Top Items:
Richard A. Posner / Washington Post:
Our Domestic Intelligence Crisis — We've learned that the Defense Department is deeply involved in domestic intelligence (intelligence concerning threats to national security that unfold on U.S. soil). The department's National Security Agency has been conducting, outside the framework …
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John Schmidt / Chicago Tribune:
President had legal authority to OK taps — President Bush's post- Sept. 11, 2001, authorization to the National Security Agency to carry out electronic surveillance into private phone calls and e-mails is consistent with court decisions and with the positions of the Justice Department under prior presidents.
Discussion:
Instapundit.com, New Sisyphus, protein wisdom, The Anchoress, Power Line and Decision '08
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.
Discussion:
Knight Ridder, Reuters, New York Times, Tom Watson, hughhewitt.com, In From the Cold, The Washington Monthly, Amygdala, Donklephant, Gateway Pundit, The Moderate Voice, War and Piece, Carol Platt Liebau, Angry Bear, The Strata-Sphere, Power Line, Althouse, The Sideshow, The Poor Man, Faithful Progressive, Incomprehensible …, ACSBlog, Oliver Willis, Shakespeare's Sister, IntoxiNation-News …, The Corner on National …, Say Anything, Daily Kos, NewsBusters.org, Liberty Street and Prometheus 6
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 …
Discussion:
Confederate Yankee, The Mahablog, The Huffington Post, The RCP Blog, Making Light, TAPPED, Booman Tribune ~ Boo!, MyDD, The Next Hurrah, The Carpetbagger Report, TKS on National Review Online, San Francisco Chronicle, AMERICAblog, Dr. Sanity, Shakespeare's Sister, Ezra Klein, Hit and Run and NewsBusters.org
Marty Lederman / Balkinization:
Judge Posner and "Ad Hoc Initiatives" (i.e., Presidentially Sanctioned Felonies) — Judge Posner has an Op-Ed in the Washington Post this morning that is understandably receiving a lot of attention. His argument is that the latest scandal reveals a serious gap in the legal intelligence-gathering laws.
Discussion:
Lawyers, Guns and Money
TQA / The Questionable Authority:
Kitzcarnival — As most of you are undoubtedly aware, Judge Jones has handed down his anxiously-awaited decision in the Kitzmiller v. Dover lawsuit. This post is (I hope) a one-stop for those interested in commentary on the ruling. I've done my best to incorporate a wide range of blog posts and some more conventional news articles.
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Washington Post:
With Cheney's Vote, Senate Passes Budget Bill — Legislation Would Trim $40 Billion Over 5 Years — The Senate narrowly passed a $40 billion budget-cutting bill today, with Vice President Cheney casting the deciding vote after the chamber split 50-50 on the measure.
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Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:
Cheney Breaks Senate Tie on Spending Cuts — WASHINGTON - The Republican-controlled Senate passed legislation to cut federal deficits by $39.7 billion on Wednesday by the narrowest of margins, 51-50, with Vice President Dick Cheney casting the deciding vote.
Susan Schmidt / Washington Post:
Abramoff Reportedly Negotiating a Deal in Which He Would Plead Guilty, Testify — Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, facing trial on fraud charges Jan. 9 in Florida, is negotiating a possible deal with the Justice Department, in which he would agree to plead guilty and cooperate …
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Patrick Cockburn / Independent:
Iraq's election result: a divided nation — Iraq is disintegrating. The first results from the parliamentary election last week show the country is dividing between Shia, Sunni and Kurdish regions. — Religious fundamentalists now have the upper hand. The secular and nationalist candidate backed …
Discussion:
The Peking Duck, Daily Pundit, The Belmont Club, Pajamas Media, Unclaimed Territory and AMERICAblog
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Max Boot / Los Angeles Times:
'Plame Platoon' is AWOL on new leaks — Highly classified programs have been revealed, which could provide real aid to our enemies. So where's all that outrage now? — IT SEEMS like only yesterday that every high-minded politician, pundit and professional activist was in high dudgeon …
Richard Morin / Washington Post:
Majority of Americans Support Alito Nomination — A majority of Americans now support the confirmation of U.S. Appeals Court Judge Samuel A. Alito to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Reuters:
Lebanon questions US demand to hand over hijacker — BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon criticised on Wednesday U.S. demands that it hand over a Hizbollah hijacker released by Germany after nearly 19 years in jail for murdering an American. — "Originally they (the U.S. government) could have requested that Germany hand him over.
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Associated Press:
Senate rejects drilling in Alaska wildlife refuge — Republicans fail to garner enough support to avoid threat of filibuster — WASHINGTON - The Senate blocked oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge Wednesday, rejecting a measure that had been put into a must-pass defense spending bill in an attempt to garner wider support.
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Revolt of the Professionals — The national security structure that the Bush administration created after Sept. 11, 2001, began to crumble this month because of a bipartisan revolt on Capitol Hill. Newly emboldened legislators forced the administration to accept new rules for the interrogation …
Josh Meyer / Los Angeles Times:
Officials Fault Case Bush Cited — Internal breakdowns, not shortcomings in spy laws, were at play before Sept. 11, they say. — WASHINGTON — In confirming the existence of a top-secret domestic spying program, President Bush offered one case as proof that authorities desperately needed …
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
Washington Post:
Clash Is Latest Chapter in Bush Effort to Widen Executive Power — The clash over the secret domestic spying program is one slice of a broader struggle over the power of the presidency that has animated the Bush administration. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney came to office convinced …
Discussion:
Scott Rosenberg's Links …
