Top Items:
Joshua Green / Businessweek:
The Secret Gingrich-Santorum ‘Unity Ticket’ That Nearly Toppled Romney — It's one of the great untold stories of the 2012 presidential campaign, a tale of ego and intrigue that nearly upended the Republican primary contest and might even have produced a different nominee …
Andrew Kohut / Washington Post:
The numbers prove it: The GOP is estranged from America — Andrew Kohut is the founding director and former president of the Pew Research Center. He served as president of the Gallup Organization from 1979 to 1989. — In my decades of polling, I recall only one moment when a party …
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Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Priebus slams ‘idiotic statements’ by Republicans as reason for losses — Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Friday said the party played into a “caricature” of itself in the 2012 election cycle, citing “idiotic statements” and “biologically stupid things” said by Mitt Romney and other GOP candidates.
Discussion:
Politico
Tom Tillison / BizPac Review:
Media fail: Stomp Jesus FAU professor is a Dem. Party official
Media fail: Stomp Jesus FAU professor is a Dem. Party official
Discussion:
The Jawa Report, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Netanyahu apologizes to Erdogan — AMMAN—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan spoke by telephone Friday, after a prolonged effort by President Barack Obama and his aides to overcome a deep chill that had settled into the relationship between Israel and Turkey.
RELATED:
Fox News:
Netanyahu apologizes to Turkish PM for Gaza flotilla raid, in phone call with Obama
Netanyahu apologizes to Turkish PM for Gaza flotilla raid, in phone call with Obama
Discussion:
American Spectator and Weasel Zippers
Herb Keinon / Jerusalem Post:
Netanyahu apologizes to Turkey over 2010 Gaza flotilla
Netanyahu apologizes to Turkey over 2010 Gaza flotilla
Discussion:
Reuters, Guardian and National Review
Jeryl Bier / Weekly Standard:
Biden's One-Night Paris Hotel Tab: $585,000.50 — As it turns out, Vice President Joe Biden's London stay in February was not the most expensive part of his trip. A government document released on February 14, 2013 shows that the contract for the Hotel Intercontinental Paris Le Grand came in at $585,000.50.
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, Weasel Zippers, Pundit & Pundette and Twitchy
RELATED:
Cynthia Johnston / Reuters:
Marine kills two at Quantico base, takes own life — (Reuters) - An active-duty Marine shot dead two fellow service members at a base at Quantico, Virginia, then barricaded himself in a building and killed himself, prompting a brief lockdown of the base, the Marines said on Friday.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Taylor Marsh, The Week and The Gateway Pundit
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Washington Post:
Dominican official links Daily Caller to alleged lies about Menendez — A top Dominican law enforcement official said Friday that a local lawyer has reported being paid by someone claiming to work for the conservative Web site the Daily Caller to find prostitutes who would lie and say they had sex …
Democracy Now:
Phil Donahue on His 2003 Firing from MSNBC, When Liberal Network Couldn't Tolerate Antiwar Voices … In 2003, the legendary television host Phil Donahue was fired from his prime-time MSNBC talk show during the run-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The problem was not Donahue's ratings …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The BRAD BLOG and Informed Comment
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Jack Mirkinson / The Huffington Post:
Phil Donahue On MSNBC Firing: Chris Matthews Was ‘Threatened’ By Me (VIDEO)
Phil Donahue On MSNBC Firing: Chris Matthews Was ‘Threatened’ By Me (VIDEO)
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Hullabaloo, NewsBusters and Mediaite
Ramsey Cox / The Hill:
Senate rejects repeal of healthcare law, again — The Senate on Friday rejected another GOP attempt to repeal President Obama's healthcare law. — An amendment to the Senate budget resolution from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) failed on a 45-54 vote on Friday.
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog and Daily Kos
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Ramsey Cox / The Hill:
Ryan's budget rejected in Senate on 40-59 vote
Ryan's budget rejected in Senate on 40-59 vote
Discussion:
The Week, Daily Kos, The Maddow Blog, Yahoo! News and The Hill
Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Good news for people who like bad news about inequality — So here's some bad news: The rise in wealth inequality? It's permanent. — This graph, which shows wealth inequality is even more severe than income inequality, isn't related to the study. It's just more bad news.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Most Senate Dems Join GOP Push To Repeal Obamacare Tax — A majority of Senate Democrats want to eliminate a $29 billion piece of Obamacare. — Thirty-four Democratic senators joined every Republican Thursday night in voting for a nonbinding budget amendment to repeal the law's 2.3 percent sales tax on medical devices.
