Top Items:
Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
The worst excuse ever: The Rhodes memo debacle — The White House damage control on the latest batch of Benghazi emails is not going well. The White House's belated release of the documents at the very least show it has been actively evading legitimate congressional requests for relevant information.
Discussion:
CNN, Fox News, Taylor Marsh, his vorpal sword and Althouse
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Justin Sink / The Hill:
Can Obama get his groove back? — It's been more than a year since President Obama saw his approval rating hit 50 percent, and his still-souring numbers have Democrats fretting about his toxic effect in November. — Party strategists say the solution is for the White House to shake …
Discussion:
CNN, Politico, Jammie Wearing Fools, Weekly Standard and Fox News
Andrew C. McCarthy / National Review:
Obama's ‘Blame the Video’ Fraud Started in Cairo, Not Benghazi — The e-mail revelations and the Obama administration's lies — Here is the main point: The rioting at the American embassy in Cairo was not about the anti-Muslim video. As argued here repeatedly (see here and here) …
Discussion:
protein wisdom, The Gateway Pundit and neo-neocon
Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:
Lindsey Graham: White House Officials Are ‘Scumbags’ for Lying About Benghazi
Lindsey Graham: White House Officials Are ‘Scumbags’ for Lying About Benghazi
Discussion:
Politico and The Huffington Post
Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
Email Suggests White House Strategy on Benghazi
Email Suggests White House Strategy on Benghazi
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, JustOneMinute and NewsBusters
Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
CBS Says Network President Didn't Influence Coverage Of Brother's Benghazi Email
CBS Says Network President Didn't Influence Coverage Of Brother's Benghazi Email
Discussion:
Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, The Heritage Foundation and Judicial Watch, more at Mediagazer »
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Antonin Scalia's Blunder Is Unprecedented, Legal Experts Say — Justice Antonin Scalia's factual error in a dissenting opinion Tuesday has become the talk of the legal community as experts puzzle over the extraordinary nature of the Reagan-appointed justice's blunder, which the Supreme Court quietly corrected as of Wednesday morning.
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Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Commentary: From the bench to the podium — Commentary — In ways large and small, the idealized expectation that the Supreme Court will stay outside the political arena continues to diminish in a country with polarized partisanship and fragmented cultural values.
ed.gov:
U.S. Department of Education Releases List of Higher Education Institutions with Open Title IX Sexual Violence Investigations — Contact: Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov — The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) released today a list …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Mashable, The Raw Story, Los Angeles Times, WGGB-TV, Business Insider, Feministing, WJLA-TV, CBS Los Angeles, CBS DC, NPR, The Week and New York Times
The Lead with Jake Tapper:
Biking with Bush: Former president opens up about veterans, Jeb 2016 — Crawford, Texas (CNN) - It is not an easy ride. — The rugged 100-kilometer mountain bike ride cuts through the Texas hill country and was designed to keep a fitness freak on his toes.
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Marlow Stern / The Daily Beast:
John Oliver on ‘Last Week Tonight,’ Turning Down CBS, and ‘Nauseating’ American Politics — The newly minted host of HBO's ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ sat down to discuss his new gig, the strange state of U.S. politics, and more over coffee. — “I'm still getting used to this whole interview thing,” says John Oliver.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Althouse and Yahoo! News
Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Obamacare Is Getting the Benghazi Treatment, Courtesy of House Republicans — House Republicans just put out a new report on the Affordable Care Act. You should take is as seriously as you take all reports from House Republicans these days. — In other words, you shouldn't take it seriously.
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Robert Pear / New York Times:
Administration Details Late Surge in Health Enrollments
Administration Details Late Surge in Health Enrollments
Discussion:
Rush Limbaugh and Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire
Stephanie Condon / CBS News:
Report: 67% of Obamacare enrollees have paid so far
Report: 67% of Obamacare enrollees have paid so far
Discussion:
ACASignups.net, CBS DC, American Spectator, The Week and Energy & Commerce Committee
Olga Khazan / The Atlantic Online:
This Town Needs a Better Class of Racist — The question Cliven Bundy put to his audience last week—Was the black family better off as property?—is as immoral as it unoriginal. As both Adam Serwer and Jamelle Bouie point out, the roster of conservative theorists who imply that black people …
Discussion:
Deadspin, The PJ Tatler and SBNation.com
Royson James Toronto / Toronto Star:
Rob Ford is out of time and must resign: James — Toronto mayor's descent so long and dark it may be too late for redemption — Jennifer Gordon, whose back is to the camera, and friends spotted Mayor Rob Ford “stumbling” down the street near the Esplanade on St. Patrick's Day 2012.
