memeorandum: Mitch McConnell joins Senate gun filibuster (Ginger Gibson/Politico)

11:05 AM ET, April 9, 2013

Top Items:

David Corn / Mother Jones:

Secret Tape: McConnell and Aides Weighed Using Judd's Mental Health and Religion as Political Ammo — A recording of a private meeting between the Senate GOP leader and campaign aides reveals how far they were willing to go to defeat the actor/activist. — On February 2, Mitch McConnell …

Discussion: Politico, Ballot Box, CNN, Roll Call, New York Magazine, Gawker and The Raw Story

Ginger Gibson / Politico:

Mitch McConnell joins Senate gun filibuster — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would join a group of Senate Republicans threatening a filibuster to oppose a cloture vote if Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid moves a gun bill to the floor this week.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, The Week, americanthinker.com, Hot Air, Mother Jones, The Fix, The Moderate Voice, Freedom's Lighthouse, Weasel Zippers and The Hill

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Republicans who want a gun vote — Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson broke with 14 of his Republican colleagues Tuesday, saying he believes gun control legislation deserves a “vote up or down.” — “I'll speak for myself on that question,” Isakson said on CBS's “This Morning” when asked about the filibuster.

Sen. Tim Kaine / Virginian-Pilot:
Let Senate vote on gun measures

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Weasel Zippers, Post Politics and msnbc.com

Paul Krugman:

Did Thatcher Turn Britain Around? — There will presumably be a lot of commentary about Margaret Thatcher over the next few days, although probably nothing like the “Reagasm” of 2004. And there will in particular be many assertions that Thatcher turned around a moribund British economy.

Discussion: The Tell, AEIdeas and Prairie Weather

Hugo Young / Guardian:

Margaret Thatcher left a dark legacy that has still not disappeared — Days before he died in 2003, Guardian columnist and Thatcher biographer Hugo Young wrote an epitaph for the prime minister who changed Britain forever — The first time I met Margaret Thatcher, I swear she was wearing gloves.

Discussion: Telegraph, BBC, Balloon Juice, The Sun, The Reaction and The Hinterland Gazette

Morrissey / The Daily Beast:

‘Thatcher Was a Terror Without an Atom of Humanity’ — Singer Morrissey, of the seminal 1980s band The Smiths, reacts to news of the death of former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. — Thatcher is remembered as The Iron Lady only because she possessed completely negative traits …

Discussion: blogs.telegraph.co.uk, DownWithTyranny!, NewsBusters and Guardian

Barry Neild / Guardian:
Margaret Thatcher's death greeted with street parties in Brixton and Glasgow

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Taegan Goddard's …, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, ZNet Recent Items, Weasel Zippers, Joe. My. God. and susiemadrak.com

Sarah Palin / National Review:
The Grocer's Daughter — Today we say goodbye to a towering figure of the 20th century.

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin, Ed Driscoll, Twitchy and Business Insider

Helen Lewis / New Statesman:
Margaret Thatcher: feminist icon?

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Slate, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, ComPost, Telegraph and Shakesville

Andrew Sullivan / The Dish:
Thatcher, Liberator — [Re-posted from earlier today.]

Discussion: Washington Post, americanthinker.com, Hot Air, Informed Comment, Daniel W. Drezner, The Reaction, Hit & Run, No More Mister Nice Blog, Guardian, Esquire and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Lori Ziganto / Twitchy:
Whoa: CNN runs obit photo of Margaret Thatcher with accused pedophile Jimmy Savile [pic]

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Crooks and Liars, NewsBusters blogs, NewsBusters, National Review and Ed Driscoll

Jerusalem Post:
PM: Thatcher a true friend of Jewish People, Israel

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Megan Garber / The Atlantic Online:
Margaret Thatcher May Have Helped Invent Soft-Serve Ice Cream

Discussion: The Week

New York Times:
News Analysis: Thatcher Policies Still Resisted by Europe

Discussion: Politico, IHT Rendezvous, News Desk, DownWithTyranny! and New York Magazine

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:

Santorum doesn't think Supreme Court will rule in favor of same-sex marriage — He doesn't think it will rule in favor of same-sex marriage. — A “chastened” U.S. Supreme Court won't make the mistake of granting same-sex marriage rights, former presidential candidate Rick Santorum predicted in an interview Monday.

