memeorandum: Brandeis Cancels Plan to Give Honorary Degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Critic of Islam (New York Times)

7:35 PM ET, April 9, 2014

Top Items:

Rachael Bade / Politico:

GOP says IRS' Lois Lerner targeted Crossroads — House Republicans on Wednesday accused former IRS official Lois Lerner of breaking agency rules by aggressively urging denial of tax-exempt status to Crossroads GPS, the giant political nonprofit founded by Karl Rove.

Discussion: CNN, Main Justice and Washington Free Beacon

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:

BREAKING: Emails Show Lois Lerner Fed True the Vote Tax Information to Democrat Elijah Cummings … New IRS emails released by the House Oversight Committee show staff working for Democratic Ranking Member Elijah Cummings communicated with the IRS multiple times between 2012 and 2013 about voter fraud prevention group True the Vote.

Discussion: protein wisdom, The PJ Tatler and Washington Free Beacon

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:

BREAKING: House Ways and Means Committee Votes to Refer Lois Lerner For Criminal Charges — The House Ways and Means Committee has voted to 23-14 along party lines to refer former head of tax exempt groups at the IRS Lois Lerner to the Justice Department for prosecution.

Discussion: protein wisdom

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
IRS under fire: Vote for Obama stickers, campaign cheerleading commonplace

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler and Conservatives4Palin

waysandmeans.house.gov:
Ways and Means Committee Refers Lois Lerner to Department of Justice for Criminal Prosecution …

Discussion: Capitol City Project, The Gateway Pundit, The PJ Tatler, RedState and Post Politics

Elianayjohnson / National Review:
Issa Accuses Cummings of Colluding with the IRS

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit

Fox News:

Brandeis University withdraws planned honorary degree for Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali — Brandeis University in Massachusetts announced Tuesday that it had withdrawn the planned awarding of an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a staunch critic of Islam and its treatment of women, after protests from students and faculty.

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, National Review, The Other McCain, Taylor Marsh, Power Line, TalkLeft, Hinterland Gazette and The PJ Tatler

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Speaks — Ayaan Hirsi Ali has just released this statement in response to Brandeis University's decision to rescind her invitation to receive an honorary degree: — “Yesterday Brandeis University decided to withdraw an honorary degree they were to confer upon me next month during their Commencement exercises.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Brandeis University News:

Following a discussion today between President Frederick Lawrence and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ms. Hirsi Ali's name has been withdrawn as an honorary degree recipient at this year's commencement. She is a compelling public figure and advocate for women's rights, and we respect and appreciate her work …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Israpundit, Hit & Run, The Gateway Pundit, The Raw Story, Weasel Zippers, Algemeiner.com and Israel Matzav

New York Times:

Brandeis Cancels Plan to Give Honorary Degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Critic of Islam — Facing growing criticism, Brandeis University said Tuesday that it had reversed course and would not award an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a campaigner for women's rights and a fierce critic of Islam …

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Little Green Footballs

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

A Note to Supporters of Brandeis — As Lori Lowenthal Marcus notes, Brandeis University has in recent years bestowed an honorary degree on Tony Kushner, who called the creation of Israel as a Jewish state “a mistake” and who attacked Israel for ethnic cleansing and for causing “terrible peril in the world.”

Discussion: The Jewish Press and American Spectator

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Jim DeMint Asserts The Federal Government Played No Role In Freeing The Slaves — Heritage Foundation head Jim DeMint appeared on Vocal Point with Jerry Newcombe of Truth In Action Ministries last week, where he insisted that “no liberal is going to win a debate that big government freed the slaves.”

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, PoliticusUSA, The Raw Story, Mediaite, Little Green Footballs and Shakesville

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Heritage Chief: It's Really The Constitution That Freed The Slaves (AUDIO)

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Holier Than Whom? — I don't often disagree with Paul Waldman, whose work I cite regularly. But sitting in at Plum Line today, he makes an argument about Republican politics and the Christian Right (in the context of an overtly religious Mike Huckabee speech in Iowa) that strikes me as missing an important distinction:

Discussion: Bloomberg View

CNN:
Mike Huckabee: Not ‘homophobic’ but on the ‘right side of the Bible’

Discussion: Des Moines Register, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Equality Matters, Outside the Beltway, Politico, The Week, Shakesville and Post Politics

Paul Waldman / The Plum Line:
No, religious voters don't hold total sway over GOP presidential primaries

Discussion: American Prospect and CNN

Rolling Stone:

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Is Naked on the New Cover of Rolling Stone — RS follows the First Lady of Comedy's journey from ‘Seinfeld’ to ‘Veep’ in our new issue — Julia Louis-Dreyfus is wearing absolutely nothing but the immortal words of America's founding fathers on the cover of the next issue …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Ed Driscoll, National Review, The Huffington Post, Josh Blackman's Blog, The PJ Tatler, Mediaite and PopWatch

Bob Nightengale / Associated Press:

