Top Items:


CBS News poll: Trump maintains commanding lead over GOP field — Donald Trump (35 percent) continues to hold a commanding lead over the rest of the field, with a 17 point lead over his closest rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz (18 percent). John Kasich (11 percent) has now risen to a virtual third-place tie with Marco Rubio (12 percent).
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Politico, Washington Post, Political Wire and USA Today
RELATED:

CBS News poll: The next Supreme Court justice, Obama, and the economy — The U.S. Supreme Court — With an unexpected vacancy on the Supreme Court as a result of Justice Antonin Scalia's death, it's unclear if he will be replaced before the November election.
Discussion:
CNN, Politico, NBC News, mprnews.org, Outside the Beltway, Political Wire and Washington Post


Donald Trump Falls Behind Ted Cruz in National NBC/WSJ Poll — Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has fallen behind Ted Cruz in the national GOP horserace, according to a brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. — In the poll, Cruz is the first choice of 28 percent …
Discussion:
Washington Post, CNN, Business Insider, Politico, The Daily Caller, The State, BostonGlobe.com, Refinery29, AOL, The Week, The Last Refuge, MSNBC, National Review, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Right Scoop, Bloomberg Business, New York Magazine, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Conservative Review, New York Times, Fox News, RedState, The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, TPNN, Political Insider blog, Florida Politics and Taylor Marsh


Mainstream G.O.P. Field of Three Faces Brutal Delegate Math — If the Republican Party remains divided for much longer, it will start getting more difficult for a mainstream candidate to win the nomination. — Yet Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and John Kasich all have incentives to stay in the race …
Discussion:
Shakesville


Trump leads Republican field nationally by more than 20 points: poll — Donald Trump has taken a more than 20-point lead over U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in the Republican race for the presidential nomination, bolstering his position ahead of the party's primary in South Carolina on Saturday …
Discussion:
Power Line

Ted Cruz Overtakes Donald Trump in Latest Republican Presidential Poll
Discussion:
Power Line, The Week, Mother Jones, RedState and The Resurgent


Controversy Erupts At A T14 Law School Over How (Or Even Whether) To Mourn Justice Scalia — How should one respond to the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, a controversial figure within the law? One can imagine a range of possible reactions, from mourning and tributes to criticism …
Discussion:
Althouse, Campus Reform, Instapundit, The Daily Caller and The College Fix
RELATED:


White House: Obama ‘regrets’ his filibuster of Supreme Court nominee — President Obama “regrets” filibustering the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in 2006, his top spokesman said Wednesday, though he maintains that the Republican opposition to his effort to replace Justice Antonin Scalia is unprecedented.
Discussion:
Politico, ABC News, Power Line, CNBC, The Daily Signal, The Week and CNN


The Republicans' Scalia Hysteria — A half-century ago, the brilliant British comedy troupe Beyond the Fringe produced “The End of the World,” a skit in which a group of cultists gather atop a mountain to greet the Apocalypse, prophesied for that very day. “Now is the end!” they chant.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather and New York Times


Summing Up Scalia — Getting right to the point:
Discussion:
Balkinization

Sandra Day O'Connor: Obama should name Scalia's replacement
Discussion:
addictinginfo.org, Slantpoint and The Week

Literal Holy Crap: Glenn Beck Says Scalia's Death Part of God's Plan to Elect Ted Cruz
Discussion:
CNN, addictinginfo.org and Raw Story

Why Justice Scalia was staying for free at a Texas resort
Discussion:
Political Wire, The Hill, New York Magazine, Business Insider, Prairie Weather and The Week

Ranch owner clarifies how he found Scalia amid conspiracy theories
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, Hot Air, Friendly Atheist, AOL, The Week, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, The Atlantic, USA Today and Mashable

Glenn Beck: God Brought About Scalia's Death So America Would Vote For Ted Cruz
Discussion:
The Last Refuge, Betsy's Page, Mediaite and Washington Post

Call for Obama to delay supreme court nomination is ‘absurd’, say legal scholars
Discussion:
Raw Story, New York Times and Refinery29

Blacks See Bias in Delay on a Scalia Successor
Discussion:
NBC News and Political Insider blog

Supreme Court Vacancy Has Left and Right Ready to Pounce
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Salon, ABC News, Common Dreams and Toledo Blade


