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Dan Balz / Washington Post:
As Battlefield Shrinks, Democrats Mute Their Attacks — The first day of confirmation hearings for Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to become the 17th chief justice of the United States proved to be a tepid opening to what once was billed as a battle of monumental proportions between left and right.
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Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
A Day of Firsts, Overshadowed — Yesterday's opening of the John Roberts confirmation hearings was a time for historic firsts. — Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) made 49 first-person references in a 10-minute statement that was, ostensibly, not about himself.
Discussion:
Wonkette, PoliBlog, Don Surber, Betsy's Page, PunditGuy, Roger L. Simon, The American Mind and camedwards.com
Guardian:
Israeli evades arrest at Heathrow over army war crime allegations — · Retired general tipped off after judge issues warrant — · Ex-commander accused of demolishing Gaza homes — Vikram Dodd and Conal Urquhart in Tel Aviv — Scotland Yard was thwarted yesterday …
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Lara Jakes Jordan / Associated Press:
Bush Takes Responsibility for Blunders — WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday that "I take responsibility" for failures in dealing with Hurricane Katrina and said the disaster raised broader questions about the government's ability to respond to natural disasters as well as terror attacks.
Discussion:
La Shawn Barber's Corner, The Left Coaster, Ramblings' Journal, Oliver Willis and The Reaction
Matt Margolis / Blogs for Bush:
Roberts Hearings: Live Blogging Day 2 — most recent updates on top... UPDATE, 11:24 AM EDT: Housing... Voting rights... Accuses Roberts of "not fully appreciate" the problem of discrimination in our country... Roberts agrees voting is "a fundamental right."
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Chrenkoff:
The last post — Here we go - as foreshadowed a few week ago, it's the time to say good-bye. — I'm not one for making speeches (at least not for myself), so let me just say: thank you. Thank you for all your support and encouragement, for reading and linking to my stuff, and for coming back.
E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
End of the Bush Era — The Bush Era is over. The sooner politicians in both parties realize that, the better for them — and the country. — Recent months, and especially the past two weeks, have brought home to a steadily growing majority of Americans the truth that President Bush's government doesn't work.
Ramesh Ponnuru / The Corner on National Review Online:
ASSESSING TEN YEARS — Andrew Ferguson wrote that political power had compromised conservatism's intellectual standards; Powerline criticized him; now Ross Douthat is defending him (with a bit more heat than I've come to expect from Douthat). Being in the middle of a blogfight is probably …
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David W. Moore / Gallup:
Katrina third most closely followed news event after 9/11, Iraq War — PRINCETON, NJ — Most Americans were not impressed with the initial response to Hurricane Katrina, but according to the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey, majorities of Americans now say that the people and officials involved …
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John Hawkins / Right Wing News:
The 20 Most Obnoxious Hurricane Katrina Quotes — "You 60 million losers who voted for this loser open YOUR wallets. This president declared war on the poor long ago, and while some of us cared enough to vote for someone who gave a d@mn, you buried your heads in the sand …
Doug Struck / Washington Post:
45 Bodies Found In La. Hospital — Bush Visits New Orleans and Defends Federal Response; FEMA Chief Quits — NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 12 — The bodies of 45 patients left in a hasty evacuation were recovered from a New Orleans hospital, officials said Monday, as the city braced for the scenes left by the receding waters.
George F. Will / Washington Post:
A Poverty of Thought — It took exactly one month — until the president's prime-time news conference of Oct. 11, 2001 — to refute the notion that Sept. 11 "changed everything." When a reporter said, "You haven't called for any sacrifices from the American people," he replied, "Well …
Discussion:
danieldrezner.com, Michael Williams, The Blogging of the President, Don Surber and The Stakeholder
CNN:
Reaction to Katrina split on racial lines — More blacks view race as factor in federal response — (CNN) — White and black Americans view Hurricane Katrina's aftermath in starkly different ways, with more blacks viewing race as a factor in problems with the federal response …
Discussion:
Centerfield
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Media Matters for America:
NYT's Brooks revealed that "from Day One," the Bush White House "decided our public relations is not going to be honest" — why hasn't he written about this? — On the September 11 edition of NBC's syndicated The Chris Matthews Show, New York Times columnist David Brooks revealed that he has learned …
Discussion:
Big Brass Blog, NewsHog, skippy the bush kangaroo, The Liberal Avenger and Brendan Nyhan
Arthur Chrenkoff / Opinion Journal:
Taking My Leave — A roundup of the past two weeks' good news from Iraq. — It has been almost a year and a half since I first started compiling the often under-reported and overlooked stories of positive developments in Iraq and, later, Afghanistan. Now I must say goodbye.
Jon E. Hilsenrath / Wall Street Journal:
The Rationale for a Scaled-Back City — Economists Ponder 'Colonial Williamsburg,' — Other Controversial Models for New Orleans — House Speaker Dennis Hastert learned the hard way the perils of kicking a city when it's down. He was quoted in an Illinois newspaper shortly …