memeorandum: Hillary acts stupid when she plays dumb (John Podhoretz/New York Post)

3:30 PM ET, March 11, 2015

Top Items:

AP sues State Department, seeking access to Clinton records — 1 photo — WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the State Department to force the release of email correspondence and government documents from Hillary Rodham Clinton's tenure as secretary of state.

John F. Harris / Politico:

Go to hell — Hillary Clinton had something to say to the media about her email. It wasn't too subtle. — Lead image by Getty. — Hillary Clinton was likable enough, answering questions calmly though with a weary smile. She even offered a feint toward humility, allowing that …

Scott Shane / New York Times:

No Classified Emails by Clinton? Some Experts Are Skeptical — WASHINGTON — Anyone who has tried to pry information from the federal government may have been surprised on Tuesday by Hillary Rodham Clinton's assertion that in all her emails in four years as secretary of state she never strayed into the classified realm.

Discussion: New York Times, Hit & Run, Betsy's Page, Washington Post and Outside the Beltway

Frank Bruni / New York Times:
Hillary Clinton, the Email Controversy and the 2016 Presidential Race

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Post, National Journal, Slate, VodkaPundit, TVNewser and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:
The Clinton Campaign Gets Off To A Grim Start

Discussion: TalkLeft, Daily Kos, NBC News, The Daily Caller, Politico, ABC News, Taylor Marsh, Poynter, ABC News and Guardian, more at Mediagazer »

John Podhoretz / New York Post:
Hillary acts stupid when she plays dumb

Discussion: Washington Post, Real Clear Politics, Ed Driscoll and Hot Air

Ron Fournier / National Journal:
5 Questions Hillary Clinton Ducked

Discussion: Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, The Daily Caller, prospect.org/blogs … and Guardian

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
The Joy and the Drama

Discussion: Politico

Julian Hattem / The Hill:
AP sues State Dept. over Clinton emails

Discussion: Hot Air and Real Clear Politics

Tim Mak / The Daily Beast:

Republicans Admit: That Iran Letter Was a Dumb Idea — A day after releasing a letter that potentially threatened the administration's negotiations with Iran, some Republicans who signed on are realizing it was a bad call. — Behind the scenes, Republicans are wondering if sending …

David Goldstein / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Precedent for GOP's Iran letter hard to find, historians say — WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Historian's Office has so far been unable to find another example in the chamber's history where one political party openly tried to deal with a foreign power against a presidential policy …

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Political Wire, The Reaction and National Journal

Tom Cotton / USA Today:

Sen. Cotton: Why we wrote the letter to Iran — Iranian leaders need to know that the Senate must approve any deal President Obama negotiates. — The critical role of Congress in the adoption of international agreements was clearly laid out by our Founding Fathers in our Constitution.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Baxter Bulletin, The Huffington Post, Trail Blazers Blog, American Spectator, OnPolitics, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Reuters, The World's Greatest …, Lawfare, The Daily Caller, Weekly Standard, Business Insider and The Gateway Pundit

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:
McCain: GOP letter to Iran not ‘most effective’ response

Discussion: Daily Kos

BostonGlobe.com:
GOP letter to Iran is a reckless intrusion into nuclear talks

Discussion: Concord Monitor, Salt Lake Tribune and PoliticusUSA

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:

Morning Joe, Bill Kristol Blame Racist SAE Video on Rap Music — The concerned parents on Morning Joe found something to be outraged about over the video of SAE frat members engaged in a racist chant: namely the rapper Waka Flocka Flame's decision not to perform for the fraternity …

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, FreakOutNation, CNN, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, ABC News, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, USA Today and Eschaton

Robert Wilonsky / The Scoop Blog:

Parker Rice, parents of Levi Pettit apologize for ‘horrible mistake’ made in OU SAE video — Update at 6:40 p.m.: Moments after Levi Pettit's family apologized for their son's behavior in the SAE video, Parker Rice — the recent Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas graduate — sent his own apology, via his father Bob.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, CNN, Fox News, USA TODAY College, Oklahoma Daily, Dallas Morning News, Talking Points Memo, News One, NPR, BBC, Raw Story, Get Schooled, Hinterland Gazette, CBS News, KFOR-TV, Mediaite, BizPac Review, Shakesville, Mashable and Hit & Run

