Top Items:
Talking Points Memo:
Obama Administration Responds To Rand Paul On Drones — The U.S. government cannot target an American citizen who is not engaged in combat on American soil, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Thursday during his daily press briefing. — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) …
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Lois Romano / Politico:
Rand Paul: ‘Seriously’ weighing 2016 bid — Before Thursday, Rand Paul — tea party firebrand — hadn't vaulted into the top tier of Republican power players. — But all that seemed to change this week. The Kentucky Republican senator showed serious clout by holding a 13-hour filibuster …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Hot Air, BuzzFeed, National Review and NationalJournal.com
Luke Johnson / The Huffington Post:
Rand Paul Filibuster Leaves Senate Democrats Struggling To Explain Absence — WASHINGTON — While many Senate Democrats said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) raised legitimate concerns about the Obama administration's drone program during his epic filibuster of John Brennan's nomination as CIA director …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Shakesville, The Last Refuge, Crooks and Liars and Post Politics
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, The Week, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Little Green Footballs, Wall Street Journal, Washington Examiner, Washington Times, The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, The Hinterland Gazette, American Spectator, The Impolitic, No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Taylor Marsh
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Paul fires back: Sens. McCain, Graham think the ‘whole world is a battlefield’
Paul fires back: Sens. McCain, Graham think the ‘whole world is a battlefield’
Discussion:
NO QUARTER USA NET and Weasel Zippers
Sarah Wheaton / New York Times:
Senate Confirms Brennan as C.I.A. Chief
Senate Confirms Brennan as C.I.A. Chief
Discussion:
Slate, Politico, Lowering the Bar, Outside the Beltway, Guardian, Gawker and The Maddow Blog
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
2 G.O.P. Senators Assail Colleague's Filibuster Over Drones
2 G.O.P. Senators Assail Colleague's Filibuster Over Drones
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Lawfare, Hit & Run and The PJ Tatler
Kate Nocera / Politico:
Rand Paul filibuster blasted by John McCain, Lindsey Graham
Rand Paul filibuster blasted by John McCain, Lindsey Graham
Discussion:
Power Line
Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
John Brennan confirmed as CIA director following White House drone statement
John Brennan confirmed as CIA director following White House drone statement
Discussion:
CNN, News Desk, ACS Blog, Mediaite, Pew Research Center, The Fix, American Power, p m carpenter's commentary, The Dish, The Plum Line, Post Politics, The Reliable Source and Daily Kos
Internet Broadcasting / WPLG-TV:
Rand Paul ‘happy’ with drone response, ready to allow vote
Rand Paul ‘happy’ with drone response, ready to allow vote
Discussion:
The Week, Hit & Run and ProfessorBainbridge.com
Catalina Camia / Associated Press:
Rand Paul filibuster ranks among Senate's longest
Rand Paul filibuster ranks among Senate's longest
Discussion:
msnbc.com, FP Passport, The Daily Caller and ABCNEWS
Bill Clinton / Washington Post:
It's time to overturn DOMA — In 1996, I signed the Defense of Marriage Act. Although that was only 17 years ago, it was a very different time. In no state in the union was same-sex marriage recognized, much less available as a legal right, but some were moving in that direction.
Discussion:
The Caucus, Power Line, Taegan Goddard's …, The New Civil Rights Movement, Telegraph, CNN, msnbc.com, Politico, The Hill, Associated Press, Gawker, The PJ Tatler and The Week
Lee Smith / Weekly Standard:
Samira Ibrahim Speaks — Yesterday, THE WEEKLY STANDARD first reported that the State Department was about to bestow an International Woman of Courage Award on an anti-Semite and 9/11 fan. Egypt women's rights activist Samira Ibrahim had left a record on her Twitter feed of statements quoting Hitler …
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Israel Matzav, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and Twitchy
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Bradley Klapper / The Huffington Post:
US postpones award for Egyptian woman over tweets — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is postponing an award for an Egyptian activist who rallied worldwide attention against forced “virginity tests” on female protesters because of anti-American and anti-Semitic comments discovered on her Twitter account.
