memeorandum: CIA Knew Al Qaeda Involved in Benghazi from ‘Get-go’ (Thomas Joscelyn/Weekly Standard)

3:20 PM ET, April 3, 2014

Top Items:

How McCutcheon Could Come Back to Haunt the Republican Party — When my kids were younger, I loved to roughhouse with them. For a while, we'd all have fun. But then I'd get tired and want to stop, only to realize, to my dismay, that they were just getting started. I'd created something I could no longer control.

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

Jeffrey Toobin / News Desk:

The John Roberts Project — If you think that the Supreme Court's decision today in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission was bad, just wait: worse may be on the way. — The issue before the Court was fairly narrow, even a little obscure. Congress bars individuals from contributing …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and ABC News

Harry Enten / FiveThirtyEight:

A Few Data Points on the Supreme Court's Donor-Limit Decision — The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits. For 2014, the overall limit was $123,200. There was a lower limit of $74,600 for donations to PACs and party committees …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Fix, The Monkey Cage, OpenSecrets.org, SCOTUSblog, CNN, WRAL-TV, Business Insider and ABC News

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Surprise! The Rich Won One — Today, we are going to discuss the Supreme Court decision on political donations. Already, we have run into a terrible problem, which is the difficulty in having a fun conversation about campaign finance laws. — Let me try for a second: On Wednesday …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and The Reaction

Richard Hasen / SCOTUSblog:
Symposium: Does the Chief Justice not understand politics, or does he understand it all too well?

Discussion: Sunlight Foundation Blog, The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, News Desk, New York Times, Slate and Post Politics

Lawrence Lessig / The Daily Beast:
Originalists Making It Up Again: McCutcheon and ‘Corruption’

Discussion: The Dish, The Hill, Reuters, Concurring Opinions, BillMoyers.com, The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg, Hit & Run, New York Times, SCOTUSblog and USA Today

Jonathan Rauch / The Daily Beast:
The Answer to the McCutcheon Decision Is More Big Money in Politics

Discussion: Yahoo! News, New York Times, The Dish, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Hullabaloo, ACS Blog and OpEdNews

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
The chief either doesn't believe, or doesn't care, that money corrupts politics.

Discussion: Washington Post, Althouse, Center for American Progress, ThinkProgress and Unfogged

Washington Post:
Congress must stem the flow of campaign cash in wake of ‘McCutcheon’

Discussion: Bloomberg View

Bradley A. Smith / National Review:
Free Speech at Last: McCutcheon Decision Just Right

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, The Mischiefs of Faction and American Prospect

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Kelly refuses to use Ft. Hood shooter's name — Fox News host Megyn Kelly said on her Wednesday show that she will not be saying the suspected Ft. Hood shooter's name as a policy. — “Authorities are identifying the shooter. If you are interested you can get his name on other show …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Hill and Hullabaloo

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Both Fort Hood Shooters Bought Their Guns At The Same Store — The man identified as the gunman in Wednesday's mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas purchased his gun from the same store where Major Nidal Hasan purchased a gun he used when he killed 13 people at the base in 2009, according to reports.

Discussion: Liberaland and CNN

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Fort Hood Shooter Had .45-Caliber Pistol That Wasn't Registered On Base

Discussion: Liberaland

Washington Post:
Here are the rules on carrying firearms on Fort Hood

Discussion: Fox News, Post Politics and Twitchy

Charles G. Koch / Wall Street Journal:

Koch: I'm Fighting to Restore a Free Society — Instead of welcoming free debate, collectivists engage in character assassination. — I have devoted most of my life to understanding the principles that enable people to improve their lives. It is those principles—the principles of a free society …

Associated Press:

US SECRETLY CREATED ‘CUBAN TWITTER’ TO STIR UNREST — You are here — Home » United States government » US secretly created ‘Cuban Twitter’ to stir unrest — WASHINGTON (AP) — In July 2010, Joe McSpedon, a U.S. government official, flew to Barcelona to put the final touches …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Talking Points Memo, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, The Week, Gigaom, Techdirt, Gawker and The Awl, more at Mediagazer »

Associated Press:

US SECRETLY BUILT ‘CUBAN TWITTER’ TO STIR UNREST … WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government masterminded the creation of a “Cuban Twitter” - a communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba, built with secret shell companies and financed through foreign banks, The Associated Press has learned.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, No More Mister Nice Blog, Shakesville, Mashable, Hinterland Gazette, Fox News Insider and Liberaland

Kathryn Mayer / BenefitsPro:

Gibbs predicts employer mandate will be killed — COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— A former longtime advisor to President Barack Obama predicted Wednesday that the employer mandate — a key piece of Obamacare — will not survive. — It was among several predictions Robert Gibbs …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Wall Street Journal, Firedoglake, Politico, Post Politics, The Daily Caller, Hot Air and Weekly Standard

New York Post:

Rogue alcoholic court reporter kept writing ‘I hate my job’ — An alcoholic Manhattan court stenographer went rogue, channeling his inner “Shining” during a high-profile criminal trial and repeatedly typing, “I hate my job, I hate my job” instead of the trial dialogue, sources told The Post.

Discussion: Guardian, The Jawa Report, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and The Raw Story

Jonathan Helman / CNN:

Bill Clinton 'wouldn't be surprised' by an alien visit — (CNN) - It has been a question plaguing man for ages: Are we alone in the universe? — If you ask former President Bill Clinton, he would tell you that he “wouldn't be surprised” if we were visited by extraterrestrials someday.

Discussion: The Hill and Shakesville

Tal Kopan / Politico:
Bill Clinton phones home on aliens

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Alix Spiegel / National Security:

So You Think You're Smarter Than A CIA Agent … The morning I met Elaine Rich, she was sitting at the kitchen table of her small town home in suburban Maryland trying to estimate refugee flows in Syria. — It wasn't the only question she was considering; there were others:

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, The Verge and AEIdeas

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Latest Benghazi hearing is another Republican flop — House Republicans on Wednesday held Benghazi hearing number 1,372,569, give or take, and this time they were determined to find the proof that had eluded them in the previous 1,372,568: That Obama administration officials put politics before national security.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Thomas Joscelyn / Weekly Standard:
CIA Knew Al Qaeda Involved in Benghazi from ‘Get-go’

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, The Daily Caller and The PJ Tatler

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

Bobby Jindal: Conservatives ‘absolutely’ can't give up fight to repeal Obamacare — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL OBAMACARE HEALTH CARE 2016 ELECTIONS BOBBY JINDAL — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal came to Washington on Wednesday with a message to those arguing that conservatives would have to operate within …

Gov. Bobby Jindal / Fox News:
Real health care reform: Give states the tools, and let them do the job

Discussion: American Spectator, RedState and Washington Post

Mara Liasson / NPR:

NPR Poll: Obamacare More Popular Than President … A new bipartisan NPR poll shows approval numbers rising for Obamacare —which is now slightly more popular than its namesake. — Our survey of likely voters, conducted for Morning Edition by Democrat Stan Greenberg of Democracy Corps …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hinterland Gazette and The PJ Tatler