memeorandum: The Capitulationist — The Obama administration refuses … (Bret Stephens/Wall Street Journal)

10:20 AM ET, April 1, 2015

Top Items:

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:

The Left wages total war; and then plays victim — On one side is the CEO of the world's largest company, the president of the United States and a growing chunk of the Fortune 500. On the other side is a solo wedding photographer in New Mexico, a 70-year-old grandma florist in Washington and a few bakers.

Discussion: alicublog and The Anchoress

Alyssa Marino / ABC57 News:

RFRA: First Michiana business to publicly deny same-sex service — A small-town pizza shop is saying they agree with Governor Pence and the signing of the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act. — The O'Connor family, who owns Memories Pizza, says they have a right to believe in their religion and protect those ideals.

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay and Balloon Juice

Politico:

Indiana law backs GOP hopefuls into a corner — Mike Pence just lobbed a grenade into the Republican presidential field. — The Indiana governor's religious freedom law has ignited yet another controversial culture war debate that has Republican contenders juggling awkward questions about issues they would just as soon not touch.

Discussion: Washington Post, Balloon Juice, Betsy's Page, Bloomberg View, Political Wire, The Huffington Post, National Review and PinkNews

Michael Falcone / ABC News:

The Note: Obama's Latest Numbers … NOTABLES — A FLATTENED APPROVAL RATING IS SOFTENED BY SOME UNDERLYING GAINS for Barack Obama in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll — with no sign of tailwinds for the Republicans in Congress. After a 9-point jump in overall approval in January …

Discussion: Associated Press and abc7news.com

Mark Berman / Washington Post:
Arkansas lawmakers approve religious liberty bill despite firestorm over Indiana law

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air, The Daily Banter, Slate, Alliance Defending …, Daily Mail, Cruz for President, The Daily Caller, Arkansas Online and New York Magazine

David Brooks / New York Times:
Religious Liberty and Equality

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, New York Magazine, Hot Air, RedState, Forbes, The American Conservative, The Federalist, Equality Matters, Balloon Juice, Weekly Standard and Wall Street Journal

New York Times:
Defying Criticism, Arkansas Legislature Passes Bill on Religious Freedom

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Slate, National Review, myfox8.com, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay, The Week, WALV-TV, CNBC, Hit & Run and Outside the Beltway

Dana Liebelson / The Huffington Post:
Arkansas Legislature Copies Indiana, Passes Controversial Religious Freedom Bill

Discussion: USA Today, Washington Post, RedState, Outside the Beltway, Common Dreams, New York Times, Reuters, Business Insider, Daily Kos, UPI, Hit & Run, BuzzFeed, Religion Clause, ThinkProgress and Southwest Times Record

New York Times:
Bills on ‘Religious Freedom’ Upset Capitols in Arkansas and Indiana

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Vox, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Political Wire, Advocate, San Diego Gay and Lesbian, Liberaland and The Moderate Voice

Jill Lawrence / US News:
A Glimpse Into the GOP's Backward Bubble

Discussion: TIME, CNNMoney, National Review, Mashable, The Big Picture, Towleroad News #gay, Talking Points Memo and The Reaction

Danielle Kloap / Arkansas Online:
HB1228 passes House, heads to governor

Discussion: Arkansas Online, Religion Clause and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:
The Real Consequences of Indiana's “Religious Freedom” Law

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, US News, FiveThirtyEight, Yahoo! Finance and Washington Post

Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:

The Capitulationist — The Obama administration refuses to negotiate openly, lest the extent of its diplomatic surrender to Iran be prematurely and fatally exposed. — For a sense of the magnitude of the capitulation represented by Barack Obama's Iran diplomacy, it's worth recalling …

Discussion: Power Line, Washington Free Beacon and The Tower

Heather Haddon / Wall Street Journal:

Dick Cheney: No Good Can Come From Iran Nuclear Talks — WOODLAND PARK, N.J.—Former Vice President Dick Cheney attacked the Obama administration over its effort to seek an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, and said that the next president needs to repair the U.S.'s relationships with Europe and the Middle East.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Frédéric Helbert / Le fil info Royal Blog de …:

