memeorandum: Mitch McConnell Brandishes Gun at CPAC (Abby D. Phillip/ABC News)

5:45 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: CNN, 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

New York Times:

U.S. Announces New Sanctions in Ukraine Crisis — ROME — The United States escalated its response to Russia's military and economic threats to Ukraine on Thursday, announcing it has imposed visa bans on officials and others deemed responsible for actions that have undermined Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Business Insider and Gawker

CNN:
Ukrainian leader rejects referendum on splitting Crimea

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Global Public Square

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

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

Seung Min Kim / Politico:
House passes Ukrainian aid package

Discussion: National Review and CNN

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: Washington Monthly, The Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, OnPolitics, The Daily Caller, Post Politics and PoliticusUSA

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

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, The Dish 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, Taylor Marsh, his vorpal sword, Daily Kos, US News, 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

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, New York Times, Liberaland, Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, The Raw Story, The New Republic and Business Insider

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.

Igor Bobic / Talking Points Memo: Christie To Harry Reid: ‘Stop Picking On Great Americans’ Charles And David Koch

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

Discussion: Power Line and BuzzFeed

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, PoliticusUSA, Politico, The Plum Line, Hot Air and National Review

Abby D. Phillip / ABC News:
Mitch McConnell Brandishes Gun at CPAC

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Red Alert Politics, News Desk, OnPolitics and Talking Points Memo

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

Politico:

Kirsten Gillibrand's sexual assault bill derailed — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand came up short Thursday in her yearlong campaign to overhaul military sexual assault policies, falling five votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster. — The New York Democrat's bill that would have removed …

Discussion: Daily Kos

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

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: Mediaite and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

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

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Paul Ryan: Free School Lunch Means Poor Parents Don't Care About Kids — Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) said Thursday that liberals don't understand disadvantaged students would rather have parents who care for them than a free lunch at school. — Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference …

Discussion: New York Times and Hinterland Gazette

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

Fernando Espuelas / The Hill:

National Council of La Raza abandons smart immigration strategy — You could almost hear a crack in the immigration-activist universe as Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), called President Obama the “deporter-in-chief.” — Murguia has been on the front lines fighting for immigration reform for years.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, ThinkProgress and USA Today

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 …

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

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: Washington Post, Daily Kos and The Mahablog

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Donald Trump Thinks Jimmy Carter Is Dead — Real estate mogul Donald Trump seems to think former President Jimmy Carter is dead. — Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, Trump referred to the former president as the “late, great Jimmy Carter:”

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement

Sean Trende / Sabato's Crystal Ball:

It's Time to Increase the Size of the House — “Our founders put the first amendment first for a reason. It protects all Americans' right to free speech, regardless of political affiliation or views.” This statement was made by former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) in 2007 …

Discussion: Bloomberg View and Betsy's Page