON, DC — There were audible gasps in the Supreme Court's lawyer's lounge, where audio of the oral argument is pumped in for members of the Supreme Court bar, when Justice Antonin Scalia offered his assessment of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Truthdig, No More Mister Nice Blog and Shakesville
RELATED:
Tom Goldstein / SCOTUSblog:
From the Shelby County argument — Following through on the deep constitutional concerns stated in its prior Northwest Austin decision, a majority of the Court seems committed to invalidating Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and requiring Congress to revisit the formula for requiring preclearance of voting changes.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, ACS Blog, New York Times, Althouse and Austin American-Statesman
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
The Morning Plum: How's that GOP “makeover” going? — How's that GOP “makeover” going? Not too well, according to the internals of the new NBC/WSJ poll. If these findings aren't enough to persuade Republican strategists that the party needs a rethink on the issues …
Discussion:
NBCNews.com, Forbes, Angry Bear, The Hill and Prairie Weather
Sam Baker / The Hill:
Supreme Court justices hint at striking Voting Rights Act provision — The Supreme Court signaled strongly on Wednesday that it might strike down a key part of the Voting Rights Act, as the court's conservative members cast the provision as outdated and unfair.
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Conservative Justices Hammer The Voting Rights Act — The Voting Rights Act took a beating from conservative justices Wednesday during oral arguments at the Supreme Court. — At issue is the constitutionality of Section 5 of the 1965 law, which requires state and local governments …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs, The Plum Line and The National Memo
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Conservative Justices Voice Skepticism on Voting Law
Conservative Justices Voice Skepticism on Voting Law
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Washington Monthly, The Week, The Maddow Blog and The BRAD BLOG
Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Argument recap: Voting law in peril — maybe
Argument recap: Voting law in peril — maybe
Discussion:
NBCNews.com, msnbc.com, The Huffington Post, Angry Bear, THEROOT.COM and PointOfLaw Forum
Nina Totenberg / Law:
Supreme Court Weighs Future Of Voting Rights Act
Supreme Court Weighs Future Of Voting Rights Act
Discussion:
The Fix, The Hinterland Gazette, msnbc.com and Althouse
Richard Wolf / USA Today:
Supreme Court raises doubts about Voting Rights Act
Supreme Court raises doubts about Voting Rights Act
Discussion:
The Raw Story
Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Justices Challenge Voting Law
Adam Serwer / Mother Jones:
Chief Justice Roberts' Long War Against the Voting Rights Act
Chief Justice Roberts' Long War Against the Voting Rights Act
Discussion:
Election Law Blog, The BRAD BLOG and ABCNEWS
Brett LoGiurato / Business Insider:
BOB WOODWARD: Obama Is Showing 'A Kind Of Madness I Haven't Seen In A Long Time' — The Washington Post's Bob Woodward ripped into President Barack Obama on “Morning Joe” today, saying he's exhibiting a “kind of madness I haven't seen in a long time” for a decision not to deploy an aircraft carrier …
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Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
The Establishment's Obama Derangement Syndrome — Others have done an excellent job explaining why so many pundits and news analysts are constitutionally unable to describe the impasse over sequestration as anything other than a bipartisan failure — while also revealing, perhaps unintentionally …
Discussion:
The Impolitic and Balloon Juice
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
A political DUI — Some of us can recall the helpless feeling of being in a vehicle driven by someone who is intoxicated. If you're like me, you don't want to cause a scene unless the driving is really erratic. But there comes a moment when you need to say: Stop the car. You're going to hurt someone.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Angry Bear and Mother Jones
Kevin Robillard / Politico:
Bob Woodward blasts President Obama ‘madness’
Bob Woodward blasts President Obama ‘madness’
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Right Turn, The Maddow Blog, A plain blog about politics and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
White House was not involved in ICE's decision to release detainees — The White House and the Department of Homeland Security were unaware of Immigration Customs and Enforcement's decision to release detainees until the agency announced it, administration officials said Wednesday.
