memeorandum: A Post-Mortem on the Florida Special Election (Sean Trende/Real Clear Politics)

7:35 PM ET, March 13, 2014

Top Items:

Ezra Klein's Queer New Hire — Brandon Ambrosino (Photo Courtesy of Media Matters) — On Tuesday, former Washington Post pundit (and Prospect alum) Ezra Klein sent a shock wave through the gay community by announcing he had hired gay anti-gay apologist Brandon Ambrosino to join him at Vox Media …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Equality Matters, Booman Tribune, The Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:

Hipster Homophobia: Ezra Klein's Vox hires Falwell-loving gay-bashing “gay” — Ezra Klein's new Web media venture, Vox.com, has just hired a controversial gay-bashing “gay” named Brandon Ambrosino to write for the new online publication. (Vox on Facebook, Vox on Twitter.)

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Gawker and The Daily Caller

Mark Joseph Stern / Slate:

Vox's Unbelievably Terrible New Hire — On Wednesday, Ezra Klein's new media venture, Vox, announced that it had hired Brandon Ambrosino as a writing fellow, presumably to cover the LGBTQ beat. Vox likely thought that by hiring Ambrosino, the outlet would be introducing a brash, unconventional new voice to a broader audience.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Equality Matters

Ana Marie Cox / Guardian:

Paul Ryan's ‘inner city’ comment might mean he's racist, but he sure is classist — Does he think black people are lazy? He definitely thinks poor people are. And laws reinforce lawmakers with logic like that. — “We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, The Reality-Based Community, PolicyShop, Daily Kos, Firedoglake and The Daily Beast

ThinkProgress:
Ryan Defends Comments On Lazy ‘Inner City’ Men

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, PoliticusUSA, alicublog, The Raw Story, The Reaction, Liberaland and Hullabaloo

Lauren Victoria Burke / Crew of 42:
Paul Ryan: Inner City Comments Had “Nothing to Do Whatsoever With Race”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and Roll Call

Jamelle Bouie / The Daily Beast:
What Paul Ryan Gets Wrong About ‘Inner-City’ Poverty

Discussion: National Review and ThinkProgress

McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:
Paul Ryan Says His Controversial Comments About Inner-City Poor Were “Inarticulate”

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, The Moderate Voice, The Week, Booman Tribune and Crew of 42

ThinkProgress:
Paul Ryan Backpedals, But Doesn't Apologize, For Comments About Lazy ‘Inner City’ Men

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Liberaland and Congresswoman Barbara Lee

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Despite vows of help, White House withholds thousands of documents from Senate CIA probe — WASHINGTON — The White House has been withholding for five years more than 9,000 top-secret documents sought by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence for its investigation into the now-defunct CIA detention …

Discussion: The Intercept, The Hill, Guardian, susiemadrak.com, Hit & Run, The Dish, The Raw Story, his vorpal sword, The Week, Hot Air and Reuters

Deirdre Walsh / CNN:

Boehner invites Pope to address Congress — (CNN) - House Speaker John Boehner marked Pope Francis' first anniversary Thursday by extending an open invitation to him to address a joint meeting of Congress. — Boehner, who is Catholic, noted in a statement that the Argentinian was the first Pope “to hail from the Americas.”

Discussion: Politico and Weekly Standard

Deirdre Walsh / CNN:
Pelosi: Alleged CIA spying on Senate committee ‘appalling’

Discussion: Politico

ThinkProgress:
What's Driving The Fight Between The CIA And The Senate?

Discussion: thenation.com/blogs/163255, The Week, Liberaland, Guardian and The Intercept

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

Karl Rove: GOP, Beware of Tuesday's Victory — David Jolly's Florida win shows that opposition to ObamaCare alone won't be enough in November.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, Betsy's Page and The Huffington Post

Brent Budowsky / The Hill: Obama endangers Dems

Sean Trende / Real Clear Politics:
A Post-Mortem on the Florida Special Election

Discussion: VodkaPundit, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and PoliticusUSA

Lizette Alvarez / New York Times:
Health Law Tied to G.O.P. Victory in Florida Race

Discussion: Forbes, The Fix, Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Booman Tribune, Althouse, Washington Monthly, The Heritage Foundation and The Hill

Benjamin Goad / The Hill:

Business groups stunned as Obama gives millions overtime — Business groups and congressional Republicans are blasting regulations President Obama will announce Thursday that could extend overtime pay to as many as 10 million workers who are now ineligible for it.

