What we’re reading: Friday, March 9

We took a day off of the reading list, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t devouring information. Some articles are like day-old bread — a little less fresh, perhaps…but it’s a little cheaper, better than the processed stuff, and it still gets the job done. (Admittedly, that allegory is terrible and a little media-nerdy, but we trust you’re in that tribe if you’re here.) So without further ado, the news tidbits we found tasty:

Recommended

Maddowblog

Team Trump eyes changes at the IRS that would make weaponization far easier

Steve Benen

Maddowblog

Trump wastes little time embracing Putin’s latest dubious claim

Steve Benen

• New jobs numbers! 227,000 added (more than expected), unemployment rate stays steady at 8.3% — but American poverty went up 130% over 15 years.
• Virginia passes voter-ID legislation, which Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell has not committed to signing.
• Conservatives are trying to make the Rush Limbaugh thing into a Bill Maher thing.
• Republicans want Newt Gingrich to have a seat.
• The Kansas caucuses are tomorrow, so you should get to know native son Kris Kobach, the architect of oh-so-many anti-immigration laws.
• When the Republican frontrunner is meriting Bob Dole comparisons…dude.
• Why did the KKK lose almost of third of its chapters in a year?
• Dave Weigel dissects the late Derrick Bell’s alien allegory that has the Breitbart folks in such a tizzy.
• A Nation column says the attack on Obama’s 1990 speech is about attacking Black intellectuals.
• Why did the #Kony2012 Invisible Children video go viral? Blame Oprah.
• On International Women’s Day (sadly, only yesterday), Michelle Obama called Hillary Clinton “a role model.” 
• Speaking of International Women’s Day, GOOD executive editor Ann Friedman won it.
• The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered 15 years ago today. MUCH more on that on tomorrow’s “MHP.”
• (Yes, really.)