Top Items:
Sara Jerde / Talking Points Memo:
Nikki Haley Dismisses SOTU Response Backlash: ‘I Stand By What I Believe’ — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) said Wednesday that she stands by her GOP response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, in response to criticism from real estate mogul Donald Trump and some conservative pundits.
Discussion:
Mother Jones and Mashable
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Eun Kyung Kim / TODAY.com:
Nikki Haley: Donald Trump has contributed to ‘irresponsible talk’ — South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley defended her response to Tuesday's State of the Union, confirming to TODAY's Matt Lauer she was referring to Donald Trump as one of the “angriest voices” she mentioned.
Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Nikki Haley: Damn right I was criticizing Trump in my SOTU rebuttal last night
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Carly Fiorina Slams Nikki Haley's Speech: “It Was The Wrong Note”
Discussion:
Politico, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, The Resurgent and Washington Post
Esther Yu-Hsi Lee / ThinkProgress:
The English And Spanish Versions Of The GOP SOTU Response Were The Same, Except On Immigration
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, Washington Post, Naked Politics, Daily Kos and Vox
Jordyn Phelps / ABC News:
Nikki Haley Tells Trump 'You Shouldn't Take These Things Personally'
Discussion:
The Daily Caller
Julia Hahn / Breitbart:
Republican Party Uses State of the Union Response to Attack Donald Trump
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Politico, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, WREG-TV, The Gateway Pundit and RedState
Caitlin Cruz / Talking Points Memo:
Steve King: Nikki Haley Could Be ‘Face’ Of GOP Because 'She's Beautiful'
Discussion:
AMERICAblog NewsAMERICAblog … and New York Times
David French / National Review:
Iran's Propaganda Victory in One Illegal Image — Here it is: — This photograph violates international law. Article 13 of the Geneva Convention (III), governing the treatment of prisoners of war, requires Iran to protect prisoners against “insults and public curiosity.”
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Daniel W. Drezner / Washington Post:
Anatomy of a moment in macho foreign policy posturing — In thinking about U.S. foreign policy, it's always best to count to 10 slowly before speaking. — An ongoing theme of Spoiler Alerts' foreign policy coverage is that a lot of allegedly smart people don't say terribly smart things when a foreign policy crisis is occurring.
Discussion:
Vox, Breitbart, Politico, War on the Rocks, The Gateway Pundit and American Spectator
New York Times:
Iran's Swift Release of U.S. Sailors Hailed as a Sign of Warmer Relations
Discussion:
Power Line, Washington Free Beacon, BBC, The Hill, jaybookman.blog.myajc.com, Fox News, Washington Monthly, The Hayride, Hot Air, addictinginfo.org, Pamela Geller, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress, WIVB-TV, American Spectator, Mediaite, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Joe.My.God., Prairie Weather and Business Insider
Carol Morello / Washington Post:
Obama administration to expand number of refugees admitted to U.S.
Discussion:
Breitbart, Mother Jones, New York Times, Slantpoint and ThinkProgress
Mike McIntire / New York Times:
Ted Cruz Didn't Disclose Loan From Goldman Sachs for His First Senate Campaign — As Ted Cruz tells it, the story of how he financed his upstart campaign for the United States Senate four years ago is an endearing example of loyalty and shared sacrifice between a married couple.
Joe Pompeo / Politico:
Al Jazeera America shutting down — Al Jazeera, which made a massive investment in covering the United States less than three years ago, is slamming the brakes on its American operation. — Al Jazeera America, a cable news channel that debuted in August 2013, is shutting down.
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John Koblin / New York Times:
Al Jazeera America to Shut Down in April — The cable news channel Al Jazeera America, which debuted in 2013 to great fanfare when it promised to cover American news soberly and seriously, is shutting down at the end of April. The move was announced at a companywide meeting on Wednesday.
Discussion:
USA Today, ProFootballTalk, The Daily Caller, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, The Verge, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Pamela Geller and Althouse
Streiff / RedState:
Ted Cruz Is Breaking Through the Establishment Firewall — Several times on RedState we've commented on how the GOP establishment seems to be poised to support and accept a Donald Trump candidacy if the alternative is Ted Cruz (here | here). What we are hearing comes mostly from the consultant/bottomfeeder class.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, New York Times and Washington Post
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Katie Glueck / Politico:
Why Cruz decided to take on Trump — DORCHESTER, S.C.—For months, Ted Cruz has laughed off Donald Trump's barbs, berated reporters who mentioned him and gone to near-comic lengths to publicly express enthusiasm for the real estate mogul's rival candidacy. — Cruz isn't laughing anymore.
Discussion:
Yahoo Politics, RedState, addictinginfo.org, BizPac Review, Business Insider, Betsy's Page and Real Clear Politics
Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
Donald Trump's Iowa Ground Game Seems to Be Missing a Coach
Discussion:
Daily Mail and Bloomberg Business
Luke Hammill / Oregonian:
Rancher: 'I didn't know anything' about Bundy entering property, destroying fence — “They didn't have my permission to do anything.” - rancher Tim Puckett, referring to Ammon Bundy's group. — BURNS — Tim Puckett, the rancher whose cattle graze private rangeland adjoining …
Discussion:
Guardian, Talking Points Memo and Associated Press
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OPB:
Militants Use Government Computers To Create Own Website — Editor's note: This story contains offensive language. — Among the militant members who have accessed government computers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, one is an Islamic State sympathizer and Adolph Hitler acolyte.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Oregonian, Daily Kos, addictinginfo.org, Raw Story, NPR and ATTN
CNN:
Bernie Sanders may break health care pledge — Keene, New Hampshire (CNN)Bernie Sanders could break his pledge to release details on how he would pay for his health care plan before the Iowa caucuses, according to a top aide. — His campaign released details Wednesday of how Sanders …
Discussion:
ABC News, Politico, Bloomberg Business, New York Times, TaxVox and RedState
RELATED:
Ezra Klein / Vox:
This is what makes Republicans and Democrats so different — MSNBC asked Benjy Sarlin, its reporter on the Republican race, and Alex Seitz-Wald, its reporter on the Democratic race, to flip jobs for a week and write up what they learned. Their conversation is worth reading in full, but something Sarlin wrote caught my eye:
Discussion:
MSNBC and The Moderate Voice
Michael Quander / WREG-TV:
Employees caught doing hair in Waffle House kitchen — FORREST CITY, Ark. — A couple of Forrest City Waffle House customers said they got more than expected with their meals early Friday morning. — “He was just coughing. Cough. Cough. Making noises like that,” Antonio Robinson said.
Discussion:
theGrio and FOX31 Denver
Dara Doyle / Bloomberg Business:
Trump New Favorite to Take Republican Nomination, Betfair Says — Donald Trump is the new favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination, Betfair said, less than three weeks before Iowa caucus-goers cast the first votes of the 2016 election. — The odds on a Trump victory are 15/8 …
Discussion:
Politico, The Resurgent and The Week
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Melinda Henneberger / Roll Call:
Pelosi: I'm Not for Abortion on Demand — House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sees the recent Republican attempt to defund Planned Parenthood as an “insult to the intelligence and judgment of women.” — Asked if she had watched any of the undercover sting videos of Planned Parenthood …
Discussion:
Politico, RedState, LifeNews.com, Hullabaloo, National Review and ABC News
Jonathan Swan / The Hill:
Upset Republican donors: Have we wasted our money? — Major GOP donors and fundraisers are wondering whether they're wasting their money on super-PACs. — They say they're not ready to abandon the super-PACs, but they're starting to look for ways to make them more effective during …
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