Discussion:
CNN, The Gateway Pundit, The PJ Tatler, Hot Air, The Hinterland Gazette and The Daily Caller
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Lindsey Boerma / CBS News:
Reason for mass release of illegal immigrants “hard to believe,” Boehner says
Reason for mass release of illegal immigrants “hard to believe,” Boehner says
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Washington Post, Politico, The Week and Booman Tribune
Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
White House Counts on G.O.P. to Bend as Cuts' Effects Are Felt
White House Counts on G.O.P. to Bend as Cuts' Effects Are Felt
Discussion:
Right Turn and National Review
David Jackson / USA Today:
Obama, top lawmakers to meet Friday on budget cuts
Obama, top lawmakers to meet Friday on budget cuts
Discussion:
The National Memo
Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Brief Supporting Same-Sex Marriage Gets More Republican Support — More than two dozen Republicans — including a top adviser to Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, and a former congresswoman who made banning same-sex marriage her signature issue — have added their names …
Discussion:
Equality On Trial, The Fix, Good As You, AMERICAblog, Towleroad News #gay, Gawker and Bloomberg
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Eli Stokols / KDVR.com:
Marilyn Musgrave denies NYT report that she supports gay marriage
Marilyn Musgrave denies NYT report that she supports gay marriage
Discussion:
Equality On Trial, Joe. My. God., Towleroad News #gay and Good As You
Roger Parloff / Fortune:
Dozens of big U.S. companies to back gay marriage
Dozens of big U.S. companies to back gay marriage
Discussion:
Mashable!, News Desk, AMERICAblog, AllThingsD, TechCrunch, Advocate, emptywheel, Firedoglake, Taking Note and Joe. My. God.
Elahe Izadi / NationalJournal.com:
The Real Reason Why Chris Christie Wasn't Invited to CPAC — ACU Chairman Al Cardenas criticizes New Jersey's Republican governor for supporting Sandy aid bill, Medicaid expansion. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was not invited to speak at the annual CPAC conference this year …
Discussion:
msnbc.com, NBCNews.com, Whiskey Fire, National Review, Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hot Air, Mediaite and American Power
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Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Christie's Honeymoon With Conservatives Is Over
Christie's Honeymoon With Conservatives Is Over
Discussion:
The Week, Hot Air, NationalJournal.com, National Review, The Dish and OpenSecrets.org
Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Charles Krauthammer: Chris Christie CPAC snub a mistake
Charles Krauthammer: Chris Christie CPAC snub a mistake
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh
Politico:
Senate GOP ponders shifting power to Obama — Days before the March 1 deadline, Senate Republicans are circulating a draft bill that would cancel $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts and instead turn over authority to President Barack Obama to achieve the same level of savings under a plan to be filed by March 8.
Discussion:
CNN, Roll Call, Yahoo! News, msnbc.com, Business Insider, Atlas Shrugs, Hot Air and The Caucus
Philip Pullella / Reuters:
Pope speaks of “rough seas” of papacy at emotional farewell — VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict bid an emotional farewell at his last general audience on Wednesday, acknowledging the “rough seas” that marked his papacy “when it seemed that the Lord was sleeping.”
Discussion:
New York Times, Joe. My. God., WFPL and Gothamist
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Caitlin Dewey / Washington Post:
The story of Pope Benedict's controversial red shoes, which he will give up
The story of Pope Benedict's controversial red shoes, which he will give up
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and Suburban Guerrilla
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Republicans are losing the spending argument — For the past several years, congressional Republicans have focused relentlessly on a single message: Washington — led by President Obama — is spending too much money, and it needs to stop. — But according to new Washington Post-ABC News polling …
Discussion:
CNN, NBCNews.com, Washington Times, Politico, Daily Kos, Post Politics, The Week and Taylor Marsh
RELATED:
Michael Kinsley / New Republic:
Annihilate! — Whoever could have imagined that Republicans could be such wussies?
Annihilate! — Whoever could have imagined that Republicans could be such wussies?
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Sarah Palin: Feds ‘stockpiling bullets’ to use against us — Sarah Palin says America will eventually default on its debt and claims that the federal government is “stockpiling bullets in case of civil unrest” to prepare. — “If we are going to wet our proverbial pants over .3% …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Wire, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Taylor Marsh
Erick Erickson / RedState:
W5 + H = A Baseline for Integrity — UPDATE: Let me add up top an update out of the gate. The issue here is not RedState, but a larger issue among conservatives as we keep growing new and expanding existing outlets for reporting the news. With our jobs board up (if you haven't noticed) …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, FishbowlDC, Business Insider, Mediaite and Politico
Amy Rose / Rookie:
This Charming Man: An Interview With Morrissey — I don't think I really need to introduce you guys to Morrissey, but just in case: He's been an icon for, oh, more than three decades now. He began his career in the early '80s as the frontman (and heart) of the Smiths before going solo in 1987 …
Discussion:
Telegraph, Towleroad News #gay and PinkNews.co.uk
Deadline Detroit:
U.P. State Senator Tom Casperson Is Some Kind Of Birther — State Sen. Tom Casperson, R-Escanaba, was on Michael Patrick Shiels' Lansing radio program today and had some fun and interesting things to say about where President Obama was born. — Casperson, whose name might sound familiar …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Talking Points Memo, Progress Michigan, New York Magazine and Balloon Juice