Top Items:
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Justice Dept. Seeks to Curtail Stiff Drug Sentences — WASHINGTON — In a major shift in criminal justice policy, the Obama administration will move on Monday to ease overcrowding in federal prisons by ordering prosecutors to omit listing quantities of illegal substances in indictments …
RELATED:
Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:
Holder seeks to avert mandatory minimum sentences for some low-level drug offenders — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is set to announce Monday that low-level, nonviolent drug offenders with no ties to gangs or large-scale drug organizations will no longer be charged with offenses that impose severe mandatory sentences.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Wonkblog, The Fix, Mediaite, Colorlines, National Review, The Week, Hot Air, Quartz, Wall Street Journal, msnbc.com, The PJ Tatler, Law Blog and The BLT
Jonathan Weil / Bloomberg:
Eric Holder Owes the American People an Apology — The Justice Department made a long-overdue disclosure late Friday: Last year when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder boasted about the successes that a high-profile task force racked up pursuing mortgage fraud, the numbers he trumpeted were grossly overstated.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications and Eschaton
David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
‘Mandatory minimum’ sentences to end for many drug offenders
‘Mandatory minimum’ sentences to end for many drug offenders
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and TalkLeft
Gabriel Debenedetti / Reuters:
Holder to outline new drug offender sentencing proposal
Holder to outline new drug offender sentencing proposal
Discussion:
Hit & Run
Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Holder to scale back tough sentences for low-level drug crimes
Holder to scale back tough sentences for low-level drug crimes
Discussion:
Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, americanthinker.com and Yahoo! News
Maria Sudekum / Associated Press:
Missouri Fair clown draws criticism for Obama mask — You are here — Home » Barack Obama » Missouri Fair clown draws criticism for Obama mask — KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A clown wearing a President Barack Obama mask appeared at a Missouri State Fair rodeo this weekend …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, Jezebel, Taylor Marsh, Shakesville, Capitol Report and Post Politics
RELATED:
Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Obama Rodeo Mask Is ‘Racist’ But Decapitated George Bush Head on a Pike Was Funny — Liberals were outraged this weekend after a rodeo clown at the Missouri State Fair wore an Obama mask as he taunted the Bulls. — Obama clown at Missouri State Fair rodeo (Show Me Progress)
Discussion:
Hypocrisy-Now!
Mark Morris / Kansas City Star:
Clown's Obama stunt at Missouri State Fair draws rebuke
Clown's Obama stunt at Missouri State Fair draws rebuke
Discussion:
The Impolitic, americanthinker.com, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Show Me Progress, ThinkProgress and The Daily Caller
Dana Loesch / RedState:
Clown Dresses As Obama At MO State Fair, Democrats Cry “Racism®” *UPDATED
Clown Dresses As Obama At MO State Fair, Democrats Cry “Racism®” *UPDATED
Discussion:
Twitchy and The Gateway Pundit
Andrew Kaczynski:
Republican Congressman: We Probably Have The Votes To Impeach Obama — “I'll give you a real frank answer about that: If we were to impeach the president tomorrow, you could probably get the votes in the House of Representatives to do it.” — youtube.com
Discussion:
Politico, The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Mediaite
Joseph Goldstein / New York Times:
Stop-and-Frisk Practice Violated Rights, Judge Rules — In a repudiation of a major element in the Bloomberg administration's crime-fighting legacy, a federal judge has found that the stop-and-frisk tactics of the New York Police Department violated the constitutional rights of tens of thousands …
Discussion:
Hit & Run, RH Reality Check, Above the Law, The Week, Hullabaloo, msnbc.com, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Colorlines, Rod 2.:Beta #gay #news …, Human Rights Campaign Blog, Mediaite, The New Civil Rights Movement, Outside the Beltway, Gawker, emptywheel, The Hinterland Gazette, TalkLeft, The Moderate Voice and The Raw Story
RELATED:
New York Times:
Republicans and Democrats Both Miscalculated — TWO years ago, Adm. Mike Mullen, at the time the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that debt was the “single biggest threat to our national security” — not some rogue nation, or terrorist group, but debt.
Discussion:
Daniel W. Drezner, American Prospect, Campaign for America's Future and Paul Krugman
Jill Colvin / Politicker:
Anthony Weiner Releases First TV Ad — A scene from Anthony Weiner's first ad. — Mayoral contender Anthony Weiner is set to hit the airwaves Monday with his first televised ad, which he sent out to his supporters early this morning. — “Our campaign has had policy speeches, idea books and lots of community meetings.
