memeorandum: North Korea Trolls American Poverty In Greatest Propaganda Video Ever (Spencer Ackerman/Wired)

9:00 PM ET, March 13, 2013

Top Items:

Rachel Donadio / New York Times:

The New Pope: Bergoglio of Argentina — VATICAN CITY — With a puff of white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and to the cheers of thousands of rain-soaked faithful, a gathering of Catholic cardinals picked a new pope from among their midst on Wednesday — choosing the cardinal from Argentina …

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

New Pope Elected — The Catholic cardinals have elected a new pope on Wednesday after just two days of deliberations, selecting 76-year-old Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio on the fifth vote. He has taken the name of Francis and was not considered to be one of the front runners.

Discussion: Holy Bullies …, Shakesville and The Week

Michael Potemra / National Review:

A Jesuit Named Francis! — The new pope, Jorge Maria Bergoglio, was the runner-up to Ratzinger in 2005, and received relatively little buzz in the run-up to this conclave. Some speculated that his time had passed, though John Allen had a good rundown of his plus and minuses a few days ago.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, The Dish, Reuters, Chicago Boyz and AMERICAblog

J. Lester Feder / BuzzFeed:

Pope Francis Brings Lessons Of Argentina's Marriage Fight To Rome — Then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio bungled the fight against Argentina's “Equal Marriage Law” in 2010. “Let's not be naive,” he wrote of same-sex marriage. “This is not a simple political fight; it is a destructive proposal to God's plan.”

Guardian:
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio elected pontiff, takes name Pope Francis - live

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Towleroad News #gay

Colin M. Snider / Americas South and North:
On the Selection of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francisco

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Belmont Club, Business Insider and PolicyMic

Washington Post:
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina elected pope, takes name Pope Francis

Discussion: PostPartisan, Business Insider, Wonkblog, NewsBusters blogs, Post Politics, Poynter and The Reaction

Damian Thompson / blogs.telegraph.co.uk:
Pope Francis I: a humble man from the New World whose first challenge is to end the scandals

Discussion: Telegraph, The PJ Tatler and Outside the Beltway

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Pope Francis elected by Vatican cardinals

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Jordan Davis / Florida Times Union:

Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll resigns — Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll has resigned. — The resignation comes two days after Florida Department of Law Enforcement officers interviewed Carroll about her involvement with Allied Veterans of the World, a non-profit that operates internet cafes in Florida.

Discussion: www2.tbo.com, Tampa Bay Times, Right Wing Watch, Wonkette, Joe. My. God., The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Shark Tank, The Moderate Voice, Politico, The Hinterland Gazette, First Read, Post Politics and CNN

MiamiHerald.com:

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll resigns amid state, federal probe of non-profit veterans group — TALLAHASSEE — Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll abruptly resigned amid law enforcement questions about a Florida Internet sweepstakes company at the center of a nationwide criminal investigation.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Maddow Blog, The Awl, The Daily Caller and Politic365

Politico:

Tense meeting between President Obama, House GOP — President Barack Obama tangled with House Republicans for more than an hour Wednesday, answering questions on topics ranging from whether the White House spends too much time campaigning to how serious the administration is about slashing the nation's deficit.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, Guardian and Daily Kos

John Stanton / BuzzFeed:
Obama Leaves Door Open On Keystone Pipeline

Discussion: Mediaite

Politico:
OFA leader: ‘We are not a partisan organization’

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Hot Air and Roll Call

Spencer Ackerman / Wired:

North Korea Trolls American Poverty In Greatest Propaganda Video Ever — Living in tents. Drinking coffee made from snow. This is your life in America, filtered through the incisive prism of North Korean propaganda. — The world's most militarized society is shaking its head …

Discussion: WorldViews, The Daily Caller and Hot Air

Eric Pfeiffer / Yahoo! News:

Alleged North Korean propaganda video: ‘This is how Americans live today’ — A new video has been posted to the Live Leak site that claims to be a North Korean propaganda video showing a dystopian American society. — It's unclear if the translation is accurate, and whether the video did in fact originate in North Korea.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and National Review

Washington Post:

Obama's approval drops as Americans take a dimmer view of his economic policies — The afterglow of President Obama's reelection and inauguration appears to have vanished as increasingly negative views among Americans about his stewardship of the economy have forced his public approval rating …

Discussion: Guardian, NewsBusters, The Maddow Blog, US News, The Fix, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Hot Air, Power Line, msnbc.com, ABCNEWS and Post Politics

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
The Morning Plum: No, the GOP isn't “winning” the argument over sequester

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Times, The National Memo, The Maddow Blog, The Fix, The Impolitic, The Democratic Daily, Prairie Weather, The Moderate Voice and The Hill

