All Our Presidents Are Losers

As noted in today's Commentariat, Peter Beinert thinks he has picked a winner for the Republican presidential nomination: "Don't laugh, Beinert writes in the Atlantic, "Rand Paul is the 2016 Republican frontrunner.... He has built-in advantages in Iowa and New Hampshire, a party moving in his direction, and formidable fundraising potential."

I suppose Paul could win the GOP nomination, but he will not be the next President of the United States. Here's why:

At the 1952 Democratic convention, John F. Kennedy lost to Estes Kefauver in balloting for the vice-presidential nomination.

Lyndon Johnson lost three elections. In 1941 he ran for a special election for the U.S. Senate & lost to Texas Gov. Pappy O'Daniel. “Landslide Lyndon” ran for the Senate again in 1948, and though he lost at the ballot box, he “won” through voter fraud. At the 1960 Democratic convention, Johnson lost the presidential nomination to Kennedy on the first ballot.

Richard Nixon of course lost the presidency to Kennedy that year, and lost the governorship of California to incumbent Pat Brown (Jerry's father) two years later.

Jerry Ford never lost an election before he became president, but he also was never elected president. Nixon had appointed him vice president to replace Spiro Agnew, who resigned after pleading no-contest to criminal charges. When Ford did run for president, he lost.

Jimmy Carter came in third in a primary race for governor of Georgia in 1966.

Ronald Reagan lost in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 1976.

George Bush I ran for the U.S. Senate in 1964 & lost in the general election. He lost to Democrat Lloyd Bentsen in another Senate bid in 1970. He lost a presidential primary bid to Reagan in 1980.

Bill Clinton lost a Congressional bid in 1974. After being elected governor of Arkansas in 1978, he lost a re-election bid in 1980.

George W. Bush lost a Congressional race in 1978.

Barack Obama lost a Congressional primary race (by a margin of two to one!) in 2000.

Rand Paul has never lost an election.

The Commentariat -- Jan. 23, 2014

Amie Parnes & Justin Sink of the Hill: In his State of the Union address, President Obama "will include a 'healthy dose' of the income inequality message the White House has focused on in recent weeks, according to one senior administration official familiar with the text."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "An independent federal privacy watchdog has concluded that the National Security Agency's program to collect bulk phone call records has provided only 'minimal' benefits in counterterrorism efforts, is illegal and should be shut down. The findings are laid out in a 238-page report, scheduled for release by Thursday..., that represent the first major public statement by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, which Congress made an independent agency in 2007 and only recently became fully operational. The report is likely to inject a significant new voice into the debate over surveillance...." ...

... Linda Greenhouse takes on the question of the applicability of analog precedent in a digital age. ...

... Paul Waldman: "... it doesn't take a totalitarian regime" to deprive us of privacy. "The ability to be anonymous has been receding for decades as documentation and record-keeping has advanced, like a picture of each of us coming more into focus with each passing year."

Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "The company that conducted a background investigation on the contractor Edward J. Snowden fraudulently signed off on hundreds of thousands of incomplete security checks in recent years, the Justice Department said Wednesday. The government said the company, U.S. Investigations Services, defrauded the government of millions of dollars by submitting more than 650,000 investigations that had not been completed.... In addition to Mr. Snowden, the company performed the background check for Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old military contractor who killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard last year.... The lawsuit highlights not just how reliant the government is on contractors to perform national security functions, but also how screening those contractors requires even more contractors."

Jason Millman of Politico: "More than 6.3 million people have been determined eligible for Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program coverage since the October start of open enrollment, the Obama administration announced Wednesday -- but it's still impossible to say how many are newly insured because of Obamacare. At least 2.3 million people were found eligible for Medicaid and CHIP in December alone, the same month that enrollment in private health plans also spiked sharply, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. These determinations include people who renewed coverage or were previously eligible for coverage but had not enrolled. However, the Medicaid numbers just released don't include eligibility determinations made through federal-run exchanges in 36 states, meaning the total could be higher."

Justin Sink of the Hill: "President Obama on Wednesday marked the 41st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision with a statement calling on the nation to 'recommit' to the principle 'that every woman should be able to make her own choices about her body and her health. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to protecting a woman's access to safe, affordable health care and her constitutional right to privacy, including the right to reproductive freedom,' Obama said." The full statement is here. ...

