Top Items:
Dexter Filkins / New York Times:
Vote Totals Under Inquiry in 12 Iraqi Provinces, Panel Says — BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 17 - Iraqi election officials said today that they were investigating what they described as "unusually high" vote totals in 12 Shiite and Kurdish provinces, where as many 99 percent of the voters were reported …
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Lee Keath / Associated Press:
Iraqis Probe 'Unusually High' Yes Tally — BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's election commission announced Monday that officials were investigating "unusually high" numbers of "yes" votes in about a dozen provinces during Iraq's landmark referendum on a new constitution, raising questions about irregularities in the balloting.
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Okay, this squares what I've heard from various sources over the last 24 hours. — Jim Miklaszewski on the NBC Nightly News blog says no one at the Pentagon, the DIA or the CIA knows anything about Judy Miller ever having a security clearance, as she appeared to claim in her tell-not-very-much piece in the Times.
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Judd / Think Progress:
BREAKING: Barber Cancels Ed Schultz's Debut on Armed Forces Radio — Armed Forces Radio (AFR) is a station that broadcasts to American troops overseas through "over 1,000 outlets in more than 175 countries." It currently features an hour of programming by right-wing host Rush Limbaugh.
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Darlene Superville / Associated Press:
Karl Rove's Garage Proves to Be Typical — He is "the architect" who steered George W. Bush to victory four times, twice as Texas governor and twice as president. — But can Karl Rove organize his own garage? Can the master of Bush's political planning figure out where to put the ladders, paint cans and cardboard boxes?
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Will / Attytood:
Clue: Was it Col. Cheney in the East Room with the lead pipe CIA leak? — For the last few weeks, the most enthralling angle of the whole Valerie Plame-Judy Miller fiasco is whether the probers will work their way up to Vice President Dick Cheney. Miller made it clear that Special Proscecutor …
Discussion:
TAPPED, The Left Coaster, firedoglake, AMERICAblog, The Corner on National … and TalkLeft
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Ronald Brownstein / Los Angeles Times:
Time to Bring Down the Gavel on Lifetime Tenure for Justices? — Nowhere in the oath of office taken by Supreme Court justices does the phrase "until death do us part" appear. — It just seems that way. — Justices today, on average, remain on the high court longer and retire at a more advanced age than ever before.
Discussion:
Bradford Plumer, Begging to Differ, The Washington Monthly, Stop The ACLU and The Reaction
RonK / The Next Hurrah:
Gephardt on Iraq: "I was wrong" — Former House Minority Leader the Hon. Dick Gephardt was in Seattle last week on several accounts — a victory lap for his mediation of the Boeing strike, a business seminar for the DC law firm where he hangs his hat, and a funder for Rep. Jim McDermott's Legal Expense Trust.
Ryan Lizza / The New Republic:
Run Stopper — Al Gore is back in the news. In the last few weeks a boomlet of commentary has Democrats whispering—or wishing—that he is considering a run for president in 2008. The New York Post argues that Gore "is suddenly re-emerging as a vocal and visible Bush-basher" …
California Conservative:
A Crackdown, Not A "Crackup" — Rush Limbaugh has written a brilliant op-ed for today's Wall Street Journal that's must reading for serious conservatives. Here's some things that jumped out at me: … This paragraph is vital in understanding what separates us from liberals.
Discussion:
Ace of Spades HQ
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Michelle Malkin:
THE OU BOMBER & BIAS AGAINST BLOGS — File this under "How the MSM ignores facts, smears blogs, and publishes snit fits disguised as responsible journalism." — Last week, I received a media inquiry from Wall Street Journal media reporter Joe Hagan. He wanted to talk about blogs and the University of Oklahoma bomber story.
Los Angeles Times:
Their views, their dues — IN 1998, THIS PAGE OPPOSED Proposition 226, the so-called paycheck-protection measure that sought to bar labor unions from spending a member's dues for political activities in the absence of that member's consent. We considered that initiative a disingenuous …
USA Today:
Bush approval hits 39%, lowest of his presidency — WASHINGTON — Beset by political and economic troubles at home and a difficult war in Iraq, President Bush's job approval rating has slipped to 39%, the lowest measure of his presidency, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll.
Gina Holland / Associated Press:
Court Won't Block Mo. Inmate Abortion — WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for a Missouri prison inmate to terminate her pregnancy. — Although the high court made no sweeping rendering on the constitutionality of the Roe v. Wade ruling ensuring a woman's constitutional right …
Discussion:
In the Agora
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rawstory.com:
New York Daily News source believes senior White House official has flipped in leak case — RAW STORY — The case of outed CIA agent Valerie Plame is set to explode. — The New York Daily News is set to report in Tuesday editions that a well-placed source interviewed by the newspaper believes …
Matt Singer / Left in the West:
The Need for Ideology — David Sirota lays out an extensive case today for ideology, rather than partisanship, lying at the heart of the progressive movement. The case he makes is, sadly, necessary. Because this is a time when the "progressive" leaders not only bash single-issue organizations …
