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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:
The Left Coaster, Betsy's Page, Power Line, Los Angeles Times, This Blog Is Full Of Crap, » Outside The Beltway, Pandagon, Taegan Goddard's …, bRight & Early, JasonColeman.com, Don Surber, Michelle Malkin, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Confederate Yankee, baldilocks, Donkey Stomp, The Carpetbagger Report, The Political Teen, The Moderate Voice, Hotline On Call, The Road To Surfdom, Stuck On Stupid, Middle Earth Journal, Fox News, AMERICAblog, War and Piece and Law Dork
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Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Mad About You — In the genteel club that is the United States Senate, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) had a screaming temper tantrum yesterday. — Minutes after his Democratic counterpart, Harry Reid (Nev.), used a surprise parliamentary maneuver to throw the Senate into a rare closed session …
Tom Curry / MSNBC:Harry Reid sparks a dramatic Senate standoff
Discussion:
Financial Times, Prairie Weather, The Left Coaster, Sadly, No!, Donklephant and Nitpicker
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:
The Heretik, firedoglake, The Next Hurrah, Balloon Juice, www.AndrewSullivan.com, PrawfsBlawg, BillHobbs.com, Balkinization, Donklephant and AMERICAblog
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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," …
Discussion:
The Mahablog, Right Wing Nut House, THE BELGRAVIA DISPATCH, Balkinization and www.AndrewSullivan.com
Charles Hurt / Washington Times:
Alito nomination to test 'Gang of 14' — Senate Republicans said yesterday they will use the "nuclear option" to ban judicial filibusters if Democrats try using the tactic to block the confirmation of Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court. — "Certainly, this does not rise …
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Los Angeles Times:
Filibuster Option Is in the Democrats' Arsenal — Senators say the 'Gang of 14,' a bipartisan group that helped avoid a showdown on judicial nominees in May, could decide Alito's fate. — WASHINGTON — Democrats began gearing up Monday for a high-stakes fight over federal appellate Judge Samuel …
Discussion:
Patterico's Pontifications, Balloon Juice, » Outside The Beltway, The Carpetbagger Report and Daily Kos
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Harry Reid's Press Conference — Harry Reid responded to questions about the nature of his decision to shut down the Senate. He was obviously upset. — Video-WMP low res — Video-QT Bittorrent-QT — He explained that if he notified Bill Frist, then Frist could have shut down his attempt to have the many questions answered.
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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Fox News:
Judge Removed from DeLay Case — AUSTIN, Texas — A new judge will preside over the conspiracy case against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, after a motion was granted Tuesday to remove the appointed judge because of his donations to Democrat causes.
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David S. Broder / Washington Post:
President Pushover — Under other circumstances, President Bush's choice of Judge Samuel Alito for the Supreme Court would have been seen as a bold move by a strong president with a clear policy objective. By choosing a man of superior intellectual heft and an indelible record of conservative views …
Alicia A. Caldwell / Associated Press:
Pentagon: Top al-Qaida Operative Escaped — FORT BLISS, Texas - A man once considered a top al-Qaida operative escaped from a U.S.-run detention facility in Afghanistan and cannot testify against the soldier who allegedly mistreated him, a defense lawyer involved in a prison abuse case said Tuesday.
Michael Finnegan / Los Angeles Times:
Voters Dislike 3 of Governor's Ballot Measures — His initiatives on state spending, redistricting and unions are all in trouble, reflective of his declining popularity. A tenure issue is a tossup. — Californians likely to vote in the special election Tuesday oppose three …
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Charles Lane / Washington Post:
Nominee's Reasoning Points to a Likely Vote Against Roe v. Wade — As far as anyone yet knows, Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. has not made any public declaration calling for the overruling of Roe v. Wade , the 1973 Supreme Court decision that recognized a constitutional right to abortion.
Discussion:
Bench Memos …
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Jeff Jacoby / Boston Globe:
The good news from Iraq is not fit to print — WHAT WAS the most important news out of Iraq last week? — That depends on what you consider ''important. " Do you see the war against radical Islam and Ba'athist fascism as the most urgent conflict of our time?
Discussion:
Dr. Sanity
Shakespeare's Sister:
What the hell is wrong with conservatives? — With all the bloviating we hear about moral values from conservatives on a regular basis, you'd think that maybe they'd make some vague attempt to actually live up to their rhetoric, but time after time, it's conservatives who prove to be the most corrupt …
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.
John Podhoretz / The Corner on National Review Online:
I'M BACK, BUT FOR A MOMENT — I think the Democratic move today in the Senate is politically canny. In the past five days, Democrats have seen the political momentum shifting the president's way with shocking speed. They don't know what to do about the inspired Alito nomination, which they almost certainly can't filibuster.
