Top Items:
Austin American-Statesman:
Screaming protest disrupts vote on abortion bill — Sen. Wendy Davis, speaking to a large and adoring crowd gathered outside the Senate door, thanked her supporters. — “Today was democracy in action,” she told the crowd. “You all are the voices we were speaking for from the floor.”
RELATED:
New York Times:
Texas Vote Passing Abortion Bill Is Rendered Moot — AUSTIN, Tex. — Hours after claiming that they successfully passed some of the toughest abortion restrictions in the country, Republican lawmakers reversed course on Wednesday and said a disputed late-night vote on the bill …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Associated Press, Hot Air and Prairie Weather
U.S. News:
Texas abortion bill fails to pass after epic filibuster — A bill that opponents claimed would virtually ban abortion in Texas failed to pass late Tuesday after lawmakers missed a deadline by just minutes. — There were chaotic scenes after a filibuster attempt fell just short and protesters cheered …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, CNN, Hit & Run, The Fix, National Review, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit, Guardian, The Week and Balloon Juice
Becca Aaronson / The Texas Tribune:
Led by Davis, Democrats Defeat Abortion Legislation … The nation watched on Tuesday — and into Wednesday — as Democratic Sen. Wendy Davis and hundreds of impassioned reproductive rights advocates stalled proceedings and ultimately defeated controversial abortion legislation in a storm …
Ed Payne / CNN:
Texas abortion bill dies as confusion marks end of session — (CNN) — The Texas legislature's special session ended in chaos and confusion early Wednesday, when a marathon filibuster failed — but so did a Republican effort to pass a bill that would have greatly restricted abortions in the state.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Althouse, The Reaction, Taylor Marsh, SQUATLO RANT, Hullabaloo and Washington Post
The Texas Tribune:
Liveblog: Senators Trying to Determine if Abortion Bill Passed
Liveblog: Senators Trying to Determine if Abortion Bill Passed
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Guardian, Business Insider, New York Times and skippy the bush kangaroo
Fox News:
Texas abortion bill falls after dispute over vote
Texas abortion bill falls after dispute over vote
Discussion:
The Raw Story, Rare, Infowars and Hit & Run
Associated Press:
Filibuster broken against abortion bill
Filibuster broken against abortion bill
Discussion:
The Daily Banter, Off the Kuff, Obsidian Wings and Yahoo! News
Richard L. Hasen / New York Times:
The Chief Justice's Long Game — IN an opinion brimming with a self-confidence that he hides behind a cloak of judicial minimalism, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for a conservative Supreme Court majority in Shelby County v. Holder, cripples Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Discussion:
The Hill, Balkinization, Prairie Weather, ACS Blog, Taegan Goddard's … and addictinginfo.org
RELATED:
Joshua Green / Businessweek:
The Supreme Court's Voting Rights Decision Is a Poison Chalice for the GOP — This morning, the Supreme Court struck down a core part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, “a landmark law that opened the polls to millions of southern blacks,” as Bloomberg's Greg Stohr put it.
Ilya Shapiro / Bloomberg:
Jim Crow Is Dead. Long Live the Constitution. — In striking down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, the U.S. Supreme Court has restored a measure of constitutional order. Based on 40-year-old voting data that doesn't reflect current political conditions, this provision subjected …
New York Times:
An Assault on the Voting Rights Act — The conservative majority on the Roberts Court issued another damaging and intellectually dishonest ruling on Tuesday. It eviscerated enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, in which Congress kept the promise of a vote for every citizen.