Discussion:
VodkaPundit and The Daily Caller
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Frank Gunn / Toronto Star:
Rob Ford did cocaine on wild night, witnesses say
Rob Ford did cocaine on wild night, witnesses say
Discussion:
Boing Boing, The Daily Caller, Blazing Cat Fur, Globe and Mail, Mashable and Toronto Sun
Snapchat:
Putting the Chat into Snapchat — Building Snapchat has taught us a lot about what makes conversation special. When we first started working on an application for sharing disappearing pictures, we had no idea how much we would learn. Our classmates were quick to point out that you could always take a screenshot.
Discussion:
Re/code, VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal, ThinkProgress, Washington Post and Mashable
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Ellis Hamburger / The Verge:
Real talk: the new Snapchat brilliantly mixes video and texting
Real talk: the new Snapchat brilliantly mixes video and texting
Discussion:
New York Times, Business Insider, Gigaom, PandoDaily, The Week and Globe and Mail
Politico:
What Is Hillary Clinton Afraid Of? — Over the 25 years Hillary Clinton has spent in the national spotlight, she's been smeared and stereotyped, the subject of dozens of over-hyped or downright fictional stories and books alleging, among other things, that she is a lesbian …
Discussion:
American Prospect, Associated Press, The Week, No More Mister Nice Blog, NewsBusters, Hullabaloo and National Review
Tom Kludt / Talking Points Memo:
GOP State Lawmaker Writes Letter To Editor About Dangers Of Anal Sex — Black GOPer: Bundy Just Telling The Truth — Mitch Boxes In Tea Party Rival With Joint Pledge To Back GOP Nominee — Bundy Supporter: Harry Reid May Get His ‘Balls Ripped Off’ — ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws Tested In Recent Killings
Discussion:
Holy Bullies … and The Raw Story
Henry Chu / Los Angeles Times:
Vatican to debate teachings on divorce, birth control, gay unions — Pope Francis meets with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, left, at the Vatican. On the pontiff's orders, the Vatican will convene a meeting of senior clerics this fall to reexamine church teachings that touch the most intimate aspects of people's lives.
Discussion:
The New Civil Rights Movement, susiemadrak.com and Hot Air
ThinkProgress:
Seattle Announces $15 Minimum Wage, Highest In The U.S. — Seattle will raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour over the coming years under a deal brokered by Mayor Ed Murray and blessed by labor and business groups alike, city leaders announced Thursday afternoon.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Seattle Times blogs and SEIU Healthcare 775NW
Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Fox News Brands Scientific American Editor A ‘Coward’ (VIDEO) — A Scientific American editor must have struck a nerve over at Fox News this week when he tweeted about having a “Fox & Friends” producer shoot down his idea to talk about the impacts of climate change on the show.
Discussion:
Daily Kos, The Raw Story, The Moderate Voice, Scientific American …, The Huffington Post and Mediaite
Oren Dorell / Associated Press:
General: Military should've tried to rescue Benghazi Americans — WASHINGTON — U.S. military personnel knew early on that the Benghazi attack was a “hostile action” and not a protest gone awry, according to a retired general who served at U.S. Africa Command's headquarters in Germany during the attack.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Townhall.com, The PJ Tatler, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon and Armed Services Republicans
Philip Oltermann / Guardian:
Germany blocks Edward Snowden from testifying in person in NSA inquiry — Officials say a personal invitation for US whistleblower to attend hearing would put ‘grave strain’ on US-German relations — The German government has blocked Edward Snowden from giving personal evidence in front …
Discussion:
Business Insider, Little Green Footballs and Techdirt
John Podesta / White House.gov Blog:
Findings of the Big Data and Privacy Working Group Review — Over the past several days, severe storms have battered Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and other states. Dozens of people have been killed and entire neighborhoods turned to rubble and debris as tornadoes have touched down across the region.
Discussion:
Guardian, The Daily Caller, Civilrights.org Latest Posts and ABC News