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2:00 PM ET, March 7, 2013

Top Items:

Rand Paul's Drone Rant — Give Rand Paul credit for theatrical timing. As a snow storm descended on Washington, the Kentucky Republican's old-fashioned filibuster Wednesday filled the attention void on Twitter and cable TV. If only his reasoning matched the showmanship.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Mediaite, Business Insider, The Raw Story, The Daily Caller and TheBlaze.com

Ashley Parker / The Caucus:

Republicans, Led by Rand Paul, Finally End Filibuster — Updated WASHINGTON — A small group of Republicans, led by Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, stalled the Senate on Wednesday by waging a nearly 13-hour old-school, speak-until-you-can-speak-no- more filibuster over the government's use …

Grace Wyler / Business Insider:

IT'S WAR: John McCain And Lindsey Graham Just Ripped Into Rand Paul On The Senate Floor — U.S. Sen. John McCain blasted fellow Republican Rand Paul on the Senate floor this morning for his 13-hour filibuster to block John Brennan's confirmation as CIA Director. — “Calm down, Senator,” McCain said, in an apostrophe to Paul.

Discussion: Hit & Run, American Spectator, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Weasel Zippers and The Week

David Taintor / Talking Points Memo:

McCain, Graham Slam Rand Paul's ‘Ridiculous’ Filibuster — Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Thursday went after Sen. Rand Paul's talking filibuster of CIA director nominee John Brennan, calling the Kentucky Republican's claim that the U.S. could have hypothetically conducted a drone strike on Jane Fonda during the Vietnam War “ridiculous.”

Discussion: American Spectator

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Harry Reid Winks At Revisiting Filibuster Reform

Discussion: The Monkey Cage, The Maddow Blog and Hullabaloo

Amy Argetsinger / The Reliable Source:
Rand Paul fears for Jane Fonda

Discussion: The Fix, Post Politics, Lynn Sweet and Shakesville

Joel Gehrke / Washington Examiner:
McConnell extends Rand Paul filibuster: It'll take 60 votes to proceed with Brennan nomination

Discussion: Hit & Run and Patterico's Pontifications

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
Democrats Absent During Rand Paul Filibuster Of John Brennan Nomination

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington's Blog, Taylor Marsh, Post Politics and ProfessorBainbridge.com

Washington Post:
Paul's filibuster in opposition to Brennan, drone policy ends after nearly 13 hours

Discussion: The Fix, Post Politics, The Plum Line, News Desk, Shakesville, Politico, msnbc.com, Taking Note and The Spectacle Blog

Jim Michaels / Associated Press:
Rand Paul ends epic filibuster over Brennan

Discussion: Politics Extra, The Week, National Review and Mediaite

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:

Republicans emerge from Obama dinner optimistic about deficit deal — Senate Republicans are more optimistic about the prospect of a grand bargain on the deficit after an intimate dinner with President Obama Wednesday evening in downtown Washington. — Obama and a dozen Republicans discussed …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Caucus, Politico, Washington Monthly, CNN, The Moderate Voice, The Week, Right Wing News, The Hill, Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune, Connecting.the.Dots and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Glenn Thrush / Politico:

Obama invites Paul Ryan to lunch — President Barack Obama —seeking to sell Republicans on a revival of “grand bargain” talks — has invited 2012 GOP veep candidate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, over to the White House for lunch on Thursday, POLITICO has learned.

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, The Hinterland Gazette, Hot Air, The Week and Wall Street Journal

ThinkProgress:

Paul Ryan Balances New Budget By Embracing Obama Policies — But next week, just four months after losing the November election, Ryan plans to unveil a budget that incorporates many of the policies he campaigned against, since the very changes he opposed as a vice presidential candidate …

First Read / NBCNews.com:

First Thoughts: A tale of two Senates — A tale of two Senates on display last night... Obama's dinner with 12 GOP senators vs. Rand Paul's filibuster... Paul's filibuster actually forces a debate... Principle vs. politics... Obama's dinner gets positive reviews, but it raises three questions …

Discussion: New York Times, The Plum Line, The Dish, Daily Kos, First Read, CNN and New Republic

Jim Messina / CNN:

Why we're raising money to support Obama agenda — Jim Messina says among the policies that Organizing for Action has pushed support to is Obama's plan to curb gun violence … (CNN) — You can't change Washington from the inside. President Obama was criticized for stating that simple truth during …

Discussion: Roll Call, The Hill, Washington Free Beacon and American Spectator

Jackie Calmes / The Caucus:
G.O.P. Senators Give Obama Dinner Thumbs Up

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Washington Post and Politico

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Obama's just now starting to call rank-and-file Republicans?

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Weasel Zippers, Politico and Post Politics

Jack Kim / Reuters:

North Korea warns U.S. of preemptive nuclear strike — SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea threatened the United States on Thursday with a preemptive nuclear strike, raising the level of rhetoric while the U.N. Security Council considers new sanctions against the reclusive country.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

Harry Hawkins / The Sun:

north korea says it will launch nuclear attack on america — Tensions ... North Korea leader Kim Jong-un — NORTH Korea led by tyrant Kim Jong-un has sensationally vowed to launch a NUCLEAR attack on the USA. — The provocative statement comes weeks after the country conducted underground nuclear tests …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Vodkapundit and The Jawa Report

New York Times:

New Sanctions Imposed on North Korea as It Warns of Pre-emptive Nuclear Attack — The United Nations Security Council approved a new regimen of sanctions on Thursday against North Korea for its underground nuclear test last month, imposing penalties on North Korean banking …

Discussion: US Department of State, The Hill, The Week and The Daily Caller

Associated Press:
Furious over sanctions, NKorea vows to nuke US

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Eriq Gardner / Hollywood Reporter:

Al Gore Sued Over Current TV Sale to Al Jazeera (Exclusive) — A $5 million lawsuit claims Gore was “adamant” about not selling his network to oil-rich Qataris but had a “change of heart,” then stiffed the man who came up with the idea for the deal. — Current TV's $500 million sale …

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, TVNewser and Washington Free Beacon, more at Mediagazer »

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Fox News-iest Segment in Fox News History — If you have never seen Fox News before, here is a four-minute clip that captures the essence of the network so perfectly that you need never watch anything on it again. It's all here. At the center, you have an old conservative white guy …

Discussion: p m carpenter's commentary, The Mahablog, The Reaction and The Week

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

A Devastating 26-Word Challenge to President Obama's Leadership — A single sentence from Senator Ron Wyden sums up the radicalism of the administration's national-security policies. — Reuters — When Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, stopped by the Senate floor Wednesday to help …

Thomas B. Edsall / Opinionator:

The War On Entitlements — The debate over reform of Social Security and Medicare is taking place in a vacuum, without adequate consideration of fundamental facts. — These facts include the following: Two-thirds of Americans who are over the age of 65 depend on an average annual Social Security benefit …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jeff Woods / News, Nashville Scene:

Under Attack by Christian Right, Vandy Fights to Keep Police Force — Incredulous Vanderbilt officials were forced to come to the legislature today to argue against a bill yanking the university police's authority to make arrests. This brilliant proposal comes from the Christian Right …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and susiemadrak.com

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:

How the White House silenced gun control groups — President Barack Obama's gun control agenda is looking more doomed by the day, but gun control advocates still haven't said a word to complain. — That's no accident. — The White House knew its post-Newtown effort would require bringing key gun-control groups into the fold.

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Judiciary panel approves bill to crack down on illegal firearms trafficking — The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved legislation to crack down on the illegal trafficking and straw purchasing of firearms, despite strong objections from seven Republicans on the panel.

Discussion: Politico