memeorandum: Yemen Houthi rebels advance despite Saudi-led air strikes (Mohammed Mukhashef/Reuters)

6:25 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 Democratic 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, The Atlantic Online, Politico, New York Times, BuzzFeed, Mediaite, Business Insider, NPR, American Spectator, The Daily Caller, The Week and Twitchy

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: Wall Street Journal, Las Vegas Review-Journal, USA Today, Roll Call, OnPolitics, The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Politic365, Weekly Standard, FOX31 Denver, Associated Press and The Gateway Pundit

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Morning Plum: Liberal groups float Elizabeth Warren for Dem Senate leader

Discussion: Vox, New York Times, The Nation, Daily Kos, Bloomberg View, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

David Lawder / Reuters:
Senate passes Republican budget with deep safety net cuts

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

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

Discussion: Politico

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review: Good Riddance, Dirty Harry

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Breaking: Harry Reid to retire

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Betsy's Page, New York Times, Ed Driscoll, Pat Dollard, American Spectator and The Week

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: No More Mister Nice Blog, Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs, EveryJoe, BizPac Review, Fox News Insider, 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

Discussion: FOX News Radio and Liberaland

New York Times:
Co-Pilot in Germanwings Crash Hid Mental Illness From Employer, Authorities Say

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Guardian, euronews, Reuters, Scared Monkeys, The Week, Poynter and ABC News

Daily Mail:
Lubitz was sitting in this cockpit, pictured, when he commanded the jet to crash into the Alps at 400mph

Discussion: Speisa, Pat Dollard, LewRockwell and Vox Popoli

CNN:
Germanwings co-pilot had medical note for day of crash, hid illness, officials say

Discussion: New York Times, Addicting Info and Twitchy

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: Politico, The Hill, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Addicting Info, Washington Post and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

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 and Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Matt Hennie / PQA:
Anti-gay bill suffers near fatal blow in state House

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

Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:

Obama Admin Threatens U.S. Allies for Disagreeing with Iran Nuke Deal — LAUSANNE, Switzerland—Efforts by the Obama administration to stem criticism of its diplomacy with Iran have included threats to nations involved in the talks, including U.S. allies, according to Western sources familiar …

Discussion: Power Line, Townhall.com, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Wall Street Journal, RedState, Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs and VodkaPundit

Jon Stone / The Independent:
Saudi Arabia says it won't rule out building nuclear weapons

Discussion: RedState and Roger's Rules

Mohammed Mukhashef / Reuters:
Yemen Houthi rebels advance despite Saudi-led air strikes

Discussion: NPR

New York Times:
A Policy Puzzle of U.S. Goals and Alliances in the Middle East

Discussion: Business Insider, Politico, Vox and VodkaPundit

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:

GOP congressman: Ted Cruz backers are making boorish phone calls to my office — Rep. Peter D. King (R-N.Y.) is not a fan of Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texas senator, newly announced presidential candidate, and fellow Republican. — “To me, he's just a guy with a big mouth and no results,” he told CNN this week.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Trail Blazers Blog, Raw Story, Business Insider, Washington Times and Mediaite

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:
The four faces of Cruz

Discussion: Washington Post, Climate Denial Crock … and US News

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: Bloomberg Business, Elizabeth Warren for Senate, Hullabaloo, Firedoglake, Better Markets, Common Dreams, Washington Post, Moe Lane and Daily Kos

TIME:
How Liberals Hope to Nudge Hillary Clinton to the Left

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune and LESSIG

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: Raw Story, Hullabaloo, Politico, The Verge, Mashable, Common Dreams, The Daily Caller, The Hill, Watchdog.org and The Week

Todd Starnes / Townhall.com:

School Named After War Hero Forces Child to Shave Off Military-style Haircut — Adam Stinnett looks up to his older stepbrother - a soldier in the U.S. Army. So when it came time to get a haircut, the seven-year-old told his mother he wanted a basic military-style cut.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and FOX31 Denver

Kevin Lilley / Army Times:
Suspension threat, outcry over boy's ‘military haircut’

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Pat Dollard

Lena Dunham / New Yorker:

Dog or Jewish Boyfriend? A Quiz — Do the following statements refer to (a) my dog or (b) my Jewish boyfriend? — 1. The first thing I noticed about him was his eyes. — 2. We love to spend hours in bed together on Sunday mornings. — 3. He's crazy for cream cheese.

Discussion: Guardian, Mediaite, Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs, The Federalist, JP Updates, The Daily Caller and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:

Brits: Iran nuke deal would be vague, unwritten — No specifics, nothing written, perhaps not even anything that Iran and the international negotiating partners say as one—that's the most to expect out of the nuclear talks now running up against the deadline in Switzerland, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Friday.

Discussion: The Times of Israel, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Hot Air

Avi Issacharoff / The Times of Israel:
Israeli official brands emerging Iran deal as ‘incomprehensibly’ bad

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

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Review of Rolling Stone's UVA rape story is long and damning — The highly anticipated review of Rolling Stone's disputed story about a University of Virginia gang rape was submitted to the magazine this week, the On Media blog has learned, and its contents are apparently quite damning.

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Peter Baker / New York Times:

For G.O.P., Support for Israel Becomes New Litmus Test — WASHINGTON — When former Secretary of State James A. Baker III accused Israel's leader this week of undermining the chances of peace in the region, he said nothing more than the kinds of things he had said at times when he was in office a quarter-century ago.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Free Beacon and Outside the Beltway

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Records on Cheney's shooting incident to be released — The National Archives is preparing to release a set of White House records relating to the 2006 incident in which Vice President Dick Cheney shot one of his hunting partners during an outing in Texas. A slew of official photos …

Discussion: Fox News