Top Items:
Washington Post:
Spying on Americans — IN THE WAKE of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the New York Times reported last week, President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to conduct electronic surveillance of hundreds of U.S. citizens and residents suspected of contact with al Qaeda figures …
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Associated Press:
Reid Calls for Probe of Domestic Spying by Bush administration — Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid called Sunday for congressional hearings and investigations into President Bush's authorization of domestic spying as part of the war on terror. — "This Congress has done very little oversight …
Discussion:
THE ASTUTE BLOGGER
David Sirota / The Huffington Post:
The Most Important Question of All in Bush's Domestic Spying Scandal — In the last 72 hours since the revelation that President Bush ordered illegal domestic surveillance operations, we have seen how the Republican spin machine has mastered the art of turning any and all controversies into questions of national security.
Judd / Think Progress:January 2005: Gonzales Said Bush Did Not …
Discussion:
Obsidian Wings, Sirotablog, Wizbang, AMERICAblog, Talking Points Memo and The Liberal Avenger
Michelle Malkin:
TIME'S LAME CHOICES — Okay. I don't question that the rock star and the world's biggest philanthropists are doing good for the world. (Interesting, isn't it, that Bill Gates didn't deserve the honor when he was actually creating something, but only earns Time magazine's highest praise when he's giving his money away.
Discussion:
AMERICAN DIGEST, Ed Driscoll.com, TalkLeft, The Daily Brief, The Political Pit Bull and BizzyBlog.com
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CNN:
Time names Bono, Bill and Melinda Gates Persons of Year — (CNN) — The good deeds of an activist rock legend and one of the world's richest men and his wife carried the day in 2005, as Time magazine on Sunday named U2 frontman Bono and philanthropic couple Bill and Melinda Gates as its "Persons of the Year."
MSNBC:
Transcript for December 18 — MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this is Sunday: the Iraqi people vote in large numbers. What now for their country and for our men and women in Iraq? With us, the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. And for the Democrats, the ranking member …
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Think Progress:
EMBARGOED TEXT: Bush's Prime Time Speech on Iraq — [Ed note: We'll start respecting embargoes when they start telling the truth.] — THE WHITE HOUSE — Office of the Press Secretary — EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY December 18, 2005 — ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT TO THE NATION
Jerusalem Post:
PM Sharon suffers light stroke, rushed to hospital — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was rushed to the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem at 7:50 p.m. Sunday evening. — The prime minister, who will be 78 in February, suffered a light stroke and was taken directly to the VIP section of the hospital's trauma room.
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Associated Press:
AP: Frist AIDS Charity Paid Consultants — WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's AIDS charity paid nearly a half-million dollars in consulting fees to members of his political inner circle, according to tax returns providing the first financial accounting of the presidential hopeful's nonprofit.
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Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:Frist's AIDS Charity Funds Were Used To Pay Consultants
Discussion:
MyDD, Running Scared, Amygdala, The All Spin Zone, Middle Earth Journal, Instapundit.com and The Reaction
Reuters:
Iran tells West to be tolerant of Holocaust views — TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust is a matter for academic discussion and the West should be more tolerant of his views, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said on Sunday.
Michael Barone / US News:
Lessons of 25 Years — At year's end, it is often useful to look back at the year past and seek to learn its lessons. But it's more useful now, I think, to look back at the past quarter century. Twenty-five years ago, in December 1980, Jimmy Carter was serving his last full month in office and Ronald Reagan was president-elect.
Discussion:
Ed Driscoll.com
New York Times:
Eavesdropping Effort Began Soon After Sept. 11 Attacks — WASHINGTON - The National Security Agency first began to conduct warrantless eavesdropping on telephone calls and e-mail messages between the United States and Afghanistan months before President Bush officially authorized a broader version …
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Los Angeles Times:
Katrina Killed Across Class Lines — The well-to-do died along with the poor, an analysis of data shows. The findings counter common beliefs that disadvantaged blacks bore the brunt. — The bodies of New Orleans residents killed by Hurricane Katrina were almost as likely to be recovered …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org
Mark Steyn / Chicago Sun Times:
Iraq vote leaves Dems looking like the losers — Well, that old Iraqi quagmire just keeps getting worse and worse, if only for the Democratic Party. What was the straw they were clutching at back in January? Oh, yeah, sure, gazillions of Kurds and Shiites might have gone to the polls, but where were the Sunni?
Matt Bai / New York Times:
New World Economy — In recent weeks, looking toward next year's midterm elections, leaders of both parties have engaged in highly charged arguments about withdrawal from Iraq, Medicaid shortfalls and allegations of Republican corruption. Anyone bothering to peruse the rest of the front page …
Shakespeare's Sister:
Talking Point: Dems Knew and Approved — I was emailed by a reader who wrote: "About an hour ago on Fox News, some 'media analyst' claimed 'the Senators who are up in arms' about this program were actually briefed about the program before it started. Have you heard anything similar …
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Kenneth L. Woodward / New York Times:
Devotional — Peggy Noonan is the sort of woman any powerful man would want on his side - even at his side. Loyal, tough in the trenches of partisan politics, she will rhapsodize at length about men she admires. Here she attempts to do for Pope John Paul II what she did for Ronald Reagan in …
Discussion:
elementropy
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Krtistol: It's all Clinton's fault — Krtistol: It's all Clinton's fault — These guys have no legal arguments to make so they throw nonsense around to defend this egregious. probably illegal abuse of power. — Video-WMP Video-QT … Was that the best Mr. PNAC could do?
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