memeorandum: Janet Napolitano: Immigration bill important step (Seung Min Kim/Politico)

8:15 PM ET, April 23, 2013

Top Items:

Boston bombing suspect cites U.S. wars as motivation, officials say — The 19-year-old suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings has told interrogators that the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan motivated him and his brother to carry out the attack, according to U.S. officials familiar with the interviews.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, U.S. News, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Other McCain, Wired, Rubin Reports, Guardian, Hot Air, CBS Boston, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Jammie Wearing Fools, CNN and Mother Jones

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:

Why Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev's Autopsy Should Include A Check For CTE — Could the amateur boxing career of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the deceased suspect in last week's Boston Marathon bombings, have had a role in the massacre? That's a question leading brain researchers …

Discussion: NewsBusters, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, FP Passport, The Right Scoop, Business Insider and msnbc.com

bigstory.ap.org:

Bomb suspect influenced by mysterious radical — You are here — Home » Government and politics » Bomb suspect influenced by mysterious radical — FILE - This combination of undated file photos shows Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, left, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Infowars, Gothamist, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Riehl World News, Religion Dispatches, Gawker and Associated Press

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Rand Paul: Suspect not enemy combatant

Discussion: Mediaite, Liberal Values, CANNONFIRE, The Raw Story, Post Politics and Reuters

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:
Alex Jones Downplays Connection To “Boston Bomber”

Discussion: Gawker and Mediaite

Daily Mail:
EXCLUSIVE: Chinese carjack victim of Boston bombers only escaped when they stopped for Red Bull …

Discussion: emptywheel, Infowars and Riehl World News

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:

Former GOP Candidate Reacts After Man He Allegedly Framed For Ricin Poisoning Is Released — A former Republican candidate for Mississippi's House of Representatives named J. Everett Dutschke expressed disbelief and dismay Tuesday shortly after a man he was accused of framing for mailing letters …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Tupelo Daily Journal, Slate, Los Angeles Times, Little Green Footballs and The Maddow Blog

CNN:
Charges against Mississippi ricin suspect dropped

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Fox News:
Mississippi man released after arrest in ricin-letter probe

Discussion: The Smoking Gun, Hit & Run, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and The Right Scoop

Andrew Kitzenberg / getonhand.com:

Boston Bombing Suspect Shootout Pictures — On Thursday night [Friday morning] at 12:45am EST. I was in my living room working on my computer when I heard multiple “pops” coming from outside. At that point, I had no idea that I was about to become an eye witness to the biggest news story in the country.

Discussion: Telegraph, Deadspin, Infowars, Chicago Boyz, CBS Boston, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, Weasel Zippers, The Truth About Guns, Poynter and Vox Popoli

Anne Bartlett / Post Politics:

Baucus to retire rather than seek reelection in 2014, strategists say — View Photo Gallery —The 2014 midterm elections are just around the corner. These are the races to watch. — Baucus, 71, first elected in 1978,has been the top Democrat on the powerful committee since 2001.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Fix, Mother Jones, Right Turn, OpenSecrets.org, Roll Call, The Maddow Blog, The Plum Line, Wake up America, Rothenblog, Firedoglake, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, First Read, The Raw Story, Joe. My. God., National Review and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Careers Taking a Turn For the Worse

Discussion: Slate, New York Times and Booman Tribune

Alexander Burns / Politico:
Max Baucus retiring

Discussion: New Republic, Business Insider, Hit & Run, The Cassandra Files, Fortune, The Week, The Moderate Voice, The Hinterland Gazette and Outside the Beltway

Kevin Cullen / The Boston Globe:

Also admits he and brother Tamerlin were behind killing of MIT officer — Dzhokhar Tsarnaev admitted to authorities Sunday that he and his brother were behind the Marathon bombings, according to a senior law enforcement official. — Tsarnaev made his admissions to FBI agents who interviewed …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Miketoole / CBS Boston:

Miller: Tsarnaev Brothers Killed MIT Officer Because They Needed A Gun — BOSTON (CBS) - The Boston Marathon bombings appear to have been driven by the older of the two suspects, according to CBS News. — Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shootout with police Friday as investigators closed in on them.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and The Right Scoop

Ron Fournier / NationalJournal.com:

Go Ahead, Admit It: George W. Bush Is a Good Man — In the rush to mythologize and demonize our presidents, we forget they're human. — White House press secretary Ari Fleischer walked into the media cabin of Air Force One on May 24, 2002, and dropped identical envelopes in the laps of two reporters …

Discussion: Politico, ABCNEWS, FishbowlDC, Wonkette, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh and Balloon Juice

Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:

Bush is back — It took less than 4 1/2 years of the Obama presidency for President George W. Bush to mount his comeback. While doing absolutely nothing on his own behalf (he's been the most silent ex-president in my lifetime), his approval is up to 47 percent according to The Post/ABC poll.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Washington Post, The Fix, American Prospect, The Dish, The Moderate Voice, Wonkette, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Weasel Zippers, Balloon Juice and Daniel W. Drezner