... Dana Milbank: According to the sponsors' own theory, it would appear an Angry God put a chill on the March for Life on the Mall in Washington. "The temperature was 12 degrees at the start of the annual antiabortion event, the wind chill below zero, and participants were trudging about in snow and ice from the previous day's storm.... Long before they make abortion illegal, Republicans will make themselves irrelevant, by choosing abortion bills over jobs bills and by validating Democratic claims of a GOP 'war on women.'" ...

Mrs. Pearce holds the book that condemns her to submit to her lord and master.... War on Women, Ctd. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Rep. Steve Pearce's (R-N.M.) ... says in a recently released book that a wife is to 'voluntarily submit' to her husband, but that it doesn't make her inferior to him." Because the Bible tells us so. Pearce is extremely upset that the Post has accurately quoted him. Thanks to Julie L. for the link. ...

... War on Women, Ctd. Emily Goodman of the Nation on oral arguments before the Supreme Court on the Massachusetts law that provides a "buffer zone" of 35 feet for reproductive healthcare facilities. "Anti-choicers allege they are being denied access to public sidewalks and that their free speech rights are being infringed.... Respondents -- those defending the law -- focused at oral argument on the law's impact on public safety and crowd control at reproductive health facilities." ...

... Dean Obeidallah in the Daily Beast visits a new Jersey abortion clinic where he was met by a "sea of people screaming, counseling and praying" to prevent women from entering the clinic. Thanks to contributor Victoria D. for the link & raising this important matter.

Jake Sherman of Politico: "Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday, saying the 'best course of action would be for Congress to 'raise the nation's debt limit 'before February 7 to ensure orderly financing of the government.' At the latest, Lew writes, Congress must lift the cap by the end of February.... Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, hinted in an email that Republicans will again demand concessions from Democrats to raise the borrowing limit." Emphasis added.

Gail Collins: "It's way easier to be pope" than POTUS.

CW: George Will has noticed that the Supreme Court has a conservative majority, I'll wager, so he has decided, with a little help from a libertarian writer, that judicial activism is a very good thing. "America's defining value is not majority rule but individual liberty.... Conservatives' advocacy of judicial restraint serves liberalism by leaving government's growth unrestrained." Will makes his point by citing a ridiculous state regulation which prevented a poor Louisiana woman from earning a living as a floral designer. His new judicial philosophy will also liberate George, in a manner of speaking, as he is now free to cheer on the increasingly activist Roberts Court.

Uri Friedman of the Atlantic: "In 2013, for the eighth year in a row, more countries registered declines in political rights and civil liberties than gains. Even as the number of electoral democracies in the world increased, nations like the Central African Republic, Mali, and Ukraine suffered devastating democratic setbacks. Thirty-five percent of the world's population, living in 25 percent of the polities on the planet, found themselves in countries that aren't free." CW: The report, by a Washington, D.C.-based organization, lists the U.S. as "free." I think we can all agree that voter suppression laws & the Supreme Court's ruling striking down most of the Voting Rights Act have made the U.S. less free than it was in, say, 2008.

Senate Race

** McConnellCare. Igor Volsky of Think Progress: "Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is out with a new campaign ad touting his success in securing free preventive health care services for Kentuckians. The spot, titled 'Cares,' tries to paint the Senate Minority Leader as a compassionate Republican who carries a moral obligation to provide sick people with access to government-sponsored health care." Uh, like ObamaCare. ...

... ** Jason Cherkis of the Huffington Post: The ad buy is based on a horrifying lie, the same lie he ran with during his 2008 campaign. ...

... Jed Lewison of Daily Kos: "But ... the context in which this ad will be received is the context in which tens of thousands of previously uninsured Kentuckians now have health insurance thanks entirely to Obamacare. And ... Mitch McConnell ... wants to repeal Obamacare completely.... McConnell can't simply walk away form his hardline position against Obamacare without exposing himself to attacks from [Tea Party challenger Matt] Bevin, his new ad shows that he and his political operation are acutely aware that being against Obamacare has a major political downside." ...

