memeorandum: U.S. Exaggerates Islamic State Casualties (Eli Lake/Bloomberg View)

6:15 PM ET, March 13, 2015

Top Items:

Nick Gass / Politico:

Obama ‘embarrassed’ for GOP senators who signed Iran letter — President Barack Obama says he's “embarrassed” for the 47 Republican senators who signed a letter to Iranian leaders earlier this week. — “I'm embarrassed for them. For them to address a letter to the ayatollah who they claim …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Power Line, neo-neocon, Daily Kos, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New Atlanticist, American Spectator, Associated Press, Shakesville and The Daily Caller

Jonathan Capehart / Washington Post:

Tom Cotton picked apart by Army general over ‘mutinous’ Iran letter — The open letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran signed by 47 senators and instigated by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) was a stunning breach of protocol. One so outrageous that my former colleagues at the New York Daily News dubbed the signers “traitors.”

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, Jay Bookman and CNN

James Hohmann / Politico:

POLITICO Caucus: Iran-letter backlash spreads to early states — ‘Policywise, the deal Obama is trying to cut is a bad one. Politically speaking, however, the letter has been a disaster.’ — One-third of Republican insiders believe that Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and his GOP colleagues …

Discussion: Political Wire, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

Heidi Przybyla / Bloomberg Business:

GOP Senator Says Letter Shouldn't Have Been Addressed to Iran's Leaders — The letter 47 Republicans sent earlier this week warning against a nuclear deal President Barack Obama is negotiating with Iran probably shouldn't have been addressed to the regime's leaders, said Senator Ron Johnson, who signed the letter.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, The Federalist, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, PoliticusUSA, Mediaite, Washington Post and Politico

VICE News:
President Barack Obama: The VICE News Interview (Trailer)

Discussion: Political Wire and Twitchy

Mark Hensch / The Hill:
GOP senator has one ‘regret’ over Iran letter

Discussion: Daily Kos and Talking Points Memo

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:
Obama Just Plain ‘Embarrassed’ For GOP Over Iran Letter (WATCH)

Discussion: FreakOutNation

Adam C. Smith / Tampa Bay Times:

Here's what Scott Walker has to say about Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio — We sat down this morning with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is making his first New Hampshire campaign swing as a likely presidential candidate this weekend along with Jeb Bush. Naturally we asked him how he can compete …

Discussion: National Review, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, JSOnline, Washington Times, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Fox News, Washington Monthly, The Week, Althouse and Business Insider

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Hillary Clinton isn't running unopposed. She's just crushing the competition. — Jonathan Bernstein and Reihan Salam have written two smart articles on the Democratic presidential primary — or lack thereof — that are best read in tandem. Bernstein's article is meant to explain why it looks …

Discussion: Salon, Washington Post, Hot Air and The PJ Tatler

Kelly Weill / Capital New York:

Edits to Wikipedia pages on Bell, Garner, Diallo traced to 1 Police Plaza — Computers operating on the New York Police Department's computer network at its 1 Police Plaza headquarters have been used to alter Wikipedia pages containing details of alleged police brutality, a review by Capital has revealed.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, News One, Mediaite, Common Dreams, Hit & Run, The Week, Talking Points Memo, Gawker, Gothamist, The Verge, Daily Kos and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Morning Plum: Chaos in Congress is about to get a lot crazier — The quote of the week, one that will likely reverberate through the halls of Congress for many months to come, is this one from GOP Rep. Charlie Dent, lamenting the inability of the House GOP caucus to unite behind, well, anything at all:

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Balloon Juice

Keith Laing / The Hill:
The next looming shutdown: Highway programs

Discussion: The Week, RedState, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and BillMoyers.com

Julie Spatacean / Shift Washington:

More Seattle restaurants close doors as $15 minimum wage approaches — Seattle's $15 minimum wage law goes into effect on April 1, 2015. As that date approaches, restaurant across the city are making the financial decision to close shop. The Washington Policy Center writes that …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Hit & Run, Questions and Observations and Althouse

Washington Policy Center:
Seattle's $15 wage law a factor in restaurant closings

Discussion: ProfessorBainbridge.com

John Cook / Gawker Politburo:

Gawker v. Department of State — Today, Gawker Media filed a Freedom of Information Act complaint in U.S. District Court against the Department of State, seeking email correspondence between former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Philippe Reines and members of the news media.