EXCLUSIVE: THE FINAL MOMENTS BEFORE THE CRASH — A short video found on the site of the crash appears to confirm the data recovered from one of the two black boxes of the A320. — Paris Match and Bild obtained a video taken during the final seconds of the fated Germanwings flight 4U9525 …

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Telegraph, Mashable, RT, Fox News Insider, Mediaite, The Week and CBS DC

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:

Could Another Democrat Beat Hillary Clinton? Strategists Offer a Blueprint — She has been called inevitable. The can't-be-stopped candidate. Hillary Rodham Clinton is such an overwhelming favorite in presidential primary polls that most prominent Democrats are taking a pass on challenging her.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Eun Kyung Kim / Today:
Elizabeth Warren on 2016: 'I'm not going to run' — and Hillary Clinton deserves ‘a chance to decide’

Discussion: The Hill, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, New York Magazine, The Reaction and Wall Street Journal

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:
Hillary Clinton Makes It Hard to Follow the Money

Discussion: BREITBART.COM

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

IRS chief to GOP: You can't abolish us — The IRS commissioner on Tuesday brushed aside GOP proposals to abolish his agency, insisting the U.S. would have to have a tax collector one way or another. — “You can call them something other than the IRS if that made you feel better,” …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

TMZ.com:

Joni Mitchell — Legendary '60s Singer Hospitalized — LEGENDARY SINGER HOSPITALIZED — EXCLUSIVE — 3:00 AM PT — Joni is still in intensive care, but her people say she is “awake and in good spirits.” We've learned she had a surgical procedure some time after arriving at the hospital on Tuesday.

Discussion: New York Times, BuzzFeed and Towleroad News #gay

Jason Horowitz / New York Times:

Scott Walker, Allergic to Dogs, May Run Against Political History — Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and his wife, Tonette, had planned to spend a recent Friday night at the Nashua home of Jennifer Horn, the New Hampshire Republican chairwoman. — Then he heard about Al, the Horns' beloved Dalmatian-Catahoula Leopard mix.

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, New York Magazine and The Daily Beast

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: Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, Althouse, TIME, Hollywood Reporter, The Huffington Post, The Week, The Daily Banter, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Unfogged

David Weigel / Bloomberg Business:
Trevor Noah, From Progressive Icon to Villain in 24 Hours

Discussion: Steyn Online, BizPac Review, Raw Story, Mediaite, Salon, Ed Driscoll, Power Line, The Verge, Vox, WOOD-TV, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon, Patterico's Pontifications and Hit & Run

Dave Itzkoff / New York Times:
Comedy Central Stands Behind Trevor Noah, New ‘Daily Show’ Host, Amid Scrutiny

Discussion: Mondoweiss, The Week, CBS New York, The Atlantic Online, The Daily Caller, The PJ Tatler, Christian Science Monitor, Obsidian Wings and The Huffington Post

Los Angeles Times:

Andrew Getty's death does not appear to involve foul play, authorities say — Authorities investigating the death of Andrew Getty, an heir to the Getty oil fortune, said a preliminary investigation suggests foul play was not involved. — The death appeared to be natural or an accident …

Discussion: The Week, BuzzFeed, Scared Monkeys, TMZ.com, New York Magazine and FOX40

Bloomberg Business:

Obama's Next Move May Be Lifting U.S. Protection of Israel at UN — (Bloomberg) — While the world remains fixated on the negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, the Obama administration is facing another foreign policy showdown in the United Nations Security Council.

Washington Post:

How a Bush-allied nonprofit could inject more secret money into '16 race — Jeb Bush has given his tacit endorsement to a new group that can collect unlimited amounts of money in secret, part of a bold effort by his advisers to create a robust external political operation before he declares his expected White House bid.

Discussion: Reuters and Prairie Weather

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 …

Discussion: LiberalAmerica.org, driftglass, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Huffington Post, Little Green Footballs, BarbWire.com and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

The White House:

FACT SHEET: U.S. Reports its 2025 Emissions Target to the UNFCCC — State Department Submits President Obama's Ambitious 2025 Target to Cut U.S. Climate Pollution by 26-28 Percent from 2005 Levels — To view the INDC submission, click HERE. — Building on the strong progress …

Discussion: Washington Post, RTCC, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, BarbWire.com, Hit & Run and Guardian