Top Items:
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Dangerous Game — US officials are “fuming” in the AP's words at the barrage of Israeli criticism of Secretary of States John Kerry. But as Chemi Shalev notes in Haaretz, there's a deeper backstory. Nothing gets the Obama administration's ire up like the perception (very often grounded in reality) …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice and Althouse
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Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:
White House: Israel has ‘no stronger defender’ than John Kerry — The White House on Monday defended Secretary of State John Kerry, after charges in Israeli media that he was “capitulating” to Hamas in talks to broker a cease-fire in the Mideast. — “Israel has no better friend …
Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:
Why Is Israel Losing a War It's Winning?
Why Is Israel Losing a War It's Winning?
Discussion:
The Dish, Politico, Power Line and National Review
Juan Williams / The Hill:
Shame of the GOP on border — Even on Capitol Hill, there is a God. — Last week, the nation's religious leaders stood up to ask their elected officials to look past politics and see that children — not theoretical abstractions but real, young individuals — are suffering because of inaction by Congress.
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Ben Jacobs / The Daily Beast:
Exclusive: GOP Senate Candidate Caught Saying States Can Nullify Laws — Joni Ernst, the Republican nominee in Iowa, doesn't want “federal legislators” to pass laws that “states are considering nullifying,” like Obamacare. — Joni Ernst, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Right Wing News, NewsBusters and Talking Points Memo
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
North Carolina AG: It's Time To Stop Fighting Gay Marriage In Court — North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said on Monday that his office would stop defending the state's gay marriage ban in court after an appeals court struck down a similar ban on same sex marriage in Virginia.
Discussion:
Off the Kuff and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times
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Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Virginia Same-Sex Marriage Ban
Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Virginia Same-Sex Marriage Ban
Discussion:
Joe. My. God., Washington Post, Daily Kos, Gawker and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Appeals court upholds decision overturning Virginia's same-sex marriage ban
Appeals court upholds decision overturning Virginia's same-sex marriage ban
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog, Outside the Beltway and The Raw Story
Julian E. Barnes / Wall Street Journal:
The Iraq Enigma: Urgency Subsides, But Danger Persists — WASHINGTON — With the U.S. still mulling its options in Iraq and trying to spur the formation of a new government there, Iraqi officials are pressing the case that America's indecision is risking its influence and allies in Baghdad.
Toby Harnden / Real Clear Politics:
Laura Ingraham, Tea Party Giant Killer, Eyes Her Next Scalp — SHE has adopted a daughter from Guatemala and was a speechwriter under President Reagan, who introduced an “amnesty” for three million illegal immigrants in the 1980s. — With her striking good looks and her status …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Politico and Mediaite
Eliana Johnson / National Review:
Michelle Nunn's Campaign Plan — Michelle Nunn can come across as a “lightweight,” “too liberal,” not a “real Georgian.” While she served as CEO for the Points of Light Foundation, the organization gave service awards to “inmates” and “terrorists.” And her Senate campaign must feature images …
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Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:
U.S. Says Russia Tested Cruise Missile, Violating Treaty — WASHINGTON — The United States has concluded that Russia violated a landmark arms control treaty by testing a prohibited ground-launched cruise missile, according to senior American officials, a finding that was conveyed …
Discussion:
Guardian, Business Insider, Gawker and Independent Journal Review
Erick Erickson / RedState:
Maliciousness. Not Incompetence. — For the longest time I have chosen to chalk our President's stumbles, bumbles, and disasters up to incompetence. He is in over his head. He is inexperienced. He is out of his league. It is hard to accept otherwise. — But it is clearer and clearer that is not true.
Discussion:
The Democratic Daily, protein wisdom and Washington Post
Brian Krebs / Krebs on Security:
Hackers Plundered Israeli Defense Firms that Built ‘Iron Dome’ Missile Defense System — Three Israeli defense contractors responsible for building the “Iron Dome” missile shield currently protecting Israel from a barrage of rocket attacks were compromised by hackers and robbed of huge quantities …
Discussion:
Guardian, The Times of Israel, Business Insider and RT
Michael Cannon / Politico:
The Flip-Flopping Architect of the ACA — Last week, the D.C. Circuit ruled that the Obama administration has been implementing Obamacare illegally. Days later, a video featuring the law's chief architect confirmed the court's ruling and raised questions about whether administration officials knew …
Discussion:
Washington Post, American Spectator and AEIdeas
Medium:
A Family Tradition — We followed family tradition this year by taking 5 of our 22 grandkids, ages 10 through 13, on a trip through the American West. My Mom and Dad began the tradition, showing their grandchildren the majesty of our country and teaching them about the sacrifices and character of the pioneers.
Discussion:
ABC News, Washington Post and Politico
Meredith Shiner / Yahoo! News:
No Labels? No results? No problem. Yahoo News 1 hr ago — In 2010, a group of political veterans who said they were tired of the extreme partisanship paralyzing Washington created an organization to advance their new cause. The founding mission of “No Labels” was …
Discussion:
Balloon Juice and CNN
Nate Cohn / New York Times:
New Generic Ballot Surveys Don't Show Signs of Republican Wave — One of the big questions of this election cycle is whether it will turn out to be a “wave” election, like the one in 2010, when an upswell of anti-Democratic sentiment carried Democrats out of the House.
Discussion:
Bloomberg View, Liberal Values, Prairie Weather and Booman Tribune
Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:
Spending Big to Fight Big Donors in Campaigns — An unlikely alliance of liberal intellectuals, big donors and Republican strategists has hit on a solution to the influence of big money in politics: even more money. — Starting Monday, the recently formed Mayday “super PAC” …
Christian Rudder / OkTrends:
We Experiment On Human Beings! — I'm the first to admit it: we might be popular, we might create a lot of great relationships, we might blah blah blah. But OkCupid doesn't really know what it's doing. Neither does any other website. It's not like people have been building these things for very long …
Discussion:
BBC, Guardian, PandoDaily, New York Times, Mashable, The Hill, The Verge, Gawker, Washington Post and Mediaite
Heritage Foundation:
New Obamacare Enrollment Data: Employer-Based Coverage Declines — Abstract … The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a series of monthly reports on exchange performance during the initial open enrollment period (October 1, 2013, through March 31, 2014) …
Discussion:
National Review and Daily Signal