memeorandum: Army won't suspend contracts with Al Qaeda-tied companies, citing ‘due process rights’ (Judson Berger/Fox News)

1:10 PM ET, August 5, 2013

Top Items:

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Republicans Against Reality — Last week House Republicans voted for the 40th time to repeal Obamacare. Like the previous 39 votes, this action will have no effect whatsoever. But it was a stand-in for what Republicans really want to do: repeal reality, and the laws of arithmetic in particular.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Business Insider, The Mahablog, Politico, Daily Kos, Paul Krugman and Post Politics

Stan Collender / Stan Collender's Capital Gains …:

Budget Bedlam This Fall — August actually is a pretty good time to be in Washington. — Yes, the weather usually is awful. But with Congress gone, getting to work isn't as stressful because there's less demand on roads and public transit. You can get up later and still get to work on time.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and CNNMoney.com

Associated Press: House GOP plans anti-Washington push in August

Reuters:

Exclusive: U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans — (Reuters) - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Hill, The Verge, Weasel Zippers, emptywheel, Gawker, Taegan Goddard's …, The Switch, Hit & Run, Hot Air, The Hinterland Gazette, Dean's World, The Lonely Conservative and VodkaPundit

Hilary Andersson / BBC:

Boston bomber ‘had far-right papers’ — What was behind Boston bombing? Hilary Andersson reports — One of the brothers suspected of carrying out the Boston bombings was in possession of right-wing American literature in the run-up to the attack, BBC Panorama has learnt.

Discussion: Jihad Watch, The Jawa Report, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller, The Raw Story, Business Insider and Jammie Wearing Fools

Associated Press:

Dead people gave nearly $600K to campaigns since 2009 — WASHINGTON — The dead can't vote, but they can give money to politicians. — Thirty-two people listed on federal campaign records as “deceased” have contributed more than $586,000 to congressional and presidential candidates …

Discussion: Ballot Box, Reuters, CBS DC, The Raw Story, Real Clear Politics and Jammie Wearing Fools

CBS News:

U.S. still on edge in face of uncovered terror plot — (CBS News) American embassies and consulates will remain closed in 19 Middle Eastern and African countries through Saturday as intelligence officials analyze communications intercepted of senior al Qaeda leaders discussing attacks against unspecified Western targets.

Discussion: CBS DC, The PJ Tatler and Hot Air

Judson Berger / Fox News:
Army won't suspend contracts with Al Qaeda-tied companies, citing ‘due process rights’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:
U.S. Extends Closing of Some Diplomatic Posts

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CBS News, msnbc.com, The Week, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Foreign Policy, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air and Guardian

New York Times:

The Last Temptation of Tina Brown — On Nov. 12, 2010, Tina Brown gathered the staff of her Web site The Daily Beast in the third-floor conference room at its Chelsea offices with its commanding views of the Hudson. Brimming with the fervor she has brought to all her endeavors …

Discussion: Politico, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, TheBlaze.com, Gawker, Business Insider, The Huffington Post and Poynter, more at Mediagazer »

Andrea Chang / Los Angeles Times:
Newsweek sold again, this time to digital news company IBT Media

Discussion: Capital New York and Ed Driscoll, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:

Congress's ObamaCare Exemption — The President intervenes to give Members and staff a break. — To adapt H.L. Mencken, nobody ever went broke underestimating the cynicism and self-dealing of the American political class. Witness their ad-libbed decision, at the 11th hour and on the basis …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, Real Clear Politics, americanthinker.com, Betsy's Page and American Power

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Obamacare message war goes local

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Twitchy, Hot Air, americanthinker.com, Michelle Malkin, NewsBusters, The Lonely Conservative, Heritage Action for America and VodkaPundit

Mike Flynn / BREITBART.COM:

EXCLUSIVE-RNC TO NBC, CNN: DUMP HILLARY DOCS OR WE WILL DUMP DEBATES — On Monday, RNC Chair Reince Priebus sent stinging letters to NBC and CNN concerning their recently announced decisions to produce films celebrating the life of Hillary Clinton. The RNC sees the odd programing move …

Discussion: Andrew Kaczynski, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mediaite and Joe. My. God.

Jillian Rogers / GOP.com:

RNC Chairman Calls on NBC and CNN to Stop Promoting Hillary Clinton — RNC will not partner with networks in 2016 primary debates — WASHINGTON - Today Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus sent a letter to Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment …

Discussion: Washington Wire, LifeNews.com, Hot Air and The Gateway Pundit

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

G.O.P. Governors Warn Party Members in Congress Not to Shut Government — MILWAUKEE — Worried about the potential impact on the fragile economies in their states, Republican governors this weekend warned their counterparts in Congress not to shut down the federal government as part of an effort …

Discussion: msnbc.com, National Review, ThinkProgress, The Plum Line, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Prairie Weather and Booman Tribune

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:

McConnell slams GOP challenger as ‘Bailout Bevin’ in new ad — Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) reelection campaign is out with a new ad hitting Tea party challenger Matt Bevin as “bailout Bevin” and highlighting a number of tax liens assessed on his business and vacation home.

Discussion: CNN

Joseph Gerth / Courier-Journal:
Mitch McConnell targets Obama; Alison Lundergan Grimes aims at McConnell at Fancy Farm

Discussion: Yahoo! News

Perry Stein / Talking Points Memo:
Tea Party Challenger To McConnell: ‘Be A Man, Run On Your Record’

Discussion: The Other McCain

Prof Mark Post / BBC:

World's first lab-grown burger is eaten in London — The world's first lab-grown burger was cooked and eaten at a news conference in London on Monday. — Scientists took cells from a cow and, at an institute in the Netherlands, turned them into strips of muscle that they combined to make a patty.

Discussion: Althouse

Alok Jha / Guardian:
Google's Sergey Brin bankrolled world's first synthetic beef hamburger

Discussion: Hot Air, Death and Taxes and The Week

Sarah Lacy / PandoDaily:

Olivia Nuzzi won't defend herself against the latest lies, so allow me — I'm no stranger to receiving hate and abuse on the Internet, and beyond. I'm not going to link to any of it in this post, but if you've been following my career or Pando for a while you've probably seen it.

Discussion: FishbowlDC, Mediaite and The Daily Caller

Robert Draper / New York Times:

Steve Schmidt Says Republican Campaigns Haven't Changed. But They Will. — You've been hired by the A.C.L.U. to win over Republicans on same-sex marriage. What's the argument that you make to those who are resistant? — A few years ago, there was universal agreement in the party that marriage is between one man and one woman.

Discussion: The Fix

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

New study finds vast online marketplace for guns without background checks — The marketplace for firearms on the Internet, where buyers are not required to undergo background checks, is so vast that advocates for stricter regulations now consider online sales a greater threat than the gun show loophole.

Discussion: Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Wonkblog, The Raw Story and The PJ Tatler

Benjamin Wallace-Wells / New York Magazine:

What Is Chris Christie Doing Right? — He's hugely popular in a state way to his left. He's unafraid to take on a national party considerably to his right. And he's most adored when he's acting reprehensibly. — In New Jersey, charisma is a blunt instrument.

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Reaction

Shushannah Walshe / ABC News:

The ‘Hottest Politicians’ in the Country? Christie and Clinton — Quinnipiac University is out with a new type of poll Monday, surveying the “hottest politicians” in the country. — In the poll of voter attitudes toward the country's major political figures, the “hottest” …

Discussion: The Political Carnival