memeorandum: Ted Cruz: Hillary Clinton's wrecking ball (Gabriel Debenedetti/Politico)

4:35 AM ET, March 25, 2015

Top Items:

Ted Cruz to sign up for government health care — Ted Cruz, one of the loudest critics of Obamacare, will soon be using it for health insurance coverage. — “We will presumably go on the exchange and sign up for health care and we're in the process of transitioning over to do that,” Cruz …

CNN:

Ted Cruz going on Obamacare — Ted Cruz says he will enroll in Obamacare 01:47 — (CNN)Ted Cruz is going on Obamacare. — The newly announced Republican presidential candidate told CNN's Dana Bash on Tuesday that he will sign up for health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act — a law he has been on a crusade to kill.

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, EgbertoWillies.com, Bloomberg Business, ABC News, The Daily Caller, Liberaland, Chicago, New York Magazine and New York Times

Ben Brody / Bloomberg Business:

On Global Warming, Ted Cruz Says He's Galileo, Not a Flat-Earther — The Texas senator is not a believer in man-made climate change. — The similarities between Texas Senator Ted Cruz and 16th-century astronomer Galileo Galilei are remarkable, according to Cruz.

Discussion: Progress Pond, Guardian, Raw Story and Politico

Rachelle Peterson / The Federalist:

Reporters Explain Why Balance Isn't Needed On Global Warming — Is it morally permissible to allow “climate deniers” to appear in print and televised media? — Columbia University journalism students wrestled with this question recently at a screening of the new documentary, “Merchants of Doubt.”

Discussion: BarbWire.com and Ed Driscoll

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:
Ted Cruz Should Try Speaking to People Instead of at Them

Discussion: Hot Air, Rush Limbaugh, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly and No More Mister Nice Blog

Brendan James / Talking Points Memo:
Ted Cruz: I Started Listening To Country Music Because Of 9/11 (VIDEO)

Discussion: Hit & Run, Slate and Mediaite

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
Ted Cruz's phenomenally bad idea

Discussion: The Daily Banter, Slate, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Bloomberg View, The New Republic, The Federalist, BarbWire.com and Christian Science Monitor

George Sells / FOX2now.com:

Man kicked off Southwest flight over language on t-shirt … ST. LOUIS, MO. (KTVI) - A New York college student found himself stranded in St. Louis, Monday after being kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight that wasn't even supposed to land here. The conflict raises a classic first amendment debate …

Discussion: CBS Dallas, Consumerist, WHNT-TV, Gothamist and Mediaite

Caleb Bonham / Campus Reform:

Prof: Ted Cruz and Republicans are resurrecting ‘discrimination’ — “Politics of the 1960s to Now” is a class taught by Prof. Chris Hamilton, a two-time Fulbright Scholar at Washburn University. — According to a student, Prof. Hamilton's course claims that Ted Cruz …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Wall Street Journal:

The Cruz Candidacy — Ideology aside, the Republican is similar in many ways to Obama. — Can a smart, articulate, 40-something first term Senator trained in constitutional law, who disdains his colleagues and lacks executive experience, make the leap to the White House?

Discussion: Salon, The Week, Politico, Mediaite, Weekly Standard, Washington Post, Bloomberg View and Vox

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
Ted Cruz: Hillary Clinton's wrecking ball

Discussion: Political Wire, New York Post, Hot Air, Bloomberg Business, Daily Kos, Fox News, Townhall.com and Washington Post

Fox News Insider:
Megyn to Rand Paul: Why Weren't You First to Announce a 2016 Run?

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and OnPolitics

Jason Zengerle / GQ:

What If Sarah Palin Were a Brain Surgeon? — Until two years ago, Ben Carson was a mild-mannered neurosurgeon—a hero to black America, the subject of a tender made-for-TV movie. Then he started raving about Nazis and America's demise. Now he's the Tea Party's great White House hope—and the GOP's worst nightmare.

