memeorandum: Op-Ed California has about one year of water left. Will you ration now? (Jay Famiglietti/Los Angeles Times)

1:40 AM ET, March 15, 2015

Top Items:

This is why it's impossible for the Kremlin to lie about Putin's weird disappearance — The president's carefully cultivated image rests on never showing weakness. — It's been more than a week now since anybody's seen Russian President Vladimir Putin. He had a mundane meeting …

Discussion: France 24, Patterico's Pontifications, Mediaite, Telegraph, Hullabaloo, Bloomberg View, Business Insider, NPR, New York Times and Reuters

Tom / The War Room:

If Putin Dies — Buh bye? — Is Vladimir Putin dead? — Who knows? — What's clear is that something has been going on in Moscow for at least a week, and whatever it is, the Kremlin prefers that it remain a secret. Russian reporters - a vastly more intrepid and courageous group …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Moe Lane and New York Magazine

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Santorum: Obama ignoring evil — Former Sen. Rick Santorum, who is weighing a 2016 presidential bid, accused President Obama on Saturday of ignoring evil. — In his speech to a conservative audience at the National Security Action Summit in South Carolina, Santorum blasted …

Discussion: Political Wire

Colbert I. King / Washington Post:

The GOP takes it a letter too far — “To the President of the United States,” intoned the master of ceremonies. Members of an Army advocacy group and active-duty soldiers stationed in the Buffalo area rose to their feet for the toast. The year was 1962, John F. Kennedy was president …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Hugh Hewitt Show

Joshua Muravchik / Washington Post:
War with Iran is probably our best option

Discussion: The Huffington Post, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Talking Dog, Hot Air, Hullabaloo, Liberal Values, CANNONFIRE, The Atlantic Online, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Chicago, The Federalist and USA Today

Dan Williams / Reuters:

Flagging before election, Netanyahu ramps up rhetoric — (Reuters) - Flagging in opinion polls before Tuesday's election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to rally Israeli rightists by casting his centre-left challengers as tools of a global campaign to usurp power.

Discussion: Jerusalem Post, Slate, PoliticusUSA, The Moderate Voice, Liberaland, FOX News Radio, American Spectator and Haaretz

Steven Edwards / Fox News:

Source: Senate panel probing possible Obama administration ties to anti-Netanyahu effort — A powerful U.S. Senate investigatory committee has launched a bipartisan probe into an American nonprofit's funding of efforts to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Obama …

Discussion: The Times of Israel and FOX News Radio

Mark Green / fox13now.com:

Body camera captures incredible rescue of baby Lily from car in Spanish Fork River — WARNING: The videos in this story contain raw footage of emergency crews responding to a crash that left a woman dead and her daughter in critical condition. Some may find some of the images disturbing, viewer discretion is advised.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, fox8.com, Raw Story and FOX2now.com

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

As governor, Jeb Bush used e-mail to discuss security, troop deployments — Jeb Bush used his private e-mail account as Florida governor to discuss security and military issues such as troop deployments to the Middle East and the protection of nuclear plants, according to a review of publicly released records.

Discussion: Political Wire and Balloon Juice

Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Jeb Bush, a Clinton Critic, Took Time Releasing His Own Emails

Discussion: OpposingViews.com, @politifact, Hot Air, Bloomberg Business, FOX News Radio, Reuters and Wall Street Journal

Benjamin Mueller / New York Times:

Housemate Takes Blame for Shining Laser at Planes in Bronx — After being charged this week with injuring several pilots by shining a laser beam at their planes, Frank J. Egan was held up as a pest, his arrest an example of pinpoint investigative work leading the authorities to a typically elusive target.

Discussion: Gothamist and New York Magazine

Joe Raedle / National Review:

It's Hillary All the Way Down — If you want to know what Hillary Clinton would be like as president, you're seeing it right now. … Dear Reader (including some intrepid Indiana Jones of the future who will one day stumble on the last missing piece of the “Clintonemail” …

Discussion: Twitchy and Moe Lane

Glenn Thrush / Politico:
Hillary Clinton's fear of the trail

Discussion: Political Wire and Ed Driscoll

Washington Post:

Mitt Romney warms to Marco Rubio as young senator cultivates relationship — Sen. Marco Rubio has been cultivating a relationship with Mitt Romney and his intimates, landing some of the 2012 Republican nominee's top advisers and donors and persistently courting others as he readies an expected 2016 presidential campaign.

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Matthew Rosenberg / New York Times:

C.I.A. Cash Ended Up in Coffers of Al Qaeda — WASHINGTON — In the spring of 2010, Afghan officials struck a deal to free an Afghan diplomat held hostage by Al Qaeda. But the price was steep — $5 million — and senior security officials were scrambling to come up with the money.

Discussion: Business Insider, Mediaite and Lawfare