Top Items:
Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
The scandals are falling apart — Things go wrong in government. Sometimes it's just bad luck. Sometimes it's rank incompetence. Sometimes it's criminal wrongdoing. Most of the time you never hear about it. Or, if you do hear about it, the media eventually gets bored talking about it (see warming, global).
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Plum Line, A plain blog about politics, Right Turn and The Maddow Blog
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Peter Baker / New York Times:
Onset of Woes Casts Pall Over Obama's Policy Aspirations — WASHINGTON — Thwarted on Capitol Hill, stymied in the Middle East and now beset by scandal, President Obama has reached a point just six months after a heady re-election where the second term he had hoped for has collided with the second term he actually has.
Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Obama tries to stop the bleeding — In recent days, Democratic strategists have all but begged President Barack Obama to take control of a deepening public relations disaster that threatens to derail his second-term agenda. — On Wednesday evening, Obama did just that.
Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
Obama to Name Budget Official as Acting I.R.S. Chief
Jennifer Epstein / Politico:
Obama pushes back on IRS, AP, Benghazi
Obama pushes back on IRS, AP, Benghazi
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, The Hill, Business Insider and Foreign Policy
Todd Eberly / The FreeStater Blog:
Obama's Katrina Moment
Obama's Katrina Moment
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and The Hinterland Gazette
Luke Johnson / The Huffington Post:
Obama Speaks Of ‘Going Bulworth’ In Second Term
Obama Speaks Of ‘Going Bulworth’ In Second Term
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, The Fix and Washington Post
CBS News:
Boston bombings suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev left note in boat he hid in, sources say — (CBS News) Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev left claiming responsibility for the April 13 attack on the Boston Marathon, reports CBS News senior correspondent John Miller.
Discussion:
CNN, Rush Limbaugh, Business Insider, CBS Boston, Sky Dancing, Telegraph, The Week, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Politico, NPR, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller, Scared Monkeys, Riehl World News, Firedoglake, msnbc.com, Jihad Watch, Gawker, WNAC-TV, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gothamist and LewRockwell.com Blog
Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
Benghazi auditors Mullen, Pickering refuse meeting with Issa — The co-leaders of the independent audit into the Benghazi attack have categorically refused to meet with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) for a private interview. — Thomas Pickering and Michael Mullen called the proposed closed-door proceeding …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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The Lead with Jake Tapper:
First on CNN: Pickering, Mullen challenge Issa to let them testify in public
First on CNN: Pickering, Mullen challenge Issa to let them testify in public
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, First Read, The Impolitic, PoliticusUSA, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Barbara Boxer's claim that GOP budgets hampered Benghazi security
Barbara Boxer's claim that GOP budgets hampered Benghazi security
Discussion:
Yahoo! News and NewsBusters
Steven Rattner / Opinionator:
Behind the I.R.S. Mess: A Campaign-Finance Scandal — Let's stipulate that the scandal involving the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative nonprofit groups portrays government as if drawn in caricature — an almost Keystone Kops-style comedy of errors on the part of low-level staffers …
RELATED:
Reason:
Data Doesn't Support IRS Explanation for Scandal
Data Doesn't Support IRS Explanation for Scandal
Discussion:
Hit & Run, Hot Air, Yourish.com, americanthinker.com, The Dish and Yahoo! News
Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:
Tim Carney: The IRS is deeply political — and very Democratic
Tim Carney: The IRS is deeply political — and very Democratic
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Weasel Zippers, CANNONFIRE, americanthinker.com, Betsy's Page, Samizdata, New York Post and CNN
Fred Wertheimer / Politico:
Inadequate IRS rules helped create scandal
Michael Sneed / Chicago Sun Times:
Obama eyes Gov. Deval Patrick to replace Eric Holder at Justice — Tipsville . . . Sneed is told that Attorney General Eric “Fast and Furious” Holder's days are numbered. — Sneed hears President Barack Obama, who is this/close to Holder, has set his sights on Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick …
Discussion:
The Hinterland Gazette and Taylor Marsh
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Justin Sink / The Hill:
Liberal talk radio host Bill Press calls for Holder to be fired — Talk radio host and former chairman of the California Democratic Party Bill Press said Thursday that Attorney General Eric Holder should be fired over the subpoena of reporter phone records.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, Hot Air and emptywheel, more at Mediagazer »
Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Bill Press: Fire Eric Holder
Bill Press: Fire Eric Holder
Discussion:
The Hill, The PJ Tatler and Weasel Zippers
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Eric Holder's abdication
Eric Holder's abdication
Discussion:
Post Politics, The Daily Beast, Hot Air, Power Line, Mother Jones, Conservatives4Palin, The FAS Blog and The Huffington Post
Emma Innes / Daily Mail:
Men who are physically strong are more likely to have right wing political views — Men who are physically strong are more likely to take a right wing political stance, while weaker men are inclined to support the welfare state, according to a new study. — Researchers discovered political …
Discussion:
This ain't Hell …, National Review, Right Wing News, protein wisdom, Sense of Events, The PJ Tatler and American Spectator
Jake Tapper / The Lead with Jake Tapper:
First on CNN: Witness Protection Program lost two ‘known or suspected terrorists’ — This report has been updated. — The U.S. Marshals Service lost two former participants in the federal Witness Security Program “identified as known or suspected terrorists,” according to the public summary …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, National Review and CNN
RELATED:
National Review:
Scandal Is Not an Agenda — It says something about the kind of fortnight the president has been having that the controversies facing his administration can be divided into tiers. — The Benghazi debacle and the IRS's targeting of conservative groups are, as it were, “tier one” scandals …
Discussion:
The Week, The Moderate Voice, msnbc.com, The Daily Caller and Althouse
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Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Democrats' Best Friends In The IRS Scandal
Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Obama Calls Over Marines to Shield Himself and Turkish PM from Rain — At an outdoor White House press conference, President Obama called over Marines to shield himself and the Turkish prime minister from the rain:
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative, Jammie Wearing Fools, Sense of Events and TheBlaze.com
ABC 7 Eyewitness News:
Internet celebrity sought in Clark man's murder — CLARK, N.J. (WABC) — Authorities in Union County have issued an arrest warrant for internet celebrity “Kai the hatchet wielding hitchhiker” in the murder of Joseph Galfy, Jr. in Clark, New Jersey — The suspect is identified …
Discussion:
WPVI-TV, The Daily Caller, The Raw Story and Gawker
Ben Jones / The Boston Globe:
‘Cooter’ and ‘Fast Eddie’ — It isn't every day that one makes preparations to go and play music for some friends but instead ends up being portrayed in the national press and on the Internet as some sort of antediluvian racist who should not be seen in the company of someone aspiring to the Senate.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Ballot Box, CBS Boston and Post Politics
Kevin Williamson / National Review:
Theater Night: Vigilantes 1, Vulgarians 0 — I had a genuinely new experience at the theater tonight: I was thrown out. — The show was Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, which was quite good and which I recommend. The audience, on the other hand, was horrible — talking …
Discussion:
FishbowlDC, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, alicublog, Gawker, Washington Free Beacon, Gothamist and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
J. Bradford DeLong / Brad DeLong:
Seven Howlers from Michael Kinsley's Very Misguided War Against Paul Krugman — Why oh why can't we have a better press corps? — Michael Kinsley is really confused: … Ummm... If you Google “first use of austerian” Google tells you about first uses of “Australian”.
Discussion:
Daniel W. Drezner, New Republic, Economist's View, Balloon Juice and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Politico:
Apple on offense over $100B offshore stash — Apple is under so much pressure in Washington over its offshore cash that it's doing things it almost never does. — CEO Tim Cook is coming to Washington to testify in front of a panel of senators about stashing more than $100 billion overseas …
Discussion:
Business Insider and The Verge