... Burgess Everett of Politico: The Koch-funded Tea Party astroturf group "FreedomWorks endorsed Mitch McConnell's primary challenger Matt Bevin on Wednesday, marking another conservative group that is standing against the Senate minority leader. FreedomWorks' PAC praised Bevin as the more fiscally sound choice and criticized McConnell for 'helping the Democrats' fund Obamacare during the fall. The GOP leader opposed a strategy backed by conservative favorite Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to vote down any spending bill that did not defund the law. That tactic fueled a weekslong government shutdown that McConnell ended by cutting a deal with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)." ...

... Presidential Election 2016

The news is better for Kentucky's junior senator. Peter Beinert in the Atlantic: "Don't laugh.... Rand Paul Is the 2016 Republican Frontrunner.... He has built-in advantages in Iowa and New Hampshire, a party moving in his direction, and formidable fundraising potential."

Beth Reinhard of the National Journal: "The Republican National Committee is poised this week to enact its toughest crackdown yet on states that try to infringe on the special, first-in-the-nation status afforded to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada. Florida, this means you." ...

... Gubernatorial Race

Frank Rich: "If there's a unifying lesson to be learned from the double-header of the McDonnell-Christie scandals, it's only that dubious character is hardly a bar to running for governor. Yesterday, the Republican senator David Vitter, best known for turning up in the phone book of the 'D.C. Madam' in 2007, announced he would seek Louisiana's state house in 2015. Somewhere, perhaps, Rod Blagojevich is laughing.' Thanks to MAG for the link.

Sean Sullivan & Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Sen. David Vitter's announcement Tuesday that he will run for governor of Louisiana in 2015 marks the latest chapter in a remarkable comeback story for a politician who was once embroiled in a high-profile prostitution scandal."

Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast: Vitter is "America's Most Contemptible Senator."

Local News

Elections Matter. Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring will announce Thursday that he believes the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and that Virginia will join two same-sex couples in asking a federal court to strike it down, according to an official close to the attorney general with knowledge about the decision. The action will mark a stunning reversal in the state's legal position on same-sex marriage and is a result of November elections in which Democrats swept the state's top offices. Herring's predecessor, Republican Ken Cuccinelli II, adamantly opposes gay marriage and had vowed to defend Virginia's constitutional amendment banning such unions, which was passed in 2006 with the support of 57 percent of voters." CW: Herring won election by only a few hundred votes among more than a million cast.

Carol Leonnig & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell has admitted he used 'poor judgment' in taking luxury gifts and loans from a prominent businessman, but federal prosecutors will face difficult challenges in proving a crime was committed. The government must show persuasively that McDonnell and his wife struck a corrupt bargain with the Richmond business owner, agreeing to use his powerful state office to help the company in exchange for the executive's largess." ...

... Laura Vozella of the Washington Post: The McDonnells' "Restoration Fund, established in July to bankroll the governor's legal team, had less than $2,000 in contributions, according to its Web site. Although it's unclear how comprehensive the list is, the amount shown is not enough to pay a high-dollar lawyer for even a day's work. McDonnell may not have the personal resources to pay for his defense."

Paul Egan, et al., of the Detroit Free Press: "A settlement of Detroit’s bankruptcy that would protect city retirees and the collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts appeared closer Wednesday after Gov. Rick Snyder pledged $350 million to a growing rescue fund designed to bring all the major parties together in a grand resolution. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes also put his weight behind a grand bargain Wednesday, saying in a separate hearing that he might not allow DIA artwork ever to be sold to satisfy city debts."

Lawyering Up in Jersey:

     ... Shawn Boburg of the Bergen Record: "The Christie aide who wrote the now infamous message -- 'Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee' -- has hired a hard-charging and prominent defense attorney to represent her as several investigations move forward. Michael Critchley confirmed Wednesday that he was representing Bridget Anne Kelly, of Ramsey, Christie's former deputy chief of staff, who was fired after her message surfaced...."

     ... Jason Grant of the Star-Ledger: "Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer is poised to hire prominent New Jersey lawyer Gerald Krovatin to represent her, as federal prosecutors investigate her claims that Gov. Chris Christie's office withheld tens of millions of dollars in Sandy-related funds from Hoboken because Zimmer refused to push for a Christie-connected real estate development. Hoboken's city council plans to vote tonight on whether to appoint Krovatin as the city's as 'special legal counsel.' Krovatin has defended Dawn Zimmer in civil court in the past."

