Top Items:
Bob Woodward / Washington Post:
Robert Gates, former defense secretary, offers harsh critique of Obama's leadership in ‘Duty’ — In a new memoir, former defense secretary Robert Gates unleashes harsh judgments about President Obama's leadership and his commitment to the Afghanistan war, writing that by early 2010 …
Discussion:
crooksandliars.com/user/91, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, opposingviews.com/homepage.xml, The Fix, The Huffington Post, Salon, CBS DC, Los Angeles Times, The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, Post Politics, Fox News, Mediaite, Betsy's Page, Washington Wire, Weasel Zippers, Power Line, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog, Yahoo! News, Ed Driscoll, The Week, Politico, Hullabaloo, his vorpal sword, The Daily Caller, Doug Ross, CNN, Business Insider, Guardian, Weekly Standard, TheBlaze.com, The PJ Tatler, The Lead with Jake Tapper, Washington Free Beacon and National Review
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Robert M. Gates / Wall Street Journal:
The Quiet Fury of Robert Gates — Bush and Obama's secretary of defense had to wage war in Iraq, Afghanistan—and today's Washington … All too often during my 4½ years as secretary of defense, when I found myself sitting yet again at that witness table at yet another congressional hearing …
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Weasel Zippers, Althouse and CNN
Thom Shanker / New York Times:
In His New Memoir, Robert M. Gates, the Former Defense Secretary, Offers a Critique of the President — WASHINGTON — President Obama eventually lost faith in the troop increase he ordered in Afghanistan, his doubts fed by top White House civilian advisers opposed to the strategy …
Discussion:
NBCNews, Firedoglake, WorldViews, BizPac Review, Hot Air, Politico, Yahoo! News, Informed Comment, CNN, Connecting.the.Dots, Taylor Marsh, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Liberal Values, ABC News, Mediaite, TIME, The Week, Weasel Zippers, The New Republic, Close Read, Post Politics, First Read, Business Insider and Washington Free Beacon
Kristina Wong / The Hill:
White House rejects criticisms in Gates' memoir — The White House immediately rebuffed a searing critique of its Afghanistan war policies Tuesday from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. — In his forthcoming memoir Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, Gates writes that President Obama doubted …
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Obama Quit In Afghanistan
Obama Quit In Afghanistan
Discussion:
The Fix, Weasel Zippers and Mediaite
Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
Book review: ‘Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War’ by Robert M. Gates
Book review: ‘Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War’ by Robert M. Gates
Discussion:
The Hugh Hewitt Show and The Daily Caller
Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:
White House Defends Joe Biden Against Book By Former Defense Secretary
White House Defends Joe Biden Against Book By Former Defense Secretary
Discussion:
Mediaite, The Hinterland Gazette, CNN, The Right Scoop, NO QUARTER USA NET, Weasel Zippers and Post Politics
Robert Costa / Post Politics:
House GOP leaders coach rank-and-file on discussing unemployment — House Republican leaders sent a memo this week to the entire GOP conference with talking points designed to help rank-and-file Republicans show compassion for the unemployed and explain the Republican position on unemployment benefits.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Hot Air, Mediaite, The Plum Line and The Fix
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Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Memo Coaches Members To Show Empathy Toward Unemployed
GOP Memo Coaches Members To Show Empathy Toward Unemployed
Discussion:
Liberaland
Patricia Murphy / The Daily Beast:
The Senate's Last Compassionate Conservative Tries to Help the Jobless
The Senate's Last Compassionate Conservative Tries to Help the Jobless
Discussion:
NewsBusters
New York Times:
Biography Casts Critical Light on Fox News Chief — Roger Ailes was so eager to influence national politics that in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election, he told fellow Fox News executives point-blank: “I want to elect the next president.” — In the corporate thicket of News Corporation …
Shawn Boburg / NorthJersey.com:
Emails link top Christie aide to GWB lane-closing controversy — Private messages between Governor's Christie's deputy chief of staff and two of his top executives at the Port Authority reveal a vindictive effort to create “traffic problems in Fort Lee” by shutting lanes to the George Washington Bridge …
Discussion:
Riehl World News
Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Record-High 42% of Americans Identify as Independents — Republican identification lowest in at least 25 years — PRINCETON, NJ — Forty-two percent of Americans, on average, identified as political independents in 2013, the highest Gallup has measured since it began conducting interviews by telephone 25 years ago.