40 years later, Hank Aaron's grace a beauty to behold — Hank Aaron has the letters tucked away in his attic, preserved these last 40 years. He's not ready to let them go. — He almost has them memorized by now, but still he carefully opens them up and reads every word, as if he wants to feel the pain.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Liberaland, The Daily Banter, Talking Points Memo, Hinterland Gazette, Mediaite, Americans Against the … and Weasel Zippers

Tony Lee / BREITBART.COM:
HANK AARON COMPARES OBAMA OPPONENTS TO KKK: THEY WEAR ‘NECKTIES AND STARCHED SHIRTS’ INSTEAD OF HOODS

Discussion: American Spectator

KDKA Promotions / CBS Pittsburgh:

24-Injured In Stabbing At Franklin Regional High School — MURRYSVILLE (KDKA/AP) - At least 20-people have been injured in a stabbing at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville. — The attack occurred in crowded hallways just minutes before the start of school.

Discussion: ABC News, Most Recent, Gawker, The Gateway Pundit and The Week

New York Times:

Sliver of Medicare Doctors Get Big Share of Payouts — A tiny fraction of the 880,000 doctors and other health care providers who take Medicare accounted for nearly a quarter of the roughly $77 billion paid out to them under the federal program, receiving millions of dollars each in some cases …

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, The Week, Politico, The PJ Tatler and Eschaton

Peter Whoriskey / Washington Post:
Data uncover nation's top Medicare billers

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politico, USA Today, New York Times, Associated Press, American Spectator, Hit & Run, Wonkblog, Hot Air and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

Suffolk University:

Iowa Poll Shows Hillary Clinton Strong and GOP Field Scattered in Advance of Caucuses — With the January 2016 Iowa presidential caucuses on the horizon, Hillary Clinton is the far-and-away favorite among self-described Democratic caucus-goers, according to a Suffolk University statewide Iowa poll.

Discussion: CNN, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Shakesville and Weekly Standard

Kate Fagan / ESPN:

UMass' Derrick Gordon says he's gay — Derrick Gordon, a sophomore starter for the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team, stepped forward Wednesday as the first openly gay player in Division I men's college basketball, sharing his story with ESPN and Outsports.

Discussion: Outsports, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, Gawker, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, The Week and CBS Chicago

Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:

What That RNC Aide's Equal Pay Blunder on MSNBC Says About Her Party — It's not Kirsten Kukowski's fault she only had gibberish to spout about workplace gender fairness. It's the fault of her party and its culture—and the GOP will pay for it with women.

Discussion: NewsBusters, Pew Research Center, The Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and ThinkProgress

Isabel Kershner / New York Times:

Israel Says It Is ‘Deeply Disappointed’ by Kerry's Remarks on Peace Talks — JERUSALEM — In an unusually pointed rebuke of an ally, the United States, Israel said on Wednesday that it was “deeply disappointed” by Secretary of State John Kerry's remarks a day earlier that appeared …

Discussion: The Week, Commentary Magazine, Israel Matzav, American Spectator, Booman Tribune and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

New York Times:

Global Warming Scare Tactics — OAKLAND, Calif. — IF you were looking for ways to increase public skepticism about global warming, you could hardly do better than the forthcoming nine-part series on climate change and natural disasters, starting this Sunday on Showtime.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, Guardian, Power Line and Vox Popoli

Joel Rubin / Los Angeles Times:

LAPD officers tampered with in-car recording equipment, records show — An inspection by LAPD investigators found about half of the estimated 80 cars in one South L.A. patrol division were missing antennas. — LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and other top officials learned about officers tampering …

Discussion: Hit & Run, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, The Verge and The Week

ThinkProgress:

This 32-Year-Old Florida Woman Is Dead Because Her State Refused To Expand Medicaid — Charlene Dill, a 32-year-old mother of three, collapsed and died on a stranger's floor at the end of March. She was at an appointment to try to sell a vacuum cleaner, one of the three part-time jobs …

Discussion: Orlando Weekly, Liberaland, FiveThirtyEight, Democratic Strategist, The Daily Beast and rubber hose

Nikki Schwab / U.S. News:

John Boehner Cries at Taco Bell Event — On Capitol Hill, Boehner's tears, Kelly Rowland and thousands of tacos. — House Speaker John Boehner, seen here in 2010, choked back tears while praising the Boys & Girls Clubs of America at a Taco Bell-related event Tuesday on Capitol Hill.

Discussion: Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and The Daily Caller

Katie Thomas / New York Times:

Study Finds Sicklier Enrollees in Earliest Stage of Health Law — People who signed up early for insurance through the new marketplaces were more likely to be prescribed drugs to treat pain, depression and H.I.V. and were less likely to need contraceptives, according to a new study that provides …

Discussion: Daily Kos, National Review, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo and Acton Institute PowerBlog

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:

Red State Boycotts Mozilla Over Firing Of Ex-CEO Brendan Eich — The conservative website Red State is looking to heap revenge on Mozilla for the ouster of former CEO Brendan Eich. — On Tuesday night a blog post with the byline The Directors said that the site would be blocking …

Discussion: Mediaite and Balloon Juice