David A. Graham / The Atlantic Online:
Morning Joe Finds the Real Racists in Oklahoma: Rap Musicians

Discussion: Guardian

Jean-Luc Renaudie / Agence France-Presse:

As Israel vote looms, centre-left pulls ahead of PM Netanyahu's Likud — Jerusalem (AFP) - Less than a week before Israel's second general election in two years, Isaac Herzog's centre-left Zionist Union opened up a lead on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's rightwing Likud, polls showed Wednesday.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, Guardian, Foreign Policy and Booman Tribune

Gallup:

Story Highlights — PRINCETON, N.J. — After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's much-publicized and controversial address to Congress, Americans' opinions of him have worsened. His favorable rating is down seven percentage points, to 38%, while his unfavorable rating has increased five points, to 29%.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Politico and The Week

Haaretz:
Week before election, new poll puts Zionist Union ahead of Netanyahu's Likud

Discussion: Salon, susiemadrak.com, New York Magazine, New York Times and Reuters

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

More evidence Republicans will probably do nothing if Supreme Court guts subsidies — Scott Walker has now supplied yet another piece of evidence that Republicans will likely find themselves unable or unwilling to act if the Supreme Court guts Obamacare subsidies for millions in three dozen states.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, No More Mister Nice Blog, National Journal and Democratic Strategist

Washington Post:
Jeb Bush, Scott Walker emerging as front-runners for GOP nod — and rivals

Discussion: Bloomberg View, Daily Kos, The Iowa Republican, Fox News, Washington Monthly, Political Wire, JSOnline and Althouse

Sarah Zimmermann / The Badger Herald:
Unions file lawsuit against right-to-work

Discussion: Moe Lane

Jake Sherman / Politico:

Aaron Schock: I ‘certainly hope’ I didn't break the law — The embattled congressman gets testy in a face-to-face interview. — Getty — PEORIA, Ill. — The question to Rep. Aaron Schock was simple: Do you think you've broken any rules or federal laws? But the scandal-plagued congressman did not have a definitive answer.

Discussion: Chicago, Washington Post, Mediaite, National Review, Political Wire, Salon, Joe. My. God., The PJ Tatler, RedState and Hot Air

Tom LoBianco / Indianapolis Star:

Indiana state rep apologizes for sexting with Sydney Leathers — Indiana Rep. Justin Moed is apologizing for sexting with Sydney Leathers, the Evansville woman at the center of the 2013 Anthony Weiner sexting scandal. — “I am truly sorry I have hurt the ones I love most with my poor judgment.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Raw Story and Mediaite

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:

Republican Amendment Could Force Underage Rape Victims To Carry Their Pregnancies To Term — A bipartisan bill aimed at aiding victims of human trafficking is in peril now that Democrats have learned it contains an anti-choice provision to restrict funding for abortion.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Politico and Feministing

Niels Lesniewski / The World's Greatest …:
Senate Faces Trust Breakdown Over Abortion (Updated) (Video)

Discussion: The Hill, RH Reality Check, RedState, Daily Kos and National Journal

Michelle Ye Hee Lee / Washington Post:

Ted Cruz's claim that the IRS tax code has more words than the Bible — In a speech to the International Association of Fire Fighters, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) talked about how the U.S. could restore “growth and opportunity” for small businesses, saying the answer is through tax and regulatory reform.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air and Weekly Standard

Reuters:

Russia says has right to deploy nuclear weapons in Crimea: report — (Reuters) - Russia has the right to deploy nuclear arms in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine last year, a Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday, adding he knew of no plans to do so.

Discussion: Hot Air and Politico

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

TPP at the NABE — I was in DC yesterday, giving a talk to the National Association of Business Economists. The subject was the Trans-Pacific Partnership; slides for my talk are here. — Not to keep you in suspense, I'm thumbs down. I don't think the proposal is likely to be the terrible …

Discussion: Washington Center …, Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality and Marginal REVOLUTION