Top Items:
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
The fruits of epic incompetence — The president of the United States takes to the airwaves to urgently persuade the nation to pause before doing something it has no desire to do in the first place. — Strange. And it gets stranger still. That “strike Syria, maybe” …
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Roger Cohen / New York Times:
An Anchorless World — BERLIN — At dinner the other night, perusing the debacle that is Syria, a German friend observed: “It's the post-American world — and that means chaos.” We were joined by John Kornblum, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany, whose verdict was similar …
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times
Tom Cohen / CNN:
Kerry: talks on Syria chemical weapons ‘not a game’
Kerry: talks on Syria chemical weapons ‘not a game’
Discussion:
americanthinker.com, Washington Free Beacon, Associated Press and The Lead with Jake Tapper
The / Los Angeles Times:
GOP's unhealthy obsession with Obamacare — Republicans in the House need to stop waging a fight they can't win. — A large faction in the House wants to hold funding for the rest of the government hostage until Democrats agree to stop implementing Obamacare.
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:
House votes 235-191 to stop ObamaCare's insurance subsidies
House votes 235-191 to stop ObamaCare's insurance subsidies
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
'Scuse Me, While I Kick the Sky
'Scuse Me, While I Kick the Sky
Discussion:
Politico, Hot Air, The Rachel Maddow Show and Booman Tribune
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Dems Getting Ready to Roll Over on Budget Yet Again
Dems Getting Ready to Roll Over on Budget Yet Again
Discussion:
The Plum Line
Burgess Everett / Politico:
GOP's Obamacare quandary
GOP's Obamacare quandary
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Balloon Juice and The Plum Line
Ian Swanson / The Hill:
Putin gets his revenge on Obama — Russian President Vladimir Putin's criticism of the United States in the op-ed pages of Thursday's New York Times was a revenge of sorts on President Obama. — Putin blasted notions of American “exceptionalism” and directly criticized Obama's proposed military strikes …
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Steven T. Dennis / Roll Call:
Decisiveness Overrated? White House Thinks Yes — President Barack Obama's Syria strategy may not have been particularly decisive, but that's not a bad thing, according to the White House. — White House Press Secretary Jay Carney defended his boss Thursday after a blistering few weeks …
Discussion:
Right Wing News
Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
Countering Putin, Rep. Israel pens column for Russian press
Countering Putin, Rep. Israel pens column for Russian press
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Online Office …, Taylor Marsh, CNN, The Huffington Post, First Read and The Hill
Neil King Jr / Wall Street Journal:
Poll Finds Republicans Gain Favor on Key Issues — The Republican Party is gaining a public-opinion edge on several key issues ahead of the 2014 elections, as Americans question President Barack Obama's leadership on Syria and worry about the country's overall direction, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
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Lucy McCalmont / Politico:
NBC/WSJ poll: GOP on the rise — Republicans are now leading Democrats on handling several key issues, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll. — The poll, released Friday, shows more Americans think that the Republicans are doing a better job on the economy, foreign policy and reducing the federal deficit.
Wall Street Journal:
Elite Syrian Unit Scatters Chemical Arms Stockpile — Assad Regime Has Moved Weapons to as Many as 50 Sites — A secretive Syrian military unit at the center of the Assad regime's chemical weapons program has been moving stocks of poison gases and munitions to as many as 50 sites …
Discussion:
National Review, americanthinker.com, Israel Matzav, Guardian, New York Times and NPR
Monte Morin / Los Angeles Times:
NASA confirms Voyager 1 has left the solar system — This post has been corrected. See the note below for details. — NASA confirmed Thursday that after 36 years of space travel and months of heated debate among scientists, Voyager 1 has indeed left our solar system and had entered interstellar space more than a year ago.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Calculated Risk and Outside the Beltway
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Brooks Barnes / New York Times:
Exiting the Solar System and Fulfilling a Dream
Exiting the Solar System and Fulfilling a Dream
Discussion:
NBCNews, The Reaction, The Week and GigaOM
Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
In Email, Zimmerman's Local Police Chief Agrees He's Another ‘Sandy Hook’ Waiting To Happen — Police Chief Steve Bracknell, who is responsible for the Florida town where George Zimmerman resides, agreed in a series of emails that Zimmerman is a “ticking time bomb” and another “Sandy Hook” waiting to happen.
Discussion:
Salon, addictinginfo.org and Mediaite
Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Obama Acts Like He Doesn't Know He's an Executive-Power Extremist — On the fake moderation of a president who talks a good game but doesn't follow through — It's often hard to tell if President Obama is lying to the American people or to himself. Is he willfully misrepresenting who he is?
Discussion:
Betsy's Page
Associated Press:
AFGHAN TALIBAN ATTACK US CONSULATE, KILL 2 AFGHANS — You are here — Home » Afghanistan » Afghan Taliban attack US Consulate, kill 2 Afghans — KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban militants set off two suicide car bombs in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in western Afghanistan …
Discussion:
Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Raw Story and The Gateway Pundit
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama to tap budget chief Zients as top economic adviser — President Obama will tap former acting budget director Jeffrey Zients to replace Gene Sperling as the administration's top economic adviser, the White House confirmed Friday. — Sperling, the first person to serve as director …
Discussion:
CNN
Peter Wehner / Commentary Magazine:
The Collapse of the Obama Presidency — How bad has 2013 been for Barack Obama? Let us count the ways. — In the first year of his second term, the president has failed on virtually every front. He put his prestige on the line to pass federal gun-control legislation-and lost.
Discussion:
Right Turn, Power Line, Israel Matzav and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Peter Beinart / The Daily Beast:
The Rise of the New New Left — Bill de Blasio's win in New York's Democratic primary isn't a local story. It's part of a vast shift that could upend three decades of American political thinking. By Peter Beinart — Maybe Bill de Blasio got lucky. Maybe he only won because he cut a sweet ad featuring his biracial son.
Discussion:
New York Times, Prairie Weather, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly and Eschaton
Ryan Lizza / Comment:
COULD OBAMA'S SYRIA DIPLOMACY LEAD TO WAR? — On Wednesday, a diplomatic solution to disarm Syria of its chemical weapons crept forward. Unlike the preceding days, when policy seemed to be made on the fly, the negotiations Wednesday moved behind closed doors.
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Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
That Threat Worked
That Threat Worked
Discussion:
Reuters, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Hot Air and CFR.org