memeorandum: Ayotte: Russia reset has failed (Byron Tau/Politico)

2:30 PM ET, February 23, 2014

Top Items:

Doctor's X-ray postings unsettling — Wolf challenging Roberts for Senate

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, The Raw Story, Dr. Milton Wolf … and Hot Air

Doctor's X-ray postings unsettling — Note: Your phone must support HTML5 video or Flash to play videos. — OVERLAND PARK — U.S. Senate candidate Milton Wolf posted a collection of gruesome X-ray images of gunshot fatalities and medical injuries to his Facebook page and participated …

Discussion: Politico and Mediaite

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Christie Puts the Gloves On — PORT MONMOUTH, N.J. — THERE'S nothing more amusing than a bully forced to be on his best behavior. — Chris Christie may be cutting back on his butter, but it wouldn't melt in his mouth at a town hall here Thursday. — For the first time since …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog and ABC News

Associated Press:

Governors: Legalized Pot Buzz Just Smoke — All the buzz at the National Governors Association meeting over legalizing pot, some say, is just smoke. — Nearly three months after Colorado began selling recreational marijuana, the nation's governors are taking a cautious approach to loosening …

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Who's ruling out a 2016 bid? — (CNN) - On CNN's “State of the Union,” four governors were asked Sunday whether they want to rule out a presidential bid. — Republican Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana, considered a dark horse for the 2016 presidential race, didn't directly answer the question.

Discussion: Politico

Robert Costa / Post Politics:
Romney to fundraise with Christie in Boston

Discussion: Politico and Talking Points Memo

Kirsten Powers / The Daily Beast:

Conservative Christians Selectively Apply Biblical Teachings in the Same-Sex Marriage Debate — What conservative Christians miss in the religious liberties debate swirling around same-sex marriage. — Conservative Christian groups in Arizona cheered the passage Thursday of legislation …

Discussion: Liberal Values and The Moderate Voice

José Patiño Girona / TBO.com:

Bank manager, fired after carrying gun into work, files suit — TAMPA — Ivette Ros grew up in a house where her father kept guns. For her, it was a natural step to get a concealed weapons permit and then to carry a 9 mm handgun. — The 37-year-old Tampa resident is a single mother …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Raw Story and Fox News Insider

New York Times:

What the Stimulus Accomplished — Of all the myths and falsehoods that Republicans have spread about President Obama, the most pernicious and long-lasting is that the $832 billion stimulus package did not work. Since 2009, Republican lawmakers have inextricably linked the words “failed” …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos and PoliticusUSA

New York Times:

Archrival Is Freed as Ukraine Leader Flees — KIEV, Ukraine — Abandoned by his own guards and reviled across the Ukrainian capital but still determined to recover his shredded authority, President Viktor F. Yanukovych fled Kiev on Saturday to denounce what he called a violent coup …

Discussion: BBC, Wall Street Journal, CANNONFIRE, Israel Matzav, Taylor Marsh, kyivpost.com, The Caucus, The Verge, Business Insider, Reuters, Towleroad News #gay, rubber hose, Forbes, The Political Carnival, The Lede and UPROXX

Mark Mardell / BBC:
Ukraine crisis: President's Kiev offices abandoned

Discussion: The Other McCain, Grim's Hall, The Gateway Pundit and kyivpost.com

Timothy Snyder / New York Review of Books:
Fascism, Russia, and Ukraine

Discussion: Ed Driscoll, National Review and The PJ Tatler

Jason La Canfora / CBSSports.com Sports News …:

NFL to adopt 15-yard penalty for use of racial slur? — John Wooten, head of the Fritz Pollard Alliance that monitors diversity in the NFL, said he expects the league's competition committee to enact a rule at the owner's meeting next month making it an automatic 15-yard penalty if a player uses …

ESPN:
NFL to penalize use of racial slur

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette and Talking Points Memo

Byron Tau / Politico:

Rice: No regrets on Benghazi TV appearances — National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Sunday she has no regrets about her now-infamous round of TV interviews in 2012 about the the attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya. — Rice, appearing on “Meet the Press,” …

Discussion: CNN

Ashley Killough / CNN:

Bush says working with vets helps him cope — (CNN) - Asked whether President George W. Bush's work with veterans helps him cope with what happened in Afghanistan and Iraq - two wars that started during his presidency - the former President said there's “no question it helps.”

Discussion: Politico

Byron Tau / Politico:

Ayotte: Russia reset has failed — Sen. Kelly Ayotte says President Barack Obama has failed in his bid to reset U.S. relations with Russia. — “Their reset policy has failed,” the New Hampshire Republican said on “Fox News Sunday,” pointing to Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions …

Discussion: CNN