memeorandum: Gay Couple Makes Florist Choose Between Supporting Gay Rights or Getting Sued (Dominic Holden/Slog)

9:30 PM ET, April 11, 2013

Top Items:

WFPL:

Source: Progress Kentucky Behind Mitch McConnell Campaign Recording — A secret recording of a campaign strategy session between U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell and his advisors was taped by leaders of the Progress Kentucky super PAC, says a longtime local Democratic operative.

Jim Acosta / CNN:

Was it ‘three times’ or ‘free time’ on McConnell tape? — (CNN) - One of the questions to emerge from that secret recording of a Mitch McConnell campaign strategy session is whether it proves the Senate Minority Leader is caught on tape misusing his congressional staff.

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival and The Impolitic

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Progress Kentucky official resigns — Pressure is growing Thursday afternoon on a liberal super PAC in Kentucky accused of surreptitiously recording a strategy session held by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. — Jacob Conway, the Jefferson County Democratic Party's executive committee member …

Discussion: First Read, Firedoglake, NewsBusters blogs and WFPL

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Local Dem Says He Outed Progress Kentucky To Protect The Party (VIDEO) — The Democratic official who's claiming that two members of the group Progress Kentucky were behind the recordings of a secret meeting between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and campaign aides said Thursday …

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, The Political Carnival, Ballot Box and Riehl World News

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

The Morning Plum: How expanded background checks could pass the House — The Senate will vote today on starting debate on the new bipartisan compromise proposal to expand gun background checks, and all signs are that enough Republican Senators will vote Yes to break the filibuster being mounted by a bloc of far right Senators.

Discussion: The Week, Hullabaloo, New York Times, The Hill, Wonkblog and Outside the Beltway

Tom Cohen / CNN:
Senate overcomes filibuster, votes to open debate on gun bill

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Political Carnival and The Hinterland Gazette

Tom Cohen / CNN:
Senate overcomes filibuster, clearing the way for debate on gun bill

Discussion: New York Times, BuzzFeed, Booman Tribune and Gawker

David Weigel / Slate:
The NRA Will “Score” A Cloture Vote for Gun Control After All

Discussion: Post Politics, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, The National Memo, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, JustOneMinute and Washington Post

Politico:
John Boehner on hot seat as Senate acts

Discussion: A plain blog about politics and First Read

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:
Senate Vote Clears the Way for Debate on New Gun Laws

Discussion: Hawkings Here, Reuters, The Week, Addicting Info, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post

Gregory Korte / USA Today:
Senate heads off filibuster on gun bill

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Raw Story, Business Insider and The Truth About Guns

Katie Ferrell / fox4kc.com:

Man no longer allowed to visit husband at KC hospital — LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — A Lee's Summit man is fighting a restraining order that he says was issued against him after he says he was arrested for refusing to leave the bedside of his sick partner. — Roger Gorley went to visit his partner …

Discussion: LGBTQ Nation, ThinkProgress, Outside the Beltway, Addicting Info, AMERICAblog, The Political Carnival, Advocate, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Towleroad News #gay and Gawker

David Edwards / The Raw Story:

Missouri man arrested at hospital for refusing to leave gay partner — A gay man was arrested at a hospital in Missouri this week when he refused to leave the bedside of his partner, and now a restraining order is preventing him from any type of visitation.

Discussion: LGBTQ Nation and BuzzFeed

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Federal Officials Aim For “Speedy” Response Following Missouri Hospital Arrest

Discussion: Hullabaloo and AMERICAblog

New York Times:

Pentagon Says Nuclear Missile Is in Grasp for North Korea — WASHINGTON — A new assessment of North Korea's nuclear capability conducted by the Pentagon's intelligence arm has concluded for the first time, with “moderate confidence,” that the country has learned how to make a nuclear weapon small enough …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Associated Press and WFPL

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:
How Scared Should You Be About North Korea?

Discussion: Hot Air, Addicting Info, Weasel Zippers and Michael J. Totten's blog

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:
Pentagon Report Says North Korea Likely Has Nuclear Warheads

Discussion: Business Insider, BizPac Review, Hot Air and New York Times

Juana Summers / Politico:
Report: North Korea may have missile-capable nuclear weapons

Discussion: CNN

Facebook:

Congressman Jeff Duncan · 8,245 like this — Let's not kid ourselves. Expanded background checks and gun show requirements would have had NO effect on stopping Aurora, Sandy Hook or Tucson. Nor would they have any effect on the violent gun-crime in Chicago. — Let's get tough on criminals.