Discussion: Politico, YouGov US Opinion Center News, Washington Post, ProPublica and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Erica Ritz / TheBlaze.com:

Glenn Beck Makes Big Announcement: NRA Told Me It's Opening Ethics Investigation Into Grover Norquist — Glenn Beck said Friday that NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre told him the organization is opening an ethics investigation into Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, WND, Right Wing Watch and The Right Scoop

Wilson / Glenn Beck:
Does this progressive GOP leader have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood?

Discussion: The Huffington Post and The Daily Caller

Joan Walsh / Salon:

“A lot of us are disappointed and angry”: Martin O'Malley sounds off to Salon — Martin O'Malley is having kind of a moment. — The former Maryland governor, who's exploring a run for the 2016 Democratic nomination, still doesn't break single digits in polls.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, Slate, Politico and Moe Lane

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:
Bernie Sanders isn't so sure about this 2016 thing

Discussion: New York Times, PoliticusUSA, Althouse and Washington Monthly

Tim Mak / The Daily Beast:

GOP Goes Ballistic Over Plan to Take The Iran Nuke Deal to the U.N. — The latest move in the nuclear negotiations with Iran could be to take them to the United Nations. And that will trigger a Republican hatefest for the ages. — The Obama administration hinted Thursday that it may take elements …

Discussion: Grist, Washington Post, emptywheel, Lawfare, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air, Common Dreams, Power Line, The Times of Israel, Politico and The Week

A.B. Stoddard / The Hill: A big mistake on Iran

Joanna Walters / Washington Post:

An 11-year-old reported being raped twice, wound up with a conviction — Almost seven years ago, a troubled 11-year-old girl reported that she had been raped — twice — in her Northwest Washington neighborhood. Despite medical evidence of sexual assault, records show that no suspects …

Discussion: Raw Story and Prairie Weather

Matt Flegenheimer / New York Times:

The Wet Wipes Box Says Flush, but the New York City Sewer System Says Don't — With its sewer system under siege, tallying millions of dollars in equipment damage across its underground maze, New York City is confronting a menace that has gummed the gears of plumbing networks around the world: the common wet wipe.

Discussion: Gothamist and Raw Story

Karina Catellani / Latin WE:

OPEN APOLOGY TO FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA FROM RODNER FIGUEROA — I offer my sincere apology for an unfortunate comment I made about a make-up artist's depiction of you on Univision's show “El Gordo y La Flaca” yesterday. It was clearly in bad taste and misunderstood.

Discussion: NPR, Washington Post, Mediaite, Twitchy, TMZ.com, Politico, Liberaland, OnPolitics, Talking Points Memo and The Huffington Post

Neil MacFarquhar / New York Times:

Putin, Said to Be ‘Perfectly Healthy,’ Is Also Nowhere to Be Seen — MOSCOW — Where's Putin? — It was the question preoccupying Moscow and much of Russia on Friday, as speculation mounted about why President Vladimir V. Putin had not been seen in public since last week.

Discussion: Reuters, Business Insider and NPR

al.com:

Alabama House passes contentious marriage bill after four hours of debate — After nearly four hours of debate, the Alabama House on Thursday passed a bill that gives judges, ministers and other officiants the right to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies.

Discussion: Politico, Yahoo! News and Towleroad News #gay

Eli Lake / Bloomberg View:

U.S. Exaggerates Islamic State Casualties — The war against the Islamic State has killed thousands of fighters and even some mid-level battlefield commanders, but the organization's senior leadership and nerve center remain largely untouched, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Post and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

The Obama administration doesn't trust Hillary — Of course Republicans don't trust Hillary Clinton when she claims she has turned over all government-related documents created on her secret email server. Some Democrats appear to have doubts as well. But surely Clinton's old colleagues …

Discussion: ProPublica, Washington Post, Hot Air, The Atlantic Online and Betsy's Page