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 …
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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 …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Booman Tribune
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
RNC tightens 2016 primary calendar, rules
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and CNN
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
James Hohmann / Politico:
Reince Priebus calls on GOP to improve ‘tone’
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
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Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
White House to launch new political office
White House to launch new political office
Discussion:
CNN and Weasel Zippers
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, Liberaland and Hinterland Gazette
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
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ThinkProgress:
How Obamacare Critics Are Scaring The Poor Out Of Signing Up For Health Insurance — Critics of the Affordable Care Act are seizing on a decades-old provision in Medicaid law to scare lower-income Americans from signing up for health care insurance, warning newly eligible enrollees …
Discussion:
Liberaland, Fox News and Washington Post
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.
Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Supreme Court Exempts Religious Nonprofits From Contraception Mandate Paperwork During Appeal — A long-awaited order from the court for several groups seeking to stop the provision from going into effect. — Jonathan Ernst / Reuters — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court extended an injunction …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Post, SCOTUSblog, The Democratic Daily and Election Law Blog
RELATED:
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
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
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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
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:
New York Times, ThinkProgress, The Raw Story and NPR
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
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:
BillMoyers.com, Talking Points Memo, The Local, National Review, Washington Free Beacon, Gawker and Taegan Goddard's …
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
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
Naomi Schaefer Riley / New York Post:
Wendy Davis has no future in politics — Want to know why Wendy Davis will have trouble winning higher office in Texas or anywhere else in America? It's not because she stretched the truth in her “from mobile-home-living single mom to Harvard Law grad” campaign biography …
James Hohmann / Politico:
RNC slams ‘unconstitutional’ NSA spying — The Republican National Committee passed a resolution Friday renouncing “unconstitutional” National Security Agency surveillance programs. — The resolution, affirmed by a voice vote at the GOP's winter meeting, was a remarkable move …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs and The Daily Banter
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
Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Dem Congressional Candidate ‘Likes’ Graphic With N-Word and ‘Ching Chong’ on Facebook — Erin Bilbray, a Democratic congressional candidate in Nevada, uses Facebook to connect with friends and supporters alike. She also uses it to express support for musicians (Amy Winehouse, Dave Matthews) and, well, other not-so-wholesome things.
Discussion:
Independent Journal Review
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:
Washington Monthly, The Federalist, Reuters, TheBlaze.com and VodkaPundit
Georgia Graham / Telegraph:
Hand guns should be legalised and licensed, Nigel Farage has said — The Ukip leader says the ban on the guns, which were made illegal in the wake of the Dunblaine shooting, was a “kneejerk” reaction and should be lifted — The Ukip leader has said it is party policy for hand guns …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Girls Just Wanna Have Guns and National Review
Sarah Mimms / NationalJournal.com:
Martin O'Malley Has a Ron Burgundy Moment, Reads ‘Conclusion’ Off Teleprompter — Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley had a Ron Burgundy moment during his State of the State speech Thursday afternoon, accidentally reading the subhead “conclusion” off of the teleprompter toward the end of his speech.
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Gawker, The PJ Tatler and Washington Free Beacon