memeorandum: Graham: Obama ‘Weak And Indecisive’ Which ‘Invites Aggression’ (VIDEO) (Caitlin MacNeal/Talking Points Memo)

9:55 AM ET, March 3, 2014

Top Items:

Pressure Rising as Obama Works to Rein In Russia — WASHINGTON — As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, President Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully.

Discussion: The Plum Line, Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg View, The Week, Business Insider, Telegraph, kyivpost.com and Balloon Juice

Washington Post:

President Obama's foreign policy is based on fantasy — FOR FIVE YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. It was a world in which “the tide of war is receding” and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces.

Discussion: Politico, Mediaite, American Thinker, ABC News, The Week and Outside the Beltway

Russell Berman / The Hill:

US moves to isolate Russia from ‘community of civilized nations’ — The Obama administration on Sunday worked to isolate Russia on the world stage even as its president, Vladimir Putin, showed no signs of rolling back his military intervention in Ukraine. — President Obama spoke by phone …

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, kyivpost.com, The Dish, The Week, The Democratic Daily, Scared Monkeys and The Moderate Voice

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Here's What Is Going To Happen With Ukraine — Following up on the previous post, if you do want to fret about Ukraine, I have just the thing for you. I'm going to tell you how this will all unfold: — Vladimir Putin will do something belligerent. (Already done.)

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Kevin Sieff / Washington Post:

Interview: Karzai says 12-year Afghanistan war has left him angry at U.S. government — KABUL — Hamid Karzai was in the midst of negotiating a security agreement with the United States when he met a 4-year-old girl who had lost half her face in an American airstrike.

Discussion: Guardian and Booman Tribune

Ben Judah / Politico:

Why Russia No Longer Fears the West — The Kremlin sees its evidence in the former leaders of Britain, France and Germany. Tony Blair now advises the dictatorship in Kazakhstan on how to improve its image in the West. Nicholas Sarkozy was contemplating setting up a hedge fund with money from absolutist Qatar.

Discussion: The Fix, New York Times, Gawker and Foreign Policy

New York Times:

Russia's Aggression — There was a lot to criticize about the way President Viktor Yanukovych's government was thrown out in Ukraine and hurriedly replaced with an interim team. The victorious opposition should have known how critical it was to reassure all groups in that country …

Discussion: USA Today, The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal and kyivpost.com

The Hill:
Kerry: Putin now acting out of ‘weakness’ and ‘desperation’

Discussion: Politico, American Prospect, National Review, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon and ThinkProgress

ThinkProgress:
Why The Crisis In Ukraine Isn't The Start Of Another Cold War

Discussion: The Monkey Cage, The Federalist, Washington Post, The Dish, The Atlantic Online, The Week and Slate

Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Putin's War — Obama had no good options to stop the invasion.

Discussion: Bloomberg View, Hot Air, Mediaite, Politico, Daily Kos, Guardian and BuzzFeed

Will Dunham / Reuters:
Kerry condemns Russia's ‘incredible act of aggression’ in Ukraine

Discussion: Guardian, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Elizabeth Piper / Reuters:
Putin takes on West over Ukraine: who blinks first?

Discussion: Financial Times

Jeffrey Goldberg / Bloomberg View:

Obama to Israel — Time Is Running Out — When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House tomorrow, President Barack Obama will tell him that his country could face a bleak future — one of international isolation and demographic disaster — if he refuses to endorse …

Discussion: Commentary Magazine, Power Line, Hot Air, The Times of Israel, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Israpundit

Adiv Sterman / The Times of Israel:

Obama: US won't be able to defend Israel if peace talks fail — Ahead of meeting with Netanyahu, president says unprecedented ‘aggressive settlement construction’ detrimental to peace process — Israel can expect to face international isolation and possible sanctions from countries …

Discussion: Right Turn, Betsy's Page, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Gateway Pundit

Dan Raviv / CBS News:
U.S. pushing Israel to stop assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists

Discussion: Jihad Watch, The PJ Tatler and Israel Matzav

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

Democrats Try Wooing Ones Who Got Away: White Men — ROYAL OAK, Mich. — Frank Houston knows something about the longtime estrangement of white men from the Democratic Party. His family roots are in nearby Macomb County, the symbolic home of working-class Reagan Democrats who …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Emily Stephenson / Reuters:

Hundreds of Keystone protesters arrested at White House … WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Police arrested hundreds of young people protesting the Keystone XL project on Sunday, as demonstrators fastened themselves with plastic ties to the White House fences and called for U.S. President Barack Obama to reject the controversial oil pipeline.

Discussion: Right Wing News, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and Jammie Wearing Fools

ABC News:
Pipeline Protesters Arrested at White House

Discussion: Politico

Alexandra Jaffe / The Hill:

Waiting for Jeb — The 2016 presidential election is Jeb Bush's now-or-never-moment. — As other potential GOP standard-bearers have been hit by scandal or seen their luster fade, many Republicans desperately want the former Florida governor to get in the race.

Laura Bassett / The Huffington Post:

Jerry Brown Opposes Legal Pot Because ‘We Need To Stay Alert’ — California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said Sunday that he is not convinced legalizing marijuana is a good idea because the population needs to “stay alert.” — “The problem with anything, a certain amount is okay,” Brown said on NBC's Meet the Press.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Gov. Brown Not Ready To Legalize Weed, Worried About ‘Potheads’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Kenneth Lovett / NY Daily News:

Brooklyn senator wants five Independents tossed from Democratic Party — Sen. Martin Dilan says Sens. Tony Avella (D-Queens), Jeffrey Klein (D-Bronx), Diane Savino (D-Staten Island), David Carlucci (D-Rockland County) and David Valesky (D-Syracuse) ‘should all be disenrolled by the Democratic party.’

Discussion: Politicker

Reid J. Epstein / Politico:

Lerner's attorney says she won't testify, Issa wrong — Rep. Darrell Issa doesn't know what he's talking about, the attorney for former IRS official Lois Lerner said Sunday. — Issa, the California Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee, told “Fox News Sunday” …