Top Items:
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:
Ballot Box, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, First Read, BuzzFeed, CANNONFIRE, Hot Air, NationalJournal.com, The Fix and National Review
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Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Newt Gingrich: John McCain attacks on Rand Paul ‘sad’
Newt Gingrich: John McCain attacks on Rand Paul ‘sad’
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's … and The Immoral Minority
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:
Politico, NO QUARTER USA NET and Weasel Zippers
Luke Johnson / The Huffington Post:
Rand Paul Filibuster Leaves Senate Democrats Struggling To Explain Absence
Rand Paul Filibuster Leaves Senate Democrats Struggling To Explain Absence
Discussion:
Slate, Truthout Stories, Hit & Run, Shakesville, The Last Refuge and Crooks and Liars
Grace Wyler / Business Insider:
IT'S WAR: John McCain And Lindsey Graham Just Ripped Into Rand Paul On The Senate Floor
IT'S WAR: John McCain And Lindsey Graham Just Ripped Into Rand Paul On The Senate Floor
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Mother Jones, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Week, Little Green Footballs, Associated Press, Firedoglake, Washington Times, The Hinterland Gazette, American Spectator, ABCNEWS, Washington Examiner, The Impolitic, No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, Wall Street Journal and Ricochet Conversations Feed
David Weigel / Slate:
Everybody Loves Filibusters
Everybody Loves Filibusters
Discussion:
The Week, Mediaite, msnbc.com, The Atlantic Online and Politico
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:
Firedoglake, Washington Wire, AMERICAblog, The Caucus, The Plum Line, News Desk, Taylor Marsh, The Week, Capital New York, The Raw Story, Power Line, CNN, Shakesville, The Maddow Blog, Telegraph, The New Civil Rights Movement, Politico, msnbc.com, The Hill, Joe. My. God., The PJ Tatler, Gawker and Daily Kos
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:
jobsanger and Hullabaloo
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Gautam Naik / Wall Street Journal:
In Study, Past Decade Ranks Among Hottest — New research suggests average global temperatures were higher in the past decade than over most of the previous 11,300 years, a finding that offers a long-term context for assessing modern-day climate change. — The study, published Thursday …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, NBCNews.com and MarketBeat
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 …
Discussion:
First Read
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Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
Obama on His Heels — In January, pretty much all of respectable …
Obama on His Heels — In January, pretty much all of respectable …
Discussion:
PJ Media
Wonkette:
Wonket Sexclusive: Totally Blameless Crime-Stopper James O'Keefe To Pay $100,000 To ACORN Criminal — James O'Keefe—the blonde bombshell who set the conservative world of hidden-camera YouTube movies ablaze—has just agreed to a $100,000 settlement to calm down the unjustly fired …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Raw Story, Gawker, Crooks and Liars, Little Green Footballs and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
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Tony Perry / Los Angeles Times:
Conservative activist pays $100,000 to former ACORN worker — James O'Keefe says he ‘regrets any pain’ suffered by a man in a widely seen sting video in which the smuggling of underage prostitutes was discussed. — SAN DIEGO — James O'Keefe, the conservative activist whose hidden-camera stings …
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:
archinte.jamanetwork.com, Reuters, Clayton Cramer's Blog and CNN
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Nicole Flatow / ThinkProgress:
States With Most Gun Laws Have Fewest Gun Deaths, Study Finds — States with more gun laws have lower levels of gun fatalities, according to a new study from Boston Children's Hospital. While the study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, does not establish cause-and-effect …
Discussion:
The Political Carnival, Prairie Weather and NBCNews.com
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 and Weasel Zippers
RELATED:
Bradley Klapper / The Huffington Post:
US postpones award for Egyptian woman over tweets
US postpones award for Egyptian woman over tweets
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, Politico and Weasel Zippers
Shira Kallus Zwebner / The Times of Israel:
Yup, Samira probably sent those tweets
Yup, Samira probably sent those tweets
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Daily Caller, Twitchy, American Power, Weekly Standard 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:
The Atlantic Online, The Other McCain and Smartypants
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Des Moines Register:
Priebus: GOP needs new strategy — He says party must look beyond early caucuses, primaries. — If the GOP is going to win presidential elections, candidates can't compete just in Iowa and the seven other early states, the party's national chairman said during a visit here Thursday.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Politico
Mark Gongloff / The Huffington Post:
Elizabeth Warren: Banks Get Wrist Slaps While Drug Dealers Get Jail — Sen. Elizabeth Warren unloaded on bank regulators Thursday about the fact that British bank HSBC is still doing business in the U.S., with no criminal charges filed against it, despite confessing to what one regulator called “egregious” money laundering violations.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, msnbc.com, Business Insider and The Baseline Scenario
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Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
Senators blast financial regulators over ‘prosecution-free zone for large banks’
Senators blast financial regulators over ‘prosecution-free zone for large banks’
Discussion:
Politico, Booman Tribune and Blue Mass Group
Bill McBride / Calculated Risk:
February Employment Report: 236,000 Jobs, 7.7% Unemployment Rate — From the BLS: … Click on graph for larger image. — The headline number was above expectations of 171,000 payroll jobs added. Employment for January was revised lower, but jobs added in December was revised higher.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos, Guardian and Business Insider
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Rand Paul Praises Horrendous Supreme Court Decision, Would Let Employers Ruthlessly Exploit Workers — Lochner v. New York is widely viewed as one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in American history. It is taught in law schools, alongside decisions upholding segregation …
Discussion:
Hit & Run
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Quote of the Day: Joe Scarborough vs. Joe Scarborough — Compare and contrast. Here is Joe Scarborough during his debate with Paul Krugman on Monday: … And here is Scarborough writing with Jeffrey Sachs in the Washington Post today: … I'm confused.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
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 and NewsBusters
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
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Joe Battenfeld / Boston Herald:
Markey who? GOP: Poll ‘speaks volumes’ … Massachusetts GOP leaders say they are encouraged by a new UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll showing Democratic front-runner U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey remains largely unknown by most voters despite a 36-year career in Congress.
Discussion:
Ballot Box and Taegan Goddard's …
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, The Agonist, emptywheel, The New Civil Rights Movement and National Review
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Carl Levin / CNN:
Sen. Levin won't seek re-election in 2014
Sen. Levin won't seek re-election in 2014
Discussion:
Liberal Values, The Political Carnival, Ballot Box and Politico