Discussion:
PostPartisan, Commentary Magazine, FiveThirtyEight, First Read and msnbc.com
Bill Barrow / Associated Press:
Republicans Across The South Promise Quick Action After SCOTUS Ruling — ATLANTA (AP) — Across the South, Republicans are working to take advantage of a new political landscape after a divided U.S. Supreme Court freed all or part of 15 states, many of them in the old Confederacy …
Discussion:
The Maddow Blog
Richard A. Posner / Slate:
Supreme Court 2013: The Year in Review
Supreme Court 2013: The Year in Review
Discussion:
American Prospect, Lawyers, Guns & Money and The Plum Line
Jonathan Allen / Politico:
President Obama confronts George W. Bush court on voting, gay rights cases
President Obama confronts George W. Bush court on voting, gay rights cases
Discussion:
CNN, Philly.com and The Hill
Emily Schultheis / Politico:
Supreme Court ruling sets stage for voter ID battle
Supreme Court ruling sets stage for voter ID battle
Discussion:
Raleigh News & Observer, msnbc.com and The Hill
Stephen L. Carter / Bloomberg:
The Supreme Court Matters Less Than You Think
Talking Points Memo:
Eric Cantor Reacts To Voting Rights Act Ruling
Eric Cantor Reacts To Voting Rights Act Ruling
Discussion:
The Century Foundation, News Desk, Connecting.the.Dots, Firedoglake, The Daily Banter, ThinkProgress and How Appealing
Eyder Peralta / NPR:
High Court Strikes Down Defense Of Marriage Act … The Supreme Court issued rulings on two highly-anticipated cases on gay marriage. It ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, is unconstitutional.
Discussion:
Applesauce, Poynter, RYOT News and Crooks and Liars
RELATED:
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Poll: 55 percent support same-sex marriage — A majority of Americans say they support same-sex marriage, according to a new poll released hours before the Supreme Court's historic decision on a pair of cases involving gay rights. — According to the survey from CNN and ORC …
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Supreme Court Strikes Down Law Denying U.S. Benefits to Gay Spouses
Supreme Court Strikes Down Law Denying U.S. Benefits to Gay Spouses
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Associated Press and The Caucus
Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
Supreme Court Set to Rule on Gay Marriage
Supreme Court Set to Rule on Gay Marriage
Discussion:
Law Blog and The Reaction
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Passion fades for President Obama among Democrats — A majority of Americans regard President Obama favorably, but his numbers have softened considerably among his fellow Democrats, according to new polling conducted by the Washington Post and ABC News. — Obama's favorability stands at 53 percent …
Discussion:
ABC News, Fox News, Taegan Goddard's …, Hot Air and Associated Press
RELATED:
Aaron Bycoffe / The Huffington Post:
Live Results: Massachusetts Senate Special Election
Live Results: Massachusetts Senate Special Election
Discussion:
Boston Globe, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, Yahoo! News, Daily Kos, Mediaite and The Spectacle Blog
Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:
Markey tops Gomez for Senate seat
Markey tops Gomez for Senate seat
Discussion:
Politico, CNN, ViralRead and Outside the Beltway
Alison Rourke / Guardian:
Julia Gillard ousted as Australia prime minister — Julia Gillard confirms she will not contest next parliamentary elections after losing Labor party leadership ballot to Kevin Rudd — Australia's first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, has been sacked by her party just months …
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
RELATED:
Emma Griffiths / ABC:
Kevin Rudd defeats Julia Gillard 57-45 in Labor leadership ballot, paving way for a return to PM
Kevin Rudd defeats Julia Gillard 57-45 in Labor leadership ballot, paving way for a return to PM
Discussion:
Via Meadia and Infowars
CNN:
‘Crossfire’ coming back to CNN — Washington (CNN) - An institution is coming back to CNN. — “Crossfire,” the long-running political debate show that aired on CNN from 1982-2005, is getting a reboot, the news network announced Wednesday. Four new hosts - two on the left, and two on the right - will debut the program this fall.
Discussion:
Politico, Libertarian Republican and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »
Jon Schuppe / nbcnewyork.com:
Anthony Weiner Surges to Lead in Democratic Mayoral Race: NBC NY/WSJ/Marist Poll — The poll finds Weiner with 25 percent and Quinn with 20 percent among registered Democrats — Democratic mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner has surged ahead of his opponents in a new NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal poll …
RELATED:
CNN:
Player taken into custody — North Attleborough, Massachusetts (CNN) — New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested and booked at a police station in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, on Wednesday morning. — He will be taken to Attleboro District Court, where he will be arraigned.