Obama's numbers bouncing. Early week Gallup tracking showed 45% approval for 2 days in a row, now at 50% for 2 days
http://t.co/...
— @CookPolitical
@CookPolitical @DemFromCT Like they always do. Which is why it’s best to avoid freaking out over the most recent bounce.
— @MysteryPollster
CJR:
In the US Senate, filibusters are routinely used to block legislation, but “talking filibusters” are so rare that when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) launched one earlier this year to raise questions about the Obama administration’s use of drones for targeted killing, it became a social media sensation. When Wendy Davis rose to the Senate floor in Austin Tuesday, she had a very specific goal in mind: to run out the clock on the abortion bill. But she was also, like Paul, creating a media event.
KCBS had the story as it broke:
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, filed an order late Friday afternoon allowing same-sex marriages to resume in California immediately.
Washington Blade:
Gay federal employees in legal same-sex marriages will be eligible immediately for health and pension benefits in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling against Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, according to a new memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Each action raises more questions -- and there's a lot more out there that hasn't been touched this week -- but, this week was historic.
— @chrisgeidner
More politics and policy below the fold.
John Avlon:
Credit goes to the “Courageous 14” Republican senators who joined with the Democratic majority to make this legislation pass by a towering bipartisan margin of 68 to 32. Building squarely on the tireless efforts of the Gang of Eight—led by Marco Rubio, Chuck Schumer, Robert Menendez, and John McCain—the bill’s passage was a timely reminder that common ground is the only practical problem-solving space on Capitol Hill. That matters if you believe Congress should be more than an ideological debating society.
But the first among equals in the profile in courage sweepstakes is Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Of all the Gang of Eight senators, he was the most unvarnished in his advocacy and he has the most to lose.
Good argument for crediting Graham, at least a little. Worth a read.
Richard Posner:
Shelby County v. Holder, decided Tuesday, struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act (the part requiring certain states with a history of racial discrimination in voting to obtain federal permission in advance to change their voting procedures—called “preclearance”) as violating the “fundamental principle of equal sovereignty” of the states. This is a principle of constitutional law of which I had never heard—for the excellent reason that, as Eric points out and I will elaborate upon briefly, there is no such principle.
Worth a second, or a first, read.
Denver Post on the "moribund" (as some describe it) gun legislation efforts:
At the Firing Line gun shop in Aurora, assorted guns are marked with red tags reading: "Not for sale after June 30." "We can sell the gun, but we won't be able to sell the magazine with it, so what's the point?" said Richard Taylor, the store's manager.
New Colorado gun-control laws inspired feverish debate among politicians, law enforcement and residents during the last legislative session resulting in a lawsuit against the governor, criminal threats of violence and lawmaker recall efforts.
Needless to say, the bad behavior wasn't on the part of gun responsibility proponents. And
there's this now:
The front group trying to stave off a fall recall election of Senate President John Morse unveiled Friday what they billed as "explosive revelations" of forgery by petitioners who gathered enough signatures in an effort to oust the state lawmaker from office.