memeorandum: Obama's Vote-Getting Tactics Struggle to Find the Uninsured (Michael D. Shear/New York Times)

5:45 PM ET, February 19, 2014

Top Items:

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Scott Walker, eyeing 2016, faces fallout from probes as ex-aide's e-mails are released — MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who has been eyeing a 2016 presidential run since his battles with labor unions made him a Republican star, is in the midst of dealing with the fallout …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, FOX6Now.com, Post Politics, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Mediaite, BillMoyers.com, Althouse and The Reaction

Patrick Marley / JSOnline:

Unsealed email ties Scott Walker to secret email system — By Patrick Marley, Daniel Bice and Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel — Madison — Included in more than 27,000 emails unsealed Wednesday is one that for the first time directly ties Gov. Scott Walker to a secret email system used …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Politico and John Doe Walker

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:
Highly Racist Email Forward Found In Scott Walker Investigation Documents

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Seni Tienabeso / ABC News:

Juror in ‘Loud Music’ Trial Wanted Murder Conviction … A juror in the controversial Florida “loud music” trial says there was no chance from the start of a murder conviction in the shooting of an unarmed teen at a gas station because several jurors were convinced Michael Dunn acted in self-defense.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Guardian, ThinkProgress, Hinterland Gazette and DamianPenny.com

Roger Simon / Politico:

Who are the real thugs? — Let's play a game. It's called: “Who's the Thug?” — It's the day after Thanksgiving 2012, and four teenagers are sitting in a Dodge Durango outside a convenience store in Jacksonville, Fla. — The Durango is red, which is unimportant. The teenagers are black, which is important.

Kathy Lally / Washington Post:

Whip-wielding Russian Cossacks attack Pussy Riot members near Sochi Olympics — SOCHI, Russia — Members of the performance-art group Pussy Riot were attacked on a public plaza Wednesday by Cossacks brandishing whips and discharging pepper spray, a day after police picked them up and held them for nearly four hours without charges.

Discussion: Mediaite and Towleroad News #gay

Associated Press:
RUSSIAN SECURITY FORCES ATTACK PUSSY RIOT MEMBERS

Discussion: ThinkProgress, BuzzFeed, Mashable, The Other McCain and Booman Tribune

Margaret Talbot / New Yorker:

READING THE NUMBERS — Last week's report about the declining abortion rate in the United States was potentially good news for everyone, especially, one would think, for right-to-life groups. Most of them, though, weren't cheering. A statement from Americans United for Life called the report …

Discussion: Liberal Values and Booman Tribune

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly: Early-Term Abortions and the Anti-Choicers

Christopher Aluka Berry / Reuters:

VW workers may block southern U.S. deals if no unions: labor chief — (Reuters) - Volkswagen's top labor representative threatened on Wednesday to try to block further investments by the German carmaker in the southern United States if its workers there are not unionized.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, RedState and Washington Free Beacon

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

The Endless Third-Party Fantasy — Since third-party fantasies reemerge every time there is evidence Americans hold their elected officials in minimum high regard, Brendan Nyhan provides a public service with a compendium of “here comes a third party!” predictions dating back to 2005.

Discussion: Right Turn, Yahoo! News and Politico

Frank Newport / Gallup:

More Americans Now View Afghanistan War as a Mistake — Republicans most likely to say the war was not a mistake — PRINCETON, NJ — For the first time since the U.S. initially became involved in Afghanistan in 2001, Americans are as likely to say U.S. military involvement there was a mistake as to say it was not.

Discussion: American Prospect, Liberaland, Politico, Hot Air and Firedoglake

Peggy Noonan's Blog:

Our Decadent Elites — Watching Season 2 of “House of Cards.” Not to be a scold or humorless, but do Washington politicians understand how they make themselves look when they embrace the show and become part of its promotion by spouting its famous lines? Congressmen only work three days a week.

Discussion: The Raw Story, PJ Lifestyle, No More Mister Nice Blog, Fox News and Ed Driscoll

The City / thecitywire.com:

Poll: Cotton gains edge over Pryor, Ross and Hutchinson remain tied — A recent poll shows U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Dardanelle, gaining ground in his bid to unseat Democrat U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor. The poll results also show the Arkansas' governors race to be tied up, and U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Taegan Goddard's … and Washington Free Beacon

New York Times:

Ukraine Puts ‘Extremists’ on Notice After Deadly Clashes — KIEV, Ukraine — The security authorities in Ukraine offered the first indication on Wednesday that the deadly political violence afflicting Kiev had spread far beyond the city limits, announcing a crackdown on what the Interior Ministry called …