Discussion: Politico, CNN, Questions and Observations, neo-neocon, Hot Air, Shakesville and The PJ Tatler

Andy Pasztor / Wall Street Journal:

Missing Airplane Flew On for Hours — Engine Data Suggest Malaysia Flight Was Airborne Long After Radar Disappearance, U.S. Investigators Say — U.S. investigators suspect that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 stayed in the air for about four hours past the time it reached its last confirmed location …

CNN:
Officials: Malaysian plane may have flown long after last contact

Discussion: Guardian, ABC News, The Verge, Hot Air, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Towleroad News #gay and Gawker

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Morning Plum: Why Dems are tying Republicans to the Koch brothers — The Dem strategy of tying Republican Senate candidates to the Koch brothers continues to be portrayed simplistically, as little more than an effort to tar Republicans with the image of distant and menacing plutocrats.

Discussion: RedState, No More Mister Nice Blog, BillMoyers.com and Daily Kos

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Plots New Round Of Hostage-Taking To Stop Obamacare

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Lachlan Markay / Washington Free Beacon:
Mary Landrieu's Koch Problem

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org and The PJ Tatler

New York Times:

Russia Massing Military Forces Near Border With Ukraine — MOSCOW — Russia's Defense Ministry announced new military operations in several regions near the Ukrainian border on Thursday, even as Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany warned the Kremlin to abandon the politics of the 19th …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, JustOneMinute, Weekly Standard, Hit & Run, Guardian, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler, Reuters, VodkaPundit, Real Clear Politics and New York Magazine

Austin American-Statesman:

2 dead after car crashes into SXSW crowd — According to Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo, at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday, an APD officer who is part of a DWI task force attempted to stop a driver of a gray Toyota sedan at a Shell gas station on the Interstate 35 frontage road.

Discussion: KWTX-TV, Associated Press, Rolling Stone, The Moderate Voice, The Week, Deadline.com and Poynter

Bloomberg:

Americans Stick With Obamacare as Opposition Burns Bright — President Barack Obama's health-care law is becoming more entrenched, with 64 percent of Americans now supporting it outright or backing small changes. — Even so, the fervor of the opposition shows no sign of abating …

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Dish, Business Insider, Liberaland and Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire

Alec Macgillis / The New Republic:
Obamacare Is Hurting Democratic Candidates Because Republicans Are Hurting Obamacare

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, National Review, Los Angeles Times, Democratic Strategist, The Week Magazine and The Plum Line

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

Ron Paul: Putin Has ‘Law on His Side’ with Crimean Invasion — Former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) appeared on the Fox Business Network's The Independents on Wednesday night where he was asked for his thoughts about the worsening situation in Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Liberaland and Hit & Run

Jeff Goodell / Rolling Stone:

Bill Gates: The Rolling Stone Interview — The richest man in the world explains how to save the planet — At 58, Bill Gates is not only the richest man in the world, with a fortune that now exceeds $76 billion, but he may also be the most optimistic. In his view, the world …

Discussion: Politico, Little Green Footballs and The Daily Caller

Andrew Johnson / National Review:

Chris Matthews: ‘The Senate Goes’ — Chris Matthews is already bracing for a disappointing November for Democrats, and he sees little that can be done to change that outcome. — “It's going to be very hard to hold the Senate — I think the Senate goes,” he said on Morning Joe on Thursday.

Discussion: NewsBusters and Hot Air

Quinnipiac News + Events:

Release Detail — March 13, 2014 - Clinton Up As Obama, Christie Crash In Iowa, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Democrat Braley Leads In U.S. Senate Race — In an early look at the 2016 presidential race in Iowa, Secretary Clinton leads Gov. Christie 48 - 35 percent, reversing a 45 …