Top Items:
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Pressure Rising as Obama Works to Rein In Russia — WASHINGTON — As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, President Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, Bloomberg View, The Week, Telegraph, kyivpost.com and Balloon Juice
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Russell Berman / The Hill:
US moves to isolate Russia from ‘community of civilized nations’ — The Obama administration on Sunday worked to isolate Russia on the world stage even as its president, Vladimir Putin, showed no signs of rolling back his military intervention in Ukraine. — President Obama spoke by phone …
Discussion:
Politico, Hot Air, kyivpost.com, The Dish, The Week, The Moderate Voice and Scared Monkeys
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
Here's What Is Going To Happen With Ukraine — Following up on the previous post, if you do want to fret about Ukraine, I have just the thing for you. I'm going to tell you how this will all unfold: — Vladimir Putin will do something belligerent. (Already done.)
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
Ben Judah / Politico:
Why Russia No Longer Fears the West — The Kremlin sees its evidence in the former leaders of Britain, France and Germany. Tony Blair now advises the dictatorship in Kazakhstan on how to improve its image in the West. Nicholas Sarkozy was contemplating setting up a hedge fund with money from absolutist Qatar.
Discussion:
The Fix, New York Times, Gawker and Foreign Policy
The Hill:
Kerry: Putin now acting out of ‘weakness’ and ‘desperation’
Kerry: Putin now acting out of ‘weakness’ and ‘desperation’
Discussion:
Politico, National Review, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, ThinkProgress and Liberal Values
Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Putin's War — Obama had no good options to stop the invasion.
Putin's War — Obama had no good options to stop the invasion.
Discussion:
Bloomberg View, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Politico and Guardian
ThinkProgress:
Why The Crisis In Ukraine Isn't The Start Of Another Cold War
Why The Crisis In Ukraine Isn't The Start Of Another Cold War
Discussion:
The Federalist, The Monkey Cage, Washington Post, The Atlantic Online, The Dish, The Week, Slate and Talking Points Memo
Elizabeth Piper / Reuters:
Putin takes on West over Ukraine: who blinks first?
Putin takes on West over Ukraine: who blinks first?
Discussion:
Financial Times
Walter Russell Mead / The American Interest Podcast:
Putin Smashes Washington's Cocoon
Putin Smashes Washington's Cocoon
Discussion:
Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Other McCain, NO QUARTER USA NET and BuzzFeed
Jeffrey Goldberg / Bloomberg View:
Obama to Israel — Time Is Running Out — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House tomorrow, President Barack Obama will tell him that his country could face a bleak future — one of international isolation and demographic disaster — if he refuses to endorse …
Discussion:
Power Line, Commentary Magazine, Hot Air, The Times of Israel, Israpundit and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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Adiv Sterman / The Times of Israel:
Obama: US won't be able to defend Israel if peace talks fail — Ahead of meeting with Netanyahu, president says unprecedented ‘aggressive settlement construction’ detrimental to peace process — Israel can expect to face international isolation and possible sanctions from countries …
Discussion:
Betsy's Page and The Gateway Pundit
Dan Raviv / CBS News:
U.S. pushing Israel to stop assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists
U.S. pushing Israel to stop assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists
Discussion:
Jihad Watch, The PJ Tatler and Israel Matzav
Washington Post:
President Obama's foreign policy is based on fantasy — FOR FIVE YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. It was a world in which “the tide of war is receding” and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces.
Discussion:
Mediaite, American Thinker and Outside the Beltway
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Kevin Sieff / Washington Post:
Interview: Karzai says 12-year Afghanistan war has left him angry at U.S. government — KABUL — Hamid Karzai was in the midst of negotiating a security agreement with the United States when he met a 4-year-old girl who had lost half her face in an American airstrike.
Discussion:
Guardian and Booman Tribune
Will Dunham / Reuters:
Kerry condemns Russia's ‘incredible act of aggression’ in Ukraine
Kerry condemns Russia's ‘incredible act of aggression’ in Ukraine
Discussion:
Guardian, Washington Post and Daily Kos
Emily Stephenson / Reuters:
Hundreds of Keystone protesters arrested at White House … WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police arrested hundreds of young people protesting the Keystone XL project on Sunday, as demonstrators fastened themselves with plastic ties to the White House fences and called for U.S. President Barack Obama to reject the controversial oil pipeline.
Discussion:
Right Wing News, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Jammie Wearing Fools
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Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:
Jerry Brown Opposes Legal Pot Because ‘We Need To Stay Alert’ — California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said Sunday that he is not convinced legalizing marijuana is a good idea because the population needs to “stay alert.” — “The problem with anything, a certain amount is okay,” Brown said on NBC's Meet the Press.
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
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Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Gov. Brown Not Ready To Legalize Weed, Worried About ‘Potheads’ (VIDEO)
Gov. Brown Not Ready To Legalize Weed, Worried About ‘Potheads’ (VIDEO)
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:
Waiting for Jeb — The 2016 presidential election is Jeb Bush's now-or-never-moment. — As other potential GOP standard-bearers have been hit by scandal or seen their luster fade, many Republicans desperately want the former Florida governor to get in the race.
Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
Democrats Try Wooing Ones Who Got Away: White Men — ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Frank Houston knows something about the longtime estrangement of white men from the Democratic Party. His family roots are in nearby Macomb County, the symbolic home of working-class Reagan Democrats who …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Reid J. Epstein / Politico:
Lerner's attorney says she won't testify, Issa wrong — Rep. Darrell Issa doesn't know what he's talking about, the attorney for former IRS official Lois Lerner said Sunday. — Issa, the California Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee, told “Fox News Sunday” …
Discussion:
Fox News, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite and Hot Air
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David Hawkings / Hawkings Here:
5 Reasons This Supposedly Boring Budget Year Could Be Anything But — The 2013 budget release frenzy. (Douglas Graham/CQ Roll Call File Photo) — The budget President Barack Obama sends to Congress on Tuesday will be a month late and hundreds of billions of dollars short.
Steve Strunsky / New Jersey Online:
Port Authority officials: Battle over toll hikes was all for show — Current and former officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey say a scheme was devised to give the governors of both states political cover for a 2011 toll hike at bi-state bridges and tunnels. (John Munson/The Star-Ledger)