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Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:
Democrats Force Closed Meeting on Iraq — WASHINGTON - Democrats forced the Republican-controlled Senate into an unusual closed session Tuesday, questioning intelligence that President Bush used in the run-up to the war in Iraq and accusing Republicans of ignoring the issue.
Discussion:
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William Branigin / Washington Post:
GOP Angered by Closed Senate Session — The U.S. Senate went into a rare closed session today after Democrats invoked a seldom used rule to back their demands for greater oversight by the Republican-controlled body, particularly on the Bush administration's use of intelligence in taking the country to war in Iraq.
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, baldilocks, Hotline On Call, The Road To Surfdom, Law Dork and Middle Earth Journal
Steve Clemons:
RULE 21 CLOSED DOOR SENATE SESSION: Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid's Stock Moves Strongly Up — Senator Harry Reid, in a motion seconded by Senator Richard Durbin, just called for a very rare closed door executive session of the Senate. This motion is called "Rule 21" so that Senators can discuss "secret matters."
John / AMERICAblog:
Holy s**t, put on CNN — UPDATE: Call Harry Reid's DC office and tell them their boss rocks. It's high time a Democrat showed some cojones. We need to support them when they do the right thing (and you know the Republicans are going to try to destroy Reid over this). — Reid's phone number:
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
New York Times:
Democrats Force Senate Into Closed Session Over Iraq Data — WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 - Democrats invoked a rarely used rule today that sent the Senate into a two-hour closed session, infuriating Republicans but producing an agreement for a bipartisan look at whether the Republican leadership …
Fox News:
Senate Goes Into Rare Closed Session — WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate prepared to go into closed session Tuesday after Democrats enacted a rare parliamentary rule forcing the shutdown of the chamber so senators could speak in a classified session about the lead-up to the war in Iraq.
Daily Kos:
Reid Wins, Frist Loses, and the American People Get Closer To Their Promised Answers
Reid Wins, Frist Loses, and the American People Get Closer To Their Promised Answers
Discussion:
Needlenose
Dana Priest / Washington Post:
CIA Holds Terror Suspects in Secret Prisons — Debate Is Growing Within Agency About Legality and Morality of Overseas System Set Up After 9/11 — The CIA has been hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe …
Discussion:
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Lindsay Beyerstein / Majikthise:
Strip Search Sammy—the law behind the label — Why is Judge Alito known in some circles as "Strip Search Sammy"? It all goes back to 2003 and Alito's dissenting opinion in a case called Doe v. Groody. (.pdf) — Here's a very brief, non-technical synopsis.
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Bloomberg:
Democrats Signal Hesitance to Use Filibuster Against Alito — Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) — Moderate U.S. Senate Democrats said they want to know more about Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito Jr.'s judicial philosophy and signaled reluctance to support a filibuster to block his confirmation.
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Right Wing News
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Robert Salladay / Los Angeles Times:
Gov. Aims to Get Out Vote Selectively — With Schwarzenegger's initiatives lagging in polls, he hopes the state's Democratic majority and opponents in the GOP stay home. — SACRAMENTO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered next week's special election to take his agenda to "the people," …
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April Castro / Associated Press:
Judge Removed From DeLay's Criminal Case — AUSTIN, Texas - The judge in the conspiracy case against Republican Rep. Tom DeLay was removed at the congressman's request Tuesday because of his donations to Democratic candidates and causes. — A semi-retired judge who was called in to hear the dispute …
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Lyle Denniston / SCOTUSblog:
Herbal tea case: a government loss? — A small religious band of about 140 adherents, locked in a high-stakes legal battle with federal drug enforcers, appeared on Tuesday to be nearing at least a partial victory in the Supreme Court. The government's no-exception, zero-tolerance approach …
Discussion:
TalkLeft
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New York Times:
Detainee Policy Sharply Divides Bush Officials — WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 - The Bush administration is embroiled in a sharp internal debate over whether a new set of Defense Department standards for handling terror suspects should adopt language from the Geneva Conventions prohibiting "cruel," …
Associated Press:
13 Arrested In Paris Suburb Riots — (AP) Youths torched cars, set garbage bins alight and threw stones at police in a fifth night of rioting in a Paris suburb, and set two primary school classrooms on fire as rioting spread to two other suburban towns, police and an official said Tuesday.
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Trent Lott: Get Rid-O-Rove — Trent Lott: Get Rid-O-Rove — Trent was on Hardball today and said: — TRENT LOTT: Well, the question is, that you asked, is he good for American politics? Look, he has been very successful, very effective in the political arena.
Brian C. Anderson / City Journal:
Conservatives in Hollywood?! — It was hard to parody Hollywood's loony limousine liberalism this summer. "I'm coming out," trumpeted actress Jane Fonda about her plans for an anti-Iraq-war bus tour (thankfully later canceled). "I have not taken a stand on any war since Vietnam"—if …