memeorandum: Andreas Lubitz: Knee-jerk reaction to 9/11 enabled mass murder (Simon Calder/The Independent)

2:10 PM ET, March 27, 2015

Top Items:

Harry Reid Says He Won't Seek Re-Election — WASHINGTON — Senator Harry Reid, the tough tactician who has led Senate Democrats since 2005, will not seek re-election next year, bringing an end to a three-decade congressional career that culminated with his push of President Obama's ambitious agenda against fierce Republican resistance.

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Harry Reid endorses Chuck Schumer to succeed him as Senate Minority Leader — Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) has endorsed Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to succeed him after he retires at the end of 2016. — “I think Schumer should be able to succeed me,” …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Business Insider, NPR, American Spectator and The Week

Manu Raju / Politico:

REID RETIRING — After a brutal eye injury, the 75-year-old Senate Democratic leader decides to forego another grueling campaign for reelection. — Harry Reid, a soft-spoken, uninspiring public speaker but savvy backroom political operator, plotted his way up the rungs of the Democratic leadership throughout his career.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Talking Points Memo, Roll Call, USA Today, FOX31 Denver, Politic365, Daily Kos, Associated Press and The Gateway Pundit

David Weigel / Bloomberg Business: Democrats May Find it Easier to Defend Reid's Open Seat

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:
Dem Rep. Titus considering bid for Reid's seat

Discussion: Politico and OnPolitics

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

GERMAN NEWS REPORT: Co-Pilot of Germanwings Airbus Was MUSLIM CONVERT ...'Hero of Islamic State'? — GERMAN REPORT —HE WAS RADICALIZED! … Police have reportedly found an “item of significance” at the apartment of the co-pilot who crashed the Germanwing passenger plane into the Alps this week.

Discussion: Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs, EveryJoe, Fox News Insider, Vox Popoli, BizPac Review, Israel Matzav, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Associated Press

Simon Calder / The Independent:

Andreas Lubitz: Knee-jerk reaction to 9/11 enabled mass murder — The ill-thought reinforced cockpit door has had catastrophic consequences — A leading aviation security expert has condemned the rules on cockpit access as a “knee-jerk reaction to the events of 9/11” - which, he says …

Discussion: Liberaland and FOX News Radio

New York Times:

Co-Pilot in Germanwings Crash Hid Medical Condition From Employer, Prosecutors Say — DÜSSELDORF, Germany — Documents show that Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot who is believed to have deliberately crashed a Germanwings jet into the French Alps on Tuesday, had a medical condition that he hid …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The Week, ABC News and Poynter

Kirsti Knolle / Reuters:
German pilot said to have suffered from depression, anxiety

Discussion: Guardian, The Week and Twitchy

David Edwards / Raw Story:
Pat Robertson: ‘Was the co-pilot a Muslim? Why did he want to kill all those people?’

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, The Hinterland Gazette, Liberaland, we hunted the mammoth and Mirror.co.uk

Yelp Official Blog:

An Open Letter to States Considering Imposing Discrimination Laws — A little over one year ago I wrote an open letter to then-Arizona Governor Jan Brewer requesting that she veto SB 1062, a bill that would have allowed businesses in the state to discriminate against consumers.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Addicting Info and Washington Post

Zack Ford / ThinkProgress:

How To Kill A Discriminatory ‘Religious Liberty’ Bill: Call The Bluff — Georgia State Sen. Josh McKoon (R) defends his “religious freedom” bill to a House committee. — CREDIT: AP Photo/David Goldman — Georgia lawmakers have been quickly advancing their own version of a …

Discussion: PQA, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Indianapolis Star

Matt Hennie / PQA:

Anti-gay bill suffers near fatal blow in state House — A last-ditch effort to add LGBT protections to an anti-gay “religious freedom” bill passed the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, prompting Republicans to table the controversial proposal. — The amendment from gay-friendly state …

Discussion: Political Insider blog, Towleroad News #gay and ThinkProgress

Manu Raju / Politico:

2016 brawl breaks out on Senate floor — Paul lashes Cruz, Rubio for ‘dangerous’ and ‘reckless’ positions on government spending. — The 2016 Republican nomination contest spilled onto the Senate floor Thursday, turning a marathon budget debate into a battle over which candidate is prepared to lead the country at a time of war.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, New York Times, The Week and FOX News Radio

David Lawder / Reuters:

Senate passes Republican budget with deep safety net cuts — (Reuters) - The Senate passed a Republican-authored budget plan early on Friday that seeks $5.1 trillion in domestic spending cuts over 10 years while boosting military funding. — The 52-46 vote on the non-binding budget resolution put Congress …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Shakesville, Hot Air and Daily Kos

James Hohmann / Politico:
Insiders pump the brakes on Cruz

Discussion: Hot Air, BostonGlobe.com and ABC News

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Mornings in Blue America — Two impossible things happened to the U.S. economy over the course of the past year — or at least they were supposed to be impossible, according to the ideology that dominates half our political spectrum. First, remember how Obamacare was supposed to be a gigantic job killer?

Discussion: Daily Kos, Addicting Info and Hullabaloo

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

The four faces of Cruz — At the risk of giving solace to the list of possible Republican candidates for the presidency, which seems larger than the starting offense for the Texas Longhorns, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) might have begun the implosion of his presidential candidacy the day after he announced it.

Discussion: Climate Denial Crock …, Daily Kos and US News

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Ted Cruz's Senate record by the numbers

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Here's why the Senate stalemate over the human-trafficking bill is so complex — “Just to refresh everybody's memory: Since 1976, all funding, all appropriations bills, and many authorization bills, including the Affordable Care Act and the Defense authorization bills, have been subjected …

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Jonathan Weisman / New York Times:
Senate Approves Budget of G.O.P. Wishes in All-Night Session

Discussion: Common Dreams and The Week

Avi Issacharoff / The Times of Israel:

Israeli official brands emerging Iran deal as ‘incomprehensibly’ bad — As Tehran hails ‘massive progress’ in talks, Jerusalem protests that regime ‘is working against American-Arab-Israeli interests without paying a price’ — As Iran hailed “massive progress” toward a deal on its nuclear program …

Discussion: Reuters, The Right Scoop and Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs

Michael Crowley / Politico:
Obama's Mideast ‘free fall’

Discussion: Hot Air, Pat Dollard, The Right Scoop, The Gateway Pundit and Booman Tribune

Jana Winter / The Intercept:

Exclusive: TSA's Secret Behavior Checklist to Spot Terrorists — Fidgeting, whistling, sweaty palms. Add one point each. Arrogance, a cold penetrating stare, and rigid posture, two points. — These are just a few of the suspicious signs that the Transportation Security Administration directs …

Discussion: The Hill, The Daily Caller, The Verge and Watchdog.org

Emily Flitter / Reuters:

Exclusive: Upset by Warren, U.S. banks debate halting some campaign donations — (Reuters) - Big Wall Street banks are so upset with Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren's call for them to be broken up that some have discussed withholding campaign donations to Senate Democrats in symbolic protest …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Better Markets, Washington Post and Common Dreams

Steve Peoples / Associated Press:

Gov. Scott Walker's Immigration Stance at Center of Dispute — A dispute over Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's position on immigration erupted on Thursday, highlighting the Republican's struggle to appeal to conservatives on the explosive issue as he prepares to launch a Republican presidential bid.

Discussion: Hot Air, ImmigrationProf Blog and Wall Street Journal