memeorandum: Jeremiah Denton, Vietnam War POW and U.S. senator, dies (Yahoo! News)

3:10 PM ET, March 28, 2014

Top Items:

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

People Want ‘The Colbert Report’ Canceled Over Asian Joke — Twitter users aimed to get the hashtag #CancelColbert trending on Thursday night after the official Twitter account for “The Colbert Report” posted a joke about Asian stereotypes out of context. — The now-deleted tweet read …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mashable and Twitchy

Brett Taylor / Twitchy:

Racist ‘joke’ has people calling for Comedy Central to #CancelColbert; Update: Tweet deleted … Is this supposed to be a joke? Stephen Colbert thought so. He was attempting to satirize Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder and his launch of the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation, but his joke didn't quite fly.

Discussion: American Spectator, Shot in the Dark and Independent Journal Review

Trey Barrineau / USA Today:

‘Colbert Report’ tweet stirs up anger — A satirical tweet aimed at Asians, now deleted, leaves many people angered and confused. — UPDATE: On Twitter early Friday, Stephen Colbert writes that the offending tweet sent from his Comedy Central show's verified Twitter account was not written by him.

Discussion: Mediaite, NewsBusters, Fox News Insider, The Daily Caller, Liberaland, Deadline.com, The Raw Story and Guardian

detroitnews.com:

U.S. Rep. Rogers will not seek re-election, heading to radio — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (Jacquelyn Martin / AP) — U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, the 50-year-old chairman of the House Intelligence Committee who has represented Michigan in Congress since 2001 …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and Capitol Report

Abby Livingston / Roll Call:
Mike Rogers of Michigan to Retire (Updated)

Discussion: The Rothenberg Political …, FishbowlDC and The Huffington Post

Associated Press:
Rep. Mike Rogers not running for re-election

Discussion: Politico, Riehl World News and Outside the Beltway

Amanda Cochran / CBS News:

President Obama reflects on his first meeting with Pope Francis — Shares - — President Obama, in an interview in Rome with “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Scott Pelley, said Russia must take steps now to reduce tensions over Ukraine. — “It's well known and well acknowledged …

Discussion: New York Post, The Heritage Foundation, RIA Novosti, The Lonely Conservative, American Spectator, Post Politics, WorldViews, Weasel Zippers, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, Hot Air and Business Insider

Siobhan Gorman / Wall Street Journal:
Russian Buildup Stokes Worries

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Anthony Weiner / Business Insider:

Here's What Tesla And The Other Silicon Valley ‘Disruptors’ Don't Get About Politics — You might be surprised to see me launch this column by defending a conservative like Gov. Chris Christie, but when it comes to his administration's beef with Tesla Motors, I think he might be getting a bad rap.

Discussion: The Fix, National Review, Hit & Run and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Madeleine Stix / CNN:

Teen to government: Change your typeface, save millions — (CNN) — An e. You can write it with one fluid swoop of a pen or one tap of the keyboard. The most commonly used letter in the English dictionary. Simple, right? — Now imagine it printed out millions of times on thousands of forms and documents.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hit & Run, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Outside the Beltway

Irin Carmon / msnbc.com:

Appeals court upholds law that closed Texas abortion clinics — The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that two provisions of a Texas abortion law are constitutional, including one that has closed a third of the state's clinics. The unanimous panel, made up of three women appointed …

Discussion: Guardian, NewsBusters, Reuters and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Greg Botelho / CNN:
Appeals court upholds challenged parts of Texas abortion law

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Daily Caller and ACS Blog

Sari Horwitz / Washington Post:
Obama administration to recognize same-sex marriages in Michigan

Discussion: Advocate and The Daily Caller

Roger Cohen / New York Times:

Obama's Anemic Speech in Europe — LONDON — Having pivoted to Asia and done the de rigueur minimum over several years to keep the trans-Atlantic alliance off life-support, Barack Obama awakened with a jolt to Europe this week and, on his first visit to Brussels as president, spoke of …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Mediaite and FOX News Radio

Washington Post:
How to deal with Russia without reigniting a full-fledged Cold War psychology

Discussion: Political Insider blog, Hot Air and Reuters

Eugene Volokh / Washington Post:

Prof. Michael McConnell (Stanford) on the Hobby Lobby arguments — I'm delighted to pass along this item from Prof. Michael McConnell at Stanford. In my view, Michael is probably tied for most influential and respected Religion Clauses scholar in the nation today, both on the Free Exercise Clause side …

Discussion: Power Line, Balkinization, SCOTUSblog and National Review

Eli Clifton / Salon:
Hobby Lobby's secret agenda: How it's quietly funding a vast right-wing movement

Discussion: susiemadrak.com and Forbes

New York Times:

A Whitewash for Gov. Christie — Lawyers hired by Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey at public expense issued their findings Thursday on the traffic jams at the George Washington Bridge in September, apparently engineered as a bizarre form of political revenge.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Other McCain, susiemadrak.com, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, Los Angeles Times and Business Insider

Shawn Johnson / wpr.org:

Mary Burke Says She Can't Self-Fund Campaign — Democratic Candidate For Governor Says She'll Rely Heavily On Traditional Fundraising — Democrat Mary Burke says she won't be able to self-fund her campaign for governor, saying she does not have that kind of wealth.

Discussion: Althouse

Emily Schultheis / Politico:
DGA hits GOP governors on heading to Vegas for Adelson meeting …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Evangelical leader shows how GOP can finesse gay marriage — GAY MARRIAGE REPUBLICAN PARTY RELIGION — In 2008, both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain supported defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. In 2012, only Republican Mitt Romney supported traditional marriage …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jeremy Wagstaff / Reuters:

Journalists, media under attack from hackers: Google researchers — (Reuters) - Twenty-one of the world's top-25 news organizations have been the target of likely state-sponsored hacking attacks, according to research by two Google security engineers. — While many internet users face …

Discussion: Guardian, The Verge and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

Deadline Near, Health Signups Show Disparity — WASHINGTON — The online insurance marketplace in Oregon is such a technological mess that residents have been signing up for health coverage by hand. In Texas, political opposition to President Obama's health law is so strong that some residents believe …

Discussion: Washington Examiner and The PJ Tatler

Associated Press:

POLL: OBAMA HEALTH LAW FAILS TO GAIN SUPPORT — You are here — Home » AP Party » Poll: Obama health law fails to gain support — WASHINGTON (AP) — Public support for President Barack Obama's health care law is languishing at its lowest level since passage …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Post Politics, Weasel Zippers, Taegan Goddard's …, Fox News and Associated Press

Timothy B. Wheeler / Baltimore Sun:

Maryland House zings ‘House of Cards’ over tax break threat — State ordered to seize TV series' property if it ceases filming — Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright in season 2 of Netflix's “House of Cards.” (Nathaniel E. Bell / September 6, 2013) — Responding to a threat that the …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Hot Air

Peter Hamby / CNN:

Democrats seize on equal pay as a midterm issue — Washington (CNN) — On March 9, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the state's Republican candidate for governor, appeared on a Dallas television station and was asked a straightforward question. — Would he veto, as Gov. Rick Perry did last year …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos and AEIdeas

Yahoo! News:

Jeremiah Denton, Vietnam War POW and U.S. senator, dies — By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jeremiah Denton, a former U.S. senator who was held as a prisoner of war by North Vietnam for seven years and revealed his treatment by blinking the word “torture” in Morse code in a TV interview …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway