Top Items:
New York Times:
Defying Criticism, Arkansas Legislature Passes Bill on Religious Freedom — LITTLE ROCK, Ark., — Despite intensifying criticism from business leaders both within and outside of Arkansas, the state legislature on Tuesday passed its version of a measure billed as a religious freedom law …
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Jill Lawrence / US News:
A Glimpse Into the GOP's Backward Bubble — Defending Indiana's anti-gay, ‘religious freedom’ law makes Gov. Mike Pence the face of GOP insularity. — If there's one takeaway from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's “religious freedom restoration” debacle, it's that Republicans ignore today's cultural environment at their peril.
Discussion:
CNNMoney, San Diego Gay and Lesbian, The Big Picture, Mashable, GLAAD and The Reaction
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
“Smoking Doesn't Kill” And Other Great Old Op-Eds From Mike Pence — The Indiana governor who is at the center of the debate surrounding the recently signed Religious Freedom Restoration Act in his state wrote some interesting op-eds 15 years ago. — “Time for a quick reality check.
Indianapolis Star:
Gov. Pence, fix ‘religious freedom’ law now — We are at a critical moment in Indiana's history. — And much is at stake. — Our image. Our reputation as a state that embraces people of diverse backgrounds and makes them feel welcome. And our efforts over many years to retool our economy …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Political Insider blog, Cruz for President, Bloomberg Business, LiberalAmerica.org, Forbes, WALV-TV, New York Times, Guardian, Little Green Footballs, Reuters, Newsmax, ThinkProgress, The Daily Caller, Hit & Run, Poynter, US News, The Atlantic Online, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Advocate, The Huffington Post, Liberaland, Politico, Human Rights Campaign Blog, Freedom Indiana, The Week, GLAAD, Mediaite, LGBTQ Nation, NPR, CNN, CBS Detroit, The Other McCain, Shakesville, Towleroad News #gay, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story, Chicago, Wall Street Journal and The Daily Banter, more at Mediagazer »
David Brooks / New York Times:
Religious Liberty and Equality — Over the past few decades the United States has engaged in a great struggle to balance civil rights and religious liberty. — On the one hand, there is a growing consensus that straight, gay and lesbian people deserve full equality with each other.
Discussion:
The Federalist, Equality Matters, RedState, The American Conservative and Balloon Juice
Brian Beutler / The New Republic:
The Real Consequences of Indiana's “Religious Freedom” Law — It's not about boutique wedding shops. What if Hobby Lobby refused to allow gay customers? — When Arizona's then-Governor Jan Brewer vetoed legislation last February to protect religious individuals and business owners …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, US News, Eschaton, FiveThirtyEight and Chicago Business
Matthew J. Belvedere / CNBC:
NCAA president: Indiana law against our core values
Discussion:
Advocate, WALV-TV, Talking Points Memo, myfox8.com, Outside the Beltway, Mediaite, Bloomberg Business and Chicago
Tracy Walsh / Talking Points Memo:
Malloy Piles On Pence: ‘When You See A Bigot, You Have To Call Them On It’
Discussion:
Advocate, governor.wa.gov and Balloon Juice
Charles Pierce / Esquire:
David Brooks Would Like You To Lower Your Voice
Discussion:
driftglass, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo and Advocate
David Weigel / Bloomberg Business:
Trevor Noah, From Progressive Icon to Villain in 24 Hours — Why people turned on Trevor Noah so quickly. — The media hot take, the quick response to unfamiliar news, generally ages like milk left out in the August sun. Sonia Saraiya's reaction to Trevor Noah, the new host of The Daily Show, has not even aged that well.
