memeorandum: “Penmanship” is now ‘handwriting’ as Washington state removes gender bias in statutes (Laura L. Myers/Reuters)

6:15 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, No More Mister Nice Blog, Wired, U.S. News, Guardian, Rubin Reports, The Other McCain, Hot Air, CBS Boston, Crooks and Liars, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Jammie Wearing Fools and 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: NewsBusters, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, FP Passport, The Right Scoop, Business Insider and msnbc.com

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: Little Green Footballs and Outside the Beltway

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

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Rand Paul: Suspect not enemy combatant — Sen. Rand Paul on Monday made clear that in his view, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings should be tried through normal means, rather than as an enemy combatant. — “You know, I want to congratulate law enforcement for getting …

Discussion: Mediaite, Post Politics, The Raw Story and Reuters

Rachel Weiner / Post Politics:
Rand Paul comes out against fellow Republicans in Tsarnaev case

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Mother Jones, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Scared Monkeys and Balloon Juice

Mollie Reilly / The Huffington Post:
Rand Paul: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Should Not Be Treated As Enemy Combatant

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Mother Jones, New Republic and Post Politics

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, Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, FishbowlDC, ABCNEWS, Wonkette 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: American Prospect, The Dish, Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice and Daniel W. Drezner

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

Alexander Burns / Politico:
Max Baucus retiring

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

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

Discussion: Slate, New York Times and Booman Tribune

Fox News:

Mississippi man released after arrest in ricin-letter probe — The Mississippi man charged with sending ricin-laced letters to President Obama has been released, the U.S. Marshals Service said Tuesday. — Jeff Woodfin, chief deputy with the U.S. Marshals Service in Oxford, Miss. …

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

CNN:
Ricin suspect freed, marshals say; attorney says he was set up

Discussion: Associated Press and Outside the Beltway

Hunter Walker / Talking Points Memo:
Former GOP Candidate Reacts After Man He Allegedly Framed For Ricin Poisoning Is Released

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

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., Taylor Marsh and Shakesville

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

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

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

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

Ramsey Cox / The Hill:

Defense hawks say Boston bombings prove America is the battlefield — GOP Sens. John McCain (Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Kelly Ayotte (N.H.) said their libertarian colleagues who say the United States should not be considered part of the battlefield in the war on terror are “ignoring the recent events” in Boston.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

David Rothkopf / CNN: Not all terrorism is equal — The week in Boston in photos

Emily Bazelon / Slate:
John McCain and Lindsey Graham's ludicrous, harmful campaign to get him declared one.

Discussion: Democracy in America, The Impolitic, New York Times, The Huffington Post, The Mahablog, ImmigrationProf Blog, Hot Air and The Hinterland Gazette

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, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, 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, Weekly Standard, CNN, Post Politics and The Hill

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

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

New York Times:

In Gun Bill Defeat, a President's Distaste for Twisting 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: Firedoglake, Daily Kos, The PJ Tatler, The Plum Line, American Prospect, Spectator, Mediaite, The Maddow Blog, The Caucus, Booman Tribune, Washington Monthly, American Power and Associated Press

Catherine Rampell / New York Times:

Who Says New York Is Not Affordable? — One of the first things you learn when living in New York is that what qualifies as wealthy somewhere else seems barely middle-class here. On the Upper West Side, where I live, it's hard not to feel as if Manhattan is impossibly expensive for young professionals.

Discussion: National Review, Economix and Gothamist

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: Outside the Beltway, more at Mediagazer »

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