Top Items:
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
GOP braces for Pope Francis — The pope has become a political football. — Republicans want to use Pope Francis's visit to Congress this week — the first-ever by a pontiff — to highlight their opposition to abortion rights. — Democrats, meanwhile, hope the pope will lend new momentum …
Discussion:
Washington Post and FishbowlDC
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Peter Baker / New York Times:
Political Split Awaits Pope Francis on Eve of U.S. Visit
Political Split Awaits Pope Francis on Eve of U.S. Visit
Discussion:
Slate
John Siciliano / Washington Examiner:
Obama looks to use pope as leverage in climate fight
Obama looks to use pope as leverage in climate fight
Discussion:
Hot Air
Melinda Henneberger / Bloomberg Business:
Pope Francis' Political Critics Are Missing Something Fundamental
Pope Francis' Political Critics Are Missing Something Fundamental
Discussion:
Religion News Service, Politico and Daily Kos
Confidential / New York Daily News:
Susan Sarandon worries Pope Francis will be assassinated during New York visit
Susan Sarandon worries Pope Francis will be assassinated during New York visit
Discussion:
Raw Story
Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Carson doubles down on no Muslims in the White House — Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson is standing by his view that a Muslim should not be president of the United States, telling The Hill in an interview on Sunday that whoever takes the White House should be “sworn in on a stack of Bibles, not a Koran.”
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Jihad Watch, Talking Points Memo, Hit & Run, FOX News Radio, Right Wing Watch, Pamela Geller, National Review, Hot Air, New Yorker, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, The Other McCain, BREITBART.COM, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Bloomberg Business, The Moderate Voice, Liberaland, The Huffington Post, Patterico's Pontifications, CNN and NBC News
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Des Moines Register:
Cruz: Excluding Muslims from presidency is unconstitutional — It would be unconstitutional to disqualify a Muslim from the presidency because of religion, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Sunday. — “You know, the Constitution specifies there shall be no religious test …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, BizPac Review, Trail Blazers Blog and Mediaite
NBC News:
Ben Carson's Campaign Responds to Outrage Over Comments on Islam
Ben Carson's Campaign Responds to Outrage Over Comments on Islam
Discussion:
The Atlantic, Front Page Magazine, Raw Story, NPR, Informed Comment, RT, No More Mister Nice Blog and Scared Monkeys
Nick Gass / Politico:
Carson will not apologize for Muslim remark
Carson will not apologize for Muslim remark
Discussion:
Jihad Watch, Scared Monkeys and Talking Points Memo
John Wagner / Washington Post:
Bernie Sanders knocks Ben Carson for saying he wouldn't support a Muslim president
Bernie Sanders knocks Ben Carson for saying he wouldn't support a Muslim president
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint, Mediaite, Shakesville and ThinkProgress
edwardklein.com:
OBAMA READY TO ENDORSE BIDEN—WITH CONDITIONS — The talk in Democratic Party circles is that Barack Obama has told Joe Biden that he is prepared to endorse him for president if, in return, Biden promises to let Obama have a final say in the choice of his vice presidential running mate.
Discussion:
CNN, The Moderate Voice and Mock Paper Scissors
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Eric Bradner / CNN:
Poll: Clinton's lead over Sanders grows — If Joe Biden doesn't enter the race, Clinton's lead would grow to nearly 2-to-1 over Bernie Sanders — Washington (CNN)Hillary Clinton's lead in the Democratic presidential primary race has grown — and if Vice President Joe Biden decides to stay …
Daily Mail:
Drugs, debauchery and the making of an extraordinary Prime Minister: For years rumours have dogged him. Now, the truth about the shockingly decadent Oxford days of the gifted Bullingdon boy — The door was always shut, but anyone walking past might have caught a whiff of the sweet musky smell …
Discussion:
Entertain This!, Guardian, Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Mashable and Boing Boing
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Daily Mail:
David Cameron's debauchery laid bare in Lord Ashcroft's book Call Me Dave — Today we lift the lid on the extraordinary feud between David Cameron (left) and a billionaire Tory donor that has triggered the most explosive political biography of the decade. In the dynamite book …
Discussion:
The Independent, Business Insider, Spectator, Guardian and Metro.co.uk
Bobby Doherty / New York Magazine:
Far from destroying our democracy, he's exposing all its phoniness and corruption in ways as serious as he is not. And changing it in the process. — As the summer of Donald Trump came to its end — and the prospect of a springtime for Trump no longer seemed like a gag …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Prairie Weather
Joseph Goldstein / New York Times:
U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Afghan Allies' Abuse of Boys — KABUL, Afghanistan — In his last phone call home, Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father what was troubling him: From his bunk in southern Afghanistan, he could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought to the base.
Daily Mail:
Muslims are transforming Europe, says Art Garfunkel in warning over dangers of mass migration — While luvvies such as Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch queue up to condemn David Cameron for not allowing more migrants into Britain, one major entertainment figure has bravely voiced an alternative view.
Discussion:
Liberaland, Jihad Watch and John Hawkins' Right Wing News
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Put a Fork in Him — Jeb Bush says a new TV ad attacking his brother, put together by an outside Democratic group, is “disgraceful.” This comes after Jeb himself put out a meme after last week's debate embracing his “he kept us” safe line from his exchange with celebrity businessman Donald Trump.
Discussion:
Washington Post
John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:
Scott Walker Mounts a Last Stand in Iowa — It's been a thrilling—and harrowing—roller coaster ride for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. — First, the Republican presidential candidate suddenly rose and broke from the pack with a well-received speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit in January …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, National Review and Business Insider
Fredrick Kunkle / Washington Post:
Cancer-stricken children, parents ejected from park near White House — The U.S. Secret Service ordered hundreds of parents and their cancer-stricken children out of Lafayette Square on Saturday night, barricading the park for at least two hours and disrupting the group's plans for a candlelight vigil …
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler, RT, Fox News, The Daily Caller and Twitchy
Avi Issacharoff / The Times of Israel:
Boosted by nuke deal, Iran ups funding to Hezbollah, Hamas — Operating on assumption sanctions will be lifted, Tehran increases support to proxies, while freezing out Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal — On Sunday, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano …
Discussion:
Israel Matzav, Washington Free Beacon, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Pamela Geller
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Brother of pro wrestler Kurt Angle charged with homicide after wife found dead in Dormont home — On a well-groomed Dormont hillside Sunday, stunned neighbors struggled to grasp the news that one of their friends stood accused of killing his wife hours earlier in the home they had lived in for decades.
Discussion:
Associated Press, UPROXX and all
Todd Nickerson / Salon:
I'm a pedophile, but not a monster — I'm attracted to children but unwilling to act on it. Before judging me harshly, would you be willing to listen? — I was born without my right hand. As a child, this deformity quickly set me apart from my peers.