memeorandum: U.S. Hopes Boom in Natural Gas Can Curb Putin (New York Times)

3:30 PM ET, March 6, 2014

Top Items:

Henry A. Kissinger / Washington Post:

How the Ukraine crisis ends — Henry A. Kissinger was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977. — Public discussion on Ukraine is all about confrontation. But do we know where we are going? In my life, I have seen four wars begun with great enthusiasm and public support …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TIME, Fox News, Capitol Report, Mediaite, Telegraph and Booman Tribune

Mark Mardell / BBC:

Ukraine crisis: Crimea parliament asks to join Russia — Regional First Deputy PM Rustam Temirgaliev tells the BBC's John Simpson: “Crimea now is Russia” — MPs in Crimea have asked Moscow to allow the southern Ukrainian region to become part of the Russian Federation.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Monkey Cage, RIA Novosti, Paper Chase and Guardian

US Department of State:
President Putin's Fiction: 10 False Claims about Ukraine

Discussion: Washington Post, RT, Post Politics, Fox News, The Belgravia Dispatch, Capitol Report, New York Times, The Times of Israel, Guardian, Bloomberg View and Telegraph

New York Times:
U.S. Announces New Sanctions in Ukraine Crisis

Discussion: Business Insider and Gawker

New York Times:
U.S. Hopes Boom in Natural Gas Can Curb Putin

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Energy, Security, and Climate, Wonkblog, Guardian, Washington Examiner, Financial Times, peacefare.net, Prairie Weather and Fox News

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

McCain Least Popular Senator in Country —PPP's newest Arizona poll finds that John McCain is unpopular with Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike and has now become the least popular Senator in the country. Only 30% of Arizonans approve of the job McCain is doing to 54% who disapprove.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and PoliticusUSA

Washington Post:

Poll finds Republicans resistant to Chris Christie presidential candidacy — As conservatives gather in the Washington area on Thursday for three days of speeches from prospective 2016 presidential candidates and discussions about the future of the GOP, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll found …

Discussion: The Fix, his vorpal sword, US News, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, Washington Times, The Week and The Reaction

Elianayjohnson / National Review:
Standing Ovation for Chris Christie from CPAC Crowd

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Liberaland, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Lonely Conservative and Rush Limbaugh

James Hohmann / Politico:
A viewer's guide to CPAC 2014

Discussion: CNN and The Moderate Voice

Igor Bobic / Talking Points Memo:

Christie To Harry Reid: ‘Stop Picking On Great Americans’ Charles And David Koch — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has a message for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV): leave Charles and David Koch alone! — Reid has escalated his tirade against the billionaire Koch brothers …

ABC News:

Dalai Lama Opens Senate Session With Prayer — By DONNA CASSATA Associated Press And on Thursday, the Dalai Lama prayed in the U.S. Senate. — With dozen of lawmakers listening raptly, the Nobel laureate from Tibet opened the session with his favorite prayer and words of advice.

Ashley Parker / New York Times:
New Democratic Strategy Goes After Koch Brothers

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Taegan Goddard's …, The Raw Story, 24Ahead and Washington Free Beacon

Jay Newton-Small / TIME:

TIME Newsmaker Interview: Bernie Sanders Says He'd Make a Better President Than Hillary Clinton … Q. There are billionaire Democrats, too. So why is it that the left doesn't have this sort of activist, angry Tea Party arm? It's a fair question, and I don't really know the answer.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Mediaite and Red Alert Politics

John Nichols / thenation.com/blogs/117:

Bernie Sanders: ‘I Am Prepared to Run for President of the United States’ — Bernie Sanders says he is “prepared to run for president of the United States.” That's not a formal announcement. A lot can change between now and 2016, and the populist senator from Vermont bristles at the whole notion of a permanent campaign.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Post Politics and The Raw Story

John Bresnahan / Politico:

Dems slam Darrell Issa in resolution — House Democrats offered a motion on Thursday slamming Rep. Darrell Issa for cutting off Democrats during a hearing on Wednesday, their latest political assault on the controversial California Republican. — Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Igor Bobic / Talking Points Memo:
Boehner: Issa Was ‘Within His Rights’ To Cut Off Democrat's Mic

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh and Little Green Footballs

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Darrell Issa silences Democrats and hits a new low

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Prairie Weather and Balloon Juice

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:

McConnell gets lukewarm CPAC reception — Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) received a lukewarm reception from conservatives gathered for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, despite delivering a speech full of conservative red meat. — The Senate minority leader's …

Discussion: Roll Call, ABC News, News Desk, The Plum Line, Hot Air, Politico and National Review

Politico: Harry Reid has no apologies

Karl Taro Greenfeld / Businessweek:

The Next Ailes: Newsmax's Chris Ruddy Preps TV Rival to Fox News — Christopher Ruddy, 49, the chief executive officer and founder of conservative media company Newsmax Media, is giving a tour of his neighborhood in an Acura driven by his chauffeur, Hector. The car heads south on I-95 from West Palm Beach to Boca Raton.

Discussion: Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo: Newsmax CEO Wants To Combat Fox News With Conservative Cable Channel

John Sides / The Monkey Cage:

Why most conservatives are secretly liberals — A couple months ago, a Gallup poll recorded a small uptick in the percentage of Americans who identify as “liberal” — to 23 percent, or what Gallup, eliding the margin of error in the poll, called a “new high.”

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Liberaland

Jack Dickey / TIME:

How Nate Silver Hires — Forget H.R. The ESPN stats star uses a graph to measure his future employees — Read about Nate Silver and his plans for FiveThirtyEight at ESPN in the March 17 issue of TIME. — Since joining ESPN in late July, Nate Silver has spent an estimated 90% …

Discussion: Politico, The Huffington Post and Mediaite

John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:

Former IRS Official Lerner Gave Interview to DOJ — A former Internal Revenue Service official who declined to answer questions at a congressional hearing, citing the Fifth Amendment, gave a full interview to the Justice Department, her lawyer said. — That's raising questions among Republican lawmakers …

Liz Wahl / RT:

RT reacts to anchor Liz Wahl quitting on air — During a live broadcast on Wednesday, RT America presenter Liz Wahl announced she was stepping down, citing her disagreements with the network's editorial policy. RT issued a statement following her resignation.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Week, TVNewser, The Huffington Post and The Daily Beast, more at Mediagazer »

James Kirchick / The Daily Beast:
Exclusive: RT Anchor Liz Wahl Explains Why She Quit

Randa Jarrar / Salon:

Why I can't stand white belly dancers — Whether they know it or not, white women who practice belly dance are engaging in appropriation — Google the term “belly dance” and the first images the search engine offers are of white women in flowing, diaphanous skirts, playing at brownness.

Discussion: Washington Post, Balloon Juice, Althouse and The Daily Banter

Adam Harrington / CBS New York:

Fury Erupts Over Racially-Charged Tweets After Westchester High School Basketball Game — MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Some high school students in Westchester County were under fire Wednesday evening, after their basketball team lost a close game. — As CBS 2's Don Champion reported …

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette

Stars & Stripes:

Army's top sex assault prosecutor suspended after assault allegation … WASHINGTON — The top Army prosecutor for sexual assault cases has been suspended after a lawyer who worked for him recently reported he'd groped her and tried to kiss her at a sexual-assault legal conference more than two years ago.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, The New Republic and Business Insider

Mario Trujillo / The Hill:

Hillary walks back Putin-Hitler comparison — Hillary Clinton on Wednesday pulled back from comparing Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine to those of Hitler. — She said comments made the night before at a private event were meant only to bring “a little historical perspective” …

Discussion: Guardian, The Daily Caller and The Dish