Discussion: Mediaite, Hit & Run, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, Business Insider, Fox News, OnPolitics and Chicago

Scott Wong / The Hill:
Boehner ‘baffled’ by Israeli spying report

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, The Times of Israel, New York Times, The PJ Tatler, Addicting Info, Hot Air, Israpundit, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Edward-Isaac Dovere / Politico:
James Baker blasts Benjamin Netanyahu

Discussion: Commentary Magazine, Washington Post, Hot Air, Mediaite, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, RedState and Jerusalem Post

Tracy Walsh / Talking Points Memo:

‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Imagines Vivid Rape And Murder Scenario For Atheist Family — “Duck Dynasty” star and conservative icon Phil Robertson told a gruesome, vivid story on Friday about the hypothetical rape and murder of a family to illustrate the perils of atheism, according to audio surfaced by Right Wing Watch.

Discussion: Right Wing Watch

Brian Tashman / Right Wing Watch:

Phil Robertson Hypothesizes About Atheist Family Getting Raped And Killed — On Friday, “Trunews” host Rick Wiles aired a speech that Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty delivered at the Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast earlier that day, in which Robertson offered gruesome details about how an atheist father …

Discussion: Addicting Info, The Huffington Post, PoliticusUSA, Raw Story and Friendly Atheist

New York Times:

U.S. to Delay Pullout of Troops From Afghanistan to Aid Strikes — WASHINGTON — President Obama's decision to maintain troop levels in Afghanistan through 2015 is partly designed to bolster American counterterrorism efforts in that country, including the Central Intelligence Agency's ability …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Common Dreams and Outside the Beltway

Mary Bruce / ABC News:
President Obama Announces Slowdown of Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan

Discussion: Associated Press

Philip Ewing / Politico:
Obama to keep 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through 2015

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Cameron Joseph / The Hill:

Coats retirement in Indiana shakes up 2016 battle for Senate — Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.) on Tuesday announced that he will not run for reelection in 2016. — “Today I am announcing that I will not seek re-election to the United States Senate,” Coats said in a statement. “This was not an easy decision.

Discussion: Associated Press, Washington Post, Hot Air and RedState

Kyle Cheney / Politico:
Dems see glimmer of hope in Dan Coats' retirement

Discussion: Bloomberg Business

Washington Post:

Report: Va. governor received special treatment from Homeland Security — The now-No. 2 official at the Department of Homeland Security intervened on behalf of politically connected favor seekers — including Democrat Terry McAuliffe not long before he was elected Virginia governor …

Discussion: Associated Press, Political Wire, Washington Free Beacon and The PJ Tatler

Indianapolis Star:

Gen Con threatens to move convention if Gov. Mike Pence signs religious freedom bill — The organizers of Gen Con, the city's largest convention in attendance and economic impact, are threatening to move the event elsewhere if Gov. Mike Pence signs controversial religious freedom legislation …

Discussion: Polygon, Raw Story, Talking Points Memo and Towleroad News #gay

BREITBART.COM:

Reports: MSM Reporters Give Hillary Clinton Standing Ovation after She Takes No Questions, Jokes about Email Scandal — On Monday evening, mainstream media reporters reportedly gave Hillary Clinton a standing ovation after she joked about her private email scandal and took no questions …

Discussion: CBS News, Liberal Values, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, TIME, Politico and The Gateway Pundit

Emily Schultheis / National Journal:
Hillary Clinton Offers the Media an Olive Branch—and a Lecture

Discussion: Power Line and Washington Post

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:
Dan Balz, Washington Post chief correspondent, wins Toner Prize

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

Ferguson and Benghazi's troubling parallels — Ferguson has become the liberal Benghazi. It is more of a cause than a place, more of an ideological statement than an incident. Ferguson was not the racist murder it was thought to be, and Benghazi was not an incident in which the Obama …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Raw Story, Washington Monthly, Mediaite and Booman Tribune

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Washington Post Columnist Declares Ferguson Is The ‘Liberal Benghazi’

Discussion: Progress Pond and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Reuters:

Iraq request for U.S.-led Tikrit air strikes ‘imminent’: diplomat — (Reuters) - Iraq's request to the U.S.-led coalition for air strikes in the campaign to retake Tikrit from Islamic State insurgents is “imminent”, a senior diplomat from a Western nation that is part of the coalition told Reuters on Tuesday.

Discussion: NPR