Top Items:
New York Times:
King Abdullah, a Shrewd Force Who Reshaped Saudi Arabia, Dies at 90 — King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who came to the throne in old age and earned a reputation as a cautious reformer even as the Arab Spring revolts toppled heads of state and Islamic State militants threatened the Muslim establishment …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Hit & Run, Guardian, The Intercept, Politico, The White House, NPR, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway and Business Insider
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Wall Street Journal:
Saudi King's Death Clouds Already Tense Relationship With U.S. — Decision-Making in Riyadh Could Become More Cautious, Collective — U.S. officials worry that the death of Saudi King Abdullah ushers in a period of new uncertainty in a key relationship that already was tense.
Discussion:
“The Lid”, New York Times, Fox News and NPR
Washington Post:
Saudi King Abdullah's death sets up complex succession process
Saudi King Abdullah's death sets up complex succession process
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Business Insider, Gawker, Guardian, The Daily Caller and The Huffington Post
Angus McDowall / Reuters:
Saudi King Abdullah dies, new ruler is Salman
Saudi King Abdullah dies, new ruler is Salman
Discussion:
Business Insider and The PJ Tatler
Jonathan Karl / ABC News:
EXCLUSIVE: Marco Rubio Moves Toward 2016 Presidential Bid … Sen. Marco Rubio has begun taking concrete steps toward launching a presidential bid, asking his top advisors to prepare for a campaign, signing on a leading Republican fundraiser, and planning extensive travel to early-voting states in the coming weeks, ABC News has learned.
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Veronica Stracqualursi / ABC News:
Three GOP Presidential Hopefuls to Appear on Panel Moderated by ABC's Jonathan Karl
Three GOP Presidential Hopefuls to Appear on Panel Moderated by ABC's Jonathan Karl
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Times, Hot Air and ABC News
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
A Republic of Disrespect — America's partisan divisions spread to international relations. — It's odd in Washington now. There's a lot of claiming of authority and no taking of responsibility. — The president gave his State of the Union address, and of course the TV ratings were bad …
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
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Haaretz:
Obama to Netanyahu: Stop pushing Congress toward new sanctions on Iran - Diplomacy and Defense — Obama, Biden and Kerry would shun Israeli prime minister during his visit to Washington on March; ‘Netanyahu spat in our face. There will be a price,’ U.S. official says.
Discussion:
Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, Israel Matzav, Talking Points Memo, National Review and Telegraph
Julie Pace / ABC News:
Obama to Pass on Meeting Netanyahu During Washington Visit
Obama to Pass on Meeting Netanyahu During Washington Visit
Discussion:
The Hill
Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
People Are Talking About Michael Bloomberg Buying the New York Times, Including Michael Bloomberg — If the former mayor tries, it won't be without its challenges. — Shares — For years now, it has been speculated in media circles that Mike Bloomberg could be a white knight and save the New York Times.
Discussion:
Gawker, Weekly Standard and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »
New York Times:
A Scorsese Documentary on Bill Clinton Is Stalled — Martin Scorsese has tackled the mob, the Dalai Lama and the real-life Wolf of Wall Street. — But Mr. Scorsese appears to have met his match in Bill Clinton. — The filmmaker's partly finished documentary about Mr. Clinton …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Mediaite and Washington Free Beacon
James Hohmann / Politico:
Steve King for a day — Democrats seize on an event being hosted by immigration lightning rod Steve King. — Democrats are looking to turn a weekend event in Iowa being hosted by immigration lightning rod Steve King into a spectacle that sets the GOP further back with Latinos ahead of the 2016 campaign.
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Mark Hemingway / Weekly Standard:
The ‘American Sniper’ Freakout — Why the left can't tolerate this movie. — “So-called ‘sand movies,’ the term Hollywood sometimes uses for films set in Afghanistan and Iraq, have a terrible box office track record,” noted the New York Times. Or rather, they had a terrible box office track record.
Sarah Wheaton / Politico:
Rape controversies return to haunt GOP — Party still struggles over abortion language. — “I believe our heart is in the right place, and we're standing up for what is right. But I think in order to be able to have that conversation with the American people, we have always got …
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Washington Post
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Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Inside The GOP Meltdown On Abortion And Rape
Inside The GOP Meltdown On Abortion And Rape
Discussion:
The Other McCain, neo-neocon, ThinkProgress, BuzzFeed, Daily Signal and Washington Post
David Weigel / Bloomberg Politics:
Anti-Abortion Activists Rise Up Against House Republicans' ‘Pain-Capable’ Fumble
Anti-Abortion Activists Rise Up Against House Republicans' ‘Pain-Capable’ Fumble
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hot Air, LifeNews.com, NPR, National Review, Bloomberg, Washington Times, RedState, Religion News Service, Daily Kos, Fusion, Jezebel, The Other McCain and Outside the Beltway
Nick Bryant / Gawker:
Flight Logs Put Clinton, Dershowitz on Pedophile Billionaire's Sex Jet — Bill Clinton took repeated trips on the “Lolita Express”—the private passenger jet owned by billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein—with an actress in softcore porn movies whose name appears in Epstein's address book under an entry for …
Discussion:
iotwreport.com, Raw Story and CBS Philly
Nicky Woolf / Guardian:
Barrett Brown sentenced to 63 months for ‘merely linking to hacked material’ — The journalist and former Anonymous member is also ordered to pay nearly $900,000 in what he calls a ‘dangerous precedent’ for indicting hacktivists — In a rebuke to a legion of online supporters …
Reuters:
U.S. pulls more staff from Yemen embassy amid deepening crisis — (Reuters) - The United States has pulled more staff out of its embassy in Yemen, U.S. officials said on Thursday as Washington scrambled to cope with the collapse of a government that had been a key ally in the fight against al Qaeda.
Discussion:
Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and CBS News
Russell Berman / The Atlantic Online:
Will Democrats Spoil Obama's Trade Initiatives? — There's at least one big piece of President Obama's agenda where Republicans aren't his problem—Democrats are. — For years, GOP leaders have practically begged the president to make an aggressive push for new trade deals …
Discussion:
msnbc.com
William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Finally Obtained: David Gregory Arrest Warrant Affidavit — This is likely the final chapter in the saga of our two-year long fight to obtain important documents regarding the non-prosecution of David Gregory for possessing on Meet the Press an illegal high-capacity ammunition magazine.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Mediaite
Jessica Chasmar / Washington Times:
Detroit man who murdered two white teens declares ‘black lives matter’ during sentencing … A black man who was found guilty of murdering two white teenagers execution-style in a vacant Detroit field defiantly declared “black lives matter” Wednesday before being sentenced to life in prison.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit and VodkaPundit
Tom Steyer / The Huffington Post:
Tom Steyer … Like all Americans, I care passionately about the American Dream — both the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” and also the opportunity for our country to fulfill its promise: to do what's right (whatever it takes) and lead the world.