Discussion:
The Hill, CNN, The Moderate Voice, Politico, Taylor Marsh, Connecting.the.Dots, The Daily Caller and msnbc.com
RELATED:
New York Post:
Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner being filmed for possible documentary
Mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner being filmed for possible documentary
Discussion:
Politico, The Gateway Pundit and TheBlaze.com
Erin Durkin / NY Daily News:
Anthony Weiner aims to be top banana at Dominican Day parade in New York
Anthony Weiner aims to be top banana at Dominican Day parade in New York
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, National Review and First Read
Glenn Greenwald / Guardian:
Michael Hayden, Bob Schieffer and the media's reverence of national security officials — The former NSA director is held up by the Face the Nation host as an objective authority when he is everything but that — In 2006, the New York Times won the Pulitzer Prize for having revealed …
Discussion:
Gawker, Hullabaloo and The Dish
RELATED:
Stephen Moore / Wall Street Journal:
The Budget Sequester Is a Success — The Obama spending blitz is over and the deficit is heading below 4% of GDP. — The biggest underreported story out of Washington this year is that the federal budget is shrinking and much more than anyone in either party expected.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, VodkaPundit, Booman Tribune and msnbc.com
Ben Geman / E2-Wire:
White House warns of rising threat to power grid from ‘extreme weather’ — Power outages from severe weather have cost the nation an average of $18 billion to $33 billion annually, according to a new Obama administration report that stresses the threat of climate change.
RELATED:
Tris Reid-Smith / Gay Star News:
Olympic Committee threatens to punish athletes who fight for gay Russians — Forget the Russian police, athletes who back gay rights during Sochi's Winter Games may be punished by the Olympic Committee — The International Olympic Committee will likely stop any athlete who shows solidarity …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The New Civil Rights Movement and David E's FablogDavid …
RELATED:
David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Gays in Russia Find No Haven, Despite Support From the West
Gays in Russia Find No Haven, Despite Support From the West
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The New Civil Rights Movement, Mediaite and msnbc.com
Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
The Surveillance Speech: A Low Point in Barack Obama's Presidency — His tone on Friday was inappropriately dismissive, while the substance was misleading at best and mendacious at worst. — Jon Stewart once reacted to a Barack Obama speech by marveling that “at 11 o'clock on a Tuesday …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News and Informed Comment
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Expats Balk at Tax Law — American Citizen Renunciations Are Soaring — By - MARIKO SANCHANTA And - JASON CHOW — More U.S. citizens are giving up their American passports as the government cracks down on tax evaders. The WSJ's Deborah Kan speaks to lawyer Eugene Chow …
Discussion:
The Hill and TaxProf Blog
Anthony Breznican / Inside Movies:
‘The Day the Clown Cried’: New video surfaces from famed (and shamed) Jerry Lewis Holocaust film — This is making-of footage from a film that will never-be. — The Day the Clown Cried was a 1972 Holocaust drama directed and starring Jerry Lewis that was famously decried for its bad taste before ever being released.
Discussion:
The Verge, Gawker, Althouse, AllThingsD and CBS Minnesota
Talking Points Memo:
Benton: I Saw ‘Hurt’ In McConnell's Eyes Over My Comments — Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) re-election campaign manager Jesse Benton told a local Louisville, Ky. news outlet that he “could see hurt” in the Senate minority leader's eyes over the aide's recently reported remarks about reluctantly serving in that position.
Discussion:
WHAS, Ballot Box and Booman Tribune
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Milton Friedman, Unperson — Recently Senator Rand Paul, potential presidential candidate and self-proclaimed expert on monetary issues, sat down for an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek. It didn't go too well. For example, Mr. Paul talked about America running “a trillion-dollar deficit every year” …
Discussion:
National Review, Hit & Run, Paul Krugman, AEIdeas, msnbc.com, Brad DeLong, Daily Kos and Prairie Weather
Nick Wing / The Huffington Post:
Dana Rohrabacher, GOP House Science Committee Member: ‘Global Warming Is A Total Fraud’ — Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), a longtime member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, recently brushed aside concern that the wildfires currently scorching across his state …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, E2-Wire, thenation.com/blogs/168901, Little Green Footballs and The Raw Story
David Brock / Reuters:
CNN's Hillary Clinton problem — Once again, CNN chief Jeff Zucker has his network stuck between a rock and a hard place — between appeasing the relentless Republican noise machine and confronting growing frustrations with CNN's sensationalism and misinforming bias.
Discussion:
TheBlaze.com and Politico