Top Items:
Paul Waldman / American Prospect:
Why Republicans Keep Calling Women Sluts — As you've heard, yesterday Mike Huckabee stepped up to the plate and smacked a stand-up double in the GOP's ongoing effort to alienate every woman in America, when he said, “If the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Hullabaloo, Booman Tribune, Feministing and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
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Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
Does the Republican Party Have to Change? — The members of the Republican National Committee gathered in Washington this week. On Thursday, Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and former presidential candidate, was the featured speaker. “The Democrats,” Huckabee declared …
Cameron Joseph / The Hill:
RNC moves toward 2016 changes despite conservative outrage — A Republican National Committee meeting to compress the 2016 primary schedule grew heated Thursday, as supporters of rule changes beat back repeated attempts by a handful of conservative activists to torpedo them.
Discussion:
Politico, The Impolitic and americanthinker.com
Fox News:
Huckabee rips critics of ‘libido’ comments — Jan. 23, 2014: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee sits down for lunch before speaking at the Republican National Committee winter meeting in Washington.AP — WASHINGTON - Mike Huckabee says he is mystified by the liberal criticism of his remarks on women …
Discussion:
Politico, The Fix, Mediaite, The Other McCain, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos
TIME:
Exclusive: Republican Party Calls For End To NSA Domestic Phone Records Program — In the latest indication of a growing libertarian wing of the GOP, the Republican National Committee passed a resolution Friday calling for an investigation into the “gross infringement” of Americans' rights …
Discussion:
CANNONFIRE, The PJ Tatler, Guardian, Hot Air, TechCrunch and Techdirt
Cameron Joseph / The Hill:
RNC tightens 2016 primary calendar, rules — A series of changes aimed at tightening the GOP presidential primary calendar sailed through a vote at the Republican National Committee's winter meeting, giving the party new tools to control its nomination process.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and CNN
James Hohmann / Politico:
Reince Priebus calls on GOP to improve ‘tone’
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Rebranding: Who Needs It? — The Mike Huckabee brouhaha …
Rebranding: Who Needs It? — The Mike Huckabee brouhaha …
Discussion:
Booman Tribune and Post Politics
Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Santorum: Huckabee Comment On Women's Libidos Was ‘Off The Cuff’
Santorum: Huckabee Comment On Women's Libidos Was ‘Off The Cuff’
Discussion:
The Week, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shakesville and Mediaite
Associated Press:
Court gives nuns a compromise on health care issue — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Friday offered a short-term compromise that would continue to exempt a group of Denver nuns that operates charity nursing homes from the birth control mandate of the nation's health care law if they declare their objections in writing.
Discussion:
NPR
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Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Supreme Court grants temporary reprieve from contraceptive mandate
Supreme Court grants temporary reprieve from contraceptive mandate
Discussion:
CNN and The Heritage Foundation
Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Supreme Court Exempts Religious Nonprofits From Contraception Mandate Paperwork During Appeal
Supreme Court Exempts Religious Nonprofits From Contraception Mandate Paperwork During Appeal
Discussion:
Washington Post, ThinkProgress, SCOTUSblog, The Democratic Daily and Election Law Blog
Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Justices Extend Order Blocking Contraception Mandate for Nuns
Justices Extend Order Blocking Contraception Mandate for Nuns
Discussion:
ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
Amy Chozick / New York Times:
Planet Hillary — Hillary Clinton was nodding solemnly to the mother of a 9/11 victim when Huma Abedin, standing across the room, called out, “Let's load!” to the staff members and bodyguards. The former secretary of state had yet to pick up her award from the Voices of September 11th …
Discussion:
Hollywood Reporter, News Desk, Althouse, Taylor Marsh, Fox News Insider, Right Wing Watch, Shakesville, ABC News, Capital New York and The 6th Floor
RELATED:
Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
White House to launch new political office
White House to launch new political office
Discussion:
CNN and Weasel Zippers
Diane Jennings / The Scoop Blog:
Judge orders JPS Hospital to withdraw life support for brain-dead pregnant woman — Erick Munoz declined to comment as he was escorted out of the courthouse following a judge's ruling. (Tom Fox/Staff Photographer) — Marlise Muñoz, with husband Erick and their son Mateo (Kathy Chruscielski)
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Raw Story and NPR
RELATED:
Manny Fernandez / New York Times:
Judge Orders Hospital to Remove Life Support From Pregnant Woman — FORT WORTH — A Texas judge ruled on Friday that a Fort Worth hospital must remove the life support of a pregnant, brain-dead woman, siding with the husband and family in a case that has drawn national attention.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and Althouse
Politico:
Ryan Loskarn believed to have committed suicide — Jesse Ryan Loskarn, a one-time star staffer who was the former top aide to Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, was found dead Thursday afternoon following charges he possessed and distributed child pornography, according to the sheriff's office in Carroll County, Maryland.
