memeorandum: Michelle Obama Maintains Positive Image (Alyssa Brown/Gallup)

10:30 AM ET, March 4, 2014

Top Items:

Jason Karaian / Quartz:

The markets are punishing Russia more swiftly than diplomats ever could — Strongly worded statements, threats of travel restrictions, and summit no-shows. So far, these are the relatively mild diplomatic implications for Russia of its incursion into Ukraine, as few in the West can stomach …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Bloomberg View, Mediaite, New York Times, Right Wing Watch and peacefare.net

Katherine Miller / BuzzFeed:

14 Insane Moments From RT's Coverage Of The Russian Invasion Of Ukraine — We watched so you didn't have to. — On Saturday, Russian forces effectively seized the Ukrainian region of Crimea. Formerly known as Russia Today, RT is a Kremlin-funded television network.

Discussion: The Intercept, The Huffington Post, TheBlaze.com and RedState

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

Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:

Stephens: Anatomy of a Feckless Presidency — Gone are the days when the American president was capable of articulating the American interest. — V ladimir Putin seized Ukraine's Crimean peninsula on Thursday, and Barack Obama delivered a short statement about it on Friday.

Discussion: Firedoglake

CNN:

Putin: Russia has no plans to annex Ukraine's Crimea region — Crisis in Ukraine — Simferopol, Ukraine (CNN) — Russia is not considering trying to make Crimea a part of Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday. Only people who live in Crimea can determine their future, he said.

Discussion: New York Times, Taylor Marsh, Mashable and Hot Air

John Judis / The New Republic:
“We Are Speaking Very Loudly. We Are Carrying a Small Stick.”

Discussion: The Agonist, Politico, The Federalist, Hot Air, National Review and National Journal

Zbigniew Brzezinski / Washington Post:
What is to be done? Putin's aggression in Ukraine needs a response

Discussion: National Review

Peter Beinart / The Atlantic Online:
No, American Weakness Didn't Encourage Putin to Invade Ukraine

Discussion: The Dish

Michael Cohen / Guardian:
Don't listen to Obama's Ukraine critics: he's not ‘losing’ - and it's not his fight

Discussion: Washington Post, The Reaction, Michael J. Totten's blog, CANNONFIRE, caintv.com, Liberal Values, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, The Monkey Cage, Bloomberg View, Financial Times, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Crooks and Liars, The Hill, The Dish, Hullabaloo, Business Insider and The Lonely Conservative

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
GOP Congressman Thinks Putin Is Being “Demonized” In The U.S.

Discussion: Althouse

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

Discussion: Right Turn

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:

New ObamaCare delay to help midterm Dems — The Obama administration is set to announce another major delay in implementing the Affordable Care Act, easing election pressure on Democrats. — As early as this week, according to two sources, the White House will announce a new directive allowing insurers …

Discussion: Hit & Run, RedState, The PJ Tatler, National Review, Hot Air, The Week, The Lonely Conservative, Prairie Weather, Fox News and Jammie Wearing Fools

Brian Beutler / Salon: GOP finally goes too far on Obamacare: Why the 50th repeal vote is not the charm

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:

Palin Blasts Obama's ‘Weak Leadership’ on Russia: ‘Wears Mom Jeans and Equivocates’ — Sarah Palin sat down with Sean Hannity Monday night for a victory lap of sorts, touting her 2008 comments about Russia capitalizing on a weak Barack Obama presidency to amass power.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Liberaland, Hinterland Gazette and Scared Monkeys

Natalie Villacorta / Politico:

Sarah Palin: Barack Obama known for ‘mom jeans’ — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a man known for wrestling bears while President Barack Obama is known for wearing mom jeans. — “People are looking at Putin as one who wrestles bears and drills for oil …

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Obama, the feckless tyrant — President Obama is such a weak strongman. What's more, he is a feeble dictator and a timid tyrant. — That, at any rate, is Republicans' critique of him. With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Obama's critics pivoted seamlessly from complaining about his overreach …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Prairie Weather

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

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Real Clear Politics, The Week, Guardian, The Daily Caller, CNN, Associated Press, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Ezekiel J. Emanuel / The New Republic:

Insurance Companies as We Know Them Are About to Die — And here's what's going to replace them — Americans hate health insurance companies. They are easy targets for everyone to beat up on. When premiums go up, we blame insurance companies; we do not blame the underlying hospitals …

Discussion: CBS DC and The Gateway Pundit

Tim Devaney / The Hill:

Green group accuses GOP of ‘environmental racism’ — House Republicans are being accused of “environmental racism” by an environmental group that argues GOP efforts to reform decades-old chemical laws would disproportionately harm minority groups. — At issue is draft legislation backed …

Discussion: American Thinker

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:

Facebook In Talks To Acquire Drone Maker Titan Aerospace — Basis Goes To Intel For Around $100M — Facebook, one of the primary backers of the Internet.org initiative, which aims to bring affordable Internet access to the 5 billion people in the world who still lack connectivity …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Switch, Mashable, Gigaom and Guardian

Washington Post:

Poll: Democrats' advantage on key issues is not translating to a midterm-election edge — The American people trust Democrats more than Republicans on some of the key issues of the day, but that has not translated into any political advantage in the battle for control of the House and Senate …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, The Plum Line and CNN

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Misreading Putin, and history — One hundred years after a spark in Central Europe ignited a conflagration from which the world has not yet recovered and from which Europe will never recover, armed forces have crossed an international border in Central Europe, eliciting this analysis …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Bob Corker / Wall Street Journal:

Bob Corker: Now the Auto Union Wants to Muzzle Public Officials — The United Auto Workers demand a do-over for a vote the union lost—and want critics like me silenced. — Picture an election where an entity is given nearly unfettered access to voters for two years and then is allowed …