memeorandum: Floodgates — A lot of us gabbers suggested yesterday … (Ed Kilgore/Washington Monthly)

5:45 PM ET, July 2, 2014

Top Items:

Hobby Lobby Is Already Creating New Religious Demands on Obama — This week, in the Hobby Lobby case, the Supreme Court ruled that a religious employer could not be required to provide employees with certain types of contraception. That decision is beginning to reverberate …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money

ThinkProgress:

The Most Partisan Supreme Court Justice Of All — In mid-November of 2012, hundreds of tuxedo-clad Republican lawyers gathered at a hotel ballroom in Washington, DC. They were a mix of heads hung in dejection and chests puffed out in compensatory bluster.

Discussion: National Review, DownWithTyranny!, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Campaign for America's Future

Paul Horwitz / New York Times:

Hobby Lobby Is Only the Beginning — TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — THE United States Constitution speaks of the Supreme Court's jurisdiction over “cases” and “controversies.” But when social controversies do come before the court, its powers are limited. In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores …

Discussion: Washington Post, Balkinization, Bleeding Heart Libertarians, BillMoyers.com and Politico

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Floodgates — A lot of us gabbers suggested yesterday that the Hobby Lobby decision might open the “floodgates” to new legal claims of “religious liberty” exemptions from various federal laws by “closely-held” for-profit corporations. But even as lawyers scurry to think about suits …

Discussion: Eschaton

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

Post-Hobby Lobby, Religious Orgs Want Exemption From LGBT Hiring Order — The day after the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling, a group of religious leaders sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking that he exempt them from a forthcoming executive order that would prohibit federal contractors …

John B. Judis / The New Republic:
The Last Time the Supreme Court Meddled in Women's Health, It Was a Big Setback for the GOP

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:
Exclusive: A Liberal Organization's Post-Hobby Lobby Battle Plan

Discussion: National Review

Emily Rudisill / A Bullseye View:

Target Addresses Firearms in Stores — Every day at Target, in everything we do, we ask ourselves what is right for our guests? We make all of our decisions with that question in mind. Questions have circulated in recent weeks around Target's policy on the “open carry” of firearms in its stores.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Post, NOLA River, BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, BizPac Review, Guardian, Truth Revolt, KHOU-TV, ThinkProgress, The Verge, Liberaland, The Dana Show, Business Insider, Balloon Juice, WWBT-TV, The Raw Story and Wall Street Journal

Dean Poling / Valdosta Daily Times:

First day of new gun law leads to arrest — On the first day of the new Georgia Safe Carry Protection Act, a misunderstanding between two armed men in a convenience store Tuesday led to a drawn firearm and a man's arrest.

Discussion: Liberaland, Political Insider blog, NOLA River, Washington Monthly, The Raw Story, Gawker and Hullabaloo

Eric Lach / Talking Points Memo:

Two Guys With Guns Have Showdown On First Day Of Georgia's New ‘Guns Everywhere’ Law — A “misunderstanding” between two armed men in a Georgia convenience store led to an arrest on the very day that the state's new expansive gun rights law went into effect, according to The Valdosta Daily Times.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Colum Lynch / Foreign Policy:

Exclusive: Russia Vetoes House of Cards

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Deadline.com, Mediaite and Red Alert Politics

Sarah Smith / Politico:
‘House of Cards’ United Nations request denied

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Washington Post:

At time of austerity, eight universities spent top dollar on Hillary Clinton speeches — At least eight universities, including four public institutions, have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hillary Rodham Clinton to speak on their campuses over the past year …

Discussion: National Review

Mark Z. Barabak / Los Angeles Times: Without even running, Hillary Clinton achieves an Iowa victory

thegazette.com:
Clinton, candidates: Come to Iowa

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and BuzzFeed

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:

Poll: Obama worst president since WWII — A plurality of voters think Barack Obama is the worst president since World War II, a new poll says. — According to a Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, 33 percent of voters think the current president is the worst since 1945.

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Hands down Obama is the worst president since WWII: poll

Discussion: New York Magazine, Weasel Zippers, Washington Post and The Gateway Pundit

Zachary A. Goldfarb / Washington Post:

Male-female pay gap remains entrenched at White House — The White House has not narrowed the gap between the average pay of male and female employees since President Obama's first year in office, according to a Washington Post analysis of new salary data. — The average male White House …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite, Wall Street Journal, Red Alert Politics, ABC News, AEIdeas, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard, Power Line and National Review

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Rand Paul rebukes White House in pro-Israel column — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul blasted the White House's response to a kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in a strongly worded column designed to highlight his pro-Israel credentials. — Paul, a potential GOP presidential contender …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo and National Review

Justin Sink / The Hill:
White House: No regrets on waiting for GOP

Discussion: CNN and Booman Tribune

DownWithTyranny!:

Bagels And Cream Cheese And A Million Of His Own Dollars Won't Win Sean Eldridge A Seat In Congress — Poor Sean Eldridge! Well, not really... he's very rich. He married Chris Hughes, the former Harvard roommate of Mark Zuckerberg and the ultimate example of being in the right place at the right time.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Charles Murray / Salon:

Charles Murray's new disgrace: “Bell Curve” author has a “liberal” obsession — But here's what's really behind the disingenuous game — There was a time in the not so distant past when the “L” word ("liberal") was so toxic that only the most die-hard, Birkenstock-shod, soy latte swillers would even dare to identify as such.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, Liberaland, Conservatives4Palin and Eschaton

Justin Huggler / Telegraph:

Nazi ‘perfect Aryan’ poster child was Jewish — Hessy Taft's baby photograph was selected by Nazi party as the ideal Aryan infant, but Joseph Goebbels' propaganda machine never discovered that she was in fact Jewish — When Hessy Taft was six months old, she was a poster child for the Nazis.

Discussion: The Raw Story, The Huffington Post, Gawker and Talking Points Memo

Fox News:

Medical staff warned: Keep your mouths shut about illegal immigrants or face arrest — A government-contracted security force threatened to arrest doctors and nurses if they divulged any information about the contagion threat at a refugee camp housing illegal alien children at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, sources say.

Discussion: Joe For America, The Daily Caller, Right Wing News, CBS Los Angeles, Weasel Zippers and The Jawa Report

Reason:

Selling Obamacare — The weird, misleading propaganda behind the federal health care law — Mark Hemingway from the August/September 2014 issue — It might seem odd that Joanna Coles, editor in chief of Cosmopolitan, was invited to the White House for lunch.

Daniel K. Eisenbud / Jerusalem Post:

Hundreds of Arabs riot across Jerusalem after Palestinian teen found murdered — Arab rioters believe boy killed by Israelis as revenge for 3 Israeli teens; police clarify motive for crime has yet to be determined. — Hundreds of Arabs took to the streets in the capital on Wednesday …

Discussion: Arutz Sheva, The Times of Israel, Truth Revolt, Israel Matzav and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

KUSA-TV:

Armed waitresses on menu in Rifle restaurant — Armed waitresses on menu in Rifle restaurant. 9NEWS at 6 p.m., 7/1/14. — CONNECT — RIFLE, Colo. — At Shooters Grill, you can decide whether your freshly made cherry pie comes with ice cream, but you have no choice on who delivers it: An armed waitress.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller

New York Times:

Give Scotusblog a Seat in Court — At a few minutes past 10 a.m. on Monday, as the Supreme Court began to issue the final rulings of the term, 60,000 people — including journalists at major news outlets around the country — were following the live feed of Scotusblog, a website devoted …

Discussion: Politico, The Huffington Post and Josh Blackman's Blog