memeorandum: Journalism That Dare Not Speak Its Name (James Taranto/Wall Street Journal)

7:30 PM ET, February 26, 2013

Top Items:

Tim Mak / Politico:

Chuck Hagel clears Senate hurdle toward confirmation — The Senate voted 71-27 on Tuesday to end debate on Chuck Hagel's nomination to become secretary of Defense, ending a Republican campaign that forced Democrats to fight for every step toward confirmation, which is expected later in the day.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, CNN, Booman Tribune, Red Alert Politics, Lynn Sweet, Outside the Beltway and National Review

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

Rand Paul Explains His Surprise Vote For Chuck Hagel — “The president gets to choose political appointees,” Paul says. — Image by Gary Cameron / Reuters — WASHINGTON — Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said his support for a filibuster against Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel never meant that he would vote against Hagel's confirmation.

Discussion: Politico, Hit & Run and The American Conservative

Tom Vanden Brook / Associated Press:

Senate approves Hagel to lead Defense Department — The vote to confirm Chuck Hagel as Defense secretary came after debate was stopped. — WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 58-41 Tuesday to confirm Chuck Hagel as the new Defense secretary to succeed Leon Panetta, thus ending a contentious battle over his nomination.

Discussion: Advocate, The Gateway Pundit, The Fix, Joe. My. God. and No More Mister Nice Blog

Talking Points Memo: Senate Confirms Chuck Hagel As Defense Secretary

Fox News:
Senate approves Hagel for Defense secretary after historic nomination fight

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Sara Murray / Wall Street Journal:
Senate Backs Hagel for Defense Post

Discussion: National Review, Algemeiner.com, Lawfare, Washington Wire and Atlas Shrugs

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Hagel wins confirmation to lead Pentagon

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, A plain blog about politics, New York Times and Outside the Beltway

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Hagel Prevails in Senate After Bruising Bout With G.O.P.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Taylor Marsh, Addicting Info, The Week and American Prospect

Peter Brookes / Boston Herald:
Prez should pull Hagel's nomination

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and BREITBART.COM

Russell Berman / The Hill:

Boehner tells Senate to ‘get off their ass;’ Reid says GOP ‘sitting on their posterior’ — A salty Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Tuesday told members of the Senate to “get off their ass” and pass a bill to replace $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts, setting off an exchange with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Politico, Crooks and Liars, The Impolitic, Examiner, Associated Press, ABCNEWS, The Democratic Daily, Taegan Goddard's … and The Spectacle Blog

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

The Republican Sequestration Plan — Whether or not you agree with it, and whether or not it will work, President Obama's strategy on sequestration is perfectly obvious. His goal is to end the automatic budget cuts, which he regards as stupidly constructed and likely to harm the economy …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Marginal Revolution, Eschaton and The Reaction

Virginia / CNN:
Obama: Cuts are a ‘self-inflicted wound’

Discussion: Politico, The Democratic Daily and Taylor Marsh

Jake Sherman / Politico:
John Boehner's big bet

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Democratic Daily, The Maddow Blog, Fox News and The Hill

Ezra Klein / Wonkblog:
I don't understand the Republican position on the sequester

Discussion: The Week, Washington Examiner, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos and Mother Jones

Phillip M. Bailey / WFPL:

Liberal Super PAC Goes After Mitch McConnell's ‘Chinese’ Wife — A Democratic group is under sharp criticism for controversial online messages about Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's wife. — For months, the liberal super PAC Progress Kentucky has attacked McConnell and held demonstrations at his offices and home.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Taking Note, Wonkette, The Hill, Mediaite, Roll Call, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller and National Review

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

Liberal Super PAC Sends Racist Tweet About Mitch McConnell's Chinese Wife — A liberal super PAC in Kentucky is on the defensive after recently sending a racist tweet attacking Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) wife for being Chinese. — McConnell, running for reelection in 2014 …

Discussion: Post Politics

James Hohmann / Politico:
Tweets on Mitch McConnell's wife's race condemned

Discussion: CNN

John Stanton / BuzzFeed:
Liberals Accuse McConnell Of Favoring China Because Of Wife's Race

Discussion: TheBlaze.com and The Daily Caller

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Republicans Sign Brief in Support of Gay Marriage — WASHINGTON — Dozens of prominent Republicans — including top advisers to former President George W. Bush, four former governors and two members of Congress — have signed a legal brief arguing that gay people have a constitutional right to marry …

Greg Stohr / Bloomberg:
Apple Joins Morgan Stanley to Back Gay Marriage at Supreme Court

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Little Green Footballs

Josh Gerstein / Politico: 9th Circuit judges split over anti-Bush protest

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:
Meet The Republicans Telling The Supreme Court To Let Gay People Marry

Discussion: Daily Download, msnbc.com and The Hinterland Gazette

Kirk Semple / New York Times:

Wave of Immigrants Released Ahead of Automatic Budget Cuts — In a highly unusual move, federal immigration officials have released a wave of detainees from immigration detention centers around the country in an effort to save money as automatic budget cuts loom in Washington, officials said.

