Top Items:
Washington Post:
Spy Court Judge Quits In Protest — Jurist Concerned Bush Order Tainted Work of Secret Panel — A federal judge has resigned from the court that oversees government surveillance in intelligence cases in protest of President Bush's secret authorization of a domestic spying program, according to two sources.
RELATED ITEMS:
Bruce Fein / Washington Times:
. . . unlimited? — According to President George W. Bush, being president in wartime means never having to concede co-equal branches of government have a role when it comes to hidden encroachments on civil liberties. — Last Saturday, he thus aggressively defended the constitutionality …
New York Times:
Spying Program Snared U.S. Calls — WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 - A surveillance program approved by President Bush to conduct eavesdropping without warrants has captured what are purely domestic communications in some cases, despite a requirement by the White House that one end of the intercepted conversations …
Noahmax / Defense Tech:
WIRETAP MYSTERY: SPOOKS REACT — A few current and former signals intelligence guys have been checking in since this NSA domestic spying story broke. Their reactions range between midly creeped out and completely pissed off. — All of the sigint specialists emphasized repeatedly …
William M. Arkin / Early Warning:
Inside NSA's World — Every day, the National Security Agency intercepts and records more that 650 million "events" worldwide: radar signals, radio and data transmissions, satellite, cell and land-line telephone calls, faxes and e-mail and text messages and chats over the Internet.
Ars Technica:
The new technology at the root of the NSA wiretap scandal — When the NSA wiretapping story first hit the pages of the NYT a few days ago, there were clearly a huge number of unanswered questions. Is the wiretapping that the President has authorized illegal under the FISA act? Is it unconstitutional?
Discussion:
The Right Coast, Begging to Differ, Total Information Awareness and Personal Democracy Forum
Michael McGough / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:Specter will question Alito on legality of NSA spying
Discussion:
IntoxiNation-News …
Right Wing Nut House:JONATHAN ALTER IS A PIG
Discussion:
The Mahablog, The RCP Blog, Brendan Nyhan, NewsHog, Betsy's Page, The Carpetbagger Report, The Peking Duck, The Strata-Sphere and Macsmind
MSNBC:
Judge rules against 'intelligent design' — 'Religious alternative' to evolution barred from public-school science classes — HARRISBURG, Pa. - In one of the biggest courtroom clashes between faith and evolution since the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, a federal judge barred …
RELATED ITEMS:
New York Times:
Judge Bars 'Intelligent Design' From Pa. Classes — HARRISBURG, Pa. — "Intelligent design" cannot be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, a federal judge said Tuesday, ruling in one of the biggest courtroom clashes on evolution since the 1925 Scopes trial.
Anne E. Kornblut / New York Times:
Lobbyist Is Said to Discuss Plea and Testimony — WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 - Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist under criminal investigation, has been discussing with prosecutors a deal that would grant him a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony against former political and business associates …
National Review:
Clinton Claimed Authority to Order No-Warrant Searches — In a little-remembered debate from 1994, the Clinton administration argued that the president has "inherent authority" to order physical searches — including break-ins at the homes of U.S. citizens — for foreign intelligence purposes without …
RELATED ITEMS:
Los Angeles Times:
Legal Test Was Seen as Hurdle to Spying — Some say the court's tougher standard of 'probable cause' led to the surveillance order. — WASHINGTON — Since Sept. 11, 2001, an obscure but powerful tribunal — the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court — has been a solid ally of the Bush administration …
RELATED ITEMS:
Steven Greenhouse / New York Times:
In Final Hours, M.T.A. Took a Big Risk on Pensions — On the final day of intense negotiations, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, it turns out, greatly altered what it had called its final offer, to address many of the objections of the transit workers' union.
RELATED ITEMS:
Jeff Jarvis / BuzzMachine:Un transit — New York transit is on strike.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Asymmetrical Information, In Search Of Utopia, Gothamist and Instapundit.com
Doug Struck / Washington Post:
Sunnis Allege Fraud, Demand New Iraq Elections — Conservative Shiite Coalition Emerges as Early Leader in Parliamentary Returns — BAGHDAD, Dec. 20 — Sunni and secular political parties angrily claimed Tuesday that Iraq's national election was rigged, threatening to leave in shambles …
RELATED ITEM:
Jonathan Allen / The Hill:
Civil liberties don't matter much 'after you're dead,' Cornyn says on spy case — Senators launched new salvos in the battle over national security and civil liberties yesterday as recent revelations of domestic spying continued to color the chamber's stalemate on an extension of the anti-terrorism law known as the Patriot Act.
RELATED ITEM:
Jon / Pensito Review:
Clinton-Hater Toensing Laughs - Literally - at Idea of Investigating Bush's Allegedly Illegal Spying on U.S. Citizens — New lows in hackery: During the 1990's, Victoria Toensing and her husband, Joe diGenova, made over 300 appearances on cable television in the service of the Republican agenda …
RELATED ITEM:
LiberalOasis:
Why Checks and Balances Help Fight Terror — If ABC's The Note weren't on holiday break, they'd probably say something like: "When will stupid Democrats learn that smart Republicans love it when they focus on terrorism, because it reinforces the Strong GOP/Weak Dem narrative." — And they would have half a point.
Discussion:
The Sideshow
RELATED ITEM:
Greg Sargent / TAPPED:THE MARSHALL PLAN. Marshall Wittman argues that Dems …
Discussion:
Bull Moose, The Carpetbagger Report, Left in the West, The Reaction, Cold Fury and archy
Hullabaloo:
Stocking Stuffer Request — While everybody has their credit cards out buying a "secret Santa" moustache mug for their most hated colleague at the office, I wonder if some of you might want to throw a little cash my way while you're at it? For reasons I haven't figured out, this blog is doing miserably at selling blog-ads.
Associated Press:
Donors Underwrite DeLay's Deluxe Lifestyle — WASHINGTON — As Tom DeLay became a king of campaign fundraising, he lived like one too. He visited cliff-top Caribbean resorts, golf courses designed by PGA champions and four-star restaurants _ all courtesy of donors who bankrolled his political money empire.