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, msnbc.com, Business Insider, Shakesville and Joe. My. God.

Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:

Uh-O: Jon Stewart Tears Into Obama's ‘Attractive’ AG Comment And Michelle's ‘Single Mom’ Gaffe — Jon Stewart kicked off The Daily Show Monday night by looking at some of the more troubling aspects of President Obama's difficult weekend. From his unfortunate remarks about California Attorney …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Towleroad News #gay and The Raw Story

John Ingold / Denver Post:

Fox News' Jana Winter wins reprieve in theater shooting case — Fox News reporter Jana Winter arrives at Arapahoe County court on April 1, 2013. She could be put into jail at a hearing this week after refusing to reveal anonymous law enforcement sources to the court. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, TVNewser, Daily Kos, CNN, Poynter, The Week and Gawker

Spencer Ackerman / Wired:

Watch Navy's New Laser Cannon, Mounted on a Ship, Kill a Drone — The video above is what the Navy's top officers view as the future of their dominance on the surface of the world's waterways. A laser cannon, its magazine limited only by the amount of energy pumped into it and costing pocket change …

Discussion: emptywheel, New York Times, Taylor Marsh, The Week and Twitchy

Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:

Bobby Jindal's Political Collapse Is Dangerous News For The National GOP — Sure the GOP may need a little outreach here and a little fine tuning there, but Republicans in Washington say they're confident that a principled message of low taxes and cuts to social services will eventually propel them back to victory.

Discussion: Politico, Little Green Footballs and Hullabaloo

Talking Points Memo:
Bobby Jindal Pulls Tax Plan After Outcry

Discussion: Daily Kos and New Orleans Times-Picayune

Rachael Bade / Reuters:

New gun control strategy: Tax 'em — State and local officials are pushing a new way to expand gun control: taxes. — Gun owners in and around Chicago last week started paying a new $25 tax on every firearm they purchase. In California, a statehouse panel on April 15 will hear testimony …

Discussion: Politico and Washington Free Beacon

David Adams / Reuters:

Exclusive: Beyonce, Jay-Z Cuba visit had U.S. Treasury Department OK - source — (Reuters) - A visit by American pop star Beyonce and rapper husband Jay-Z to Havana last week was a cultural trip that was fully licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department, a source familiar with the itinerary said on Monday.

Discussion: The Raw Story, msnbc.com, Gawker, Patterico's Pontifications and New York Times

Douglas Martin / New York Times:

Annette Funicello, Mouseketeer and Beach Movie Actress, Dies at 70 — Annette Funicello, who won America's heart as a 12-year-old in Mickey Mouse ears, captivated adolescent baby boomers in slightly spicy beach movies and later championed people with multiple sclerosis, a disease from which she suffered …

Discussion: CNN, CBS Boston, The Impolitic, She The People, Scared Monkeys, DailyFinance, Taylor Marsh and Balloon Juice

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Michael Bloomberg group's gun-control scorecard will give lawmakers letter grades — New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, one of the nation's most committed and deep-pocketed gun-control proponents, is ratcheting up pressure on lawmakers by launching a new system to grade them based on their votes and statements on gun issues.

Discussion: Politico, Yahoo! News, The Hill, Hot Air, First Read and Prairie Weather

Nouri al-Maliki / Washington Post:

The U.S. has a foreign-policy partner in Iraq — Today, on the 10th anniversary of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the debate about whether it was worth it to topple the regime and the direction of the U.S.-Iraqi relationship is influenced by a pessimistic view that the United States has lost Iraq.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, Reuters and Hot Air

Caroline May / The Daily Caller:

Obama declares Tuesday ‘National Equal Pay Day,’ despite paying female staffers less than male counterparts — President Barack Obama officially declared Tuesday “National Equal Pay Day,” symbolically marking how much extra work women supposedly must perform to reach pay parity with men.

Discussion: Betsy's Page