Discussion:
The Plum Line
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Erik Wasson / The Hill:
Senate Democrats unite to defeat balanced budget motion
Senate Democrats unite to defeat balanced budget motion
Discussion:
BizPac Review and Weasel Zippers
Ronald Brownstein / NationalJournal.com:
The Man Who Could Turn Texas Blue: Rick Perry — By opposing Medicaid expansion, the governor could hurt the GOP in a must-win state. — AUSTIN, Texas—Big in all things, Texas leads the nation in failing to provide health insurance. About one in four Texans are uninsured, the highest percentage in any state.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Pundits Blog, Booman Tribune and First Read
Wall Street Journal:
Health Insurers Warn on Premiums — Health insurers are privately warning brokers that premiums for many individuals and small businesses could increase sharply next year because of the health-care overhaul law, with the nation's biggest firm projecting that rates could more than double for some consumers buying their own plans.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Lonely Conservative, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and White House Dossier
Anna Palmer / Politico:
Mitt Romney invites donors to $5K trip — Mitt Romney isn't running for president, but he's still looking for supporters' contributions. — The former presidential candidate sent out an email Thursday evening to bundlers and big donors, asking them to join him for a four-day June summit in Park City, Utah.
Jonathan Kandell / New York Times:
Chinua Achebe, Nigerian Writer, Dies at 82 — Chinua Achebe, the Nigerian writer who was black Africa's most widely read novelist and one of the continent's towering men of letters, has died after a brief illness, his publisher and agent said in London on Friday. He was 82.
Discussion:
Colorlines
RELATED:
Alison Flood / Guardian:
Novelist Chinua Achebe dies, aged 82
Novelist Chinua Achebe dies, aged 82
Discussion:
Reuters, The Awl, ThinkProgress, Gawker and The Week
Sorourke / nation.foxnews.com:
Wasserman-Schultz: My Aides on Brink of Starvation — WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: MY AIDES CAN'T AFFORD GOOD MEALS … On Tuesday, FL Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and her colleague VA Rep. Jim Moran openly whined about the impacts of spending cuts on their personal office budgets.
Discussion:
TheBlaze.com, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard and National Republican …
Politico:
Why Republicans still run K Street — Democrats control the White House and the Senate, but you wouldn't know it by looking down K Street. — Republicans hold more than 30 of the 50 highest-profile, in-house lobbying jobs in town, a POLITICO analysis found.
Discussion:
The Week and No More Mister Nice Blog
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
Noonan: Can the Republican Party Recover From Iraq? — The war almost killed the GOP. Whether it can come back is yet to be seen. — The air has been full of 10th-anniversary Iraq war retrospectives. One that caught my eye was a smart piece by Tom Curry, national affairs writer for NBC News …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog
Nolan Finley / detroitnews.com:
Detroit native Carson could break barriers in Senate race — Dr. Ben Carson is a Black History month staple. Each February, schoolchildren hear the story of the impoverished African-American boy from Detroit, a struggling student whose mother made him read two books a week until he bloomed into a scholar.
Discussion:
Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog, National Review, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and americanthinker.com
Michael McConnell / Wall Street Journal:
The Constitution and Same-Sex Marriage — Next week the Supreme Court will be asked to decide an issue in an area in which it has said it has no jurisdiction. — For most Americans, the Supreme Court cases being heard on Tuesday and Wednesday next week are about same-sex marriage.
Discussion:
Power Line, National Review and The Volokh Conspiracy
Mary L. Dudziak / New York Times:
Obama's Nixonian Precedent — ON March 17, 1969, President Richard M. Nixon began a secret bombing campaign in Cambodia, sending B-52 bombers over the border from South Vietnam. This episode, largely buried in history, resurfaced recently in an unexpected place: the Obama administration's …
Discussion:
Hullabaloo and Lawfare