Top Items:
Ted Mann / Metropolis:
Christie, Official Who Arranged Bridge Closures Were Together During Fiasco … Gov. Chris Christie was with the official who arranged the closure of local lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 11, 2013 — the third day of the closures, and well after they had triggered outrage …
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David W. Chen / New York Times:
Aide Fired by Christie Is Called Loyal Team Player, Not Rogue Operative — Bridget Anne Kelly is devastated that Gov. Chris Christie denounced her as stupid and a liar — but she also is distraught over how much her actions have damaged him politically. — Unheard-of a week ago …
Discussion:
NewsBusters blogs, Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Hot Air and NewsBusters
Charlie Cook / NationalJournal.com:
Is Getting Christie's Last Pound of Flesh the Best Use of State Resources?
Is Getting Christie's Last Pound of Flesh the Best Use of State Resources?
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, First Read and The Reaction
Margaret Carlson / Bloomberg:
Christie's Next Lesson: How to Apologize
Salvador Rizzo / New Jersey Online:
Codey: Some Democrats tried to quash investigation into bridge scandal to protect Christie
Codey: Some Democrats tried to quash investigation into bridge scandal to protect Christie
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Oklahoma Ban On Same-Sex Marriages Is Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules — “The Court holds that Oklahoma's constitutional amendment limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the judge decided.
Discussion:
Hot Air, National Review and GLAAD
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Human Rights Campaign Blog:
U.S. District Judge Rules Oklahoma Ban on Marriage Equality Unconstitutional — Today U.S. District Judge Terence Kern ruled that Oklahoma's ban on marriage equality is unconstitutional. His ruling is stayed pending appeal, meaning marriages will not occur immediately in the Sooner State.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Advocate, Towleroad News #gay and Balloon Juice
Erik Eckholm / New York Times:
Federal Judge Rejects Oklahoma's Gay Marriage Ban — A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled Tuesday that the state's constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage violated the federal Constitution, the latest in a string of legal victories for gay rights and one that occurred in the heart of the Bible Belt.
Discussion:
The Raw Story
Tampa Bay Times:
Stand Your Ground already an issue in theater shooting — TAMPA — Soon after authorities say a retired Tampa police captain shot a fellow moviegoer over a cell phone dispute Monday, a question now common in Florida arose: — Could the shooter be defended under Stand Your Ground?
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Hinterland Gazette, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite and Gawker
Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
Feinstein rejects NYT on Benghazi — The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said that key conclusions of a recent New York Times investigation into the 2012 Benghazi attack are wrong. — Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) rejected the Times's conclusion that al Qaeda …
Discussion:
Politico, TheBlaze.com, Mediaite, NewsBusters blogs, Talking Points Memo and Washington Free Beacon
RELATED:
Paul Richter / Los Angeles Times:
New Iran agreement includes secret side deal, Tehran official says — (Abedin Taherkenareh / European Pressphoto Agency / February 3, 2007) … WASHINGTON - Key elements of a new nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers are contained in an informal, 30-page text not yet publicly acknowledged …
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Noah Pollak / Weekly Standard:
Yoko Ono vs. Ayatollah Khomeini
Yoko Ono vs. Ayatollah Khomeini
Discussion:
The Tower, Michelle Malkin and Pressure Points
Kate Tummarello / The Hill:
Court strikes down net neutrality — A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down the Obama administration's net-neutrality rules. — The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Federal Communications Commission overstepped its authority by prohibiting Internet providers from blocking …
Discussion:
Politico, RH Reality Check and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »
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Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:
Lawmakers unveil massive $1.1 trillion spending bill in bipartisan compromise — Congressional negotiators late Monday unveiled a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill that would fund federal agencies through the rest of the fiscal year and end the lingering threat of another government shutdown.
