memeorandum: 11 presumed dead in military helicopter crash (Kim Hjelmgaard/USA Today)

6:20 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.

Ron Fournier / National Journal:
5 Questions Hillary Clinton Ducked

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

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

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Washington Post, Da Tech Guy Blog, VodkaPundit, CANNONFIRE, National Journal, Slate, Real Clear Politics, Washington Free Beacon, Politico and TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »

Scott Shane / New York Times:
No Classified Emails by Clinton? Some Experts Are Skeptical

Discussion: Politico, Business Insider, New York Times, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Hit & Run, Betsy's Page and Washington Post

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: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, CNN, Raw Story, ABC News, FreakOutNation, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, USA Today, The Daily Beast, Hullabaloo 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, Chicago, Oklahoma Daily, CNN, Fox News, USA TODAY College, Talking Points Memo, Dallas Morning News, News One, NPR, BBC, KOCO, Hinterland Gazette, Raw Story, Get Schooled, CBS News, KFOR-TV, Shakesville, BizPac Review, Mediaite, Mashable and Hit & Run

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

Discussion: Guardian, Raw Story, Daily Kos and CBS News

Fox News:

Embattled Ferguson police chief to resign, sources say — FILE 2014: Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson will announce his resignation on Wednesday, sources tell Fox News. Jackson's department has been criticized after a Justice Department probe. (Reuters)

Discussion: CNN, Yahoo! News, Washington Post, The Right Scoop, The Week, The Last Refuge, Booman Tribune, The Gateway Pundit and New York Post

Christine Byers / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Ferguson police chief Thomas Jackson resigns — FERGUSON • Police Chief Thomas Jackson has resigned from the police department effective March 19. — In an exclusive interview, Jackson said he felt it was time for the city to move on. — “I believe this is the appropriate thing to do at this time,” Jackson said.

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, US News, TalkLeft, News One and New York Magazine

John Eligon / New York Times:
Ferguson Police Chief, Thomas Jackson, Expected to Step Down Amid Criticism

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Common Dreams, Talking Points Memo, US News, The Week, Mediaite and New York Magazine

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: Guardian, Foreign Policy, Outside the Beltway, Washington Monthly 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 Times of Israel, PoliticusUSA, The Moderate Voice, Politico and The Week

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times: Is It Sheldon Adelson's World?

Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:

eGhazi: Why Democrats and Hillary Clinton Need A Contested Primary — Share This: Digg! … As Laura Clawson deftly describes, the Media is turrible on its best days, but when the Clintons are involved, they reach seemingly impossible nadirs, and stay down there.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post and New York Times

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

Discussion: Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Taylor Marsh, Poynter, Politico and ABC News, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:
The Clinton Way: Hillary Follows a Familiar Script

Discussion: The Daily Caller

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

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

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: Washington Post, American Spectator, Raw Story, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo: No, Really: Lawmaker Busted For Sexting With Woman From Weiner Scandal

WTKR-TV:

Portsmouth Sheriff furious with judges after being told to remove American flag display from courthouse … Portsmouth, Va. - Portsmouth Sheriff Bill Watson says he is furious after a group of judges told him to take down an American flag display. — Sheriff Watson said his agency got …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Daily Caller

Caleb Bonham / Campus Reform:

EXCLUSIVE: California profs ‘unequivocally’ endorse American flag ban — An online letter supporting students at UC Irvine who wanted to ban national flags, including the American flag, from their organization's lobby, has over 1,200 signatures. — In a letter uncovered …

Discussion: protein wisdom, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Week

Benjamin Hardy / ArkansasTimes:

Casting out demons: why Justin Harris got rid of kids he applied pressure to adopt — Rep. Justin Harris blames DHS for the fallout related to his adoption of three young girls, but sources familiar with the situation contradict his story and paint a troubling picture of the adoption process and the girls' time in the Harris household.

Discussion: Raw Story, USA Today, Little Green Footballs, Daily Kos and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

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: Bloomberg Business, Daily Kos, National Review, Chicago, Mediaite, Washington Post, Salon, Joe. My. God., The PJ Tatler, RedState and Hot Air

Patrick Svitek / The Texas Tribune:

“Former Fetus” Signs Cause Stir at Capitol … Signs calling some state lawmakers former fetuses are causing a stir at the Capitol, with one representative accusing another of intimidating his staff by removing them. — One of the signs appeared Wednesday morning on the wall outside Rep. Jonathan Stickland's office.

Discussion: Jonathan Stickland, The Huffington Post, LifeNews.com, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Bloomberg Business and Mediaite

Des Moines Register:

Lisa Myers: TV journalism deteriorating — Let's start with a riddle: How can one spend months in Iowa and not have a favorite restaurant or bar or museum or park? — Be a correspondent for a national news network covering the Iowa caucuses, that's how. — “I must say that I rarely went …

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite and Hot Air

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:

IT Expert Says He Traced Hillary's Email Server To Manhattan Government Building [VIDEO] — Cyber-security expert Vinny Troia told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren on Tuesday that he traced the IP address of the server Hillary Clinton used to host the private email account she used as secretary …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Politico:

Susan B. Glasser — Susan Glasser is the Editor of POLITICO. She was also the founding editor of POLITICO Magazine, the award-winning publication featuring both long-form reporting and opinion journalism. Launched in November 2013, the magazine publishes daily online and bimonthly in print …

Discussion: Washington Post and FishbowlDC

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:

McCain: GOP letter to Iran not ‘most effective’ response — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the signers of the controversial letter to Iran's leadership, admitted Tuesday night that the letter might not have been the way to express frustration that President Obama isn't working with Congress on nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

Discussion: Horizons and Daily Kos

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: The Daily Beast, Political Wire, PoliticusUSA and The Reaction

Andrew DeMillo / The Baxter Bulletin:

Bill would allow Sen. Cotton to run for president — LITTLE ROCK - U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton is barely into his third month in office, but a lawmaker in his home state of Arkansas wants to pave the way for the freshman Republican to run for re-election and the White House in 2020.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, USA Today and OnPolitics

ProPublica:

Emails Reveal Lobbyist Had Undisclosed Role In Cuomo Financial Crisis Investigation — The Albany Times Union co-published a version of this story. — Previously undisclosed emails by a mortgage industry lobbyist doubling as a consultant for then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo show …

Discussion: Hot Air

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: Weekly Standard, Washington Free Beacon and Hot Air

Kim Hjelmgaard / USA Today:

11 presumed dead in military helicopter crash — Seven Marines and four crewmembers were missing and presumed dead Wednesday after an Army helicopter crashed during a training exercise in waters off the Florida Panhandle. — The area was under a fog advisory when the crash occurred Tuesday night near Eglin Air Force Base.

Discussion: CNN, The Last Refuge, Mediaite, Associated Press and The Atlantic Online

Igor Bobic / The Huffington Post:

Michele Bachmann Warns Of Impending Sharknado Outside White House — WASHINGTON — A star has been born. — Former Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on Tuesday starred in a cameo for “Sharknado 3,” the cult-classic fantasy movie series featuring vicious, airborne sharks riding deadly tornadoes from the sea.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, FishbowlDC and Mediaite