Top Items:
Katherine Shrader / Associated Press:
Bush Approved Eavesdropping, Official Says — WASHINGTON - President Bush has personally authorized a secretive eavesdropping program in the United States more than three dozen times since October 2001, a senior intelligence official said Friday night. — The disclosure follows angry demands …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The Strata-Sphere, TigerHawk, Mathew Gross, Pam's House Blend and IntoxiNation-News …
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Scott Shane / New York Times:
Behind Power, One Principle as Bush Pushes Prerogatives — WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 - A single, fiercely debated legal principle lies behind nearly every major initiative in the Bush administration's war on terror, scholars say: the sweeping assertion of the powers of the presidency.
Washington Post:
On Hill, Anger and Calls for Hearings Greet News of Stateside Surveillance — Congressional leaders of both parties called for hearings and issued condemnations yesterday in the wake of reports that President Bush signed a secret order in 2002 allowing the National Security Agency to spy …
Discussion:
The Democratic Daily Blog
Jeff Goldstein / protein wisdom:"Rice Denies U.S. Broke Law Amid Report Bush Authorized Spying" (UPDATED)
Dwight Meredith / Wampum:Domestic Spying Criminal Penalties and Civil Liability
Discussion:
The Mahablog, Brad DeLong's Semi …, Patridiot Watch, Big Brass Blog, Simianbrain, Preemptive Karma, TalkLeft, Nitpicker and The All Spin Zone
Rudolph W. Giuliani / New York Times:
Taking Liberties With the Nation's Security — YESTERDAY the Senate failed to reauthorize the USA Patriot Act, as a Democratic-led filibuster prevented a vote. This action - which leaves the act, key elements of which are due to expire on Dec. 31, in limbo - represents a grave potential threat to the nation's security.
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New York Times:
Lawmakers Back Use of Evidence Coerced From Detainees — WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 - House and Senate negotiators agreed Friday to a measure that would enable the government to keep prisoners at Guantánamo Bay indefinitely on the basis of evidence obtained by coercive interrogations.
Discussion:
Balkinization
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David Ignatius / Washington Post:Stepping Back From Torture — It's not about who our enemies are, it's about who we are.
Discussion:
The Corner on National …
White House:
Personnel Announcement — President George W. Bush today announced his intention to nominate four individuals to serve in his Administration: — The President intends to nominate Robert D. Lenhard, of Maryland, to be a Member of the Federal Election Commission, for the remainder of a six-year term expiring April 30, 2011.
Guardian:
Reflections in the Evening Land — The celebrated critic Harold Bloom, despairing of contemporary America, turns to his bookshelves to understand the trajectory of his country — Huey Long, known as "the Kingfish," dominated the state of Louisiana from 1928 until his assassination in 1935, at the age of 42.
Discussion:
Informed Comment, The Mahablog, The Blogging of the President and The Jawa Report v3.0 Beta
New York Times:
Columnist Resigns His Post, Admitting Lobbyist Paid Him — WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 - A senior scholar at the Cato Institute, the respected libertarian research organization, has resigned after revelations that he took payments from the lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for writing columns favorable to his clients.
Discussion:
Spot-On
Bill Roggio / ThreatsWatch.Org:
Election Reflections — A look back on Election Day in Iraq, and a tragic attack in Barwana — AL ASAD AIR BASE, IRAQ: My impressions from Election Day in Barwana are available at The Weekly Standard - Election Day on the Eurphrates - Democracy vs. Zarqawi.
Discussion:
Free Thoughts
Howard W. French / New York Times:
Chinese Pressing to Keep Village Silent on Clash — SHANGHAI, Dec. 16 - Ten days ago, the sleepy fishing village of Dongzhou was the scene of a deadly face-off, with protesters hurling homemade bombs and the police gunning them down in the streets. — Now, a stilted calm prevails …
Discussion:
The Peking Duck
Calculated Risk:
Fiscal Challenges, Social Security and Changing the Debate — From Professor Samwick at Vox Baby: … My response was blunt: … Ranking the Challenges — Any good manager would 1) measure the problem and then 2) solve the largest problems first. With that approach …
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Arnold Kling / EconLog:Unpersuasive Argument Against Reforming Social Security
Discussion:
Calculated Risk
Constant Brand / Associated Press:
Iran Could Be Sanctioned for Riling Israel — BRUSSELS, Belgium - Iran could face sanctions if it keeps provoking Israel and the West, European leaders warned Saturday, even as the Tehran regime's interior minister said the Iranian president's remarks had been "misunderstood."
Paul Farhi / Washington Post:
At the Times, a Scoop Deferred — The New York Times' revelation yesterday that President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct domestic eavesdropping raised eyebrows in political and media circles, for both its stunning disclosures and the circumstances of its publication.
Digby / Hullabaloo:
If The President Does It It's Not Illegal — Oh for Gawd's sakes. Tom Brokaw is on Matthews boo-hooing that this NSA story stepped on Junior's wonderful Iraq triumph. He explains that when you are at war you need to do things that are difficult and believes that most people in the country …
Reuters:
Bush says wrestled with decision to invade Iraq — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Friday that he wrestled for months over the decision to go to war in Iraq but that he remains convinced it was the right decision. — In the latest in a series of comments …