Washington Post:
Obama approval, Congress and the sequester

Discussion: The Fix, Daily Kos, msnbc.com, The National Memo, The Hill, Guardian and Firedoglake

ABCNEWS:

Transcript: President Obama's Exclusive Interview With George Stephanopoulos — GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: — Mr. President, thank you for doing this. — PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: — It's great to be here. — GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: — So, you've done all meetings on Capitol Hill …

Jonathan Karl / Yahoo! News:
President Obama: There Is No Debt Crisis

Discussion: Viewpoint, Hullabaloo and The Gateway Pundit

George Stephanopoulos / ABCNEWS:
Obama: Gap Between Parties May Be ‘Too Wide’ for a Grand Bargain on Budget

Discussion: Roll Call, Towleroad News #gay, Queerty, Wonkblog, USA Today, Hawkings Here, The Caucus and Business Insider

Steve Frank / msnbc.com:

EXCLUSIVE: The ‘47% tape’ and the man who revealed the real Mitt Romney — Mitt Romney is back in the public eye. — The former presidential candidate celebrated his 66th birthday Tuesday and he's speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) later in the week.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Business Insider, The Raw Story, Shakesville and Washington Wire

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:
How Bill Clinton Inspired The 47 Percent Filmmaker

Discussion: Telegraph, Business Insider, CNN, The Week, Mediaite, Gothamist, Rumproast, First Read, TVNewser, The Caucus, Gawker and Pressing Issues

Jason Cherkis / The Huffington Post:
47 Percent Filmmaker Had No Health Insurance

Discussion: Daily Kos

Rob Thomas / Kickstarter:

The Veronica Mars Movie Project — Here it is. Our one shot to see a Veronica Mars movie happen. Kristen is in. I'm in. Let's do it! — Almost since Veronica Mars went off the air, there's been talk of making a movie. In that span, I've taken different tactics in dealing with the question of whether it might happen.

Discussion: Deadline.com, Towleroad News #gay, Engadget, New York Times, TechCrunch, Guardian, Liberal Values, Techdirt, Mashable!, Gawker and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

uticaod.com:

Police ID fatal shooting suspect as Kurt Myers of Mohawk — Mohawk police have identified the man suspected of fatally shooting six and wounding two others as 64-year-old Kurt Myers of Mohawk. — Police have not yet apprehended Myers. State police expect to hold a news conference at the Herkimer barracks within the hour.

Discussion: Gawker, BBC, CBS New York, The Hinterland Gazette, Pressing Issues, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Gothamist

Politico:

CPAC muddle mirrors GOP mess — It's not hard to make fun of CPAC. From the presence of Donald Trump to a meaningless straw poll to a cavalcade of fringe-dwelling book merchants, the event has become more carnival than conservative salon. — What is more notable about this year's rendition …

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, First Read, Little Green Footballs, msnbc.com, ABCNEWS, The Hill and TheBlaze.com

Jake Sherman / Politico:
Eric Cantor's move to the middle rankles leaders

Discussion: msnbc.com, UTSanDiego.com, The Page and forum.iop.harvard.edu

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:

Senate Dems Weigh Consequences For GOP Filibusters Of Key Nominees — Senate Democratic leaders have engaged in preliminary discussions about how to address Republican procedural obstruction, according to a senior Democratic aide, reflecting an awareness that key administration …

Discussion: ACS Blog, The Dish, Daily Kos, The Impolitic, PostPartisan, The Maddow Blog, Mother Jones, Outside the Beltway, Washington Monthly and DownWithTyranny!

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:

GSA ordered to give job back to executive fired after Las Vegas conference scandal — The General Services Administration was ordered this week to reinstate a senior executive who lost his job last year amid revelations of lavish spending at a Las Vegas conference.

Discussion: Hot Air and TheBlaze.com

Steve Kornacki / Salon:

Paul Ryan and the problem with losing — Like myriad candidates before him, Paul Ryan is learning how damaging being part of a failed ticket can really be — What was most striking about the unveiling of Paul Ryan's latest budget blueprint on Tuesday was how familiar it felt.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, A plain blog about politics, The Atlantic Online, naked capitalism and ABCNEWS

Erica Ritz / TheBlaze.com:

NJ MOTHER PRESSURED TO TURN OVER HER GUNS, CHARGED WITH ‘TERRORISTIC THREATS’ AFTER READING THE CONSTITUTION AT TAX DISPUTE ASSEMBLY — Key Points: — Eileen Hart objected to a mandatory re-evaluation of her property value that would drastically increase her tax rates

Discussion: Guns.com, Algemeiner.com and LewRockwell.com Blog