memeorandum: Obama, Biden stick to vacation schedules despite Ukraine crisis (Fox News)

7:55 AM ET, March 8, 2014

Top Items:

CPAC Panelist: It Is ‘A Liberal Lie’ That States Ban Gay Marriage — Conservative radio host Michael Medved said Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference that no state has ever banned gay marriage and any claim to the contrary is “a liberal lie.”

Discussion: Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, The Raw Story and Daily Kos

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:
Gay rights activists oppose Va. Democrats' party leadership pick

Discussion: LGBT Democrats of Virginia, ThinkProgress and NewsBusters

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:

Paul electrifies conservative base — A presidential-sounding Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wowed the the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday afternoon, proving he still captures the imagination of the party's libertarian-leaning wing. — Speaking to a standing room-only crowd …

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Rand Paul: A president should love liberty — NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Sen. Rand Paul urged the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday to “imagine a time when the White House is once again occupied by a friend of liberty” — and signaled that he might fit that bill — in an unabashedly libertarian speech.

Discussion: CNN

Susie Madrak / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Last Word From Bartcop — Bartcop, who was one of the original (and best) liberal bloggers, died today. — This is the end of an era. Bartcop, one of the original liberal bloggers, died this morning of flu, pneumonia and leukemia. He inspired many of us, and left a legacy of hard hitting yet …

Discussion: The BRAD BLOG, Liberaland and Balloon Juice

Tim Murphy / Mother Jones:

Ralph Reed Compares Barack Obama to George Wallace — US News & World ReportLibrary of Congress — Top social-conservative strategist Ralph Reed compared President Barack Obama to segregationist Alabama governor George Wallace on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Discussion: Hinterland Gazette, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo and The Huffington Post

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

The Republican Party's Pot Dilemma — NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—Christopher Beach was trying to defend keeping marijuana illegal to a roomful of conservatives, and it was not going well. — When Beach insisted the drug war has not been a complete failure, laughter rippled through the crowd.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Washington Monthly and CNN

Glenn Kessler / The Fact Checker:

A story too good to check: Paul Ryan and the tale of the brown paper bag — “The left is making a big mistake here. What they're offering people is a full stomach and an empty soul. The American people want more than that. This reminds me of a story I heard from Eloise Anderson.

Discussion: Blue Virginia, U.S. News, Booman Tribune, Liberal Values, PoliticusUSA, The Fix, Mediaite, The Plum Line, Gawker, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, The Raw Story, The Moderate Voice, The Federalist and Prosperity PAC

Erica Martinson / Politico:

EPA debunks one Bridgegate conspiracy — The Environmental Protection Agency has cleared New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's administration of allegations that it suspiciously shut off an air pollution monitor during last fall's lane closings on the George Washington Bridge.

Discussion: Hot Air

NBC News:

Tea Party Still Winning GOP Debate - NBC News — Why the Tea Party is still winning... And why GOP incumbents are going to have to fight tooth and nail to hold on to their jobs... Attitudes about the health-car...

Idaho Statesman:

Otter's career in film, as it were, is a cautionary tale — A Western shot in Idaho in 1993 was rereleased with many sex scenes. — Did you hear the one about the guy who went to see a man about a horse and ended up in a soft-core porn movie? — It is not a joke.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Talking Points Memo

Fox News:

Obama, Biden stick to vacation schedules despite Ukraine crisis — The White House brushed off concerns Friday that, with the crisis in Crimea intensifying, now might not be the best time for President Obama — and his vice president — to go on vacation. — The travel schedules …

Discussion: BizPac Review and The Gateway Pundit

John Boehner / Wall Street Journal:

Counter Putin by Liberating U.S. Natural Gas — The de facto ban on exports should have been stopped long ago. Now world events demand it.

Discussion: Wonkblog, Guardian, The World's Greatest … and Fox News

Laura Barron-Lopez / The Hill:

Activists to Kerry: Keystone a ‘bigger mistake’ than Vietnam — Academy Award-winning actor Jared Leto and 13 other young activists, including the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, are calling on Secretary of State John Kerry to reject the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, National Review, Hot Air and Washington Post

Salon:

The religious right's 5 most demented persecution fantasies — Anti-Christian oppression takes many forms, apparently: Hipsters. Paperwork. Johnny Weir's wardrobe. — AMANDA MARCOTTE, ALTERNET — You could call it chutzpah, except they'd probably claim that word oppresses them …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo and Balloon Juice

Dan Merica / CNN:

Clinton ties ‘broader human development’ with women's reproductive rights — (CNN) - Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a Friday speech at the United Nations to tie women's reproductive rights with the broader goal of human development. — “There is one lesson from the past …

Discussion: Politico

Leon Wieseltier / The New Republic:

Ukrainian Lessons for an American President — There is the question of how to respond practically to Putin's aggression and there is the question of how to respond intellectually. The latter is no less important than the former, because the Ukrainian crisis is not a transient event …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air and The Dish