News Ledes

Reuters: "Lawmakers in one of the largest cities in Washington state have said no to marijuana businesses, the latest in a series of backlashes by municipalities against a voter-approved recreational pot market in the northwest state.... The Yakima City Council on Tuesday voted 6-1 in favor of banning pot growers, processors and retailers from operating within its borders."

AP: "A massive highway pileup being blamed on whiteout conditions killed at least two people and injured scores of others Thursday afternoon in northwestern Indiana, police and a coroner said."

The Commentariat -- Jan. 22, 2014

Internal links removed.

Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Target Corp. announced on Tuesday it would no longer offer healthcare coverage to its part-time employees. In a blog post on the company's website, Jodee Kozlak, the executive vice president of human resources, framed it as a positive development for part-time employees of the company. 'The Health Insurance Marketplaces provides new options for healthcare coverage that we believe our part-time members may prefer,' she wrote. 'In fact, by offering them insurance, we could actually disqualify many of them from being eligible for newly available subsidies that could reduce their overall health insurance expense.'"

Patrick Temple-West of Reuters: "The Republican Party is expected to approve a resolution this week, calling for repeal of an Obama administration law that is designed to crack down on offshore tax dodging. In what would be the party's first appeal to scrap the law -- the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) -- a panel was slated to vote at the Republican National Committee's (RNC) winter meetings in Washington, likely approving the resolution on Friday, according to party members driving the repeal effort." ...

     ... CW: So, the GOP's first order of business: helping rich tax cheats. One thing Republicans have learned: as long as they keep screaming ObamaCare! Benghaaazi! Socialism!, Abortion!, etc., they can brazenly flak for the rich at the expense of the rest of us. ...

... Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "On Tuesday, the [Supreme Court] justices were presented with a golden opportunity to further increase inequality. The court heard arguments in Harris v Quinn, a case testing whether home-care providers who work under a union contract with the state of Illinois can avoid paying dues that support the union's collective-bargaining work. (Under the law, they already can decline to pay the share of dues that goes to the union's political work.)" ...

... ** NEW. Garrett Epps in the Atlantic: "William Messenger of the National Right to Work Committee asked the Supreme Court today to hold that public employee unions are unconstitutional.... At least four members of the Court seemed ready to reach that 'radical' result. The fate of public employee unionism in the nation seemed, by the end of the argument, to lie in the hands of Justice Antonin Scalia." CW: And you're worried about the NSA holding the key to your e-mails? Oh, puh-leze. ...

... Here's the New York Times story, by Adam Liptak.

Jane Mayer of the New Yorker: "Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor turned whistleblower, strongly denies allegations made by members of Congress that he was acting as a spy, perhaps for a foreign power, when he took hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. government documents. Speaking from Moscow, where he is a fugitive from American justice, Snowden told The New Yorker, 'This "Russian spy" push is absurd.' ... 'a senior F.B.I. official said on Sunday that it was still the bureau's conclusion that Mr. Snowden acted alone,' the New York Times reported this weekend, adding that the agency has not publicly revealed any evidence that he was working in conjunction with any foreign intelligence agency or government." ...

... Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian: "The Justice Department is withholding documents related to the bulk collection of Americans' data from a transparency lawsuit launched by the American Civil Liberties Union.... The decision to keep some of the records secret, in the thick of Edward Snowden’s revelations, has raised suspicions within the ACLU that the government continues to hide bulk surveillance activities from the public...." ...

... Juan Cole: "Among the ironies of Barack Obama trying to sell us the gargantuan NSA domestic spying program is that such techniques of telephone surveillance were used against the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. in an attempt to destroy him and stop the Civil Rights movement. Had the republic's most notorious peeping tom, J. Edgar Hoover, succeeded in that quest, Obama might never have been president, or even been served in Virginia restaurants." Thanks to Whyte O. for the link.

Jamelle Bouie of the Daily Beast: "It's not new for conservatives to cry that Obama is 'playing the race card.' But in this instance, it's silly. Not only is Obama not attributing his entire standing to race, but he's not saying anything that hasn't been confirmed by reams of research, to say nothing of common sense."