Discussion:
The Hill, The World's Greatest …, The Raw Story, Daily Dot, Hinterland Gazette and Liberaland
Marilyn Tavenner / HHS.gov:
Milestone: 3 Million in Marketplaces — Since the beginning of open enrollment, millions of Americans are gaining access to health coverage-many for the very first time—thanks to the Affordable Care Act. The most recent data indicates that approximately 3. million people have now enrolled …
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, ACASignups.net and Weasel Zippers
RELATED:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Glitch Is Causing Thousands Of Emails To Be Sent To One Man's Hotmail Account — David S. Peck is getting a lot of emails. In a glitch possibly related to the massive Gmail outage underway right now, there's an odd bug in Google search which is pointing users directly to his personal email address.
Neil King Jr / Washington Wire:
Bolton 2016? There May Be Opportunity for Hawk in GOP Debate — A strange thing happened Tuesday night at a Los Angeles dinner packed with well-heeled businesspeople and Republican donors. — A conservative, best known for his hawkish views on foreign policy, got a rousing ovation when he said he was …
Discussion:
Daily Kos and The Reaction
RELATED:
Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Just What the Political Doctor Ordered: John Bolton!
Just What the Political Doctor Ordered: John Bolton!
Discussion:
Washington Wire and Booman Tribune
Yahoo! News:
Watch what happens when Obama picks a top donor as ambassador — This is why a future president might finally do away with the practice of nominating a top political donor to be an ambassador. — Here's how the White House described wealthy executive George Tsunis when President Barack Obama nominated …
Discussion:
Liberaland, BillMoyers.com, Talking Points Memo, The Local, National Review, Washington Free Beacon, Gawker and Taegan Goddard's …
Alan Pyke / ThinkProgress:
Wall Street's Frightening New Plan To Become America's Landlord — Anyone who has ever struggled to get her landlord to fix a broken appliance can imagine how much worse it could have been if she were paying rent to a faceless hedge fund based thousands of miles away.
Discussion:
Congressman Mark Takano, Bloomberg and Eschaton
Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Romney Says Putin ‘Outperformed’ Obama On Foreign Policy — As Mitt Romney sees it, Russian President Vladimir Putin is way ahead of President Barack Obama when it comes to foreign policy. — “I think Putin has outperformed our president time and time again on the world stage,” …
Discussion:
Associated Press
CBS News:
Poll: Americans split on Obama approval — Shares - — Less than a week before President Obama gives his State of the Union address, the president's job approval rating is mixed: 46 percent approve, and about the same percentage, 47 percent, disapprove. Over the past year …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, The Plum Line and PoliticusUSA
Wall Street Journal:
Olympic Athletes Cautioned on Wearing Team USA Clothing Outside Venues — USOC Memo Warns Athletes Amid Security Concerns — The U.S. unveiled more of its Winter Olympic uniforms Thursday, but officials are cautioning athletes to keep theirs under wraps outside the games' venues.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and Atlas Shrugs
Burgess Everett / Politico:
No progress on UI in Senate — A proposal to extend expired jobless benefits that can garner 60 votes in the Senate continues to elude lawmakers involved in bipartisan negotiations. — After the week-long congressional recess and ahead of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
Fox News:
Growing Dem opposition could doom ObamaCare — Buzz Cut: — ObamaCare skidded to an all-time low in the latest Fox News poll, but in a switch, it's Democrats who are driving down the already unpopular law. In June, 22 percent of Democrats were opposed to ObamaCare …
Discussion:
The Federalist, Washington Monthly, Reuters, TheBlaze.com and VodkaPundit