memeorandum: Buzzkill? Cash-strapped states eye pot tax (Rachael Bade/Politico)

9:45 AM ET, March 28, 2013

Top Items:

Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:

Argument recap: DOMA is in trouble (FINAL UPDATE) — Analysis — If the Supreme Court can find its way through a dense procedural thicket, and confront the constitutionality of the federal law that defined marriage as limited to a man and a woman, that law may be gone, after a seventeen-year existence.

David von Drehle / Swampland:

How Gay Marriage Won — Eager to be eyewitnesses to history, people camped for days in the dismal cold, shivering in the slanting shadow of the Capitol dome, to claim tickets for the Supreme Court's historic oral arguments on same-sex marriage. Some hoped that the Justices would extend marriage rights …

Discussion: Good As You, TheBlaze.com and Poynter

David Weigel / Slate:

Flashback: When Democrats Swore They Would Never Back Gay Marriage — Jon Allen follows HuffPost's intriguing advocacy journalism by quoting the few Democrats who haven't endorsed gay marriage yet. (HuffPost's been straight-up shaming them, naming the senators who have yet to flip and explaining that …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Sam Baker / The Hill:

Conservatives wary of Chief Justice Roberts in same-sex marriage cases — Some social conservatives are ready to disown Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts if he votes in favor of same-sex marriage. — The conservatives were angered by Roberts's surprise backing of President Obama's healthcare law …

Discussion: Reuters and Boston Herald

Alexander Burns / Politico:

The SCOTUS ruling the GOP really wants — Conservatives watching this week's gay marriage arguments at the Supreme Court are wondering if it will happen again: Unelected justices ignoring the will of legislatures and high-handedly imposing their own wishes on one of society's most divisive moral issues.

Discussion: The Week, RedState, Prairie Weather, Hot Air, Reuters and Weekly Standard

Politico:
Elena Kagan's DOMA ‘gotcha’ moment

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, ABCNEWS, SCOTUSblog, The Hill and Daily Kos

Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Obama hopes SCOTUS doesn't punt

Discussion: Althouse

Emily Bazelon / Slate:
Judging by Wednesday's Supreme Court hearing, the Defense of Marriage Act can't be defended.

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, BuzzFeed and Washington Wire

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
Sorry, Justice Scalia: There's no evidence that gay parents aren't great parents

Discussion: Joe. My. God.

Ilya Shapiro / Cato Institute:
If Supreme Court Has Jurisdiction, DOMA Likely Falls, With a Controlling Federalism Opinion from Kennedy Alone

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, The Volokh Conspiracy, Advocate, Instapundit and CNN

Chris Cillizza / Post Politics:

Ashley Judd is not running for Senate — Update: Ashley Judd has announced via Twitter that she will not run for Senate. “After serious and thorough contemplation, I realize that my responsibilities & energy at this time need to be focused on my family,” she wrote.

Discussion: The Week, WHAS, The Reaction, Daily Kos, The Fix, CBS News, Weasel Zippers, The Other McCain, Roll Call, Mediaite, Gawker and The PJ Tatler

Manu Raju / Politico:

Mitch McConnell's scorched-earth strategy — FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky is the Bluegrass State, but by the time Mitch McConnell is done with his reelection campaign, it may be better known for scorched earth. — The top Senate Republican is preparing to wage a ruthless campaign to hang on to his job.

Discussion: The Caucus, msnbc.com and Mother Jones

Politico: Charles Grassley writing alternative Senate gun bill

Chris Frates / NationalJournal.com:
The Secret Republican Plan to Repeal ‘Obamacare’

Discussion: Washington Wire, Right Turn and ABCNEWS

Manu Raju / Politico:
Obama, Republican senators set second date

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo and Post Politics

CNN:
Ashley Judd won't run for Senate

Discussion: Politico, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, The Moderate Voice and NewsBusters blogs

Jenn Taylor / Twitchy:
‘Born to campaign’: Ashley Judd equates running against Mitch McConnell with rape

Discussion: Hot Air, Michelle Malkin and The Daily Caller

Jim Treacher / The Daily Caller:
I couldn't help but notice that quote from Alex Pappas' report …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Jethro Mullen / CNN:

U.S. says it sent B-2 stealth bombers over South Korea — The United States said Thursday, March 28, that it flew stealth bombers over South Korea to participate in annual military exercises amid spiking tensions with North Korea. Pictured, a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber flies over South Korea's western port city of Pyeongtaek.

Discussion: CBS News and Hot Air

Edward Jay Epstein / Wall Street Journal:

How Iran Could Get the Bomb Overnight — Building a nuclear weapon takes time. Buying one does not. — The West has tried to stop Iran from manufacturing nuclear weapons by diplomacy, sanctions and cybersabotage, and with the threat of military action if Tehran crosses red lines in moving toward the final stages of making a bomb.

Discussion: Power Line

The Atlantic Online:
North Korea Puts Its War Machine on Display

Discussion: Yahoo! News, AMERICAN DIGEST and New York Times

David Martosko / Daily Mail:

Alabama lawmaker sends shocking RACIST rant to gun-rights constituent, and copies every member of the state legislature — A black member of the Alabama legislature uncorked a racist tirade in an email this week to a constituent who urged him not to embrace new gun control laws …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Extrano's Alley, a gun blog

George Talbot / al.com:
Alabama lawmaker's email: ‘Slave-holding, murdering, adulterous, baby-raping, snaggle-toothed kin folk’

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

Idaho teacher investigated for saying ‘vagina’ during biology lesson — A high school science teacher in Idaho is under investigation by the state's professional standards commission because he reportedly used the word “vagina” during a biology lesson. — Tim McDaniel, who teaches 10th grade science …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Gawker and ThinkProgress

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Cate Edwards ‘devastated’ by father's affair — Cate Edwards, the daughter of John Edwards, was “devastated” to learn about the affair that shattered her father's political career, she said in an interview that is slated to air this week. — “Yes, he told me” about the affair …

Discussion: CNN

Renee Dudley / Bloomberg:

Customers Flee Wal-Mart Empty Shelves for Target, Costco — Margaret Hancock has long considered the local Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) superstore her one- stop shopping destination. No longer. — During recent visits, the retired accountant from Newark, Delaware, says she failed to find …

Discussion: The Week, Daily Kos, Via Meadia, Zandar Versus The Stupid and TIME

Michael A. Walsh / New York Post:

A nation suckered — Bilking billions from the government — No doubt you were shocked, shocked to learn that Jeffrey Hillman, the “barefoot beggar” who famously received a free pair of boots from a kindly NYPD cop, turned out to be a scam artist who preys on the kindness of strangers …

Discussion: Power Line

Linda Lye / ACLU:

DOJ Emails Show Feds Were Less Than “Explicit” With Judges On Cell Phone Tracking Tool — A Justice Department document obtained by the ACLU of Northern California shows that federal investigators were routinely using a sophisticated cell phone tracking tool known as a “stingray,” …

Discussion: Techdirt, The Daily Caller, Firedoglake and Hit & Run

Rachael Bade / Politico:

Buzzkill? Cash-strapped states eye pot tax — Now that voters in Colorado and Washington have legalized recreational marijuana use, dope smokers there can light up without the usual paranoid fear that the cops are at the door. — The taxman is another matter.