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Ed O'Keefe / The Fix:
The winners and losers of the new spending bill
The winners and losers of the new spending bill
Discussion:
The U.S. House … and Daily Kos
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Spending bill rolls back funding for controversial ObamaCare programs
Spending bill rolls back funding for controversial ObamaCare programs
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and Mediaite
Ynetnews:
Ya'alon: Kerry should win his Nobel and leave us alone — Defense Minister says in private that US security plan 'not worth the paper it's written on', insists Kerry ‘cannot teach me anything about the conflict with the Palestinians’. — Shimon Shiffer — While the United States …
Discussion:
Online NewsHour, ABC News, New York Times, NBCNews, The Right Scoop, CBS DC, Jammie Wearing Fools, National Review and The Dish
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Maayan Lubell / Reuters:
Israel defense minister says Kerry messianic, obsessive: paper
Israel defense minister says Kerry messianic, obsessive: paper
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Burgess Everett / Politico:
Senate blocks jobless aid — The Senate blocked two separate proposals to revive emergency unemployment benefits that expired in December, all but killing the prospects of reviving jobless aid for now. — The chamber voted 52-48 to reject a bill that would have extended benefits through November …
Discussion:
The Hill, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos
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Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
Blumenthal: No vote needed yet on Iran sanctions bill
Blumenthal: No vote needed yet on Iran sanctions bill
Discussion:
The Plum Line, CNN, Politico and ThinkProgress
The Raw Story:
White House supports Senator Rand Paul's bill to officially end U.S. Iraq war authority — Senator Rand Paul will introduce legislation Tuesday to finally bring Washington's Iraq war authorization to an end, his office said, and the White House backs the Republican's efforts in principle.
Discussion:
Mediaite and Balloon Juice
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Peter Hamby / CNN:
Hillary's Iowa problem — From a distance, she appears invincible once again, far outpacing her rivals in the polls and primed to redeem herself in the caucus state that has never been especially friendly to the Clintons, or to female candidates. — Iowa has not elected a female governor, senator or member of Congress.
Discussion:
TIME, Taylor Marsh, Washington Monthly, Mediaite and Liberal Values
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J.K. Trotter / Gawker:
Howard Kurtz Lied About Business Ties To Fox News Contributor — Fox News anchor Howard Kurtz has repeatedly claimed, most famously during a live interrogation on CNN, that his relationship with Fox News contributor Lauren Ashburn amounted to a “limited venture” for which the MediaBuzz host …
Discussion:
Politico and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »
TMZ.com:
Justin Bieber — Lil Za ARRESTED for COCAINE During Egg Raid [VIDEO] — 2:55 PM PT — Police now believe it's probably NOT cocaine, but Molly ... a form of ecstasy. — Justin Bieber's BFF Lil Za has just been arrested for COCAINE POSSESSION at the singer's home — during the early morning raid stemming …
Discussion:
Gawker, Mediaite, LAist, New Jersey Online, ExtraTV.com, The Daily Caller and National Review
Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:
Watch: North Carolina GOP Senate Candidate Claims Food Stamps Are “Slavery” — North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Greg Brannon has an interesting argument for eliminating food stamps: “slavery.” In a videotaped interview with the North Carolina Tea Party in October, Brannon …
Kevin Liptak / CNN:
Obama to pay visit to Pope — (CNN) - President Barack Obama plans to soon meet with Pope Francis for the first time. — Secretary of State John Kerry said the President was “looking forward” to visiting the popular new leader of the Roman Catholic Church at the Vatican.
Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:
‘Wishful Thinking’: Limbaugh Wants Obama to Cheat on Michelle — Rush Limbaugh is tired of Chris Christie's “Bridgegate” debacle and wishes this country could have sexy political scandals like France. The radio host brought up the recent allegations that French President François Hollande …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, NBCNews and Hinterland Gazette
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Who's Getting Obamacare? These Four Charts Give Some Big Clues — The Obama Administration has released detailed information about enrollment in the Affordable Care Act—not just how many people are signing up for insurance, but also what kind of people and what plans they are choosing.
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Washington Monthly, Forbes, The Daily Caller, Bloomberg, The Week, The Dish, MetroTrends Blog, The Mahablog, The Plum Line and Politico
Terry Miller / Wall Street Journal:
America's Dwindling Economic Freedom — Regulation, taxes and debt knock the U.S. out of the world's top 10. — World economic freedom has reached record levels, according to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, released Tuesday by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.
Discussion:
Ed Driscoll and Rush Limbaugh