Top Items:
Kim Curtis / Associated Press:
Crips Gang Co-Founder Executed in Calif. — SAN QUENTIN, Calif. (AP) - Convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams, the Crips gang co-founder whose case stirred a national debate about capital punishment versus the possibility of redemption, was executed Tuesday morning.
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Los Angeles Times:
Governor Didn't Believe Williams Had Reformed — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did not just reject Stanley Tookie Williams' request for clemency, he aggressively attacked the central element of the former gang leader's case: Williams, he said, had never really reformed.
Discussion:
TalkLeft, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Crooked Timber, Blogcritics.org, Mark in Mexico, Sisyphus Shrugged and Stop The ACLU
Michelle Malkin:
THE TOOKIE FILES: NOTES ON THE FREAK SHOW — ***scroll for rolling updates*** — It's a zoo outside San Quentin prison, where convicted murderer/Crips gang co-founder Stanley "Tookie" Williams is scheduled to die by injection at San Quentin Prison at 12:01am Pacific time for murdering four people during two 1979 holdups.
Kirk Semple / New York Times:
Iraqi Ministry Denies Captives Were Abused — RAMADI, Iraq, Dec. 12 - The Iraqi Interior Ministry insisted Monday that none of the 625 prisoners discovered last week in an Iraqi detention center had been tortured or abused, despite assertions by American officials to the contrary.
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Kieran Healy / Crooked Timber:
Knock Knock, Bang Bang — Jim Henley points us to Radley Balko's extensive coverage of the astonishing case of Cory Maye. Here is Radley's initial post on the case; and here are a series of posts of his updating and clarifying the details—1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and 8 (the first and last will tell you a lot).
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Brian Williams / MSNBC:
President Bush on Iraq, Katrina, the economy — The 43rd president speaks exclusively with NBC's Brian Williams — WASHINGTON - — Brian Williams — •Profile — Our day started early this morning, when we greeted President George W. Bush in the Oval Office.
H-Bomb / anklebitingpundits.com:
DeLay Having an Impact in Vulnerable Congressional Districts — For the past couple of weeks, we have been reporting on the rumblings in the House of Representatives; is a coup afoot? If so, who is involved? Could it really be successful? — Well, information obtained by ABP yesterday might add fuel to such speculation.
E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Beyond The War Spin — After this week's elections in Iraq, will our national debate be about what the United States should do to salvage the best outcome it can from a war policy that has been riddled with errors and miscalculations? Or will we mostly discuss how politicians should position themselves on the war?
Mark Steyn / Telegraph:
What is a crime? It's a matter of opinion — All over the United Kingdom, right now, real crimes are being committed: mobiles are being nicked, front doors are being kicked in, bollards are being lobbed through bus shelters - just to name some of the lighter activities that add so much to the gaiety of the nation.
David Aaronovitch / Times of London:
Here's my apology on the 'disaster' of the Iraq war. Now, where's yours? — MANY MORNINGS begin with the Today snort: an almost indefinable simultaneous use of sinus and larynx, it is the audio equivalent of one of Jeremy Paxman's eyebrows leaping off his head and making a bid for freedom among the studio lights.
Discussion:
Austin Bay Blog
Navid Iqbal / dailyrecord.com:
Newsweek's Fineman blasts Bob Woodward — Political reporter says famed journalist's mission has changed — DAILY RECORD — MADISON — Howard Fineman, Newsweek's chief political correspondent, said Monday night in the first program of a Drew University lecture series …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
ReddHedd / firedoglake:
...And the WaPo Confirms My Little Bird — The WaPo reported this morning, during the political chat online, that Jim VandeHei "misspoke" and meant to say Libby on last night's Hardball instead of Hadley. … I bet he did appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight.
Jodi Wilgoren / New York Times:
After 14 Weeks, Evacuees Settle Into 14th Home — BATON ROUGE, La., Dec. 8 - The small room where Tracy Jackson, Jerel Brown and their four young children share a twin bed and thin mattress on the floor is the 14th place they have laid their heads since Hurricane Katrina struck just over 14 weeks ago.
Peter Baker / Washington Post:
Bush Estimates Iraqi Death Toll in War at 30,000 — PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 12 — President Bush estimated Monday that 30,000 Iraqis have died in the war since U.S.-led forces invaded in March 2003, but he offered no second thoughts about ordering the attack and said the threat of terrorism …