Anjeanette Damon / Las Vegas Sun News:

In split vote, Nevada Senate passes measure to begin repeal of gay marriage ban — Following more than an hour of riveting and personal floor speeches — during which one state senator publicly announced for the first time he is gay — the Nevada Senate voted 12-9 to begin the process …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Business Insider, Advocate, msnbc.com, Truth Wins Out, ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay, The Raw Story, Post Politics and Wonkette

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Nevada Senate Votes To Repeal Ban On Same-Sex Couples' Marriages

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Joe. My. God. and Shakesville

Laura Smith-Spark / CNN:
French lawmakers approve same-sex marriage bill

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Advocate, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Balloon Juice

John Celock / The Huffington Post:

Stella Tremblay, New Hampshire Legislator, Says U.S. Government Planned Boston Bombing — A Republican state legislator in New Hampshire is claiming that the United States government is responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing. — State Rep. Stella Tremblay (R-Auburn) …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's … and The Raw Story

Mensah M. Dean / Philly.com:

Judge tosses three murder counts against Kermit Gosnell — After hearing impassioned arguments from attorneys on both sides of the Kermit Gosnell capital-murder trial Tuesday, a Philadelphia judge threw out three of the seven first-degree murder charges Gosnell faced for allegedly killing fetuses born alive at his abortion clinic.

Discussion: LifeNews.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite and American Spectator

Elizabeth Harrington / CNSNews:
Gosnell's Attorney: ‘Ludicrous’ ‘To Say a Baby is Born Alive Because It Moves One Time’

Discussion: LifeNews.com, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Wake up America, The Lonely Conservative and National Review

Matt Viser / Boston Globe:

Mitt Romney's all-star retreat in June will include David Axelrod, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan — WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney this morning announced a series of high-profile speakers who will address a retreat that the former Republican presidential nominee is putting together in June.

Discussion: Politico, Post Politics, The Hill and CNN

Dylan Byers / Politico:

CNN in talks with Newt Gingrich, Stephanie Cutter for new ‘Crossfire’ show — Earlier this month, news broke that CNN was looking to relaunch Crossfire, the famous debate show that pitted two pundits — one liberal, one conservative — against one another on the political issues of the day.

Discussion: The Right Scoop and Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

Janet Napolitano: Immigration bill important step — Homeland Secretary Secretary Janet Napolitano mounted a vigorous defense of the Senate Gang of Eight's comprehensive immigration plan Tuesday, calling the legislation an “important first step” to reforming the nation's immigration laws.

Discussion: The Hill

Alexander Burns / Reuters:
Mark Zuckerberg group launches TV blitz

Discussion: The Plum Line and Roll Call

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Shaheen trounces Brown in Democratic poll — If Scott Brown is looking to make a political comeback, New Hampshire may not be the right place and 2014 might not be the right year. — The former Massachusetts senator - who is publicly toying with a cross-border challenge to Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Democratic Daily

RealClearPolitics Video Log:

Chris Matthews On Bombers: “What Difference Does It Make Why They Did It?” — MSNBC's Chris Matthews is not that interested in finding out a motive for last week's bombing of the Boston Marathon, but instead focused on prosecuting Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old ethnic Chechen who was apprehended by authorities on Saturday.

Discussion: Jihad Watch, NewsBusters, Weasel Zippers, Atlas Shrugs and Jammie Wearing Fools

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:

Most Expect ‘Occasional Acts of Terrorism’ in the Future — Six-in-Ten Say Post-9/11 Steps Have Made Country Safer — OVERVIEW — Last week's bombings at the Boston Marathon attracted broad public interest: 63% of Americans say they followed the story very closely, among the highest interest in any news story in the past decade.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, The Lede, Business Insider, ABCNEWS, CNN, Washington Monthly and Washington Post

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:

New Immigration Bill Has One Terrible Flaw — “Amnesty” is the swear word many conservatives apply to the new bipartisan immigration bill. The same invective was used to sink the last major attempt to change American immigration laws, during President George W. Bush's second term.

Discussion: National Review

Andrew Dugan / Gallup:

Hillary Clinton Is Still Popular, More So Than Obama, Biden — Clinton starts with advantage over Biden if both run in 2016 — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Though currently she is — at least temporarily — out of political life, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton continues to enjoy a strong favorability rating, now 64%.

Discussion: The Fix, Politico and Taylor Marsh

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:

BREAKING: Delaware House Passes Marriage Equality — Adding to the good news of the day, the Delaware House of Representatives has approved marriage equality (HB 75) by a vote of 23-18. It now proceeds to the Senate, where it must pass out of committee before the full chamber considers it.