Manya Pashman, et al., of the Chicago Tribune: "Thousands of pages of secret church documents released Tuesday as part of a court settlement provide an unprecedented and gut-wrenching look at how the Archdiocese of Chicago for years failed to protect children from abusive priests. The documents provide new details and insights into how the nation's third-largest archdiocese quietly shuttled accused priests from parish to parish and failed to notify police of child abuse allegations. The paper trail, going back decades, also portrays painfully slow progress toward reform, accountability and openness. Most of the 30 clergymen tied to the documents were not prosecuted." Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link.

Presidential Race 2016

Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast: If scandals bring down Gov. Chris Christie, "and the GOP is stuck with Cruz-Rubio-Paul, or even a right-wing governor like Scott Walker, the establishment will be reaping what it's spent the Obama years sowing: a party that cares more about feeding its base's fever-dreams than being nationally electable. And that's where things stand, as Christie begins a term that there's a sporting chance he may not even be able to finish." CW: But what about Transvaginal Bob? Oh, maybe not ...

Local News

** Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were charged Tuesday with illegally accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy Richmond-area businessman who sought special treatment from state government. Authorities alleged that for nearly two years, the McDonnells hit up executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. again and again, lodging near constant requests for large loans, clothes, trips, golf accessories and private plane rides." The New York Times story, by Trip Gabriel, is here. ...

... The indictment is here. Chris Hayes of MSNBC says it's fun to read. ...

... Carol Leonnig & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell reacted Tuesday night to charges that he and his wife had improperly accepted gifts from a Virginia businessman, saying they were 'false allegations.'" ...

... Leonnig & Helderman: "The indictments of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, reveal new details about the first couple's requests for financial help and luxury items from a prominent businessman at the same time the pair was offering to help promote his company's new product, Anatabloc, according to prosecutors." The reporters list six of what they deem the most interest details. ...

... Matt Berman of the National Journal: "... Tuesday's indictment and the charges against the McDonnells show just how difficult it is to be an American politician without great wealth, and how easy it can be to slip down a path toward corruption." ...

CW: Above are the McDonnells at Bob's inaugural ball. After a staff member told her to return the Oscar de la Renta dress that Jonnie Williams purchased for her (at her request), MoMcDo had to buy her own. Definitely not de la Renta. In fact, in looks suspiciously like one I purchased for $50 on e-bay for a costume ball I attended a few years ago. See today's Comments for context. ...

     ... Update. Apparently, Mrs. McD did not have to rely on e-bay or GoodWill. This from a July 2013 WashPo report: "Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell bought nearly $9,800 in clothing with money from her husband's political action committee and tapped into his campaign and inaugural funds to buy $7,600 in mostly unspecified items, according to records and a representative for the PAC."

... Not-Virginia-Governor Ken Cuccinelli Dumps on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Shane Goldmacher of the National Journal: "... former Virginia attorney general and failed candidate for governor Ken Cuccinelli called on the New Jersey governor to step down as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. On the day Christie was sworn into his second term, Cuccinelli argued that the scandal surrounding the Christie's administration alleged closure of a bridge for political retribution could spread beyond New Jersey's borders if he stays put atop the RGA." ...

... Brent Johnson of the Star-Ledger: " Gov. Chris Christie's popularity among New Jersey voters has plummeted in the wake of the George Washington Bridge scandal -- especially among Democrats and those who travel across the bridge regularly, according to a new poll." ...

... Larry McShane of the New York Daily News: "Gov. Chris Christie's inaugural day call for bipartisanship was quickly heeded Tuesday by the state legislators investigating his alleged abuses of power. About 30 minutes before the New Jersey chief executive took the oath of office, the state assembly and senate announced they were merging their probes into a single investigation.... Christie launched his second term atop the Garden State as a snowstorm descended, forcing cancellation of his planned inaugural gala on Ellis Island." ...

... Christopher Baxter of the Star-Ledger: "Leading trial attorneys and legal experts said today that the U.S. Attorney's Office of New Jersey has enough evidence to pursue a serious investigation into allegations that the Democratic mayor of Hoboken made against Gov. Chris Christie's administration this weekend."

