memeorandum: MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry Curses, Jokes in MLK Speech at Cornell (Video) (Casey Breznick/The Review Blog)

6:50 PM ET, February 25, 2015

Top Items:

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Kerry Blasts Netanyahu: He's ‘Wrong’ On Iran Deal Like He Was On Iraq War — Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to a potential nuclear deal with Iran, calling it as wrongheaded as the prime minister's backing of the Iraq War.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, US News, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Agence France-Presse, The Daily Beast and Israel Matzav

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

Netanyahu Invites Arab Diplomats to His Big Speech—and Gets Rejected — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is refusing to meet with a group of ardently pro-Israel Democratic senators next week in Washington, but he very much wants to see the faces of Arab ambassadors in the audience during his controversial address to Congress.

Discussion: Reuters, The Times of Israel, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and The Daily Banter

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Obama Aide Calls Netanyahu's Planned Visit ‘Destructive’ to U.S.-Israel Ties

Discussion: Chicago, Daily Kos, Power Line, Common Dreams, Algemeiner.com, Israel Matzav, BarbWire.com and The Times of Israel

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:
Netanyahu Rejects Invite for Closed-Door Meeting with Senate Dems

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:

Boehner says he hasn't spoken to McConnell — Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) haven't spoken to each other in two weeks despite the shutdown fight gripping the Capitol, House Republicans said Wednesday. — During a closed-door House GOP …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Politico and Hot Air

Politico:
GOP lawmakers clash over shutdown

Discussion: The Hill, American Spectator, ABC News, New York Times, PoliticusUSA, Daily Kos, ABC News, Hot Air and Los Angeles Times

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:
Right turns fire on McConnell

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Hot Air, Associated Press and Washington Monthly

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:
Boehner: 'We're waiting for the Senate to act' on DHS funding

Discussion: Political Insider blog, Truth Revolt and Hit & Run

Washington Post:

Bowser: Legal pot possession to take effect at midnight in the District — Flanked by members of the D.C. Council and the city's top lawyer, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced on live television Wednesday afternoon that marijuana possession will become legal in the District at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

Discussion: NPR, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Caller and Hit & Run

Washington Post:
Lawmakers encourage Bowser to reconsider declaring pot legal in D.C.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Daily Kos, The Atlantic Online and Talking Points Memo

Robert Costa / Washington Post:

Trump says he is serious about 2016 bid, is hiring staff and delaying TV gig — Real estate mogul Donald J. Trump, who has long toyed with presidential ambitions, said Wednesday he is serious about pursuing a run for the White House — moving ahead with a spate of political hires and delaying his television commitments for 2016.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Talking Points Memo, Des Moines Register, Mediaite, OnPolitics and Political Wire

James Rosen / Fox News:

Senior State Dept. official arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from a minor — EXCLUSIVE: A senior State Department official in charge of federal counterterrorism programs was arrested Tuesday afternoon for allegedly soliciting sex from a minor, Fox News has learned.

Discussion: Hot Air, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, NO QUARTER USA NET, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, New York Magazine, The PJ Tatler and Power Line

Christine Mai-Duc / Los Angeles Times:
State Department official arrested, suspected of soliciting sex from minor

Discussion: Jezebel and Raw Story

John Fund / National Review:

Less than Half in New Poll Think Obama Loves America — Once again, surveys show we are a divided nation. In the furor over Rudy Giuliani's comment that President Obama doesn't “love America,” the polling site YouGov.com decided to see how many Americans agreed with him. — The answer: a surprising number.

Discussion: Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Washington Times, The Huffington Post, FishbowlDC, Rush Limbaugh and Politico

Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:
Must-See Late Night Clip: Seth Meyers Proves That Obama Loves America

Discussion: Liberal Values and FOX News Radio

Rogerpielkejr / The Climate Fix:

I am Under “Investigation” — As some of you will already know, I am one of 7 US academics being investigated by US Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) who is the ranking member of the House of Representatives Committee on Environment and Natural Resources.

