Top Items:
Gerry Mullany / New York Times:
Bachmann Won't Seek Re-election Next Year — Representative Michele Bachmann, the Minnesota Republican who made an ill-fated run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, announced Wednesday that she would not seek a fifth term in Congress next year.
Discussion:
Democracy in America, NBC Politics, The Raw Story, Washington Post, Associated Press, The Impolitic, CNN, RH Reality Check, TBogg, DownWithTyranny!, Truthdig, The Hugh Hewitt Show, No More Mister Nice Blog, Liberal Values, Balloon Juice, The Week, Salon, ABCNEWS, The Huffington Post, BBC, Hullabaloo, Prairie Weather, Hot Dish Politics, Taylor Marsh, Booman Tribune, Pirate's Cove, Power Line, TalkLeft, The Hinterland Gazette, Outside the Beltway, Wake up America, Crooks and Liars, msnbc.com, Gawker and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
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Politico:
Bachmann's fall — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) — the tea-party firebrand facing investigations and a daunting reelection race — abruptly announced on Wednesday morning that she will not seek reelection to a fifth term. — Her move marked a spectacular fall for a congresswoman …
Discussion:
Reuters, NationalJournal.com, Yahoo! News, Red Alert Politics, The Week, PoliticusUSA and msnbc.com
Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:
Reading Between the Lines of Michele Bachmann's Retirement Speech — The U.S. representative's video announcing her decision not to run for reelection is notable for what it doesn't say. — She was the first woman to win the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa during her Republican presidential primary bid …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, A plain blog about politics, The Daily Caller and Washington Monthly
Kevin Robillard / Politico:
James Carville on Michele Bachmann: ‘Sad day’ — Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville predicted on Wednesday that Republicans throughout the country would be “relieved” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has decided to retire. — “Sad day,” Carville quipped on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” …
Discussion:
New Republic, Sky Dancing, CNN, The Dish, The Week, Washington Monthly and Scared Monkeys
Des Moines Register:
Michele Bachmann's Iowa court date set
Michele Bachmann's Iowa court date set
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Mediaite and The Hinterland Gazette
Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:
Michele Bachmann: A Fact Checker's dream
Michele Bachmann: A Fact Checker's dream
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Poynter, PolitiFact, Mediaite, The Fix, Business Insider and The Spectacle Blog
Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:
The 8 Most Outlandish Moments Of Michele Bachmann's Time In Congress
The 8 Most Outlandish Moments Of Michele Bachmann's Time In Congress
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog, American Prospect and Taylor Marsh
Stuart Stevens / The Daily Beast:
A Bad Relationship: How the Press Came To Love Obama More Than Itself — As the scandals pile up, the press keeps finding excuses for the president, writes Stuart Stevens. — In Dan Brown's new novel, Inferno, the lead character is struck with amnesia, unable to remember critical events even as he's trying to save the world.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Mother Jones, New York Post, protein wisdom, Betsy's Page, The Impolitic and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »
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Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
Eric Holder To Meet With Washington Bureau Chiefs Amid Leak Investigation Criticism (UPDATE)
Eric Holder To Meet With Washington Bureau Chiefs Amid Leak Investigation Criticism (UPDATE)
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Too dumb to check: Holder's huddle with media on press freedoms will be ... off the record …
Too dumb to check: Holder's huddle with media on press freedoms will be ... off the record …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, The Jawa Report, The PJ Tatler, CNN, Nice Deb and Weekly Standard
Devlin Barrett / Washington Wire:
Holder to Get New Spokesman at Justice
Holder to Get New Spokesman at Justice
Discussion:
National Review
Alexander Burns / Politico:
Sources: Lincoln Chafee to switch parties — Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has notified senior Democratic Party officials that he intends to switch his party registration and join the Democratic Party, multiple sources familiar with Chafee's decision told POLITICO.
Discussion:
CNN, Yahoo! News, The Caucus, Weasel Zippers, The Maddow Blog, The PJ Tatler, Conservatives4Palin, WJLA-TV and The Raw Story
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Sean Sullivan / Post Politics:
Chafee plans to run for second term as a Democrat
Chafee plans to run for second term as a Democrat
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, The Plum Line, The Fix, The Daily Caller and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Open Channel:
IRS higher-ups requested info on conservative groups, letters show — Lois Lerner, director of Exempt Organizations for the IRS, is surrounded by Capitol police as she boards an elevator after being excused from a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday.
RELATED:
Bernie Becker / The Hill:
Conservative groups sue Holder, IRS over Tea Party targeting
Steve Benen / The Maddow Blog:
When IRS scrutiny was fair and warranted
When IRS scrutiny was fair and warranted
Discussion:
Wonkblog, American Spectator, The Spectacle Blog and Salon
State Rep. Doug Cox / Daily Oklahoman:
The GOP and abortion legislation — All of the new Oklahoma laws aimed at limiting abortion and contraception are great for the Republican family that lives in a gingerbread house with a two-car garage, two planned kids and a dog. In the real world, they are less than perfect.
Discussion:
Shakesville, Taegan Goddard's … and Balloon Juice
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Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:
Oklahoma Lawmaker Blasts GOP's War On Women: ‘What Happened To The Republican Party That I Joined?’
Oklahoma Lawmaker Blasts GOP's War On Women: ‘What Happened To The Republican Party That I Joined?’
