Top Items:
Washington Post:
Gonzales Defends Eavesdropping Program — Congress 'Authorized' Domestic Surveillance in Iraq War Resolution, Claims Attorney General — Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales this morning defended the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping operation, saying it derived its legality …
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William M. Arkin / Early Warning:
9/11 Gone Wild — Yesterday's New York Times editorial on National Security Agency spying in the United States refers to "your mail and your e-mail" and "your telephone conversations" being monitored. — The connotation of course is that the "you" is some New York Times reading Cappuccino …
Ezra Klein / TAPPED:ONE QUESTION. Over at The Washington Post's Early Warning, William Arkin sniffs:
Discussion:
Eschaton
Bulldogpundit / anklebitingpundits.com:
Live Blogging The Bush Presser — We "liveblogged" the Bush presser, and you can see our live recap by clicking "Read More". In general, the message was obvious on both the Patriot Act and the "spying" - It's my job to protect the American people, and I'm using whatever I'm doing to do that.
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CNN:
Bush: U.S. must think, act differently — WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush held a year-end news conference in the White House on Monday. The president followed up on his Sunday night speech on Iraq, addressed the controversy surrounding the Patriot Act and took questions on those and other subjects.
Michelle Malkin:
BUSH TAKES ON THE PRESS — ***scroll for reax, waiting for Dem response...*** — The showdown starts at 10:30am EST in the East Room. If Bush hits as hard as he did in his Saturday radio address, this should be good. — Think he'll call on Helen Thomas?
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit, CALIFORNIA YANKEE, Power Line, The Washington Monthly, The Heretik and Decision '08
Pajamas Media:
From the Oval Office to the blogs — Michelle Malkin liveblogged Bush's prime time speech in the Oval Office last night, and blogs started commenting right after it ended: — Instapundit: "[O]ne big thing struck me: In this national televised speech, Bush went out of his way to take responsibility for the war.
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Gateway Pundit:
After Only 1,000 Days, Bush Takes Credit for Iraq — "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction... Saddam may well hide his most lethal weapons in mosques, schools and hospitals. If our forces attempt to strike such targets …
White House:
President's Address to the Nation — THE PRESIDENT: Good evening. Three days ago, in large numbers, Iraqis went to the polls to choose their own leaders — a landmark day in the history of liberty. In the coming weeks, the ballots will be counted, a new government formed …
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt, Demagogue, The Political Pit Bull, Yourish.com, The Reaction, chicagoboyz.net, Althouse, This Blog Is Full Of Crap, The Claremont Institute, Left I on the News, Blogs for Bush, The Carpetbagger Report, No More Mister Nice Blog, CALIFORNIA YANKEE, The Rude Pundit, Conservative Thinking, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, Balloon Juice, BizzyBlog.com, In the Bullpen, Barcepundit and Suitably Flip
Glenn Reynolds / Instapundit.com:BUSH DOUBLES DOWN: I just watched Bush's speech.
Discussion:
Let Freedom Ring, Power Line, Captain's Quarters, Michelle Malkin, protein wisdom, PoliBlog, alicublog, PoliPundit.com, Right Wing Nut House, Solomonia, Betsy's Page, PunditGuy, TigerHawk, In the Bullpen, California Conservative, All Things Conservative, Dean's World, Viking Pundit, Ed Driscoll.com and firedoglake
Michael / Michael Bérubé Online:
They hate our freedoms — Over the weekend, Mark Earnest, a local conservative-libertarian blogger, wrote to me to say that even though he still considered me a Communist liberal leftist (to which I replied, I really resent being called a liberal), he wanted me to know that he could no longer recognize …
Discussion:
Shakespeare's Sister
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Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:The new "constitutional" excuse for warrantless eavesdropping on Americans
David E. Sanger / New York Times:
In Sunday Speech, Bush Is More Humble, but Still Firm — WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 - President Bush's speech on Sunday night culminated a weekend in which his administration tried to retake lost ground on two fronts: in Iraq, where Mr. Bush hopes a surprisingly successful election will buy …
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Peter Baker / Washington Post:Bush Brings More Realistic View of War to Forefront
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report
Michael A. Fletcher / Washington Post:
President Gives Both Reassurance, Warnings on Iraq — 'Victory or Defeat' Are Only Options, He Says — President Bush last night hailed Thursday's Iraqi elections as a vital step toward stabilizing that nation, but warned that despite the political progress more violence lies ahead …
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Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:Asking for Patience, Bush Cites Progress in Iraq
Discussion:
ScrappleFace
New York Times:
Rice Defends Domestic Eavesdropping — WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday defended President Bush's decision to secretly authorize the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans without seeking warrants, saying the program was carefully controlled …
Discussion:
The Corner on National …, Althouse, Confederate Yankee, TAPPED, The Mahablog, Unclaimed Territory, War and Piece and Is That Legal?
David Finkel / Washington Post:
U.S. Ideals Meet Reality in Yemen — On the first day, which would turn out to be the best day, the one day of all 180 days when everything actually seemed possible, the president of Yemen hadn't yet dismissively referred to an American named Robin Madrid as an old woman.
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Tom Shales / Washington Post:
From the Oval Office, a Call to See the Light at the End of the Tunnel — Determined to sound determined, President Bush addressed the nation on the troublesome subject of Iraq in a 16-minute speech last night from the Oval Office. Grim-faced, yet with a trace of anxiety in his eyes …
Brad / THE BRAD BLOG:
Florida Gov. Bush Expresses Concern About State Election Systems in Light of Leon County Hack Test — Counters Previous Positions by both the Acting Secretary of State and Voting Machine Company Diebold — Over the weekend, at least two reports out of mainstream Florida papers …
RELATED ITEM:
John / AMERICAblog:
Did Bush domestic spy program eavesdrop on American journalists? — I had an interesting discussion this morning with DC political consultant Marc Laitin. We both came to the conclusion that it sounds like Bush's super-secret illegal domestic spying program may be targeting US journalists …
NewsMax.com:
John McCain: Bush Right to Use NSA — Sen. John McCain disappointed Democrats on Capitol Hill on Sunday by defending the Bush administration's decision to use the National Security Agency to monitor a limited number of domestic phone calls in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Oliver Poole / Telegraph:
Iraqis in former rebel stronghold now cheer American soldiers — In the low-slung concrete buildings of Tal Afar, a city built on dirty sand and mud, George W Bush sees the potential for military success in Iraq. — In recent weeks it has been one case study the American president …
Discussion:
Captain's Quarters
