memeorandum: White House explains HHS report's rationale: You can't compare wormy apples to fresh and delicious ones, obviously (Erika Johnsen/Hot Air)

8:05 AM ET, September 26, 2013

Top Items:

The Most Ridiculous Moments In Ted Cruz's Phony Filibuster (VIDEO) — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) put forth a challenge Wednesday to members of the media covering his 21-hour non-filibuster to protest funding for Obamacare. — “So I'm gonna make a request directly to those reporters who are covering …

Discussion: BobCesca.com

David Weigel / Slate:
Ted Cruz, Wendy Davis, and Politico's Bogus Claim of Media Bias

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Mediaite, ThinkProgress and msnbc.com

David French / National Review:
Ted Cruz and the Power of Conviction

Discussion: Hot Air, The Fix and The Daily Beast

Lucy McCalmont / Politico:
Experts: Seuss would be ‘offended’

Discussion: TIME, Conservative Intelligence …, Hot Air, Mediaite and NewsBusters

Steve Benen / The Rachel Maddow Show:
The Wendy Davis difference

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air and Mediaite

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Texas senator is Cruz-ing for a bruising

Discussion: Mediaite, The PJ Tatler, The Huffington Post, PostPartisan, The Fix and Guardian

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Ted Cruz, Wendy Davis and media bias

Mario Trujillo / The Hill:
Cruz derides Senate as full of theater and show votes

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

NationalJournal.com:
More Than 21 Hours Later, Ted Cruz Has Been Cut Off

Discussion: Yahoo! News, CNN, Politico, Taking Note and msnbc.com

Patricia Murphy / The Daily Beast:
Ted Cruz's Fake Fight Against Obamacare Is Making Millions

Discussion: Prairie Weather, American Thinker, Michelle Malkin, The Week, Slate, The Daily Caller, Washington Monthly, Taylor Marsh and BuzzFeed

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Cruz, Tea Party Hero, Rankles Senate G.O.P. Colleagues — WASHINGTON — Senator Ted Cruz's crusade to dismantle President Obama's health care law has helped cement his status as an emerging hero of the Tea Party and conservative grass roots. But it is stoking resentment and derision …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Alex Pareene / Salon:

Ted Cruz's long-term strategy: Brilliant, but stupid — The fauxlibuster will be great for the senator's career — unless he actually wants to be president — Ted Cruz announced yesterday that he would filibuster Obamacare, and not stop until he could not stand anymore, or at least until his allotted speaking time was up.

Discussion: Slate, American Prospect, BuzzFeed, Mediaite and The Week

Paige Lavender / The Huffington Post:

John McCain Rips Ted Cruz's Anti-Obamacare Speech, Criticizes Nazi Comparison (VIDEO) — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ripped Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) after he gave an anti-Obamacare speech that lasted over 21 hours on Tuesday and Wednesday. — The speech, which was not techinally a filibuster …

Discussion: msnbc.com

Michael Walsh / National Review: What We Just Saw — In the aftermath of Senator Ted Cruz's …

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
What Ted Cruz Doesn't Understand About Green Eggs and Ham

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Guardian, The Fix and Progressive Eruptions

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:

You Really Ought to Be More Terrified of the Debt Ceiling — The truly scary thing about blowing through the debt limit isn't what we think will happen. It's that we actually have no idea what will happen. — Sen. Ted Cruz's 21-hour soliloquy was rightly criticized (or, characterized) …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Paul Krugman

Heidi Przybyla / Bloomberg:

Republicans Debt-Ceiling Strategy Relies on Obama Budget — Obama: Congress Focused on ‘Trying to Mess With Me’ — Senate Republicans have a strategy for lifting the U.S. borrowing limit: offer what President Barack Obama asked for in his budget, then dare him to refuse.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Hot Air and Hullabaloo

Mike Lillis / The Hill:
Pelosi: Obama shouldn't have ruled out 14th Amendment option in debt fight

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Fars News Agency:

Exclusive: CNN Fabricates Iranian President's Remarks about Holocaust — TEHRAN (FNA)- American news channel CNN fabricated the remarks made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in response to the network's question about the Holocaust. — The CNN aired its interview with Rouhani on Tuesday …

Discussion: Amanpour, Politico, NBCNews, New York Times, Michael J. Totten's blog, Power Line, Israpundit, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite and americanthinker.com, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Iran's Leader, Denouncing Holocaust, Stirs Dispute — WASHINGTON — As he conducts a high-profile good-will visit to New York this week, Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, says he is bringing a simple message of peace and friendship. But on Wednesday, Mr. Rouhani set off a political storm …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Amanpour, Los Angeles Times and WJLA-TV

Jon.Ralston / Ralston Reports:

The Democratic 2014 turnout machine, courtesy of Pat Hickey — This is not the last you wiil hear of this: Assembly Minority Leader Pat Hickey, sitting down with a friendly interviewer (Dan Mason) on conservative talk radio, got careless and talked about how great for the GOP that young people …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA and Washington Monthly

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Top Nevada GOPer Brags 2014 Will Be ‘A Great Year For Republicans’ Because Minorities Won't Vote

Discussion: The Raw Story and ThinkProgress

Erika Johnsen / Hot Air:

White House explains HHS report's rationale: You can't compare wormy apples to fresh and delicious ones, obviously — A short yet painful addendum to my earlier post on the Department of Health and Human Service's new report excitedly detailing the “lower than expected” …

Discussion: Betsy's Page, The Daily Caller, Patterico's Pontifications, Questions and Observations and National Review

Politico:
HHS reveals Obamacare coverage prices for federal exchanges

Discussion: Reuters, The New Republic, Viking Pundit, The Huffington Post, The Advisory Board Company, National Review, Washington Monthly, The Daily Caller, New York Times, Hot Air, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress and The Week

Louise Radnofsky / Wall Street Journal:
Prices Set for New Health-Care Exchanges

Discussion: White House.gov Blog, Gingrich Productions, Washington Times, Via Meadia, Right Wing News, NPR and National Review

Washington Post:

Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis driven by delusions — The government contractor who killed 12 people at the Navy Yard last week was driven by delusions that he was being controlled by low frequency radio waves, and he scratched the words “End the torment!” on the barrel of the shotgun used in the killings …

Discussion: Hot Air

FBI:
Law Enforcement Shares Findings of the Investigation into the Washington Navy Yard Shootings

Discussion: Mashable, FOX News Radio, Guardian, NPR, Online NewsHour, Voices, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Week

Benny Johnson / BuzzFeed:

NSFW: Cory Booker's Interesting DMs With A Portland Stripper — “The East Coast loves you and by the East Coast I mean me.” Not safe for work, unless you work at Newark City Hall. — Twitter: @LynsieLee — Twitter: @LynsieLee — View Entire List ›

Discussion: Gawker and Mediaite

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

The Fall of the Heritage Foundation and the Death of Republican Ideas — How the Heritage Foundation went from the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement to the GOP's bane — and how it's hurting the party's hopes for a turnaround — During the 1980 election …

Discussion: BALANCE

The Reliable Source:

George H.W. Bush is witness at same-sex marriage in Maine — By The Reliable Source, Published: September 25 at 4:36 pm — Another prominent Republican has come out in support of same-sex marriage — or at least, in support of one particular same-sex marriage.

Discussion: ABC News, Joe. My. God., NPR, Gawker, Los Angeles Times, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Towleroad News #gay

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Ken Cuccinelli and Terry McAuliffe go small in debate — A clash of the titans, this was not. — Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Ken Cuccinelli could not be more different in their ideological views and political personalities, as they battle for the governorship of Virginia …

Discussion: CNN

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Biden: Bloomberg work ‘contagious’ — NEW YORK—Appearing at the Clinton Global Initiative conference to present the Leadership in Public Service award to Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Vice President Biden took what he said was “a point of personal privilege” to praise the work of his “old buddy” on gun control.

Discussion: CNN