MSNBC's Town Hall With Donald Trump Was Disgraceful — The media's coverage of Trump has been soft, insufficient, and without substance. — Is Donald Trump in trouble? After facing hostile questions from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski Wednesday night—they comprehensively laid out his flip-flops …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast and Mother Jones
RELATED:


Trump: I'll be ‘neutral’ on Israel and Palestine — GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Wednesday refused to pick sides in the conflict between Israel and Palestine. — “You know, I don't want to get into it,” he told hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski during a MSNBC town hall in Charleston, S.C.
Discussion:
Hot Air


Trump Mistakenly Thinks Description Of Sanders Is About Himself (VIDEO) — During a Wednesday night town hall moderated by MSNBC's “Morning Joe,” co-host Mika Brzezinski described a “political outsider” candidate, and Donald Trump incorrectly guessed that she was describing himself.


Apple Unlocked iPhones for the Feds 70 Times Before — A 2015 court case shows that the tech giant has been willing to play ball with the government before—and is only stopping now because it might “tarnish the Apple brand.” — Apple CEO Tim Cook declared on Wednesday that his company …
Discussion:
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Sputnik International, Washington Post, Slantpoint, New York Times, The Week, Infowars, Defense One, blog maverick, New York Magazine, Mashable, CBS Boston, Mother Jones, Ars Technica UK, Investor's Business Daily, Fox News, VentureBeat, The Verge, LawNewz, The People's View, alec.org, protein wisdom, Politico, Associated Press, NPR and The Atlantic
RELATED:


Apple can comply with the FBI court order
Discussion:
Guardian, Vox, TechCrunch, Washington Post, New York Magazine, ACLU, The Next Web, Mashable, The San Diego Union …, New York Times, Niskanen Center, The Daily Caller, CNN, Mediaite, Paste, The Resurgent, Business Insider, The Verge, Hit & Run, Techdirt, NPR, Common Dreams, fox13now.com, Raw Story, Sputnik International, MacRumors, The Atlantic, Daily Kos and Slantpoint


Obama ‘Hope’ designer endorses Sanders — Artist and activist Shepard Fairey, who designed the iconic “Hope” poster during then-Sen. Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, is backing Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders. — “I'm supporting Bernie Sanders …
Discussion:
Politico and Outside the Beltway


Pope Francis Rips Capitalism, American Immigration Policy at Mexican Border — Pope Francis, apparently desperate to reach out to the Catholic Church's growing base in Latin America, spent the day slapping Americans in the face from across the US-Mexico border.


'Don't f-k with me': Hear Kanye's uncensored ‘SNL’ meltdown — Kanye West blasted Taylor Swift as a “fake ass” and called NBC staffers “white m— s” during his epic meltdown backstage at “Saturday Night Live. In an audio clip exclusively obtained by Page Six, Kanye can be heard repeatedly yelling at …
Discussion:
CBS Philly, TMZ.com, Fox News Insider, Mashable, Gothamist, Consequence of Sound, The Daily Caller, Refinery29 and Just Jared

White House rips Schumer's ‘credibility’ on national security — The White House on Wednesday lambasted Sen. Chuck Schumer, calling into question his national security credentials after he criticized the Obama administration over homeland security funding. — New York officials …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, ABC News and Moe Lane
RELATED:

DeRay Mckesson, civil rights leaders to meet with Obama
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit

Rubio holds ‘town halls’ — with no audience questions — AIKEN, South Carolina — Marco Rubio's campaign events here have been billed as “town halls.” But if you're a South Carolina voter, don't expect to ask him a question. — On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Florida senator's campaign held four events …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Slantpoint, American Bridge PAC and Talking Points Memo
RELATED:

Is Jeb Bush Preparing Himself to Drop Out?
Discussion:
The Resurgent, Guardian, Politico, Hot Air and RedState


A Crank of the Far Right? — I have been vaguely aware of Milo Yiannopoulos for a while. He is a gay Brit who works for Breitbart News. Lately he has been embroiled in controversy on Twitter and on college campuses, but I hadn't paid enough attention to know what the fuss was about.
Discussion:
Star Tribune


Few fiscal, monetary policy moves left to fight global growth slowdown, Moody's warns — Risks have not yet crystallized: Moody's — Colin Ellis, chief credit officer for EMEA at Moody's, says economic risks are building up around the world. — Risks to global growth have increased since November …