--- title: Morning Must Reads: March 27 description: In the News: Obama meets the Pope; Is NATO's military prowess enough to deter Russia?; Insurers getting sick of Obamacare; and this week's TIME canonical: https://time.com/39960/morning-must-reads-march-27/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-27T12:42:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:59:58.288Z article:section: Politics og:title: Morning Must Reads: March 27 og:description: In the News: Obama meets the Pope; Is NATO's military prowess enough to deter Russia?; Insurers getting sick of Obamacare; and this week's TIME og:url: https://time.com/39960/morning-must-reads-march-27/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Morning Must Reads: March 27 twitter:description: In the News: Obama meets the Pope; Is NATO's military prowess enough to deter Russia?; Insurers getting sick of Obamacare; and this week's TIME twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Morning Must Reads: March 27 > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 27, 2014 12:42 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Mar 27, 2014 12:42 PM UTC * Obama meets the Pope: “Pope Francis greeted \[President\] Obama with a handshake as they approached each other just outside the Papal Library, where they met for nearly an hour.’Wonderful meeting you,’ Mr. Obama said, thanking Pope Francis for receiving him.” \[WSJ\] * A little backstory: The Catholic roots of Obama’s activism \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/us/the-catholic-roots-of-obamas-activism.html)\] * GOP says The Pope’s no liberal: “Republicans say the ‘liberal media’ has two world powerhouses all wrong: Barack Obama — and the pope.Democrats believe Pope Francis is their guy, arguing he’s softened the Catholic Church stance on gay rights and abortion and taken GOP economic theories to task. When he meets with Obama in Rome on Thursday, they’re hoping it’ll seal the deal.” \[[Politico](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/pope-francis-republicans-105077.html#ixzz2xAJNNSd5)\] * Yes, Obama really is worried about a Manhattan nuke \[[TIME](http://time.com/39131/barack-obama-nuke-manhattan-new-york/)\] * Military cuts render NATO less formidable as deterrent to Russia: “The United States, by far the most powerful NATO member, has drastically cut back its European forces from a decade ago. European countries, which have always lagged far behind the United States in military might, have struggled and largely failed to come up with additional military spending at a time of economic anemia and budget cuts.” \[[NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/world/europe/military-cuts-render-nato-less-formidable-as-deterrent-to-russia.html?hp&%5Fr=0)\] * “Even with more than two years left in his term, President Obama’s ability to fill many of his administration’s most important jobs is rapidly diminishing. White House officials are scrambling to reassess their confirmation strategy in the wake of two major setbacks this month: the Senate’s rejection of lawyer Debo P. Adegbile to head the Justice Department’s civil rights division and signs that surgeon general nominee Vivek H. Murthy could go down in defeat as well. On Tuesday, the administration appointed Karl Remón Thompson as acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel — bypassing the Senate confirmation process.” \[[Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/chances-for-obama-nominees-to-be-confirmed-are-falling-even-with-over-two-years-to-go/2014/03/26/73a87b84-b107-11e3-9627-c65021d6d572%5Fstory.html)\] * “Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) called on Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel Wednesday to immediately make known Russian troop movements along the Ukrainian border. The congressman believes such a move would deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from readying his troops for further incursions into Ukrainian territory.” \[[TIME](http://time.com/39461/pentagon-russia-ukraine-congressman-public/)\] * Insurers grow sick of Obamacare \[[The Hill](http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/201891-insurers-grow-sick-of-o-care)\] * American income inequality in six charts \[[New Yorker](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2014/03/piketty-looks-at-inequality-in-six-charts.html)\] * Being raped in a bankrupt city \[[BuzzFeed](http://www.buzzfeed.com/emilyorley/being-raped-in-a-bankrupt-city)\] This week’s [TIME](http://time.com/magazine/): What’s prettier in print Cover: [Mad Men’s Conquest of Cool](http://time.com/39865/the-last-days-of-culture-mad-men/) by James Poniewozik [The King and O](http://time.com/39872/the-king-and-o/) by Michael Crowley [Sheryl Sandberg and Princeton Mom Want You to Fast Track Your Life](http://time.com/30206/sheryl-sandberg-and-princeton-mom-want-you-to-fast-track-your-life/) by Charlotte Alter ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/39960/morning-must-reads-march-27/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/39960/morning-must-reads-march-27/"},"headline":"Morning Must Reads: March 27","datePublished":"2014-03-27T12:42:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:59:58.288Z","description":"In the News: Obama meets the Pope; Is NATO's military prowess enough to deter Russia?; Insurers getting sick of Obamacare; and this week's TIME","url":"https://time.com/39960/morning-must-reads-march-27/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/morning-must-reads/","name":"Morning Must Reads"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/39960/morning-must-reads-march-27/","name":"Morning Must Reads: March 27"}}]}] ```