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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Charles Pierce / Esquire:
David Brooks Would Like You To Lower Your Voice — In which David Brooks would like gay people to lower their voices. — GETTY BRYAN BEDDER FOR THE NEW YORKER — Before we deal with the well-mannered moral monster that is David Brooks, we should dispense with some of the WeaselSpeak …
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.
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
Indianapolis Star:
Gov. Pence, fix ‘religious freedom’ law now
Discussion:
Washington Post, Political Insider blog, Cruz for President, Bloomberg Business, Forbes, LiberalAmerica.org, WALV-TV, Guardian, Reuters, New York Times, Newsmax, ThinkProgress, Little Green Footballs, The Daily Caller, Hit & Run, Poynter, US News, The Atlantic Online, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Advocate, Liberaland, The Huffington Post, Human Rights Campaign Blog, Freedom Indiana, Politico, NPR, The Week, GLAAD, The Hugh Hewitt Show, Mediaite, LGBTQ Nation, CNN, CBS Detroit, The Other McCain, Shakesville, Towleroad News #gay, The Moderate Voice, Raw Story, Chicago and The Daily Banter, more at Mediagazer »
Matthew J. Belvedere / CNBC:
NCAA president: Indiana law against our core values
Discussion:
Advocate, Talking Points Memo, WALV-TV, 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
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:
Salon, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, Power Line, Ed Driscoll, Vox, Hit & Run, 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, Vox, 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
UNFCCC:
United States Submits its Climate Action Plan ahead of 2015 Paris Agreement — The United States has submitted its new climate action plan to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). — This Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) comes well in advance …
Discussion:
The New Republic, NewClimate Institute, Common Dreams, Associated Press, NPR and RTCC
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Brian Deese / Medium:
We're taking action on climate change—and the world is joining us
Discussion:
Guardian, Firedoglake, New York Times, USA Today, The Verge, ABC, EcoWatch, Politico and Mashable
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, Daily Kos, 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
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:
Outside the Beltway, Power Line, American Spectator, protein wisdom and Ed Driscoll
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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
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
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, The Right Scoop and Pamela Geller, Atlas Shrugs
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
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
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