Top Items:
Rory Carroll / New York Times:
In the End, an Awful Manager — IN Caracas, Venezuela, you could tell a summit meeting mattered to Hugo Chávez when government workers touched up the city's rubble. Before dignitaries arrived, teams with buckets and brushes would paint bright yellow lines along the route from the airport …
Discussion:
The Other McCain and National Review
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Christopher Hitchens / Slate:
What I learned about Hugo Chávez's mental health when I visited Venezuela with Sean Penn. — Less than a day after Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's communication minister appeared on television to announce that the socialist leader was in failing health, Chávez has died.
Discussion:
blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Toronto Star, The Dish, Hot Air and The Atlantic Online
Rebecca Ford / Hollywood Reporter:
Sean Penn on Hugo Chavez's Death: ‘I Lost a Friend’
Sean Penn on Hugo Chavez's Death: ‘I Lost a Friend’
Discussion:
Guardian, Hit & Run, Babalú Blog, Red Alert Politics, Reuters, Questions and Observations, Politico, Twitchy, Mediaite, onenewsnow.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, Los Angeles Times, The Spectacle Blog, Business Insider, Blazing Cat Fur, Michelle Malkin, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller, TheBlaze.com, Jammie Wearing Fools and CNN
Zack Beauchamp / ThinkProgress:
Why Democrats Shouldn't Eulogize Hugo Chavez
Why Democrats Shouldn't Eulogize Hugo Chavez
Discussion:
U.S. Congressman …, National Review, Fox News, CANNONFIRE, ABCNEWS, NBCNews.com, Twitchy, Mediaite, BuzzFeed, The Gateway Pundit, Hit & Run, Jammie Wearing Fools and The Mahablog
Greg Grandin / The Nation:
On the Legacy of Hugo Chávez
On the Legacy of Hugo Chávez
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Belmont Club
Politico:
Now Dems worry: Did Obama cry wolf? — President Barack Obama hopes to spark a pitchfork revolt against Republicans over sequester-induced budget cuts — but many Democrats fret that he's undermined that effort with an early strategy marred by hype, poor planning and muddled messaging.
Discussion:
CNN, Hot Air, Business Insider, blogs.telegraph.co.uk and The National Memo
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New York Times:
Trying to Revive Talks, Obama Goes Around G.O.P. Leaders — WASHINGTON — With Republican leaders in Congress forswearing budget negotiations over new revenues, President Obama has begun reaching around them to Republican lawmakers with a history of willingness to cut bipartisan deals.
Discussion:
American Prospect, The Plum Line, The Maddow Blog, The Caucus, Washington Post, The Hill, Wonkblog, First Read, Smartypants, NBCNews.com, msnbc.com and susiemadrak.com
Reuters:
Election bump over, Obama approval drops to 43 percent: Reuters/IPSOS poll — Reuters/Reuters - President Barack Obama departs the Oval Office of the White House in Washington before departing to visit wounded military personnel at the Walter Reed National Military Center in Bethesda, ...more
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Scared Monkeys, Jammie Wearing Fools, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler and National Review
Shawna Thomas / NBCNews.com:
White House cancels tours, citing sequester
White House cancels tours, citing sequester
Discussion:
The Week, Mediaite, The Maddow Blog, Roll Call, Post Politics, The Raw Story, Daily Kos, Politico and New York Times
Zev Chafets / Vanity Fair:
Exclusive Excerpt: Roger Ailes Off Camera — Roger Ailes is one of the most powerful—and controversial—characters in television media, pilloried by critics and many in the mainstream media and lionized by conservative viewers who can't get enough of his posse of charismatic hosts.