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos and Mother Jones

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

GOP Rep. Duncan likens gun registration to Rwandan genocide — Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) warned in a Facebook post on Thursday that a national gun registry would be similar to a database used by the ruling Hutu tribe in Rwanda in the 1990s to locate and slaughter members of an opposing tribe …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Life+Times:

JAY Z “Open Letter” — I got an onion from Universal and didn't even weep... I got an onion from Universal and didn't even weep... I got an onion from Universal and didn't even weep... N! CE — N! CE — N! CE — Does Kevin Hart get a check for the hook?

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, ABCNEWS, Mediaite, Business Insider, Washington Wire, BuzzFeed, Yahoo! News, ThinkProgress, Gothamist and ArtsBeat

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Jay-Z brags about Cuba trip in rap

Discussion: TMZ.com, Weasel Zippers, Gawker, Babalú Blog, BizPac Review, The Hinterland Gazette, New Orleans Times-Picayune and Scared Monkeys

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Elizabeth Warren Tears Into Federal Regulators For Shielding Big Banks — Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) embarrassed government regulators during a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday morning as she demanded to know why they won't reveal how frequently big banks illegally foreclosed on homeowners.

Discussion: United States Senate Committee …, The Huffington Post, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos and The Hill

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Federal Appeals Court Explains Why Rubber Fetuses And High Schools Don't Mix — An anti-abortion student group in Roswell, New Mexico thought it would be a good idea to pass out hundreds of small rubber replicas of fetuses to students at two high schools. As it turns out, this was not such a good idea:

Discussion: The Raw Story

Kirsten Powers / USA Today:

Philadelphia abortion clinic horror: Column — We've forgotten what belongs on Page One. — Infant beheadings. Severed baby feet in jars. A child screaming after it was delivered alive during an abortion procedure. Haven't heard about these sickening accusations? — It's not your fault.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, Conservatives4Palin, National Review, NewsBusters blogs, LifeNews.com, Betsy's Page, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money, neo-neocon, Ed Driscoll, BuzzFeed and NewsBusters

Pat Toomey:

Sen. Toomey Offers Full Text Of Public Safety And Second Amendment Rights Protection Act Online — Public Will Have Ample Opportunity To Review & Provide Input On Important Measure — WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) tonight posted the bill text of The Public Safety …

Discussion: PJ Media and The Raw Story

David Taintor / Talking Points Memo:

Boehner Disagrees With NRCC Chair's Criticism Of Obama Budget — House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) on Thursday told reporters that he disagrees with the criticism of President Obama's budget from Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), who called the President's proposal “a shocking attack on seniors.”

Discussion: The Plum Line, Washington Monthly, The Reaction and Daily Kos

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Carney: Walden CPI criticism ‘flagrantly ridiculous and cynical’

Discussion: CNN, The Week and Politico

Felix Salmon:

The promise of Ripple — This is a chart of the value of bitcoin yesterday, Wednesday. It's hardly a secret that bitcoins are a highly volatile asset class, so relatively few eyebrows were raised when the price soared from an opening level of $230 all the way to a high of $266.

Discussion: Forbes, Business Insider, Asymmetrical Information, VentureBeat and The Dish

DealBook:

Never Mind Facebook; Winklevoss Twins Rule in Digital Money — The Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler — Olympic rowers, nemeses of Mark Zuckerberg — are laying claim to a new title: bitcoin moguls. — The Winklevii, as they are known, have amassed since last summer what appears …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Wonkblog, The Verge, TechCrunch and Gawker

Sarah Frier / Businessweek:

Foursquare Gets $41 Million Investment, Time to Grow — When Dennis Crowley debuted Foursquare, his location-based social media app, at South by Southwest in 2009, he got rave reviews. The tech blog Mashable called Foursquare the “breakout mobile app” of the event. VentureBeat called it “the next Twitter.”

Discussion: News Desk, AllThingsD, Wall Street Journal, The Week, Mashable, VentureBeat, TechCrunch and Business Insider

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Steve Cohen deletes flirty tweet to Cyndi Lauper — Rep. Steve Cohen appears to have sent and then deleted an eyebrow-raising tweet to performer Cyndi Lauper. — “@cyndilauper great night,couldn't believe how hot u were.see you again next Tuesday.try a little tenderness. http://t.co/zz4Orccryf …

Discussion: Yahoo! News and Associated Press

Dominic Holden / Slog:

Gay Couple Makes Florist Choose Between Supporting Gay Rights or Getting Sued — After five weeks of biting their tongues, a gay couple in Richland, Washington, is making a loaded offer to a florist who refused to sell them flowers based her biblical belief that “marriage is between a man and a woman.”

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and Gawker

NOAA News Releases:

Sandy retired from list of Atlantic Basin tropical cyclone names — Sandy has been retired from the official list of Atlantic Basin tropical cyclone names by the World Meteorological Organization's hurricane committee because of the extreme impacts it caused from Jamaica and Cuba to the Mid-Atlantic United States in October 2012.

Discussion: New Orleans Times-Picayune and City Room