memeorandum: West Virginia teen returns to school with NRA shirt, classmates' support (Washington Times)

11:50 AM ET, April 23, 2013

Top Items:

Anne Bartlett / Post Politics:

Baucus to retire rather than seek re-election in 2014, strategists say — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) is retiring rather than seek re-election in 2014, according to two senior Democratic strategists familiar with his plans. — First elected in 1978 …

Discussion: The Fix, The Maddow Blog, Roll Call, Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers, Rothenblog, The Daily Caller, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, First Read, National Review, Joe. My. God. and The Raw Story

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Max Baucus retiring — Montana Sen. Max Baucus will not seek reelection in 2014, becoming the latest senior red-state Democrat to bail out of a potentially difficult reelection campaign, a senior Democratic official confirmed to POLITICO. — Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

Baucus Won't Seek Re-election to Senate — Senator Max Baucus of Montana, the chairman of the Finance Committee, will retire from the Senate after 36 years, becoming the sixth Senate Democrat to leave the chamber after the 2014 elections, according to Democratic officials close to the senator.

Ian Swanson / Ballot Box:
Max Baucus to retire from Senate

Discussion: CNN

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: Chicago Boyz, CBS Boston, Deadspin, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Vox Popoli and Poynter

Emily Bazelon / Slate:

John McCain and Lindsey Graham's ludicrous, harmful campaign to get him declared one. — Sen. Lindsey Graham pushed for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to be declared an enemy combatant. — A group of Republican senators, led by Lindsey Graham and John McCain …

Discussion: Hot Air, ImmigrationProf Blog, Daily Kos, msnbc.com, Wall Street Journal and The Great Debate

Jake Tapper / The Lead with Jake Tapper:

Boston bombing suspect tells officials older brother was driving force behind attack — A U.S. government source tells CNN that in preliminary interviews with the Boston Marathon terrorist attack bombing suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has told law enforcement that no foreign terrorist groups …

Discussion: Gothamist, Gawker, Outside the Beltway and Riehl World News

New York Times:
Boston Bombing Suspect's Bedside Hearing

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, News Desk, Business Insider, msnbc.com, Hot Air, emptywheel, Lawfare, American Power, The Jawa Report, Taylor Marsh, Hullabaloo, CBS New York, The United States Department …, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Wall Street Journal

Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:
The 11 Most Mystifying Things the Tsarnaev Brothers Did

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Times and Los Angeles Times

Ken White / Popehat:
Thoughts On The Tsarnaev Complaint

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, New York Times, The Volokh Conspiracy, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, Hot Air and Gothamist

Spencer Ackerman / Wired:
Here's Why Tsarnaev Was Charged With Using a ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’

Discussion: Salon, New York Times, Shakesville, The Week, Hit & Run, The Maddow Blog, Washington Monthly and National Review

New York Times:

In Gun Bill Defeat, a President Who Hesitates to Twist Arms — WASHINGTON — Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska, asked President Obama's administration for a little favor last month. Send your new interior secretary this spring to discuss a long-simmering dispute over construction …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, American Prospect, The Maddow Blog, Booman Tribune, The Plum Line, Mediaite, The Caucus and American Power

Susan Page / Associated Press:

USA TODAY Poll: Public support for gun control ebbs — WASHINGTON — Four months after the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a USA TODAY Poll finds support for a new gun-control law ebbing as prospects for passage on Capitol Hill seem to fade.

Discussion: Reuters, NewsBusters, Right Wing News, Twitchy, Hot Air, National Review, Weasel Zippers and Sense of Events

Laurel Ramseyer / Firedoglake:

Unanimous Support For Marriage Equality By Rhode Island State Senate Republican Caucus — The timing couldn't be better. Just hours before the Judiciary Committee of the Rhode Island state Senate is scheduled to vote on the marriage equality bill (S38), the Senate Republic Caucus has announced …

Discussion: Truth Wins Out

Rhode Islanders United for Marriage Blog:
100% of RI Senate Republicans Support Marriage Equality

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and Firedoglake

USA Today:

Rep. Rangel sues Boehner to overturn House censure — WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel is suing Speaker John Boehner and six other lawmakers, alleging problems with the House ethics investigation that led to his censure in 2010. — In a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court …

Discussion: Hot Air and Michelle Malkin

Kevin Robillard / Politico:
Charles Rangel sues to overturn censure

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

UN Watch:

UN Official Justifies Boston Bombings as ‘Retribution’, Blames America & ‘Tel Aviv’ — Richard Falk warns of “worse blowbacks,” says “Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return” — In a letter sent today to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice (see below) …

Richard Falk / Foreign Policy Journal:
A Commentary on the Marathon Murders

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, “The Lid”, Weasel Zippers and Israel Matzav

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:

Internet Sales Tax Bill Gains Ground in Senate — WASHINGTON — It has been labeled a tax grab and a bureaucratic nightmare by conservative antitax activists, an infringement on states' rights and a federal encroachment on the almost-sacred ground of Internet commerce.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post

Reuters:
Senate votes to move forward on bill taxing Internet sales

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Quartz

Brad Plumer / Wonkblog:
Everything you need to know about the Senate's online sales-tax bill

Discussion: AEIdeas, The Week, Wall Street Journal, Daily Kos and Mother Jones

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

As Bush library opening puts his presidency back in the spotlight, his approval rating is up — George W. Bush will return to the spotlight this week for the dedication of his presidential library, an event likely to trigger fresh public debate about his eight fateful years in office.

Discussion: Right Turn, The Hill, The Fix, Weasel Zippers and No More Mister Nice Blog

Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:

‘This Is CNN?’ Stewart Destroys His Favorite Target After A Chaotic End To A Terrible Week In Boston — Another week of The Daily Show brought another round of Jon Stewart eviscerating CNN for its Boston Marathon bombing coverage Monday night. The host picked up where he left off last week …

Discussion: Gawker, Ed Driscoll and Business Insider

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Nevada Senate Votes To Repeal Ban On Same-Sex Couples' Marriages — During the course of the debate, Nevada Sen. Kelvin Atkinson told his colleagues — and the world — that he is gay. Monday's vote was the first step in a long process. — WASHINGTON — Late Monday …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Las Vegas Sun News, Shakesville and Joe. My. God.

Washington Times:

West Virginia teen returns to school with NRA shirt, classmates' support — A West Virginia teen who was arrested and suspended for wearing a National Rifle Association T-shirt to school returned to class Monday wearing the same shirt that got him into trouble.

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy and The PJ Tatler

Wall Street Journal:

U.S. Is Probing Suspect's Alleged Links to Militants — U.S. investigators are looking into a Russian intelligence report that alleged Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev met with a suspected militant during his six-month visit to Russia in 2012, according to American law-enforcement officials.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, CNN and Hot Air

Michele McPhee / ABCNEWS:
Boston Bomb Suspect Eyed in Connection to 2011 Triple Murder

Discussion: Politico

Kate Nocera / BuzzFeed:

Marco Rubio's Immigration Plan Sparks Conservative Civil War — “It's a circular firing squad that Republicans are famous for, we're eating our young,” Gabriel says. Rubio versus the Breitbartians. — Rubio, flanked by Sen. Charles Schumer, left, and Sen. John McCain, right.

Emily Schultheis / Politico:

Immigration reform could be bonanza for Dems — The immigration proposal pending in Congress would transform the nation's political landscape for a generation or more — pumping as many as 11 million new Hispanic voters into the electorate a decade from now in ways that, if current trends hold …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Weasel Zippers