Caitlin Gibson of the Washington Post: "Voters in Virginia's 33rd Senate District will cast ballots Tuesday in a special election to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Mark R. Herring -- a contentious three-way race that could determine control of the state's evenly divided Senate. The trio of candidates vying for the seat -- Democrat Jennifer Wexton, 10th Congressional District Republican Committee Chairman John Whitbeck and former state delegate Joe T. May, a veteran Republican who is running as an independent -- have had only a few weeks to organize their campaigns and rally supporters across the district, a politically competitive territory spanning parts of Loudoun and Fairfax counties." ...

     ... Update: Rachel Maddow says the Democrat Jennifer Wexton won the election.

Mark Puente of the Tampa Bay Times: "As Americans honored the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, a Republican candidate for Florida House District 68 said President Barack Obama should be hanged for war crimes. 'I'm past impeachment,' Joshua Black wrote on Twitter. 'It's time to arrest and hang him high.'" ...

... Dylan Scott of TPM: "The U.S. Secret Service paid a visit to the Florida state House candidate who advocated for President Barack Obama's execution on Twitter. Joshua Black, a Republican who is running in Florida House District 68, told the Tampa Bay Times that Secret Service agents had come to his home following the uproar over his comments." ...

... Adam Weinstein of Gawker elaborates.

Adam Weinstein: "Despite years of negative publicity over Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' self-defense law, lawmakers are close to expanding it to protect gunmen who fire warning shots or wave weapons in a threatening manner -- and they're doing it with a bill written by a top NRA lobbyist.... That also means gun owners would get blanket immunity from the state's '10-20-life' law, which mandates an automatic 10-year sentence for anyone accused of flashing or using a gun in the commission of a felony. Numerous Florida politicians, including Jeb Bush, have long credited that measure with significantly decreasing the state's gun crimes.... So far, the warning shot bill appears destined for passage." Read the whole post to see how stupid, irresponsible & violent we Floridians are. ...

... Charles Pierce comments. ...

... Jeff Weiner & Arelis Hernandez of the Orlando Sentinel: "The gunman accused of chasing and killing a 21-year-old man at an Orlando apartment complex Thursday told police he was pursuing a suspected burglar and acted in self-defense after he was attacked." CW: This time the defense goes, "He attacked me while I was chasing him so I shot him in the back." It could work. It's Florida.

Paul Egan, et al., of the Detroit Free Press: "Gov. Rick Snyder [R] and legislative leaders reached an agreement [Tuesday] on the framework for a deal to help protect Detroit pensioners and the Detroit Institute of Arts collection from ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, sources told the Free Press, and he is expected to make an announcement Wednesday."

Cheer Up, GOP Govs -- You're Not Rob Ford

Sasha Goldstein of the New York Daily News: "Crack-smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, known for his 'drunken stupors,' has fallen off the wagon. Hours after new cellphone video taken Monday evening emerged showing the notorious face of Canada's most populous city swaying and slurring his words while holding court at a fast food restaurant, Ford admitted he was drunk during the incident."

News Ledes

New York Times: "After two protesters were shot to death during clashes with the police on Wednesday, the first fatalities in Ukraine's two-month civil uprising, President Viktor F. Yanukovich met with opposition leaders as efforts to defuse the crisis took on new urgency."

New York Times: "After months of diplomatic maneuvering and last-minute slips, delegates gathered on Wednesday in [Montreux, Switzerland] to press for a political settlement in Syria's bloody civil war. But sharp divisions between the United States and Russia, and especially among the Syrian participants themselves, immediately came to the fore, casting doubt on the prospects for easing hostilities or even opening up humanitarian corridors for the delivery of food and medicine to besieged towns and cities." ...

... AP: " The United States is criticizing Syria's top diplomat for his 'inflammatory' speech at an international peace conference aimed at ending the country's brutal conflict.The State Department said Wednesday that remarks from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem were not in keeping with the spirit or aims of the gathering...."

Reuters: "The United States has offered to send a special envoy to North Korea to win the release of a jailed missionary, but signaled that any meaningful talks with Pyongyang will require it to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons."

AP: "Two officials of South Africa's ruling party who were linked to a bogus sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial have resigned from the African National Congress, South African media reported Tuesday."