memeorandum: Democrats convinced Darrell Issa can't hold Lois Lerner in contempt (Alicia Budich/CBS News)

10:20 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 Dish, Towleroad News #gay, Equality Matters, Gawker, The Daily Caller, The Huffington Post, Booman Tribune and Talking Points Memo

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

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: Politico, Washington Monthly and The Daily Caller

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: his vorpal sword, ThinkProgress, Little Green Footballs, Talking Points Memo, The Reality-Based Community, PolicyShop and Firedoglake

David Weigel / Slate:
Paul Ryan Accused of Racism for Suggesting That There's Endemic Poverty in Inner Cities

Discussion: The Reaction, Weekly Standard, The Federalist, The Huffington Post, PandoDaily, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, The Daily Beast and Liberaland

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

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

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Roll Call

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

Discussion: National Review

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

Deirdre Walsh / CNN:

Pelosi: Alleged CIA spying on Senate committee ‘appalling’ — Washington (CNN) - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday called recent allegations of CIA spying on the Senate Intelligence Committee “pretty appalling” and said the agency's response to the controversy has been “befuddling” so far.

Discussion: Politico

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
So how many have paid ACA premiums?

Discussion: CNN, Weekly Standard, The Federalist, Hit & Run, neo-neocon and Fox News

Deirdre Walsh / CNN:
Boehner invites Pope to address Congress

Discussion: Politico and Wall Street Journal

McClatchy Washington Bureau:
White House withholds thousands of documents from Senate CIA probe, despite vows of help

Discussion: thenation.com/blogs/163255, The Intercept, Real Clear Politics, Guardian, susiemadrak.com, ThinkProgress, The Hill, Hit & Run, The Dish, his vorpal sword, The Raw Story, Liberaland, Hot Air, Reuters and The Week

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

Lachlan Markay / Washington Free Beacon:

Mary Landrieu's Koch Problem — A Democratic Super PAC is attacking a Republican Senate candidate for his supposed ties to libertarian philanthropists Charles and David Koch even though their company's political arm has donated tens of thousands to the Democrat in the race.

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org and The PJ Tatler

Alicia Mundy / Wall Street Journal:
Sen. Landrieu Steps Up Pressure on Kerry to Clear Keystone XL Pipeline

Discussion: Hot Air

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: The Moderate Voice, Politico, Mediaite, Questions and Observations, CNN, neo-neocon, Hot Air, Shakesville 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: Business Insider, JustOneMinute, Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, The PJ Tatler, Weekly Standard, VodkaPundit, Reuters, New York Magazine and Real Clear Politics

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 …

Scott Wilson / Washington Post:
White House: Hunt for missing airliner may extend to Indian Ocean

Discussion: Close Read, Guardian, Erik Wemple, Hot Air, Associated Press and Mashable

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

Discussion: ABC News, The Gateway Pundit, CANNONFIRE, Guardian, The Verge, The Daily Caller, Towleroad News #gay and Gawker

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Jobless deal came down to wire — Senators struck a bipartisan deal on Thursday to revive expired long-term jobless benefits following months of dramatic stops-and-starts on the issue. — After an afternoon of frantic negotiations, five senators from each party announced a deal …

Discussion: Daily Kos

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

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Jeane MacIntosh / New York Post:

Former NJ gov's son found dead in Mexico of apparent suicide — The son of former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine killed himself in a Mexico City hotel, sources told The Post on Thursday. — Jeffrey Corzine, 31, was the youngest of Corzine's three children with ex-wife and childhood sweetheart Joanne Corzine.

Discussion: Liberaland and Business Insider

KXAN-TV:

Austin woman, man from the Netherlands killed in downtown crash at SXSW — AUSTIN (KXAN) - Rashad Charjuan Owens, 21, the driver in a deadly downtown wreck who police suspected of driving drunk, will be charged with two counts of capital murder and 23 counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle …

Discussion: New York Times, Towleroad News #gay, theGrio, The PJ Tatler and The Week

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: The Daily Caller, Politico and Little Green Footballs

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, Democratic Strategist, Los Angeles Times, The Week Magazine and The Heritage Foundation

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: The Fix, New York Times, The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, Betsy's Page, Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post, Washington Post and Washington Monthly

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

Discussion: VodkaPundit and The Hill

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 and Hit & Run

Susan Crabtree / Washington Examiner:

John Kerry: Russia has until Monday to reverse course in Ukraine — JOHN KERRY RUSSIA PENNAVE FOREIGN POLICY EUROPE UKRAINE EU CRIMEA — Secretary of State John Kerry warned of serious repercussions for Russia on Monday if last-ditch talks over the weekend to resolve the crisis in Ukraine failed …

Discussion: Guardian and watersblogged!

Clive Bates / The counterfactual:

Cease and desist: making false claims about the gateway effect — I am totally exasperated by nonsensical spin about the so-called gateway effect from pseudo-scientists, misguided officials, prohibitionists and propagandists. — Unable to take any more, I decided to write to Professor Stanton Glantz …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Salvador Rizzo / New Jersey Online:

Hecklers ejected after disrupting Christie town hall in Mount Laurel — MOUNT LAUREL — Angry protesters turned up at Gov. Chris Christie's town hall today, shouting criticisms about the governor's handling of the George Washington Bridge scandal and Hurricane Sandy relief funding.

Discussion: Liberaland, Mediaite, CNN, ABC News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Raw Story