memeorandum: Iran advancing its nuclear program despite pact with West (Oren Dorell/USA Today)

1:30 PM ET, March 1, 2014

Top Items:

Kremlin Clears Way for Force in Ukraine; Separatist Split Feared — SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — As Russian armed forces effectively seized control of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula on Saturday, the Russian Parliament granted President Vladimir V. Putin the authority he sought to use military force …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Associated Press, RedState, The Week, Althouse, kyivpost.com, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Yahoo! News and New York Times

Laura Smith-Spark / CNN:

Russian upper house approves use of force in Ukraine — Troops stand guard in Balaklava, Crimea, on Saturday, March 1. Ukraine suspects Russia of sending new troops into Crimea and provoking separatist tensions in the region. Crimea is an autonomous republic of Ukraine with an ethnic Russian majority.

Discussion: Daily Mail, Taylor Marsh, Gawker, The Monkey Cage, Hot Air, Mashable, Mediaite and National Review

Matthew Kaminski / Wall Street Journal:

Mikheil Saakashvili: Lessons From the Putin Wars — Georgia's former president, who has seen first-hand the sort of trouble the Kremlin is causing in Ukraine, on what to do about Moscow's threat. — Kiev — Between barricades of tires and impromptu memorials to the victims of Ukraine's revolution …

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Reuters:

Russia wresting control of Crimea from Ukraine — (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin wrested control of the Ukrainian Black Sea region of Crimea from Kiev on Saturday citing a threat to Russian citizens and servicemen of the Russian Black Sea fleet based there.

BBC:

Russian parliament approves troop deployment in Ukraine — The BBC's Daniel Sandford says “what appear to be Russian troops” are standing guard at local government offices in Simferopol — Russia's upper house of parliament has approved President Putin's request for Russian forces to be used in Ukraine.

Discussion: Liberaland and National Review

Washington Post:

Condemnation isn't enough for Russian actions in Crimea — PRESIDENT OBAMA made an unscheduled appearance before the press at the White House Friday to warn Russia against a military intervention in Ukraine, which he said would be a “clear violation” of Russia's commitments …

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler, Associated Press and Right Wing News

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Russia Invades Ukraine, Obama Declares Happy Hour

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Zero Hedge

Josh Rogin / The Daily Beast:
Exclusive: Russian ‘Blackwater’ Takes Over Ukraine Airport

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Gizmodo, New Jersey Online, Guardian, Hot Air, Ed Driscoll, Gawker and The Dish

Guardian:
Russian ‘invasion’ of Crimea fuels fear of Ukraine conflict

Discussion: BBC and kyivpost.com

Associated Press:
OBAMA COULD PULL RUSSIA TRIP AMID UKRAINE TUMULT

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, AMERICAN DIGEST and The Gateway Pundit

Jay Newton-Small / TIME:
Senator John McCain: “We Are All Ukrainians”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Balloon Juice and New York Times

Tony Lee / BREITBART.COM:

PALIN MOCKED IN 2008 FOR WARNING PUTIN MAY INVADE UKRAINE IF OBAMA ELECTED — During the 2008 presidential campaign, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin warned that if Senator Barack Obama were elected president, his “indecision” and “moral equivalence” may encourage Russia's Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.

Discussion: Vox Popoli

CNN:

Palin on Ukraine: I told you so — (CNN) - Sarah Palin may be having a bragging rights moment. — In 2008, when she was the GOP vice presidential nominee, Palin questioned in a speech whether then-Sen. Barack Obama would have the foreign policy credentials to handle a scenario …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Lonely Conservative, The Other McCain, Politico, Mediaite and Balloon Juice

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Heckler: Obama wants ‘nuclear war with Russia’

Discussion: Liberaland

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
Close — President Barack Obama on Friday issued a blunt …

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and Daily Kos

Michael Martinez / CNN:
Political tension grows in Ukraine's Crimea region

Discussion: Independent Journal Review, Post Politics, kyivpost.com, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Mashable

Oren Dorell / USA Today:

Iran advancing its nuclear program despite pact with West — Iran's economy has begun to recover, but experts disagree on whether that will help lead to a comprehensive deal or not. — Iran is moving ahead with a nuclear program that U.S. officials said would be frozen …

Discussion: Algemeiner.com, Independent Journal Review and The Gateway Pundit

Nikita Stewart / New York Times:

De Blasio Picks More Liberal Activists Than Managers for City Posts — In Bill de Blasio's City Hall, it seems more and more, there is only a left wing. — The mayor, who advanced in politics by grass-roots organizing, has built a team filled with former activists …

Discussion: Right Wing News

Alec Torres / National Review:

Krauthammer's Take: Obama Tells the World We Aren't Going to Do Anything About Invasion of Ukraine — As reports are coming in that Russia has placed 2,000 troops in Crimea, within the borders of Ukraine, President Obama said that “the United States will stand with the international community …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, NewsBusters and Independent Journal Review

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Arizona Sort of Helps Out — It's been quite a week in Arizona. First, the Legislature passed a bill that, in effect, gave businesses the right to discriminate against gay couples. The state's actual business community was horrified. Everybody from Mitt Romney to Newt Gingrich was ticked off.

Discussion: Althouse

David Nather / Politico:

How the Clinton White House bungled health care reform — Bill and Hillary Clinton understood individual members of Congress just fine. They just didn't get Congress. — That's the picture that emerges from the documents released by the Clinton presidential library Friday on their efforts to pass health care reform in the 1990s.