memeorandum: South African Athlete Pleads Not Guilty to Murder Charge (Nicholas Kulish/New York Times)

12:55 AM ET, March 4, 2014

Top Items:

Michael Cohen / Guardian:

Don't listen to Obama's Ukraine critics: he's not ‘losing’ - and it's not his fight — The ‘do something’ pundits rear their heads. Just like they did on Iraq, Afghanistan and every other crisis of US ‘credibility’ — The armchair class is certain that Putin is winning and Obama is losing.

Discussion: Liberal Values, CANNONFIRE, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, The Monkey Cage, Financial Times, Bloomberg View, The Dish, Hullabaloo, Balloon Juice, Business Insider, Washington Post, Hot Air, American Thinker, The Lonely Conservative, Right Turn and The Fix

Simon Shuster / TIME:

4 Reasons Putin Is Already Losing in Ukraine — As Russia's Ukraine power play reaches boiling point in Crimea, there are clear signs a Russian invasion may be a disaster for its architect, President Vladimir Putin — Even a week ago, the idea of a Russian military intervention in Ukraine seemed farfetched if not totally alarmist.

Discussion: The Federalist, Forbes, The Daily Beast, Christian Science Monitor, News Desk, Washington Post, The Dish, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, kyivpost.com and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

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.

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

GOP Congressman Thinks Putin Is Being “Demonized” In The U.S. — California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said he doesn't support Russia taking military action in Ukraine, but “that doesn't mean Putin and pro-Russia forces in Ukraine are in the wrong.” — Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher …

Sky News:
Russia And China ‘In Agreement’ Over Ukraine

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Ricochet Conversations Feed and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

USA Today:
Putin's power grab gets lame response: Our view

Discussion: New York Times

Politico:
Harry Reid: Get Europe on board before punishing Russia

Discussion: Guardian, CNN, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Betsy's Page and The Hill

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
McConnell Vows a Senate in Working Order, if He Is Given Control

Discussion: Hot Air, Daily Kos and National Review

Louis Charbonneau / Reuters:
Russia: Yanukovich asks Putin for Russian military in Ukraine

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and kyivpost.com

Josh Rogin / The Daily Beast:
Inside Obama's Plans to Squeeze Russia

Discussion: The New Republic, Hot Air, National Review, Guardian, Forbes, Yahoo! News, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Jammie Wearing Fools and The Other McCain

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
Obama warns Russia of political, economic ‘isolation’

Discussion: Politico

Michael Hirsh / National Journal:
In Ukraine, Obama's Biggest Test

Discussion: Mediaite and Washington Post

Anatol Lieven / Zocalo Public Square:
Why Obama Shouldn't Fall for Putin's Ukrainian Folly

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Belgravia Dispatch, The Dish, Guardian and Outside the Beltway

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Candidate Stockman Threatens Jail To Anyone Who Publishes His Mugshot — Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) says he's been vindicated. — The Texas conservative's underdog Senate campaign on Monday published a defiant statement, claiming that Stockman has “grounds to file criminal complaints” …

Discussion: stockman2014.com and The Daily Banter

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 …

Elliott Abrams / Weekly Standard:
If He Believes It, It Must Be So — On the eve of the Netanyahu visit …

Discussion: Pressure Points, VodkaPundit, The Times of Israel, Right Turn, Business Insider and Power Line

John Podhoretz / Commentary Magazine:
The President's Prophetic Threats to Israel

Discussion: Ed Driscoll, Right Turn, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The PJ Tatler and The Times of Israel

Brian Beutler / Salon:

GOP finally goes too far on Obamacare: Why the 50th repeal vote is not the charm — This week you're likely to read stories and headlines suggesting that House Republicans will be voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act again, or are approaching their 50th Obamacare repeal vote or some variation thereof.

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Miranda Blue / Right Wing Watch:

Steve King: Being Gay Is ‘Self-Professed Behavior’ That Can't Be ‘Independently Verified’ — Rep. Steve King of Iowa joined Des Moines' WHO TV yesterday to discuss Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer's veto of a bill that would have strengthened the ability of businesses to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

Discussion: Mediaite, Gawker and Towleroad News #gay

WHOTV:
THE INSIDERS: Iowa Congressman Steve King

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress and The Raw Story

Karl Bode / Techdirt:

Keurig Will Use DRM In New Coffee Maker To Lock Out Refill Market — The single coffee cup craze has been rolling now for several years in both the United States and Canada, with Keurig, Tassimo, and Nespresso all battling it out to lock down the market. In order to protect their dominant market share …

Discussion: The Verge and KDVR.com

Baton Rouge news, sports and entertainment …:

Police: Dad encouraged encounter — The pastor of a Baton Rouge Baptist church was arrested Saturday on accusations he raped a 20-year-old mentally disabled woman who had sex with the pastor at her father's request, according to the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.

Discussion: Liberaland, Americans Against the … and The Raw Story

Paul Liberatore / Marin Independent Journal:

Lib at Large: Novato contractor supplies century-old log cabins for new Twitter headquarters — WHAT'S NEW IS old at Twitter's new San Francisco headquarters. — The high-tech firm has a new look for its old logo, a new office in an old building and, in a few weeks, new dining rooms in some very old log cabins.

Discussion: The Verge, Mashable, Gawker, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo and TechCrunch

Glenn Kessler / The Fact Checker:

Rep. Darrell Issa disputes his Four-Pinocchio ratings — CHRIS WALLACE: That brings up my final question for you, because you have come under fire both in the IRS and Benghazi and other investigations of your committee for political witch hunts. They point specifically to a speech you gave …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, PoliticusUSA, Liberaland and The Raw Story

Catherine Shoard / Guardian:

Oscars 2014: 10 things we learned — The 86th Academy Awards are over. Here's our top takeaways from the night, from Meryl's moves to Matthew's megalomania — It turns out Hollywood knows about selfies … Remember that president guy? Barack somethingorother?

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Fortune, Mashable, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Bangor Daily News, The Huffington Post, Gawker, TechCrunch, TheBlaze.com, Politico, The Verge, Gizmodo, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Banter and Wall Street Journal, more at Mediagazer »

CNN:

Pistorius neighbor: ‘Bloodcurdling screams’ the night of the killing — Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) — Talk of “bloodcurdling screams” and shots in the night took center stage Monday in the first day of testimony in the murder trial of South African amputee track star Oscar Pistorius …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Raw Story and Scared Monkeys

Nicholas Kulish / New York Times:
South African Athlete Pleads Not Guilty to Murder Charge

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Bloomberg View

Rebecca Leber / ThinkProgress:

Kentucky Churches Giving Away Guns To Help People Discover Jesus — The Kentucky Baptist Convention wants to “point people to Christ” by giving away guns at Second Amendment Celebrations hosted across the state. — In the words of spokesman Chuck McAlister the strategy is “outreach to rednecks …

Discussion: USA Today, No More Mister Nice Blog and Americans Against the …

Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:

Iran Executes Two for ‘Perversion’ — Iran executed two gay men on Sunday for the crime of “perversion” and has sentenced a third individual to death for “insulting the prophet,” according to human rights activists tracking the situation. — The head of Iran's judiciary department …

Discussion: Jihad Watch

RealClearPolitics Video Log:

Krauthammer: Obama Admin Calls Climate Change Greatest Threat, Shocked Russians Are Interested In Territory — CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: It wasn't the weakness of Europe that precipitated all of this. And it wasn't Obama's flinching on Syria. When Putin had to make a calculation whether to go into Ukraine …

Discussion: Hot Air