Discussion:
Power Line, Mediaite, Ed Driscoll, Vox, The Verge, Hot Air, WOOD-TV, The Daily Banter and Patterico's Pontifications
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Jessica Winter / Slate:
The Problem Isn't That Trevor Noah Is Offensive. The Problem Is That He's a Giant Dope. — Not since John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate have the vetting capacities of a powerful political force been cast into such doubt. When Trevor Noah was announced Monday as the next host …
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Washington Post, Hollywood Reporter, Salon, The Huffington Post, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Banter, New York Times and Unfogged
Adam Nossiter / New York Times:
In Nigeria's Election, Muhammadu Buhari Defeats Goodluck Jonathan — KANO, Nigeria — With anger swelling over corruption, inequality and a devastating Islamist insurgency in the nation's north, Nigerians chose a former general who once ruled with an iron hand to be their next president, according to election results on Tuesday.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, American Spectator, NPR and The Week
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Neil Eggleston / White House.gov Blog:
Upholding the Principle of Fairness in Our Criminal Justice System Through Clemency — Building on his commitment to address instances of unfairness in sentencing, President Obama granted 22 commutations today to individuals serving time in federal prison. Had they been sentenced under current laws …
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Hit & Run, Common Dreams and Horizons
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Terry Andre Barnes / The Huffington Post:
Obama Commutes 22 Drug Sentences, Instantly Doubling The Number Of Commutations He's Issued
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine and Horizons
BuzzFeed:
Rand Paul Said He Doesn't Believe In The Concept Of Gay Rights — Sen. Rand Paul said he doesn't buy into the concept of gay rights because they are defined by a gay person's lifestyle. — “I don't think I've ever used the word gay rights, because I don't really believe in rights based on your behavior …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Out Magazine, Hit & Run, Booman Tribune, No More Mister Nice Blog and PinkNews
Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Harry Reid's appalling defense of his attack on Mitt Romney's tax record — One of the more outlandish moments of the 2012 campaign came when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went to the floor of the world's greatest deliberative body and accused GOP nominee Mitt Romney of not paying any taxes at all for the past 10 years.
Discussion:
Power Line, Outside the Beltway, American Spectator, protein wisdom and Ed Driscoll
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Eun Kyung Kim / Today:
Elizabeth Warren on 2016: 'I'm not going to run' — and Hillary Clinton deserves ‘a chance to decide’ — Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a populist figure among the Democratic faithful after taking on Wall Street and the banking industry, reaffirmed to Savannah Guthrie on TODAY Tuesday that she has no plans to run for president in 2016.
Discussion:
Gawker, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway, New York Magazine, The Reaction and NPR
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Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Hillary Clinton Makes It Hard to Follow the Money
Discussion:
BREITBART.COM and Weekly Standard
Page Six:
Weinstein accused of molesting model — Harvey Weinstein leaves his home in New York City on Tuesday. The Hollywood exec faces accusations he groped Italian model Ambra Battilana (right). — A stunning 22-year-old model with ties to former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told police …
Discussion:
Daily Mail and The Daily Caller
Ben Domenech / The Federalist:
The End of Tolerance And Enforced Morality — Are you having a fun Culture War 4.0? It's certainly been a crazy ride for Indiana state representatives, who appear to be caving to pressure to “clarify” RFRA language after being assaulted for being anti-gay.
Discussion:
The Mahablog
Brian Deese / Medium:
We're taking action on climate change—and the world is joining us — Last November, President Obama stood in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping—and made history. — The leaders of the world's two largest economies—and two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases …
Discussion:
New York Times, Guardian, USA Today, The Verge, ABC, NewClimate Institute, EcoWatch, Common Dreams, Politico, Mashable and Associated Press
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David Dayen / Salon:
Barney Frank drops a bombshell: How a shocking anecdote explains the financial crisis — Barney Frank has a new autobiography out. He's long been one of the nation's most quotable politicians. And Washington lives in perpetual longing for intra-party conflict.
Discussion:
Bloomberg View
Lazar Berman / The Times of Israel:
Iran militia chief: Destroying Israel is ‘nonnegotiable’ — Basij commander Mohammad Reza Naqdi also threatens Saudis, saying their fate will be like that of Saddam Hussein — The commander of the Basij militia of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that “erasing Israel off the map” is …
Discussion:
Agence France-Presse, The Gateway Pundit, Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs and The Right Scoop
Dylan Byers / Politico:
The MSNBC ratings keep getting worse — Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for MSNBC, along came the quarterly ratings reports. — In both daytime and prime time, MSNBC endured its lowest quarterly demo numbers in a decade, and its total viewership since the final quarter of 2007.
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler
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Editor-in-Chief, AZ — 
