memeorandum: McCarthy vows Senate will ‘definitely’ return to gun control this year (Mike Lillis/The Hill)

6:20 PM ET, April 29, 2013

Top Items:

“I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay,” says Jason Collins. — I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay. — I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation.

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

ESPN Sportscaster Immediately Trashes First Out NBA Player: Jason Collins Is Not ‘A Christian’ — An ESPN sportscaster went on the air on Monday to publicly gay-bash Jason Collins, the NBA player who came out Monday morning in an emotional op-ed, the first active male player of a major American sport to come out.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Hit & Run, Right Wing Watch, The Hinterland Gazette, Good As You, TMZ.com, Towleroad News #gay and Gawker

Peter Hamby / CNN:

First on CNN: Paul laying 2016 groundwork in South Carolina — (CNN) - To say Rand Paul is testing the 2016 waters would be an amusing understatement. With trips to Iowa and New Hampshire lined up in May, the Kentucky senator is diving in head first. — Next up on his early state roadshow: South Carolina.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and The Run 2016

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Ron Paul slams Boston ‘occupation’ — Former Rep. Ron Paul said the police response to the Boston Marathon bombings was scarier than the bombing itself, which killed three and wounded more than 250. — “The Boston bombing provided the opportunity for the government to turn …

Discussion: AL.com and Balloon Juice

Gov. Jeb Bush / rare.us:

Rare Exclusive: JEB BUSH: Conservatives are winning ... in the states — The conventional wisdom coming from the 2012 election was the Republican Party is in decline. We lost on messaging, tone and policies that alienated growing minority communities. What that narrative misses …

Discussion: FishbowlDC, Outside the Beltway and The Daily Caller

Ron Paul / LewRockwell.com:
Liberty Was Also Attacked in Boston

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite and Hit & Run

Washington Post:

Antiabortion group releases videos of clinic workers discussing live births — An antiabortion group that mounted a six-month undercover investigation has released videos this week that raise questions about what might happen to a baby as a result of an unsuccessful abortion.

Discussion: National Review, Twitchy, NewsBusters, Bangor Daily News, The Raw Story, LifeNews.com, The Daily Caller, Ricochet Conversations Feed and TheBlaze.com

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

More Phony Outrage — Well, the transition among antichoicers from drawing attention to the illegal horrors of Dr. Gosnell's clinic in Philadelphia to a challenge to legal abortions generally is moving along at a pretty good pace, viz. this New York Post column by Kyle Smith: … Well, I don't know.

Discussion: She The People, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Mother Jones and National Review

Vivian Yee / New York Times:
Group Shows Covert Video of a Bronx Abortion Clinic

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Fox News, National Review, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Gateway Pundit

Washington Post:
Antiabortion group releases videos of clinic workers discussing live births

Discussion: Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

More backlash against Senators on gun vote — New PPP polls in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio find serious backlash against the 5 Senators who voted against background checks in those states. Each of them has seen their approval numbers decline, and voters say they're less likely …

Discussion: Business Insider, The Week, AMERICAblog, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, The Maddow Blog, Booman Tribune, The Hill, The Daily Caller and Taegan Goddard's …

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
After Her Poll Numbers Plummet, NRA Runs Ads Thanking Senator For Killing Background Checks Bill

Discussion: Daily Kos

Frank Newport / Gallup:
Americans Wanted Gun Background Checks to Pass Senate

Discussion: The Hill, Addicting Info, The Hill, The Moderate Voice, CNN, Firedoglake and The Political Carnival

Jonathan Weisman / The Caucus:

Cruz Breaks With Senate Tradition While Criticizing Colleagues — In his short time at the Capitol, Senator Ted Cruz, a freshman Republican from Texas, has shown little regard for long-standing rules of decorum. But on Friday, he publicly discussed the closed-door dealings …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Crooks and Liars and Right Wing Watch

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Ted Cruz slams Senate GOP ‘squishes’

Discussion: The Hill

Justin Sink / The Hill:

O'Connor worries Supreme Court was wrong to rule in Bush v. Gore — Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said in an interview published this weekend that she is no longer certain that the Supreme Court should have taken Bush v. Gore, the controversial case that ended …

Discussion: Politico, Taylor Marsh, CNN, Associated Press, msnbc.com and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
After Casting Key Fifth Vote For Bush, Justice O'Connor Now Regrets Bush v. Gore

Discussion: Addicting Info, The Week, Mediaite, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Brad DeLong and The Maddow Blog

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

‘You Son Of A B*tch’: Furious Boston Man Confronts ‘A**hole’ Alex Jones Reporter Over ‘False Flag’ Allegations — An InfoWars.com reporter found himself the subject of verbal scorn last week when he appeared in Boston with press badge and camera in tow. An irate Boston resident confronted …

Discussion: Addicting Info, Little Green Footballs, Business Insider and Weasel Zippers

Fredric U. Dicker / New York Post:

If Hillary is running for prez, I'm out — Cuomo quietly ‘concedes’ 2016 race — Gov. Cuomo has quietly told associates that he is resigned to the fact that he can't run for president in 2016 if Hillary Rodham Clinton enters the race, as is widely expected, sources told The Post.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Ballot Box, The Run 2016, Hot Air, Politicker, First Read, The Week, Capital New York, Joe. My. God., The Reaction, Outside the Beltway and Taylor Marsh

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

Dem resolution warns climate change could push women to ‘transactional sex’ — Several House Democrats are calling on Congress to recognize that climate change is hurting women more than men, and could even drive poor women to “transactional sex” for survival.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Sister Toldjah, Mediaite, Watts Up With That?, The Greenroom and National Review

Kate Kelland / Reuters:

Austerity is hurting our health, say researchers — (Reuters) - Austerity is having a devastating effect on health in Europe and North America, driving suicide, depression and infectious diseases and reducing access to medicines and care, researchers said on Monday.

Discussion: The Impolitic and The Political Carnival

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:
How Austerity Is Literally Killing People

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

House Republicans Eyeing New Hostage Opportunity — If you don't submit, I will destroy your puny world with this HAMMER OF THOR. — The House Republicans are contemplating a new budget-hostage strategy, the the Washington Post reports in a story that is both highly useful and inadvertently Onion-esque.

Discussion: The Plum Line, Hullabaloo, Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog and Prairie Weather

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama keeps the jokes coming in first post-dinner speech — President Obama, fresh off his performance Saturday night at the White House Correspondents Dinner, peppered his remarks Monday at the National Academy of Sciences with multiple jokes. Obama noted that the academy was founded during the Civil War …

Discussion: Politico

Washington Post:
After string of setbacks, more charm may be the last, best option for Obama

Discussion: American Prospect, Wonkblog, Right Wing News and Daily Kos

Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:

Conservatives Try to Rewrite Civil Rights History (Again) — Rand Paul's unsuccessful speech at Howard University—where he tried, and failed, to paint the Republican Party as the true home for African American voters—didn't happen in a vacuum. It drew from a heavily revisionist history …

Discussion: National Review and A plain blog about politics

Michael Wolff / Guardian:

The New York Times Book Review's retirement plan | Michael Wolff — The Book Review was once American literary culture's holy of holies, but neither books nor criticism count for much any more — Not long ago, an old friend with whom I've lost touch, the writer Susan Braudy …

Discussion: Capital New York, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:

Female DNA Found on Bomb in Boston Attack — Investigators have found female DNA on at least one of the bombs used in the Boston Marathon attacks, though they haven't determined whose DNA it is or whether that means a woman helped the two suspects carry out the attacks, according to U.S. officials briefed on the probe.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Business Insider

Reid Wilson / NationalJournal.com:

Gary Peters To Announce Senate Bid — Rep. Gary Peters will announce this week that he's running to replace retiring Sen. Carl Levin, sources tell The Hotline, giving Democrats another top recruit in a state critical to their hopes of keeping the Senate next year.

Discussion: Roll Call, Ballot Box, The Political Carnival and Eclectablog