Discussion:
CNN, The Hill, Guardian, Deadline.com, NBCNews.com, Weasel Zippers, Media Decoder, PREZ16, Politico, TVNewser, The Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, msnbc.com, Small Dead Animals and Post Politics, more at Mediagazer »
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Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Chief White House Calligrapher Gets Paid $96,725 Per Year — With the White House closing its doors to public tour groups in order to save money for the sequester, it's worth remembering some of the other costs the White House incurs annually. — Like the “Chief Calligrapher,” …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, Fox News and Washington Times
Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:
WATCH: Bill O'Reilly Harasses Gay Colorado Speaker Over Child Molester Laws — As expected, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is continuing his smear campaign against Colorado House Speaker Mark Ferrandino (D), who is openly gay, because of his opposition to instituting “Jessica's Law,” …
Discussion:
Advocate, NewsHounds blog and Towleroad News #gay
Empire News:
Sam Mendes Won't Direct Bond 24 — Exclusive on ‘a very difficult decision’ — Bond may be back, but Empire can exclusively reveal that Sam Mendes won't be joining him. At the BAFTAs recently, basking in the glow of Skyfall's triumph for Outstanding British Film, it seemed that Mendes …
Discussion:
The Week, BBC, FirstShowing.net, Telegraph and Deadline.com
Carl Campanile / New York Post:
Mayor Bloomberg's new health crusade: too-loud earbuds — Now listen up, if you can. — Mayor Bloomberg — who has already cracked down on smoking, junk food, trans fats, salt and super-sized drinks — is embarking on a new crusade: preventing New Yorkers from going deaf.
Discussion:
Gothamist, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller and Jammie Wearing Fools
Guardian:
Revealed: Pentagon link to Iraq torture centres — Exclusive: General David Petraeus and ‘dirty wars’ veteran behind commando units implicated in detainee abuse — See the full-length film of the 15-month investigation — The Pentagon sent a US veteran of the “dirty wars” …
Rob Wile / Business Insider:
Niall Ferguson: Paul Krugman's Style Of Debate Suggests He May Have Been Traumatized As A Child — Paul Krugman has been charging hard of late at people he believes espouse particularly dangerous economic recipes. — It's elicited some equal and opposite responses.
Willon / L.A. NOW:
L.A. mayor's race: Garcetti and Greuel top the field — City Councilman Eric Garcetti and Controller Wendy Greuel remained ahead of the pack in the race for mayor of Los Angeles early Wednesday morning with all city precincts reporting. — The top-two finishers in Tuesday's election …
Discussion:
Reuters, New York Times, Washington Wire, Hot Air, Los Angeles Times, Towleroad News #gay, KTLA 5, The Fix, First Read, Diane Ravitch's blog and Post Politics
Jonathan Martin / Politico:
GOP smackdown: Wonks vs. pols — The latest front in the battle for the future of the Republican Party: the wonks versus the pols. — Conservative thinkers are increasingly agitated that, four months after a second straight presidential drubbing, GOP officeholders are not taking bold steps …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
John Bachman / WSB-TV:
City looks to make gun ownership mandatory — Every homeowner in a local town could soon have to own a gun or break the law. It's a controversial new plan for the city of Nelson. — NELSON, Ga. — Every homeowner in a local town could soon have to own a gun or break the law.
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler and The Raw Story
Joel Gehrke / Washington Examiner:
Eric Holder: Drone strikes against Americans on U.S. soil are legal … Attorney General Eric Holder can imagine a scenario in which it would be constitutional to carry out a drone strike against an American on American soil, he wrote in a letter to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Discussion:
protein wisdom
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Sam Baker / The Hill:
GOP lawmakers say spending bill should target contraception mandate — A group of House Republicans said Tuesday that a bill to fund the federal government should include provisions targeting the contraception mandate in President Obama's healthcare law. — GOP lawmakers reintroduced …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress and Smartypants
Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
McConnell campaign shakes it up with Harlem Shake — (CNN) - The dance craze that's been sweeping the nation has made it to the campaign trail. — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's re-election team Wednesday put out a web video of a person wearing a mask of the Republican senator from Kentucky dancing to the Harlem Shake.
Discussion:
Ballot Box, Roll Call and The Raw Story
Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Congress Ready to Start Work on Budget — WASHINGTON - After two years of chaotic fiscal clashes, Congress on Wednesday will begin a more orderly process to get the nation's finances in order - or at least to keep the government open. — The so-called regular order on the federal budget …
Discussion:
The Reaction
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