memeorandum: 2013 National Teacher of Year: Public education not in crisis (Valerie Strauss/The Answer Sheet)

2:30 PM ET, April 23, 2013

Top Items:

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

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, Firedoglake, New York Times, The Plum Line, Wake up America, Rothenblog, The Fix, The Maddow Blog, Roll Call, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard, 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: Fortune, Hit & Run, The Moderate Voice, The Cassandra Files, The Hinterland Gazette and Outside the Beltway

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

Discussion: CNN

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: FP Passport and msnbc.com

Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Chinese carjack victim of Boston bombers only escaped when they stopped for Red Bull... and they didn't kill him because he 'wasn't American' — Man carjacked by Boston bombing suspects says he was able to escape after Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went into a store for Red Bull and chocolate bars

Discussion: Infowars, emptywheel, Business Insider and Riehl World News

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: Little Green Footballs, CNN, Gothamist, Gawker, Outside the Beltway and Riehl World News

New York Times:
Boston Bombing Suspect's Bedside Hearing

Discussion: News Desk, Mediaite, msnbc.com, Hot Air, emptywheel, Business Insider, Lawfare, The Jawa Report, Hullabaloo, American Power, Outside the Beltway, CBS New York, Taylor Marsh and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Ken White / Popehat:
Thoughts On The Tsarnaev Complaint

Discussion: New York Times, Wired, Salon, Patterico's Pontifications, Mediaite, The Volokh Conspiracy and Hot Air

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: Joe. My. God. and Shakesville

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

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Advocate and Balloon Juice

BBC:
France approves gay marriage law

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Anjeanette Damon / Las Vegas Sun News:
In split vote, Nevada Senate passes measure to begin repeal of gay marriage ban

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

Washington Post:

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: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hot Air, CBS Boston, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, CNN, Jammie Wearing Fools and Weasel Zippers

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, The Hinterland Gazette, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal and msnbc.com

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Napolitano: Homeland Security knew about Boston suspect's trip to Russia

Discussion: Politico

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: The Hill, The Fix, Guardian, No More Mister Nice Blog and Weasel Zippers

Jennifer Rubin / Right Turn:
Bush is back — It took less than 4 1/2 years of the Obama presidency …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice and Daniel W. Drezner

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, Spectator, The Maddow Blog, The Plum Line, Mediaite, The Caucus, Booman Tribune and American Power

Susan Page / Associated Press:
USA TODAY Poll: Public support for gun control ebbs

Discussion: protein wisdom, Reuters, msnbc.com, NewsBusters, Right Wing News, Twitchy, Hot Air, National Review, Weasel Zippers and Sense of Events

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) …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

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

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

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: CNN, The Hill, Post Politics and Taegan Goddard's …

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: Business Insider, CNN, ABCNEWS and Washington Post

Toddstarnes / Fox News:

Army Removes Bible Reference from Scopes — The U.S. Army is directing troops to remove a Bible inscription that a vendor etched into the serial numbers of weapon scopes, Fox News has learned. — Soldiers at Fort Wainwright in Alaska told Fox News they received a directive to turn …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The Right Scoop, Conservatives4Palin, The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

Deborah Kotz / The Boston Globe:

Injury toll from Marathon bombings rises to 282 — Only two patients wounded in the Boston Marathon bombings remained in critical condition Monday, but the count of injured people who were treated in area hospitals has risen sharply to 282, according to the Boston Public Health Commission.

Discussion: The Lede and Weasel Zippers

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:
Injury Toll From Boston Marathon Bombings Rises To Nearly 300 People

Discussion: Shakesville and New York Times

Spiegel Online:

Time for Growth: Austerity Has ‘Reached its Limits,’ Barroso Says — European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has said that Europe has reached the political limits of its austerity measures, suggesting that crisis countries should get more time to consolidate their budgets.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Valerie Strauss / The Answer Sheet:

2013 National Teacher of Year: Public education not in crisis — The newly named 2013 National Teacher of the Year, who is visiting with President Obama at the White House on Tuesday with other award-winning teachers, is not a big fan of all of Obama's education policy initiatives and believes …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

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.

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Mark Hertsgaard / The Daily Beast:

What BP Doesn't Want You to Know About the 2010 Gulf Spill — The 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was even worse than BP wanted us to know. — “It's as safe as Dawn dishwashing liquid.” That's what Jamie Griffin says the BP man told her about the smelly, rainbow-streaked gunk coating the floor of the …

Discussion: ThinkProgress