Discussion:
ABC News, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway and Politico
Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:
Drama roils race to replace Rep. Bill Young — The GOP race to replace the late Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.) has become a political soap opera that could jeopardize Republicans' hold on the seat. — It has all the makings of a daytime drama: a widow disavowing her son due to opposing primary allegiances …
Gabrielle Giffords / New York Times:
The Lessons of Physical Therapy — TODAY, the anniversary of the shooting in Tucson that put a bullet through my head and killed six of my constituents, is when I make my annual resolutions. — Many may look at me and see mostly what I have lost. I struggle to speak, my eyesight's not great …
Discussion:
CNN, Politico, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider
Catherine Taibi / The Huffington Post:
Rush Limbaugh's Polar Vortex ‘Hoax’ Comments Knocked Down By Weatherman (VIDEO) — Rush Limbaugh made headlines Monday when he called the “polar vortex” of dangerously cold conditions sweeping across the Midwest a “hoax,” but now an actual weatherman is saying otherwise.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Right Scoop and Riehl World News
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Matt Daily / Politico:
Polar freeze: It's weather, not climate
Polar freeze: It's weather, not climate
Discussion:
ncdc.noaa.gov, Weasel Zippers, Guardian, Climate Central and American Spectator
Adam Goldman / Washington Post:
Former Guantanamo detainee implicated in Benghazi attack — U.S. officials suspect that a former Guantanamo Bay detainee played a role in the attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, and are planning to designate the group he leads as a foreign terrorist organization …
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Hot Air, National Review, Power Line, CANNONFIRE and Business Insider
Mey / Autostraddle:
Flawless Trans Women Carmen Carrera and Laverne Cox Respond Flawlessly To Katie Couric's Invasive Questions — On Monday, transgender model Carmen Carrera and Orange is the New Black actress Laverne Cox made a daytime TV talk show appearance on the ABC show Katie hosted by Katie Couric.
Discussion:
NewsBusters and Towleroad News #gay
Keith Edwards / Portland Press-Herald:
LePage says children should have work option — Not allowing children to work is ‘causing damage to our economy,’ the governor says. — AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage told attendees of the 73rd annual Maine Agricultural Trades Show on Tuesday that 12-year-olds should be allowed to work in Maine.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Kasey Babbitt / fox4kc.com:
Daisy Coleman hospitalized in Kansas City after suicide attempt — KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Maryville Mo., teenager, who has been at the center of a rape case which made national headlines, was in a Kansas City hospital on Monday night after attempting to take her own life.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, The Raw Story, ThinkProgress, Daily Mail and Washington Post
Robert Rector / Wall Street Journal:
Robert Rector: How the War on Poverty Was Lost — Fifty years and $20 trillion later, LBJ's goal to help the poor become self-supporting has failed.
Steven Swinford / Telegraph:
Half of sex attackers, violent criminals and burglars avoid jail — Half of convicted child sex attackers, violent criminals and burglars are walking free from court amid claims that justice system is failing victims — Half of convicted sex attackers, violent criminals and burglars …
Discussion:
BBC and Press Association
Josh Rogin / The Daily Beast:
Congress to Iraq's Maliki: Be a Good Boy to Get Guns — Capitol Hill was ready to give Apache helicopters to Baghdad to help fight al Qaeda, but now senators worry the prime minister will use the weapons on domestic enemies. — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki still hasn't done enough …
Discussion:
Yahoo! News and Reuters