Discussion:
Politico, Israel Matzav, Weasel Zippers and Weekly Standard
Shira Kallus Zwebner / The Times of Israel:
Yup, Samira probably sent those tweets
Yup, Samira probably sent those tweets
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Twitchy, American Power, Israel Matzav and National Review
Ta-Nehisi Coates / New York Times:
The Good, Racist People — Last month the actor Forest Whitaker was stopped in a Manhattan delicatessen by an employee. Whitaker is one of the pre-eminent actors of his generation, with a diverse and celebrated catalog ranging from “The Great Debaters” to “The Crying Game” to “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.”
Discussion:
Smartypants
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Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
The Racism of “Good People” — If you are a white person who has on occasion felt aggrieved at the persistence of allegations of white racism in America, do yourself and your conscience a favor and read Ta-Nehisi's Coates' guest column today in the New York Times.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Carl Levin:
Sen. Carl Levin announces he will not seek re-election in 2014 — WASHINGTON - Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., announced today that he will not seek re-election in 2014. He released the following statement: — I have decided not to run for re-election in 2014.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, emptywheel, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Agonist and National Review
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Chris Christie / CNN:
TRENDING: Poll: Clinton, Christie fare best in possible 2016 showdowns
TRENDING: Poll: Clinton, Christie fare best in possible 2016 showdowns
Discussion:
Politico
Devin Leonard / Businessweek:
How Disney Bought Lucasfilm—and Its Plans for ‘Star Wars’ — One weekend last October, Robert Iger, chief executive officer of Walt Disney (DIS), sat through all six Star Wars films. He'd seen them before, of course. This time, he took notes. Disney was in secret negotiations to acquire Lucasfilm …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway, FirstShowing.net, Deadline.com and Moe Lane
Talking Points Memo:
Fox News Host Offer To Pay For One Week Of White House Tours — Fox News Host Eric Bolling on Thursday offered to pay for one week's worth of White House tours after the administration temporarily suspended them due to cutbacks under sequestration. “If I can get the White House doors open …
Discussion:
Mediaite
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Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
White House tours cost $74,000 a week for Secret Service
White House tours cost $74,000 a week for Secret Service
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Daily Caller, The Hill, TheBlaze.com and Weekly Standard
John Hinderaker / Power Line:
New Study Finds Firearms Laws Do Nothing to Prevent Homicides — That's the headline you should be seeing, but won't. Instead, you will see headlines like this one, on CNN: “Study links gun laws and lower gun mortality.” Or this one, from the Chicago Tribune: “States with strict gun laws found to have fewer shooting deaths.”
Discussion:
Reuters, archinte.jamanetwork.com, Clayton Cramer's Blog and CNN
New York Times:
New York Hearing Set as Son-in-Law of Bin Laden Is Caught — WASHINGTON — Osama bin Laden's son-in-law was recently arrested in the Middle East, was transferred to the United States and is now in a New York jail, according to two people briefed on the matter.
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Brian Ross / ABCNEWS:
Homeland Chair: Osama bin Laden's Son-in-Law ‘Cooperating’
Homeland Chair: Osama bin Laden's Son-in-Law ‘Cooperating’
Discussion:
Mediaite and The Jawa Report
Tim McDonnell / Mother Jones:
The Scariest Climate Change Graph Just Got Scarier … Back in 1999, Penn State University climate scientist Michael Mann released the climate change movement's most potent symbol: The “hockey stick,” a line graph of global temperature over the last 1,500 years that shows an unmistakable …
Discussion:
sciencemag.org, jobsanger, Dot Earth and Hullabaloo
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Obama sets end-of-July goal for bipartisan agreement on deficit — President Obama wants to complete a grand bargain to reduce the deficit by the end of July, an aggressive timeline coinciding with the expiration of the nation's debt limit. — Obama told a small group of Republican senators …
BBC:
North Korea says it ends peace pacts with South — North Korea says it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and the crossing point between the countries. — The announcement follows a fresh round of UN sanctions against Pyongyang over its controversial nuclear programme.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Politico:
Lisa Madigan moves toward run in Illinois — Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan spoke with several of the nation's top progressive groups during a visit to Washington D.C. last week, further fueling expectations that the popular Democrat will run for governor in 2014.