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog, The Raw Story and Wonkette
Rukmini Callimachi / bigstory.ap.org:
AP EXCLUSIVE: RISE OF AL-QAIDA SAHARA TERRORIST — You are here — Home » Osama bin Laden » AP Exclusive: Rise of al-Qaida Sahara terrorist — DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — After years of trying to discipline him, the leaders of al-Qaida's North African branch sent one final letter to their most difficult employee.
Discussion:
Yahoo! News, Open Channel, Guardian, Sky Dancing, The Week, Power Line, Firedoglake, Poynter, AMERICAblog, Hit & Run, Gawker, Maggie's Farm and The Monkey Cage
Wall Street Journal:
No IRS Special Prosecutor — Indictments are less important than political accountability. — Like dumber follows dumb, the scandal of politicized IRS tax enforcement has been followed by calls for a “special prosecutor.” Republicans are predictably leading this call against a Democratic Administration …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Restoring Liberty and JustOneMinute
RELATED:
Erik Wasson / The Hill:
White House rejects Republican charges Holder misled Congress
White House rejects Republican charges Holder misled Congress
Discussion:
Politico
Gulf News:
Working women should be molested: Saudi writer — Writer campaigning against moves to bring women into mixed-gender work environments — Abu Dhabi: A Saudi writer has urged his Twitter followers to sexually molest women hired to work as cashiers in big grocery stores …
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Jihad Watch, ThinkProgress, Weasel Zippers and Atlas Shrugs
Jenn Taylor / Twitchy:
Adam Levine caught on hot mic: ‘I hate this country’; Responds to backlash with douche-tweets … Yes, yes he did. On “The Voice” Tuesday night, a hot mic picked up coach Adam Levine saying, “I hate this country,” as one member of Team Adam advanced and two others were voted off the show.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Inside TV
Joe Muto / Salon:
I was a liberal mole at Fox News: From Bill O'Reilly to Roger Ailes, here's all the inside dope — Inside the beast: O'Reilly hates Hannity. Producers know what's acceptable. Everyone fears a call from Roger Ailes — Excerpted from “An Atheist in the FOXhole: A Liberal's Eight-Year Odyssey Inside …
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
McAuliffe leads in lesser of 2 evils race — PPP's first look at the race for Governor of Virginia since January finds that as voters get to know the candidates better...more are becoming undecided. That's not the normal trend, but it's also not normal to have an election where voters dislike both candidates five months out.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, Politico, Outside the Beltway and Washington Monthly
Michelle Malkin:
Confirmed: Polk County, FL schools conducted iris scans on students without permission — Florida parents are right to be outraged at the outrageous privacy violations that took place late last week in at least 3 Polk County, Florida schools. — I just got off the phone with Rob Davis …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Tim Craig / Washington Post:
Taliban commander believed dead in U.S. drone strike in Pakistan — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —The Pakistani Taliban's second-in-command was killed in a suspected U.S. drone strike early Wednesday in the tribal North Waziristan region, two Pakistani intelligence officials and a local Pakistani Taliban commander in the region said.
Discussion:
Lawfare, Yahoo! News and Reuters
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Ismail Khan / New York Times:
Drone Strike Hits Near Pakistani-Afghan Border
Drone Strike Hits Near Pakistani-Afghan Border
Discussion:
FP Passport and Wired
Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:
Why the Clinton Scandals Were a Bigger Deal Than the Obama Ones — Or, how to tell a personal scandal from a policy controversy — President Obama visited the Jersey Shore Tuesday, where Gov. Chris Christie presented him with a stuffed bear at an arcade and the two declared the shore open …
Discussion:
The Dish
Miranda / Right Wing Watch:
Schlafly Encourages GOP to Ignore Latinos, Focus on White Turnout — Eagle Forum's Phyllis Schlafly is riled up about comprehensive immigration reform, and she has hardly been hiding the reason why. Last month, Schlafly predicted that comprehensive reform would be “suicide for the Republican Party” …
Discussion:
Mediaite and The Raw Story
Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:
Obama to Pick Former Bush Official to Lead F.B.I. — WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to nominate James B. Comey, a former hedge fund executive and a former senior Justice Department official under President George W. Bush, to replace Robert S. Mueller III as the director of the Federal Bureau …
Discussion:
Business Insider
Michael O'Connell / Hollywood Reporter:
TV Ratings: MSNBC Falls Below HLN in May, Rachel Maddow Hits Lows — Fox News Channel maintains a handsome lead in primetime and total day, while primetime runner-up CNN continues a healthy climb from the lows of 2012. — “The Rachel Maddow Show” — HLN's wall-to-wall coverage …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters, The Hinterland Gazette and American Glob
Eric Russell / Portland Press-Herald:
LePage renews claims of State House censorship — ‘The minute we start stifling our speech, we might as well go home, roll up our sleeves and get our guns out,’ the governor says. — AUGUSTA - Gov. Paul LePage is still upset about being silenced during a recent meeting …
Discussion:
The Raw Story
Pew Social & Demographic Trends:
Breadwinner Moms — Mothers Are the Sole or Primary Provider in Four-in-Ten Households with Children; Public Conflicted about the Growing Trend — CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW — A record 40% of all households with children under the age of 18 include mothers who are either the sole or primary source …