Discussion: BBC, CNN, Hit & Run, Mashable, The Daily Beast, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Lawfare, The Jawa Report, The Agonist and Mediaite

Bloomberg:

Ex-Con Ex-Governor Running for Congress — You're wrong if you think politics couldn't get saucier in Louisiana, where the ex-Democratic mayor of New Orleans was just convicted for bribery and the religious-right-supporting senator who got caught with hookers is a favorite to win the governorship …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Post Politics, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and Mediaite

Andrew Cohen / The Atlantic Online:

Another Chance for the Justices to Say No to Prosecutorial Misconduct — Virginia prosecutors hid exculpatory evidence and defied a federal judge in a death-penalty case. Will the Supreme Court let them get away with it? — Justice Sonia Sotomayor is one of only two* current members …

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:

Iowa Newspaper Drops Brent Bozell's Column, Nobody Complains — Nobody seemed to mind when an Iowa newspaper dropped Brent Bozell's syndicated column from its pages last weekend. — The Quad-City Times announced Saturday that it will no longer run the column after it was revealed …

Discussion: Quad City Times and The Raw Story

Tal Kopan / Politico:

George W. Bush: ‘I miss Air Force One’ — Former President George W. Bush said Wednesday that there isn't much he misses about being president, except for one big perk. — “A lot of people ask me, you know, do I miss much about being president,” Bush said. “The answer's really no. I mean I miss the people I served with.

Discussion: CNN and Talking Points Memo

Brian Maffly / Salt Lake Tribune:

Utah lawmaker: Our atmosphere needs more carbon dioxide — Air quality » Bill would exempt CO2 and other “natural” gases from regulation. — | The Salt Lake Tribune — Arguing that we need more carbon dioxide, not less, in the atmosphere, Rep. Jerry Anderson, R-Price …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Daily Kos and Politico

KFDM-TV:

Candidate For Orange County GOP Chairman Arrested On Assault Charge After Dispute At Polling Place — ORANGE COUNTY - A candidate for Orange County GOP Chairman was arrested Tuesday and released from jail on a $1,000 personal recognizance bond after he was charged with assaulting a man at an early voting location.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story and Mediaite

Peter Hamby / CNN:

Hillary Clinton surfaces as issue in Republican Senate race — Columbia, South Carolina (CNN) - Each one of Lindsey Graham's five underfunded Republican primary opponents have been struggling to gain traction in the race and emerge as the South Carolina senator's leading conservative opponent.

Discussion: Politico

Washington Post:

Homeland Security is seeking a national license plate tracking system — The Department of Homeland Security wants a private company to provide a national license-plate tracking system that would give the agency access to vast amounts of information from commercial and law enforcement tag readers …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hit & Run, Hot Air, The Week, Consumerist, Hullabaloo, Fox News, Shakesville and The PJ Tatler

Garrett Epps / The Atlantic Online:

Will the Roberts Court Follow Its Own Religious-Freedom Precedent? — The cases challenging the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate challenge the conservative majority on the Court: Will they respect precedent if it pushes them toward upholding the mandate, or brush by it in their eagerness to carve out a religious exception?

Discussion: Washington Monthly, SCOTUSblog and The Hugh Hewitt Show

Chicago Tribune:

The IRS targets political speech again — Discouraging debate and curbing information … The Internal Revenue Service is used to being universally disliked every April 15. But this year, the widespread denunciations have started early, and for good reason.

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show and CANNONFIRE

Craig Lucie / WSB-TV:

Attorney: Teen was shot for having Wii controller in hand — EUHARLEE, Ga. — The family of a 17-year-old shot and killed by a Euharlee police officer has hired an attorney, and they say he had a remote control in his hand. They say it was not a gun.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Raw Story and Mediaite

Michael S. Rosenwald / Washington Post:

‘We need the iPhone of guns’: Will smart guns transform the gun industry? — Video: Not long ago, smart guns — personalized weapons that only fired for authorized users — were seen only in the movies. Today, after millions of dollars and more than 10 years of research, there are finally smart guns for the public.

Discussion: Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Emily DePrang / The Texas Observer:

Dem Candidate for Harris County DA Says Domestic Violence is ‘Overrated’ — Lloyd Oliver can't convince me that Harris County should prosecute fewer domestic violence cases, and it is driving him nuts. — “Family violence is so, so overrated,” he says, sitting across from me at a Starbucks.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Huffington Post

NESTLÉ® USA:

Nestlé USA Announces Voluntary Recall of HOT POCKETS® brand Philly Steak and Cheese — Nestlé USA's Prepared Foods Division today announced the voluntary recall of HOT POCKETS® brand Philly Steak and Cheese in three different pack sizes and HOT POCKETS® brand Croissant …