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Justice Stevens Stumbles: A Step To Retirement? — Justice John Paul Stevens has left some clues he's planning to retire this year, shortly after he turns 90 years old. He's only hired one law clerk for next term, for example, and not the four that sitting justices typically hire every year.
Discussion:
The BLT
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Watching as the Supreme Court turns a corporation into a real live boy. — You will doubtless hear today that 89-year-old Justice John Paul Stevens read aloud from his partial dissent in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission for almost 20 minutes in a slow, halting voice …
Discussion:
ProfessorBainbridge.com, ACS Blog, James Fallows, Newsweek Blogs, The Huffington Post and Feministe

Political Fallout From the Supreme Court Ruling — Even before their Massachusetts victory this week, Republicans already enjoyed a multitude of advantages in this year's midterm elections. The Supreme Court has likely just delivered one more: money. — Today's ruling upends …


Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit — WASHINGTON — Overruling two important precedents about the First Amendment rights of corporations, a bitterly divided Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections.
Discussion:
New York Times, Firedoglake, The Politico, Washington Post, Prairie Weather, The Hill, Emptywheel, CNN, Daily Kos, PR Newswire, ACS Blog, Big Journalism, Hit & Run, Taylor Marsh, unbossed.com, The Daily Caller, CANNONFIRE, The Greenroom, SCOTUSblog, Grist, DownWithTyranny!, ProfessorBainbridge.com, No Sheeples Here, The Faster Times, theblogprof and Economist's View

Outraged by Citizens United decision, Public Citizen calls …
Discussion:
Hot Air

Analysis: A few open, or not so open, questions
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Truthdig, Sunlight Foundation, Campaign Diaries and The Moderate Voice


Dem health care talks collapsing — Health care reform teetered on the brink of collapse Thursday as House and Senate leaders struggled to coalesce around a strategy to rescue the plan, in the face of growing pessimism among lawmakers that the president's top priority can survive.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, New York Times, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The New Republic, Riehl World View, The Page and Swampland
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So Is It Really Over? — Let me take a moment and explain where I think we are on the Health Care Reform front. — As I've argued, procedurally, with the senate Dems reduced to 59 votes, there's no way to get a better or revised bill through the senate. (Frankly, it's not clear to me that there are still 59 votes.)

Senate Dems Not Sure They Can Get Enough Votes to Reconfirm Bernanke — Amidst the voter anger at Wall Street and Washington, D.C., ABC News has learned that the Senate Democratic leadership isn't sure there are enough votes to re-confirm Ben Bernanke for another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.


A New Search for Consensus on Health Care Bill — WASHINGTON — Even as Speaker Nancy Pelosi affirmed her commitment to pass far-reaching health care legislation this year, members of Congress and health policy experts began Thursday to deal with the reality that a smaller bill would have a better chance.

Do the Right Thing — A message to House Democrats: This is your moment of truth.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Kausfiles, USA Today, Prairie Weather and TPM LiveWire

Fluid and Muddle — I've been poking around some sources …
Discussion:
The Greenroom

Geithner has reservations on US bank limits-sources — President Barack Obama's newest Wall Street crackdown was met with hesitation from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who is concerned that politics could be sacrificing good economic policy, according to financial industry sources.
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Air America, the Talk Radio Network, Will Go Off the Air — Air America, the long-suffering progressive talk radio network, abruptly shut down on Thursday, bowing to what it called a “very difficult economic environment.” — The chairman of Air America Media, Charlie Kireker …
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Lib talk radio flops again: Air America goes bankrupt — Thanks to David Lunde for the photoshop — The surprise isn't that liberal talk radio network Air America announced it is going bankrupt today. — The surprise is that they lasted so long on fumes. — Here's an excerpt of the statement on its website pulling the plug:

Will the Base Abandon Hope? — Imagine for a moment that you're a liberal. Oh, I know, that won't be a stretch for some of you. Over the years, you've developed a pretty thick skin, since while you've won an election now and then, you haven't had too many policy victories since ... well, since forever.
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Fox News Poll: Voters Split On Congressional Elections
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, The Washington Independent, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and GOP 12

National Enquirer submitting John Edwards coverage for Pulitzers — The executive editor of the National Enquirer says he plans to enter his paper's work on the John Edwards scandal for a Pulitzer Prize. — Don't laugh. — “It's clear we should be a contender for this,” …
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Edwards Admits He Fathered Girl With Mistress
Discussion:
Craig Crawford's Trail Mix


The World Bids Farewell to Obama — US President Barack Obama suffered a painful defeat in Massachusetts on Tuesday. With mid-term elections looming, it means that Obama will have to fundamentally re-think his political course. German commentators say it is the end of hope.

Man Claims Terror Ties in Little Rock Shooting — MEMPHIS — A Tennessee man accused of killing a soldier outside a Little Rock, Ark., military recruiting station last year has asked a judge to change his plea to guilty, claiming for the first time that he is affiliated with a Yemen-based affiliate of Al Qaeda.


Bernanke Faces Tighter Vote in Senate — Ben Bernanke's confirmation for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman will go down to the wire and could be a closer vote than seemed likely just a few weeks ago. — Mr. Bernanke's current term as Fed chairman expires at the end of the month …
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ADL whacks Limbaugh — The Anti-Defamation League, which recently criticized a range of conservative figures, including Glenn Beck, as “extremists,” has turned its sights on Rush Limbaugh for a “borderline anti-semitic remark” about Jews — The line in question:
Discussion:
Daily Kos


Scott Brown's Wife Music VIDEO: Gail Huff's RACY ‘Girl With The Curious Hand’ (PHOTOS) — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — On Tuesday night, Scott Brown's wife pleaded with her husband to stop advertising his “available” daughters, but a video we've dug up reveals that Gail Huff wasn't always so prim and proper.
Discussion:
Mediaite, DaTechguy's Blog, Boston Globe, POWIP, The Lonely Conservative, Gateway Pundit, BuzzFlash.org and Michelle Malkin

U.S. ambassador puts brakes on plan to utilize Afghan militias against Taliban — The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and senior Afghan officials have resisted moving forward with a bold and potentially risky initiative to support local militias in Afghanistan that are willing to defend …

Detainees Will Still Be Held, but Not Tried, Official Says — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has decided to continue to imprison without trials nearly 50 detainees at the Guantánamo Bay military prison in Cuba because a high-level task force has concluded that they are too difficult …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather


It was no joke at security gate — In the tense new world of air travel, we're stripped of shoes, told not to take too much shampoo on board, frowned on if we crack a smile. — The last thing we expect is a joke from a Transportation Security Administration screener - particularly one this stupid.