Top Items:
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.
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White House:
Press Conference of the President — THE PRESIDENT: Welcome. Please be seated. Thanks. — Last night I addressed the nation about our strategy for victory in Iraq, and the historic elections that took place in the country last week. In a nation that once lived by the whims of a brutal dictator …
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.
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:
Kokonut Pundits, Power Line, CALIFORNIA YANKEE, The Washington Monthly and The Rude Pundit
Lorie Byrd / PoliPundit.com:Hell Yes, Baby - Santa Has Come Early!
Discussion:
The Political Pit Bull
David Sirota / The Huffington Post:Bush's "Need for Speed" Argument Runs Into the Truth
Discussion:
Sirotablog
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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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 …
Discussion:
The American Mind, Big Brass Blog, Jesse Berney dot com, Shakespeare's Sister and CorrenteWire
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David Stout / New York Times:
Bush Says U.S. Spy Program Is Legal and Essential — WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 - President Bush offered a vigorous and detailed defense of his previously secret electronic-surveillance program today, calling it a legal and essential tool in the battle against terrorism and saying that whoever disclosed it had committed a "shameful act."
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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 …
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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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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 …
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Ezra Klein / TAPPED:ONE QUESTION. Over at The Washington Post's Early Warning, William Arkin sniffs:
Discussion:
Eschaton
Judith / Kesher Talk:
Welcome to the RINO Carnival — Welcome to the 20th RINO Sightings Carnival! (RINO sightings is cancelled for Christmas/Hanukkah week, and returns January 2nd at Louisiana Libertarian.) (You can check out other carnivals at the uber-carnival site, and submit posts to any of them at Conservative Cat.)
Discussion:
Dr. Sanity
John McIntyre / realclearpolitics.com:
Have The Democrats Walked Into a Trap......Again? — The political pendulum is swinging back towards President Bush. The President's approval rating has a pattern of dipping when he takes his Crawford vacation every August then bouncing back in September upon his return to Washington.
Discussion:
Ace of Spades HQ, TigerHawk, TAPPED, Blogs for Bush, Power Line, The Strata-Sphere and Carol Platt Liebau
rawstory.com:
Democrats plan sharp rebuke of pre-war intelligence, Iraq war in massive new congressional report — House Judiciary Committee Democrats, spearheaded by Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), are set to release possibly the sharpest congressional critique to date surrounding Iraq, RAW STORY has learned.
Discussion:
Pensito Review
Glenn Greenwald / Unclaimed Territory:
The new "constitutional" excuse for warrantless eavesdropping on Americans — Now that the Administration itself has acknowledged that FISA cannot be used to justify its warrantless eavesdropping on the communications of American citizens (since that law expressly bars exactly that surveillance) …
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Business Wire:
The National Law Journal Selects Plamegate Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald as 2005 Lawyer of the Year — NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Dec. 19, 2005—The National Law Journal(R) today announced the selection of Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald as its 2005 "Lawyer of the Year," …
Discussion:
Shakespeare's Sister
Jackson Diehl / Washington Post:
In the Mideast, Democratic Momentum — Though Iraq has now held the freest election in Arab history, conventional wisdom in Washington and the Middle East still dismisses the Bush administration's hope that its military intervention will catalyze democratic change around the region.