Discussion: Addicting Info, Hot Air and Prairie Weather

Franco Ordonez / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

In face of coming budget cuts, U.S. frees illegal immigrants from custody — WASHINGTON — The federal government released groups of illegal immigrants from custody across the country Monday at the same time the White House was making its case that impending budget cuts would harm efforts …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story, TheBlaze.com, The Daily Caller and Post Politics

Elise Foley / The Huffington Post:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Frees Detainees As Sequester Looms

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Arizona Daily Star, Washington Times, The Daily Caller and Wonkblog

Eliana Johnson / National Review:

No CPAC Invite for Christie Because of ‘Limited Future’ in Republican Party — New Jersey governor Chris Christie was not invited to address the Conservative Political Action Conference because of his position on gun control, according to a source familiar with CPAC's internal deliberations who requested anonymity to speak freely.

Discussion: Red Alert Politics, Daily Kos and Mediaite

Jeffrey Young / The Huffington Post:
Chris Christie Medicaid Plan To Offer Coverage To Poor New Jersey Residents

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, American Prospect, ABCNEWS and The Week

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Chris Christie takes Obamacare Medicaid expansion

Discussion: CNN and Mediaite

Salvador Rizzo / New Jersey Online:
Gov. Christie to announce expansion of Medicaid in budget speech, sources say

Discussion: New York Times, msnbc.com, The Plum Line, Hot Air and Wonkblog

Chris Moody / Yahoo! News:

Nikki Haley slams Washington after meeting with Obama — During President Barack Obama's meeting with U.S. governors at the White House Monday, the president dismissed members of the press to hold a private, hourlong discussion with the visiting state executives.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Hot Air

CNN:
Graham and McCain optimistic after White House immigration meeting

Discussion: Politico

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:
Right cheers Bob Woodward ‘fact check’

Discussion: Esquire, PERRspectives, National Review, The Daily Caller, NewsBusters blogs, TheBlaze.com and About.com US Politics

Numbers / Pew Research Center for the People …:

GOP Seen as Principled, But Out of Touch and Too Extreme — Images of the Parties: A Closer Look — OVERVIEW — At a time when the Republican Party's image is at a historic low, 62% of the public says the GOP is out of touch with the American people, 56% think it is not open to change and 52% say the party is too extreme.

Discussion: The Impolitic, Politico, Business Insider, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, American Prospect, Liberal Values, The Moderate Voice, The Fix and Taegan Goddard's …

Alex Seitz-Wald / Salon:

Bachmann: 'I didn't get anything wrong' — The Congresswoman touts her flawless run for the presidency and love of Beyonce — Tea Party Rep. Michele Bachmann has been laying low since last November's election when she came dangerously close to losing her House seat, possibly in preparation …

Discussion: The Raw Story

Arshad Mohammed / Reuters:

Kerry defends liberties, says Americans have “right to be stupid” — (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry offered a defense of freedom of speech, religion and thought in the United States on Tuesday telling German students that in America “you have a right to be stupid if you want to be.”

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Hill and Mediaite

BuzzFeed:

There's A Conservative Parody Of Michelle Obama's Evolution Of Dance Video — It was made by popular conservative blogger Michelle Malkin and it's definitely something. — Ryan Broderick — a half hour ago — 15 responses

Discussion: The Atlantic Online

Charlie Spiering / Washington Examiner:
ABC broadcast edits out Michelle Obama claim that Chicago teen was killed by an ‘automatic weapon’

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Mediaite and Weasel Zippers

Michael Doyle / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Who should pay to defend Larry Craig's bathroom antics? — WASHINGTON — A federal judge this week will confront the surprisingly important fallout from former Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig's 2007 bathroom arrest. — Craig's own money may be on the line Wednesday, but that's not all.

Discussion: Advocate, The Raw Story, Joe. My. God. and Towleroad News #gay

Andrew Stiles / National Review:

GAO Report: Obamacare Adds $6.2 Trillion to Long-Term Deficit — Obamacare will increase the long-term federal deficit by $6.2 trillion, according to a Government Accountability Office report that will be released today. — Senator Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.), who requested the report …

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air and Watchdog.org