Discussion: Hill Heat, Power Line, Weekly Standard, Watts Up With That? and BarbWire.com

Eric Eyre / Charleston Gazette:

GOP-backed bill would make it criminal to enforce ACA in W.Va. — In another salvo against the federal Affordable Care Act, some Republicans in West Virginia's House of Delegates want to make it a crime for state and federal officials to enforce the health-care law.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Political Wire and The State Journal Stories

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
West Virginia GOPers Want To Make Enforcing Obamacare A Felony

Discussion: Political Wire and Balloon Juice

J.K. Trotter / Gawker:

Why Has Fox News Stopped Defending Bill O'Reilly? — Over the past week, Fox News has aggressively rebutted accusations that its star host Bill O'Reilly lied about his whereabouts during the Falklands War in 1982. But after a new report challenged O'Reilly's recent claim that he was present …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Talking Points Memo, TVNewser, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, CNNMoney, BizPac Review and No More Mister Nice Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Ariel Edwards-Levy / The Huffington Post:

GOP Pollster Explains Why Republicans Need Record Minority Support To Win In 2016 — WASHINGTON — The American electorate is more diverse than ever, which means Republicans will have to attract a record percentage of minorities to win the presidency in 2016, a GOP pollster said Tuesday.

Discussion: Political Wire, FOX News Radio, Hullabaloo, Salon, US News, Booman Tribune and Shakesville

Brendan James / Talking Points Memo:

CPAC Website Apparently Mixed Up Two Black Republicans — The website for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) appeared to have mistakenly posted a photo of Sen. Tim Scott (R-NC) in a biography for conservative activist Dr. Ben Carson, both of whom are scheduled to be speakers at the event this week.

Discussion: Washington Post and FOX News Radio

Sean Davis / The Federalist:

Scott Walker Flap Shows How Political Media Actively Loathe Christianity — If the constant media haranguing of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker over his religion tells us anything, it's that the political media absolutely loathe what they perceive as authentic Christianity.

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, BizPac Review and Political Wire

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

The return of Todd Akin? — Todd Akin is considering a primary challenge to Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) in 2016. — “I have not ruled anything out,” the former congressman and 2012 GOP Senate nominee told The Hill in a phone interview on Wednesday. — “I think there is a high level …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Rick Perlstein / In These Times:

In Mayoral Runoff, Rahm Emanuel's Corrupt Governance Has Finally Caught Up With Him — On Tuesday, Chicagoans voted themselves a reprieve. With 45.4 percent of the vote, Mayor Rahm Emanuel ended the first round of his first reelection bid almost five points below what he needed to avoid …

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, The Moderate Voice and Guardian

H&R Block Newsroom:

H&R Block: Taxpayers Following ACA Rules, Refunds Take a Hit — So far taxpayers seem to be indicating true insurance status as refunds dip 17 percent — So far in the 2015 tax season, H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), the world's largest consumer tax services provider, is seeing a majority …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Fox News and The Daily Caller

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:
H&R Block: Majority of ObamaCare customers paying back subsidy

Discussion: Fox News and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Matt Wilstein / Mediaite:

Chris Hayes Literally Applauds Laura Ingraham's Terror Comments — MSNBC's Chris Hayes appeared to shock even himself Tuesday night by giving credit where credit is due to Fox News contributor and conservative radio host Laura Ingraham for comments she made about ISIS on Fox & Friends this morning.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and The Huffington Post

Peter Baker / New York Times:

A Back-and-Forth View of the President's Executive Power — WASHINGTON — For President Obama, this has been a week to guard his power. He went to court to defend his executive action on immigration while fighting an effort by lawmakers to reverse it. And he vetoed legislation …

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Ina Fried / Re/code:

Lytro Cuts Jobs, Raises $50 Million in Shift Toward Virtual Reality and Video (Exclusive) — Workers at Lytro got a mixed bag of news on Wednesday, with the photography startup telling employees both that it has raised a further $50 million, but also that it intends to cut a significant chunk of its workforce.

Discussion: The Verge and Gizmodo